The blog of Richard Thompson, caricaturist, creator of "Cul de Sac," and winner of the 2011 Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Team Cul de Sac Book Available for Pre-Order at Sparking Design

  Sparking Design, the web & print firm run by the indefatigable Chris Sparks and the irresistible Jamie King, has got the goods! Here's the product information-
  • Hardcover: 144 pages
  • Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (June 5, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1449419666
  • ISBN-13: 978-1449419660 
  • Drawings of Alice et al by better cartoonists than me.
Why, it's worth it for that sweet ISBN alone! Not to mention you'll be helping the Michael J. Fox Foundation in its good work opening a big can of whupass on Parkinson's Disease!

4 comments:

carl craig said...

im wondering if i should bye that its quite expensive...........

chris said...

Carl, the regular edition is cover price of $29.99 and 5 bucks goes to the MJFF for Parkinson's research. The sell of the other edition is giving 20 bucks to the MJFF. I am trying to give a bigger percent to the MJFF. Thanks for asking! There is also amazon but that is a lesser percentage going to MJFF.
I also will be making some money on each book but I am trying to offset my expenses on promoting the project.
Chris

Tony A. said...

I, too, find myself conflicted on whether or not to buy this book. Spending $35 for a $5 donation seems counter-intuitive. For instance, one could purchase the book on Amazon for $20 and then donate the extra $15 to MJFF.

How much of the money will be donated to the MJFF when the book is purchased from Amazon?

I appreciate your candor about making money on each book, Chris. It might help further if you break down the costs of publishing and promoting.

Another idea is to release a digital copy, especially if a lot of the cost is in printing. For instance, releasing an ebook where a larger portion of the cost was donated to the MJFF.

I'm a loyal fan of Cul de Sac, and I hope these comments reflect my honest concern.

chris said...

Tony,
I understand. I can't compete with amazon. My local bookstore( or yours) if there is still a local independent bookstore in your town can't compete with Amazon.
I can't give you you the actual percentage of what will go to the MJFF through Amazon.( I am sure it is not more than a dollar) The publisher is giving a percent of the net profits to the MJFF.
The book will cost me 15.00 per book plus shipping cost.So maybe $16.00. Paypals fee is close to 1.5 per book. So now we are up to $17.50.Then 5.00 to the MJFF. Now we are up to $22.50. On the $7.50 I make per book I have to pay taxes on that. so thats about $2.00 in taxes. Ok, I am at $5.50 per book.
By the time I go to Charlotte for the launch of the book at Heroescon, going to Baltimorecon and a signing or two in DC, I am hoping to break even.
I have no problem in you buying it from Amazon. I thought some people would like a signed copy and help out the guy who spent almost two years in getting this together. Below is the link to donate straight to the Team Cul de Sac TeamFox site.
http://www2.michaeljfox.org/site/TR/TeamFox/TeamFox?team_id=1149&pg=team&fr_id=1053

I am not the publisher. Andrews McMeel has been wonderful in supporting this project because they are such big fans of Richards.
I am the guy who had an idea, who is a friend of Richards,who is a fan of cds, who asked a bunch of cartoonist to donate art for an auction. The book was a by product of the auction. The auction is where we will make the bulk of the money.
We made almost 5k last year for the MJFF. I am hoping for 245k this year.
I dont care how you donate, I just appreciate that you will donate.
I will tell you the book is going to be very awesome!
If anyone has any questions please email me at teamculdesac@gmail.com