Snapdragon
October 9th, 2007, 10:55 PM
The second (and final) edition of Beloved Goddess will come to me from the printers in 10 days' time. I want to discuss the way in which this is unfolding.
This is the illustrated and entirely calligraphed praise poem to the sacred feminine that I originally authored and had published in 1986. The illustrations were all drawn by an artist I hired for the purpose, and the visualizations of the various images was a shared process. 500 were printed at that time, and they were distributed over the following decades.
The thought of reissuing Beloved Goddess arose for me, I think, because I am feeling so grateful and blessed by the way my recent relocation to Portland, Oregon, has gone...and part of that blessing is that I can afford to live at a reasonably comfortable, if impoverished, level. So it happens that I have enough money to publish this, and I very much wanted to do a religious devotion that says "thank you" and extends that blessing to others.
So this is how it has gone: I asked around to try to find a printer--I didn't want to deal with any "born agains" problems with the naked goddesses or pagan spirituality manifested in BG, and more than that, I wanted someone to do this who appreciated and would enjoy it. In the course of checking around, I asked a local women's bookstore for any recommendations, and they suggested a couple of local printers.
That's how I happened upon Eberhardt Press, a collective of anarchists who were glad to take the project. The fellow I've directly worked with is really reliable and congenial, so that has been wonderful. He showed me the sample books for text paper and cover, and we agreed on the selections. He answered my technical questions about whether they could produce good images from my last remaining copy of the 1986 edition--and happily, that has proven not to be a problem. This time it will be hand-sewn (meaning, done on a manual machine for the purpose) instead of stapled, which will add "class" to the appearance. The papers are really nice, the kind that have flecks and threads in them...not just plain or laid stock (which is what I had last time). The cover name and design will be in gold ink, to make it immediately attractive.
I wrote a very brief history/profile of Beloved Goddess, followed by a Dedication. This is on the inside front cover. It's much more overtly "political" than the first edition, but the melting icecaps and all the rest of the things going on in the world moved me to urge people not to just do rituals, but to act to heal our planet...while there's still time.
The part that I think will make this more effective than last time, is that I've come up with a very specific distribution plan. 400 copies will be printed, and I plan for 300 of those to be equally divided between two local sources: a store that is Goddess/spirituality themed, and the woman's bookstore that I mentioned earlier. The idea here is that (if they agree) I will give them each 150 copies for them to sell at whatever price they see fit. This will provide them with some income, and will also act as encouragement for what they are doing. In the course of this, they will be effective distributors of the booklet, which will obviously go to people who feel receptive and drawn to it.
The remaining 100 will be my personal copies, and these will be distributed one at a time to people I want to thank for their contributions to the world. They will also go to people I know and meet who are doing creative, giving things, and to whom I want to extend encouragement.
It has been a great blessing in my life that I have been able to manifest beauty--something that is important to me. Now that my hands have seized up and I can't do calligraphy any more, this re-issue of Beloved Goddess is what remains for me to do. I hope it will prove, in a small way, to be an incentive for people to act to save ourselves and heal our earth, as well as being something they will treasure and keep for its beauty.
I'll post here in future, as the copies come to me and events unfold; I'll keep you apprised of how this develops.
This is the illustrated and entirely calligraphed praise poem to the sacred feminine that I originally authored and had published in 1986. The illustrations were all drawn by an artist I hired for the purpose, and the visualizations of the various images was a shared process. 500 were printed at that time, and they were distributed over the following decades.
The thought of reissuing Beloved Goddess arose for me, I think, because I am feeling so grateful and blessed by the way my recent relocation to Portland, Oregon, has gone...and part of that blessing is that I can afford to live at a reasonably comfortable, if impoverished, level. So it happens that I have enough money to publish this, and I very much wanted to do a religious devotion that says "thank you" and extends that blessing to others.
So this is how it has gone: I asked around to try to find a printer--I didn't want to deal with any "born agains" problems with the naked goddesses or pagan spirituality manifested in BG, and more than that, I wanted someone to do this who appreciated and would enjoy it. In the course of checking around, I asked a local women's bookstore for any recommendations, and they suggested a couple of local printers.
That's how I happened upon Eberhardt Press, a collective of anarchists who were glad to take the project. The fellow I've directly worked with is really reliable and congenial, so that has been wonderful. He showed me the sample books for text paper and cover, and we agreed on the selections. He answered my technical questions about whether they could produce good images from my last remaining copy of the 1986 edition--and happily, that has proven not to be a problem. This time it will be hand-sewn (meaning, done on a manual machine for the purpose) instead of stapled, which will add "class" to the appearance. The papers are really nice, the kind that have flecks and threads in them...not just plain or laid stock (which is what I had last time). The cover name and design will be in gold ink, to make it immediately attractive.
I wrote a very brief history/profile of Beloved Goddess, followed by a Dedication. This is on the inside front cover. It's much more overtly "political" than the first edition, but the melting icecaps and all the rest of the things going on in the world moved me to urge people not to just do rituals, but to act to heal our planet...while there's still time.
The part that I think will make this more effective than last time, is that I've come up with a very specific distribution plan. 400 copies will be printed, and I plan for 300 of those to be equally divided between two local sources: a store that is Goddess/spirituality themed, and the woman's bookstore that I mentioned earlier. The idea here is that (if they agree) I will give them each 150 copies for them to sell at whatever price they see fit. This will provide them with some income, and will also act as encouragement for what they are doing. In the course of this, they will be effective distributors of the booklet, which will obviously go to people who feel receptive and drawn to it.
The remaining 100 will be my personal copies, and these will be distributed one at a time to people I want to thank for their contributions to the world. They will also go to people I know and meet who are doing creative, giving things, and to whom I want to extend encouragement.
It has been a great blessing in my life that I have been able to manifest beauty--something that is important to me. Now that my hands have seized up and I can't do calligraphy any more, this re-issue of Beloved Goddess is what remains for me to do. I hope it will prove, in a small way, to be an incentive for people to act to save ourselves and heal our earth, as well as being something they will treasure and keep for its beauty.
I'll post here in future, as the copies come to me and events unfold; I'll keep you apprised of how this develops.