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This is my submission to Revista Colectiva, The Supermarket issue.
(Thanks, Juancho for the invitation!)

I'm happy with the way this turned out...doing these personal pieces frees me up. When I know I am not doing something specificly for the children's market, which have many restrictions in a way (especially in textbook publishing and in the US.), I can play a little more. Or maybe its just all in my head. My sketchbooks use to be filled with alot more wacky-ness. Now its just all stuff for work.

Anyways, thank you for everyone's comments regarding my last post on STYLE. I agree with Zime that concept and the voice of the illustrator is part of the style and is what I am usually drawn to. And Bravo to those of you who can work in many styles! Personally, I am ok with working in one style BUT it is constantly changing and evolving...which means experimenting and working out of your comfort zone.

Alrighty, let me get off my soap box for now. Until next time, folks.

The folks at ChooseBooks.com are throwing some money into print marketing. Possibly the #4 traditional American used book marketplace, and a subsidiary of German market leader ZVAB, ChooseBooks has been venturing into the exciting world of full-page magazine advertising.

Some of the ads are decent, e.g. this advertisement on page 403 of the January 2007 issue of PMLA (PDF, 1.4MB). Though the ad’s “It’s Your Choice! Professional Booksellers at Your Service!” tagline seems a bit hyperactive, it’s still reasonably tasteful and informative.

This full page ad on page 19 of the March 26, 2007 issue of The Nation (JPEG, 367k), on the other hand, reads like a parody of a Teaching Company advertorial:

Choose Books!

After all, “Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.” Barbara Tuchman

Do you buy Used, Rare, Antiquarian or Out-of-Print Books? Most likely you do, and have, in the past, visited used bookstores. Without a doubt, you are familiar with wonderful look of leather bound volumes carefully arranged on shelves or stacks of books scattered everywhere. And yes, you feel exhilaration of a search and a thrill of a find when you stumble upon that long sought book that you remember from childhood.

It gets worse. I know Michael Tokman, the founder of ChooseBooks. Michael’s a smart guy. I know for a fact that in real life, he doesn’t Speak In Capitals, or use confusing, disjointed logic:

And who better to speak about their services than Michaei Tokman, one of the people responsible for bringing this wonderful resource to the book buying public: “We share your love for Used, Rare, Antiquarian and Out-of-Print Books, as well as Autographs, Maps and Ephemera Items. Not only that, but geographical diversity of our booksellers resulted in the unique inventory, rich in books from various countries and in many languages.”

I have a lot of respect for the ChooseBooks.com/ZVAB team. I hope this was a one-time test ad, delivered in a rush on a day when the copyeditor was out sick; they can do so much better.

[Now reading The Secret Police and the Revolution: The Fall of the German Democratic Republic by Edward N. Peterson]