Free
We have been discussing the pricing of the print edition of
Birkensnake. When we started Birkensnake in
2008 we did not sit down and think, OK, the crystallized social labor
fixed in each copy plus operating costs equals price. We just thought
we wanted to make it affordable and $4 seemed affordable. So we sold
the first four issues for $4. The $4 has nothing to do with how many
hours we spend producing Birkensnake or how much money we
spend on things like paper and ink and thread and glue and Super 77.
Lately we started wondering why we charge $4 at all. To offset our
expenses just a little? To participate in the zine market so bookstores
will carry Birkensnake on consignment? To equate
Birkensnake in some way with the money form because money
has acquired totemic power and people are suspicious of anything free?
It became clear to us that we should either charge much more for
Birkensnake or charge nothing. We have opted for nothing.
Birkensnake 5 is priced at $0. As with the previous issues
of Birkensnake we spent a long time making every copy of
Birkensnake 5 by hand (with the help of many indefatigable
comrades) and we feel excited by the stories we’re publishing. If
you want to support Birkensnake by donating any amount of dollars at any time we support
your doing that. We’d definitely appreciate financial help as we
continue to come up with weird and unexpectedly expensive ways of
printing awesome writing. We just started feeling silly putting a price
tag on something as caustic to late capitalism and its glossy
literatures as Birkensnake. Also we forgot to print a
price on the cover.
All the other issues are free now too.
Get It
Now that you have read that Birkensnake is free, you may
be disappointed to learn that we do not actually have any copies left.
We gave them all away. We leave the above text for the time being
because some people have linked to it, and because we may one day have
more Birkensnakes to give away.
Donations
Donations are appreciated. You can donate
via Paypal, or, if you are Paypal-free, you can send a check to
Joanna Ruocco:
950 Downing Street #6, Denver CO 80218
Donations will be used to make Birkensnake 6. If you
are interested in seeing an extravagant Birkensnake 6, you
should donate a great deal of money. We are generally suspicious of
money but we will understand your donation as a token of love.
