Shop Talk

I started a CafePress shop in 2008 to promote the Lineup chapbooks. Around the same time, I also created a shop for the Short Mystery Fiction Society, where I was serving as president.

The Society shop sold logo merchandise at cost in return for said logo being designed pro bono. Meanwhile, I was the Lineup shop's best customer. I liked the quality of what I bought and re-branded the shop for The Five-Two, but the CafePress site has had more than its share of hiccups over the years. About two weeks ago, both shops disappeared from my account, and instead of trying to restore them, I closed my account.

While a new president will decide whether to open another Short Mystery Fiction Society shop, I've set up the CriPoWkly store at Zazzle, comparable to CafePress but offering a wider range of products. Tied into the Zazzle move, I've renamed the Five-Two Twitter account @CriPoWkly. That's short for "Crime Poetry Weekly", but just as Five-Two poems don't glorify crime, neither do the shop's designs. And, as with the CafePress shop, I'll donate all April royalties to the nonprofit Academy of American Poets, supporting poets at all stages of their careers.

Through Tuesday, July 5, use the coupon code ZAZFIREWORKS for 25% off your order.