As many of you know, I’ve struggled for some years about selling my photographs, I offer them for free to anyone who wishes to use them in any way they want, that remains the case. I love the idea of my pictures gracing computers, being printed out and shared, my little points of light sailing out into the world. Notecards are a good way to sell some photos and help recoup some of the costs of printing them (you can’t really charge enough to make much money, to be honest). It is also a good thing to do for people who can’t afford framed or matted prints.

But it has been hard to figure out how to print them cheaply and well, price them inexpensively, choose them intelligently. So I dropped it. Maria has revived the idea, we both noticed the passion and intensity of cat lovers and we have two barn cats who have had interesting times at Bedlam Farm – Minnie, born a feral kitten, transplanted to Bedlam Farm, recently lost a leg in an animal attack. And Flo, hiding out in the woodshed for a year or so before deciding to take over the house and my lap. So Maria chose four Minnie and Flo photos and we printed 100 sets of them at A & M Printers,  an excellent printer right here in Cambridge. They did a very fine job of printing and at a very fair price, one that makes it possible for us to sell them cheaply.

We are selling them in packs of four for $20 plus shipping (details on Maria’s site). They are all signed by me.

Maria was right on this one, she is learning all the time. People want photos of Minnie and Flo, especially on our eclectic porch, especially with Red in one of them. We put them up for sale Tuesday morning and more than half  are gone already and we like the idea of moving them all quickly so we can print other series – Red and Zelda, the donkeys. We don’t want them lying around for months, we want to keep them flowing out to you and out of here. I learned during the last book four – for Second Chance Dog – the importance of incentives and rewards. So we are offering some.

To the 50th buyer, a signed paperback copy of my short story collection, Dancing Dogs. To the 75th buyer, the notecards will be free. The 100th buyer will be given a  signed and personalized copy (me and Maria) of Second Chance Dog: A Love Story.

We are spending a lovely evening at the dining room table tonight signing, folding and putting the notecards into envelopes, talking and petting dogs. (Some Frieda and Lenore dog hair may be in these packs.)  We just realized the importance of incentives while signing and sorting them. I like doing it this way, Maria and I have great fun. I like seeing my photos used in this way, it is also a chance for Maria to make some money for her art work.  I think we are figuring this out. So you can check out the notecards  here. Maria takes Paypal and  checks can be sent to our post office box: P.O. Box 2502, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. As soon as these are sold, we will go ahead on the next set, I think Red and Zelda and the sheep. Details on Maria’s website.