site banner
PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   2254 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 20, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I also dabbled in the Print on Demand industry. The earlier incarnations of this are Zazzle and Cafepress, later perfected by Redbubble and Teepublic and a handful of other platforms. Believe it or not I used to make a lot of money on Redbubble. (More on that later.) But anyway, as I wanted the freedom to travel and fulfill orders while making money away from a studio, I decided to pivot away from my physical brand’s business and move entirely into print on demand. This was a combination of through platforms like Redbubble and traditional marketplaces like ebay, Etsy and amazon.”

Almost sounds like just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing came to your industry.

I actually know a decent amount about the self-publishing book industry and vendors like CreateSpace, AuthorHouse, BookBaby, etc. I came upon an opportunity not too long ago to buy out a collection of some very valuable historic books, some of which I can’t say are highly sought after because most people aren’t aware of them due to their rarity, but if mass marketed through one of the aforementioned quality production pipelines, would undoubtedly make money.

But there’s two specific problems I ran into upon reflection. The first is that these works aren’t just rare, they’re in a couple foreign languages. And anyone who knows anything about translating books, it’s far more complex than simply using Google Translate for the entire manuscript. Companies like BookBaby have experts on hand which offer those services and I forget the precise cost but it’s something like $X per 1,000 words. I haven’t fully worked out the economics at all, but the quick and dirty estimates I ran still checked out for the viability of making this endeavor a success.

The remaining problem is one that seems to be insurmountable and I haven’t figured out how to resolve it. And it’s not copyright or public domain related. The material may be considered by some to be controversial enough that the publisher review process of the manuscript may decide they don’t want to be associated with the work and refuse to translate and print it.

Normally I’m inclined to say “don’t worry about the publishers, the free market will provide.” Someone will pick up the money on the sidewalk. There are imprints out there which publish Nazi stuff for historical interest. Surely whatever tomes you’ve found can’t have worse optics…right?

Well I don’t know which parties it has a chance of pissing off, but I suspect it would piss off enough people that pressure would get applied to the publisher to cancel the projects I was editing. To your point, you could just publish it out of historical interest and license but that becomes a problem when people say what you’re publishing is overly prescriptive. The controversy surrounding it is precisely what would make it such a seller, so it’s a double edged sword.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats