Adventures in Merchandising

So, last Saturday, I may have …built an online store to sell shirts!

I found Printful, a print-on-demand merchandise maker: shirts, mugs, towels, all the things to put my artwork on! They print to order and ship to the customer… and they have a plant in the Toronto area!

Unlike book printer and distributor IngramSpark, they don’t distribute a catalogue to existing retailers. They need the artist to build an online store and connect it to them.

There was a long list of premade stores they could connect to: Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, Wix, BigCartel, Square, Ecwid, GumRoad… want a minute! Square? Oh yes!

I signed up for a free account at Printful, to see whether this would actually work. I enabled the online store in my existing Square account and connected it to Printful. In Printful, I selected a shirt, uploaded my artwork, and chose variants.

Printful pushed my chosen shirt to Square Online, and shirts appeared! I had to choose various options–I didn’t want my books to appear in the online store, for example, because they are distributed in a different way, and I only want to use the Square account to sell them in person with my little payment terminal. On the other hand, the shirts will be sold online on-demand only.

There are endless details. Getting the payment going from Square Online to Printful Customizing packing slips etc. Choosing shipping options. Providing a way for Printful to get paid. Uploading a logo to Printful to be used on their labels and packing slips. Likewise, uploading a logo to Square Online for the online store. It wasn’t quite the “easy setup” described in their comparative review of store systems, but it wasn’t bad.

So then I tried to order a shirt.

It let me choose a size and colour and presented a price with shipping cost. I paid. The money went into my Square Card account, from where Printful debited it.

I got an email thinking me for the order.

Meanwhile, in my internal control panel, I could see the order. As days passed, it went from “awaiting fulfillment” to “being fulfilled” (printed) to “shipped”! Outside, I got another email with shipping info.

Now I’m waiting for my shirt, to see what the quality is like. Printful has all sorts of options for shirts that I haven’t seen before, like custom logos inside the collar!

Hopefully I can get all the bugs out and get this working smoothly. If so, The Lonely Little Fridge shirts (and towels, mugs, stickers, etc) here I come!

Welcome to SRD Books!

Featured

If you’re looking for information about The Rabbit Trap, The Lonely Little Fridge, or the compilations that contain my other works, this is the place!

The Lonely Little Fridge is distributed through Ingram Content Group and is available on Amazon and other retailers. The compilations are available through Kipekee Press and Amazon.

My Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/komiksulo

The Rabbit Trap

A family escapes a totalitarian nightmare, but what happens when one of them wants to go back?

This full-length novel is a sequel to the story “The Rabbit Hole” published in a compilation by Kipekee Press.

The Lonely Little Fridge

A fridge is thrown out. Will it find a new and better home?

This children’s book is available in multiple languages. Find out more.

A Workaround for a Toki Pona Font-Display Issue

I think I’ve found a workaround to my font issues in the ebook version of the Toki Pona translation of The Lonely Little Fridge! I’ll be able to put out an ebook after all!

The book is put together with Toki Pona text, with both latin letters and a Toki Pona script called sitelen pona (“good drawing”), in parallel. The sitelen pona text is actually regular latin text with a special font applied, which changes its appearance drastically.

The sitelen pona text was not appearing properly in the ebook version. And only in the ebook version. Text in PDFs for print appeared properly, even though both ebook and PDF were exported from the same InDesign file!

The text with the problem. The letter o is still visible in the sitelen pona text (top line) in this screenshot taken from the ebook version.
The text without the problem, in this screenshot taken from the PDF version.

Figuring what was actually going on is a tale of exploration into strange new places…

Continue reading

Toki Pona translation off to be checked!

A page from the Toki Pona translation.

I just sent the interior of the Toki Pona translation, complete with text and pictures, off to the translator to be checked!

Once that it okayed, I will assemble the book files, create the ebook, and make them ready for uploading to IngramSpark! Then we only await the printer’s e-proof.

And Now: Sequels to The Lonely Little Fridge!

Yes, today a passing remark from a co-worker crystallized a lot of stuff in my head, and now I have titles and ideas for the first two sequels to The Lonely Little Fridge!

I give you…

The Lonely Little Fridge: Spin Cycle

Little Fridge is settling into his new home, in the apartment with the guys. He starts to connect to the community of appliances and other devices in the apartment. But one day he is covered in damp clothes! The apartment is crowded with hanging damp clothes placed everywhere! It seems the apartment clothes washer and dryer has broken down.

Little Fridge sees the repair tech arrive. He’s afraid. Will the washer/dryer be thrown away like he was? And then the tech opens up the washer/dryer! What is this frightening event?

But then suddenly the washer/dryer is put back together, and starts operating normally. The guys rejoice and start gathering up the clothes to re-wash and finally dry them. Little Fridge can feel the joy of the washer/dryer, knowing it has been cared for and saved.

The Lonely Little Fridge: Spin Cycle will be followed by The Lonely Little Fridge: Rest Easy.

This story will be about the guys rescuing an abandoned chair. It’s inspired by the picture nearby, which was forwarded to me by another co-worker with the words, “This reminded me of you.”

Meet Our Translators!

I am very grateful to the people who have offered to translate my texts or check my translations.

Esperanto: Detlef Karthaus

Detlef Karthaus diplomiĝis pri tradukado ĉe Laurentian University. Li esperantigis kelkajn romanojn: nome “Demian” kaj “Sidarto” de Hermann Hesse; kaj “Dudek kvar horoj el la vivo de virino” de Stefan Zweig, ĉiuj tradukitaj el la germana. El la angla, li tradukis “Telenio” de Oscar Wilde. Dum multaj jaroj Detlef estas korektanto de la 10 leciona “Free Esperanto Course” por anglalingvanoj.

Detlef Karthaus has a degree in translation from Laurentian University. He has translated several novels into Esperanto: “Demian” and “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse, and “Twenty-four hours in the Life of a Woman” by Stefan Zweig, all translated from the German. From English, he has translated “Teleny” by Oscar Wilde. For many years Detlef has been a moderator of the Ten-Lesson Free Course for English-speakers.

Portuguese: Joe Bazilio Costa

Joe Bazilio é artista multimídia e mora na pequena cidade de Formiga, no interior de Minas Gerais, Brasil. É autodidata em artes, além de músico profissional, poeta, desenhista gráfico, fotógrafo e cineasta. Foi o realizador dos filmes na língua Esperanto, Gerda Malaperis e La Patro.

Joe Bazilio is a multimedia artist and lives in the small town of Formiga, in the interior of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He is self-taught in the arts, as well as being a professional musician, poet, graphic designer, photographer and filmmaker. He was the director of the Esperanto-language films Gerda Malaperis and La Patro.

Klingon: Michael Lubetsky

Toronto Dabbogh chut qeSwI’ ghaH may’Iq’e’. pIj bo’DIj qaDDaq ‘ap DIlwI’pu’ ‘oS ‘ej chut Ho’DoSmey pIm HaD ‘e’ tIv. bo’DIjDaq qum qaDbe’DI’, bridgeQuj, Holmey HaD, ‘ej HatlhDaq yIt ‘e’ tIv. tlhIngan Hol yejHaD vInDa’ ghaH ‘ej Hoch patlhmoHmeH qaDmeyDaj’e’ Qapta’mo’, po’wI’ patlh bajta’. ghItlhvam DI’ta’mo’ tlhIngan Hol po’wI”a’ DeSDu’, tlho’qu’.

Michael H. Lubetsky (may’Iq) is a lawyer living in Toronto whose practice focuses on tax litigation and who has a particular interest in comparative law. When not in litigation against the government, he likes to play bridge, study languages, and go hiking. He is a member of the Klingon Language Institute and has passed all their certification examinations, earning the rank of po’wI’. He thanks master Klingonist Jackson M. Bradley (DeSDu’) for checking thie translation of The Lonely Little Fridge.

Toki Pona: Abigail L.

mi jan Apikela · lili la mi awen lon lipu lon lawa · mi kama lukin e ni · ma lon la pona pi wawa kin li lon · mi wile sama jan lili · mi wile tawa e nasin mi lon pilin pona wawa pi monsuta ala

tenpo ali mi la· nimi en toki ante li pona tawa mi · lawa mi la toki Inli en toki Epanja en toki Kanse en toki Italija en toki pona li lon tenpo sama a

tenpo la · mi tawa sewi e kiwen· li lukin insa e nasin sama lon ijo ali lon jan ali · li toki wawa e sona musi · li tawa pona e pipi linja tan nasin seli suno

o lukin e nasa pona mi lon ilo Yutu (YouTube: Abigail Sarah) · sina wile pana e pali esun· e sona nasa · e sona pi tawa kiwen · e sitelen pipi suwi · la o toki a tawa mi lon ilo Siko (Discord: #9031)

After a childhood isolated in books and the recesses of her own mind, jan Apikela (Abigail) discovered that this world is even richer in beauty and love. She wants to live as fearlessly delighted as a kid (which isn’t everybody, in the grand scheme of things).

She’s always been drawn to poetry & languages, and these days thinks with some kind of hybrid of English, Spanish, French, Italian, and toki pona. She can be found rock climbing, pondering the fractal patterns of the cosmos, gesturing enthusiastically about the liturgical cycle of Chipotle, and saving worms from the sidewalk.

You can participate in the beautiful chaos of her life on YouTube (Abigail Sarah) — or reach out on Discord (#9031) with any freelance projects, random philosophical thoughts, climbing tips, or pictures of snails.

French: Amélie Débant Pouzadoux

Ancienne infirmière reconvertie en traductrice littéraire, Amélie explore les mondes imaginaires des autres pour mieux les offrir aux lectrices et lecteurs francophones. Elle s’attache à préserver la voix des auteur·rices tout en tissant un pont entre les langues.

A former nurse turned literary translator, Amélie explores the imaginary worlds of others in order to share them with French-speaking readers. She is committed to preserving the voice of each author while building a bridge between languages.

ISBNs and Versions

The Lonely Little Fridge is available as a hardcover, a paperback, and an ebook. Translations are ongoing. So far, here are the different versions (as of 2022-07-24):

English (released)

ISBN 978-0-9689795-7-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-9689795-8-7 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-1-1 (paperback)

Esperanto (released)

ISBN 978-0-9689795-9-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-0-4 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-2-8 (paperback)

Portuguese (released)

ISBN 978-1-7778198-3-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-5-9 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-4-2 (paperback)

Klingon (hardcover and ebook released; paperback to come)

ISBN 978-1-7778198-6-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-8-0 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7778198-7-3 (paperback)

French (to come)

ISBN 978-1-7778198-9-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-7781804-1-5 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7781804-0-8 (paperback)

Toki Pona (hardcover released; ebook and paperback to come)

ISBN 978-1-7781804-2-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-7781804-4-6 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-7781804-3-9 (paperback)

Just about to publish! Translations!

So, I’ve written a book! Anyone want to translate it? ?

“The Lonely Little Fridge” is a children’s story, based on an idea I had in a children’s-lit class at Durham.

A few editorial adjustments remain, and it will be ready! I will be setting it up to be distributed as hardcover, paperback, and ebook through one of the online publishing platforms, as well as getting a few copies printed locally.

But I very much want it to be translated. I’m working on the Esperanto translation, with other languages to follow. I would love to see it translated into Indigenous languages, but I’m honestly not sure whether it would make sense in an Indigenous context. The most I can do is offer it.

Is there anyone out there who would be interested in translating it into French? The total text is around 1 page, spread out among the pictures.