But before I ask it, here’s a grateful year-end shout-out to Stephanie for the nice tip. Could this be my last shout-out of 2015? Tomorrow will tell.
And now my question: I’m toying with the idea of creating some custom merchandise using the CafePress create-on-demand system. It might not be super profitable, but it could be a fun way to create little souvenirs of the site in 2016.
My question is, what would you be interested in? CafePress would let me put a custom design on: T-shirts and other clothing; coffee mugs and travel mugs; tote bags; maybe a wall calendar. (There are other categories, these just seem like the most promising.)
I would only do this if I could come up with an exceptionally clever idea and a design to go with it, using one of the photos featured on the site. What do you think?
T-shirts. When we are all out and about we can spread the word about NTMTOMinism.
Cool, I can start my own religion! Hey, it worked for L. Ron Hubbard.
NTMTOM Spread The Word Pamphlets. Just kidding.
Would seriously wear a t-shirt with the blowfish in the brown suit. That made me coffee-spitting crazy with laughter.
THE NTMTOM COFFEE TABLE BOOK.
!!!!!!
That had occurred to me as well. I would only create a book if I could create something fairly substantial. I wouldn’t want to rehash posts from the blog, but instead create longer stories just for the book — and a lot of them, enough to make it worth the price. It would be a lot of work for me, and I would hope that it could find an audience beyond this blog’s regular readers.
You have to understand that your loyal readers/fans have been clamoring for the NTMTOM Coffee Table Book for YEARS and we want your greatest hits, including from the old ranch, contractual difficulties be damned.
That said, I am the proud owner of a World Peace Hamster tee shirt, no doubt hugely valuable now, and would be happy to make similar investments on this site.
I could try asking nicely, but please understand that everything I wrote for C.O. is their property now. They have a right to say no, and if that’s the answer, then that’s that.
Sigh. I figured. But your stuff is just as great now, and there’s more of it!!! Even better!
Go for it. Make it so. Engage. Phasers on funny. Beam us out, up, over. You get the idea.
Please rehash away! Especially with “The Offering” (which I hope doesn’t turn out to be prophetic!).
Since we never know when there will be a power outage/solar flare/end of days we might as well enjoy some of your greatest hits in print form, along with new stuff! I would be all over that, as well as the other CafePress merch you mentioned.
L. Ron Hubbard’s got NOTHIN’ on NTMTOM!
Heck…I’d be happy with a slim paperback full of your Spambot responses! Those crack me up every time! ?
Book and wall calendar are my two votes. I’d love to have a pic every month from this site and maybe the other place with his wonderful captions.
I still need a calendar for 2016.
I got a nice one called “Bon Appetit – Vintage Food Posters” for my kitchen (I get that every year). It’s available on Amazon (thru the NTMTOM portal, of course).
And for my dog-owning friends I got “What Dogs Teach Us” – that one’s good too – cute photo and motto for every month.
I’m still holding out for a coffee table book! (maybe C.O. would allow you to have classic material if they were given a teeny smidgen of the proceeds?) I would LOVE a page-a-day calendar–I need funny every day! T-shirts are good as long as they come in extended sizes–maybe the pic on front and NTMTOMism on the back?
Go forth and merchandize!?
Calendar please! With hovertext! Um…can you DO that? ?
Funny hovers superimposed over pic and regular caption or story. Plus best comment.
Mug with pic and comment on the side and hover on the bottom.
Book, T-shirt, Calendar.
Please and thank you!
I’d lean toward the mugs, totes and calendars – reason is, many of the greatest NTMTOMisms are several sentences long, so to read it on a T-shirt, the reader would have to stare at the wearer for an awkwardly long time, where mugs & calendars tend to hold still. 😀
If I were to do shirts and mugs, I would need to come up with ideas that can be expressed in a few words. And I think I could do that, once the right photos come along.
But isn’t photos a problem with copyright and stuff when it comes to commercial offerings?
The only photos I could use are ones that are licenced by their owners using the Creative Commons licenses. CC licenses allow me to use a photo even for commercial purposes as long as I provide an attribution to the creator. I think I would discuss my use with the photographer in advance, simply as a courtesy, and offer a free product to say “thanks.”
I think that is a wonderful idea!!
I like tote bags and mugs, those are the most useful. And of course the long-awaited book.
Mike, your witty storytelling reminds me of Jean Shepherd (writer of movies: Ollie Hopnoodle’s Haven of Bliss and A Christmas Story). If you did the much wished for coffee table book I’d be delighted.
I vote for mugs and calendars!
I vote for mugs, travel mugs, and calendars – not that T-shirts are bad idea, but personally I don’t wear those in public. And of course I long for the coffee-table book.
Although you can’t do this on Cafe Press, something to think about in what passes for your idle moments is a computer desktop wallpaper/calendar – although those might be more difficult to monetize, as there are so many lovely free ones around.
Thanks for the Amazon links. I’m trying to remember to start with your Amazon Smile link and not go straight to their website. Old habits die hard, alas.
Love the idea of a calendar! Especially a journal-style calendar with room to incorporate some of your longer captions/stories.
Pictures are good and all but I think most of us are here for your writing. That’s what makes you exceptional!
Well said.
A journal calendar would bump down my t-shirt request. Maybe official NTMTOM thought for the day post card type things so we could spread the word.
Yes, thought for the day post card type things. Like Ashleigh Brilliant’s Pot Shots. Good for keeping, mailing, gifting.
Yup!
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