It may be a bit early...

[Sora]

I like Linda's one best. I think it flows better.

This sounds like a great idea. I think the best idea would be to accumulate some of the work we already have and then combine it with new stuff. Perhaps we could get 667 pieces of work in total(if that is actualy possible).

[s]

Or, on the title page: "Baleful Birthday Greetings! Containing: Facectious Fanwork, worrisome wishes, and more!" Or something.

I'm all for the red shoes with strange buckles, though.

[Dear Dairy]

You can email me anything in a Microsoft Word attachment. If you'll PM me that you have something, I'll give you my email address.

All submissions must fit on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper, or they won't fit in the binder machine. Also, I'm not sure how many pages the binder can handle; our biggest binder comb is about 1 1/2 inches, I think. I'm pretty sure 667 pages would be too many. Also keep in mind the more we send, the less likely he is to read it all. It makes sense to me that we send only our very best. (Who is to determine that, I don't know) OR we could limit the number of pages sent in by each writer/artist. OR we could make more than one book; but, as I said, he'd be less likely to read it all. How about one book of fanwork and one of appeals in regard to the Objectives?

I almost forgot! I don't have a color printer, unfortunately. Maybe Gigi and I can work out something for her to snail mail me any colorful artwork.

[Gigi]

Yes, I can do that. We have a color laser printer at school that does nice work.

[jemima]

I could send Gigi something fantastic I could make... a sketch of the Baudelaires, or something. I don't want it printed out. I'd have to write a little birthday note on the back of it, too. Oh, the book could come in a "CONFIDENTIAL" folder! That would be cool, and then DD could stick one of those "Do not read" stickers that Gigi sent me with the shirt. Right?

Hey, what if we all compiled a letter to Mr. Handler asking if he could get Brett Helquist to make us a banner? That's one of Trag's Objectives.

[Gigi]

I like the CONFIDENTIAL file idea. Maybe we should take a few more suggestions for a title and then make a poll and vote.

[s]

jemima said:

Hey, what if we all compiled a letter to Mr. Handler asking if he could get Brett Helquist to make us a banner? That's one of Trag's Objectives.

Um, no. We ask Handler for his assistance and Helquist for his. I think to do otherwise would be offensive to both.

[SF]

I'd like to help out with this whole thing. I can snail mail a birthday greeting to Gigi who can in turn send it to Dear Dairy.

The confidential thing would be a cool idea. To put it on the outside of the book maybe, and then under it, have in typewriter font something like what Shruti said

"Baleful Birthday Greetings! Containing: Facectious Fanwork, worrisome wishes, and more!"

Something like this would be cool.

[Dear Dairy]

GUIDELINES FOR BIRTHDAY BOOK SUBMISSIONS

1. All submissions must be no larger than 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches (standard typing paper size).

2. You may send more than one selection, but if space is limited only one selection per person will be sent. Please mark clearly the selection you would like to put in if space is limited.

3. If your submission is in color, please email it to Gigi (PM her for the address), who will color print it and snail mail it to Dear Dairy. Color submissions must be sent to Gigi by Saturday, February 3rd.

4. Submissions in black/white may be emailed in a Microsoft Word attachment directly to Dear Dairy (PM to get the address). Black/white submissions must be sent to Dear Dairy no later than Wednesday, February 7.

5. If you want your submission to be the original, printed yourself or hand-drawn, you may PM Dear Dairy for her snail mail (work) address, provided that is acceptable to your parent/guardian/powers-that-be. If you do this, I suggest not including a return address, or use a parent's place of business as the return address.

We still need a volunteer to design the cover.[/i]

[Black Bert]

CafePress offers an option to sell things as a book. Seems like it would be a bit more professional (were someone willing to foot the $4 bill) than just spiral-binding some paper together.

[Gigi]

Here's the link to cafepress.com

www.cafepress.com/cp/info/sell/products/books

I think doing it the way Dear Dairy suggested is just going to be easier, cheaper, faster. And how professional do we need to look?

[Sugary Snicket]

I could add one of my better pictures and a poem or something.

[Black Bert]

I think it'd look really nice if we made it look like one of the actual books though, with the perfect bind.

The nicer it looks, the better the chances of completing one of our objectives, I would think.

[Dear Dairy]

Well, Robert, the CafePress idea certainly sounds like it would produce a nice-looking book. I admit that it would look more professional than the plastic-bound one I suggested. I do have some questions, though.

It sounds like the CafePress wants to print books in quantity for re-sale. Will they do just one book at that low price? (I guess so, it says they print dissertations.)
How much time is needed to compile the information and print the book? (I couldn't find this information on their site.) We want to make sure it would be finished in time to arrive for DH's birthday.
Does anyone at 667 have the software and the expertise needed to produce the PDF file the way they want it? (I don't.)
Would color artwork have to be printed in black/white? The website says the content of the book has to be B/W only.

If everyone else wants to do a more professional-looking book, that's fine with me. It would certainly look better than anything I could put together.

[Gigi]

I just think there's too many questions with Cafe Press, and since our schedule is kinda tight we should just go with what we had originally planned.

If somebody wants to take the initiative to look into Cafe Press further, it might be a better way to handle the pleas for endorsing 667 Dark Avenue that goes along with the Objectives. That doesn't have so much of a time constraint.