olivier has two « i »s

This is essentially a weather report of chicago

I did it… I got full fenders I’m doing so many things that only signal to I’m getting older (ahem, responsible)

In November 2025, I started an open editable document titled Art Book Fair / Zine Fest Public Sales Transparency. You can find it here: https://l1nk.dev/ArtBookFairSales. It gives publishers a space to share events they were in, what it cost to participate, how much they sold, and more on how it went, Event organizers often survey participants to gather this information on their own but the data they collect is not shared with the public. I wanted to make something everyone could see, use, and learn from. Book fair and zine fest costs can include travel, table fees, food, lodging, shipping and other expenses, The more data publishers add to the doc, the better others can try to understand if an event is worth the time and expense. There are many non-monetary benefits and reasons for participating in events (meeting people, sharing your work, visiting a new city, and building community). But this document should help others think about the economic dimension with care as they plan for fairs and think about what publishing means for them. In a discussion about Art Book Fair / Zine Fest Public Sales Transparency, some people commented that they sell very little at fairs, possibly because they are just starting out or finding their audience. I wanted to give them a pep talk, but there are so many factors involved with selling books and zines. Everyone has fairs that go badly or publishes things that don’t sell as easily as they had hoped. Still, there are some themes that emerge. As a fun way to try to diagnose why things don’t always work out, I created this list of possible reasons that attendees aren’t buying books. This text is informed by many years of tabling at book fairs and zine fests in the US as well as internationally. I hope people will take it in stride and think of this list as something lighthearted by a member of the community, for the community. Now go out there and find your readers! — Marc Fischer / Public Collectors

Excerpt (the whole left page): Possible Reasons Why People Aren't Buying Your Books and Zines at the Art Book Fair / Zine Fest They are also publishers and have little money for other people’s books and zines. You left your table to go look at other publishers’ stuff or buy lunch because you didn’t pack enough snacks. You are looking at your phone too much. Or, you are busy reading someone else’s book and need to look up from it. You aren’t talking to them and are passively waiting for someone to understand your work, care, and buy it with no effort on your part. There are too many other people with tables at the fair/fest and not enough attendees to justify having so many participants. The economy sucks and no one has money, but they attended anyway because they love books, zines, and people who make them. Your prices are too high, and the books/zines feel like they are a poor value compared to other publications with similar qualities and production values. You made something that is a weird format or too large and no one wants to carry it around. They want to pay for your books and zines with some version of money that you don’t accept because every publisher is now expected to take about five different forms of payment. They came to the event to be seen and you are just scenery. There is a DJ, you are close to the speakers, and the music is too loud to have a conversation about your work. The vibes are bad. The light is bad, The breath/B.O. is bad. They are holding four cups of coffee, a glass of wine, and three tote bags filled with books. They are too burdened with stuff to handle or buy any more things. They only came to trade their books and zines with other publishers. Selling isn’t everything, you capitalist jerk!

The last page of the main text: They’re a librarian and blew their budget too early in the fair. They are nervous about buying your last copy. Your work is great but your tone or content don’t fit the fair. They already have 93 different zines about the same subject that your publications are about. You have failed to offer a different take on whatever your thing is. Your type is small and hard to read. Your materials are fragile and will get destroyed in transit. You made the cover of your zine as graphic as possible, and no one wants to be seen carrying around a publication with a giant penis, dead body, or photo of Ted Cruz on the front. Apparently they came to the book fair/zine fest to buy plants, ceramics, stuffed animals, toys, chocolate, jewelry, clothes, and 3-D printed tchotchkes, not books and zines. They are distracted by the dazzling pattern on the tablecloth that you have placed under your books and zines. They are afraid of knocking your books and zines off the elaborate display structures and scaffolding that you are using to display 175 titles on a 3 foot wide table surface. You are still in the process of assembling your books and zines at your table and they don’t want to get in the way of your stapler, bone folder, cutting board and collating station. The super desirable thing you made ten years ago is out of print and your new stuff just isn’t hitting like the thing you are tired of and don’t want to reprint for the rest of your life even though it was profitable. Public Collectors www.publiccollectors.org Publication #110, December, 2025

I had a lot of fun writing this new single-sheet Public Collectors zine: "Why Aren't People Buying Your Books and Zines at Fairs?" Reprinted in full here. It's free if you ask for it when you order from halfletterpress.com or you can get it in this set I made: halfletterpress.com/3-single-she...

I’m only good at one thing

well… here’s being 30. Took the septum ring out for a job interview

In need of someone rewriting sontag’s On Women for twinks and transmasc bodies

Matcha chocolate banana bread with walnuts

The problem of holding onto an identity is the problem of the seemingly usefulness of categorisation

…. I don’t appreciate this

I highly prefer x2 amount of time after socialising and I haven’t recover since kindergarten

Okay much better banana bread

A little too wet black sesame banana bread

probably in early teens, my friends and I were so careful when to use “xd”, “xD”, and “XD” and now we all at the age of unhingedly using 🤣.

Seasame cookies

Half of my problems and way of being can be concluded with “oh it was bc of my depression” or “oh that makes sense now it was bc I’m autistic”. And other half is bc I haven’t realise I need to rethink them

Marble-ish banana bread with pecans

Biking in the rain with eye sight like mine is: do I want to wear glasses so I see things but I don’t see things or I should I not wear glasses and not see things but see things

Matcha banana bread with walnuts and blueberries

Every two days I’m humbled by neurotypical people telling me that’s not what that means or the word choices I have is very specific

Accidentally started my first empty Sunday on the calendar by diving too deep into detransitioning transphobes YouTube channels since 8:30am…

This is what an unemployed person looks at on a Tuesday’s morning

apple bread

Instagram should tell me when did someone started following me

instead of mothers day, happy emergency contacts day!!!

My right hand looks like this so my left hand can looks like this 😔🙂‍↕️

my final last photo taken on during my mfa final critiques

I want to be locked in with the conclave right now— is it like final crits?