from Ctein, October 21, 2008
Message (and a Request) from Ctein
As an artist I have always depended upon the kindness of strangers. This month "strangers" have been exceptionally kind to me. (Okay, I know you're not strangers, but I don't want to screw up a fine Tennessee Williams reference).
When Mike and I launched the dye transfer print offering, I figured that if the offer were extremely successful it would be well within my printing capability to deliver 200-odd prints by Christmas (I would be working hard, mind you, but it would be doable). Heck, I could even deliver an unimaginable 300+ prints by Christmas if I really had to (very long hours, lots of midnight oil, etc.); we had ample safety margin.
The gods have an interesting sense of humor. When orders closed last night, some 450 people had ordered about 720 prints.
I am beyond flabbergasted, beyond ecstatic, beyond elated. I'm simply stunned. And at a loss for metaphors; my jaw hit the floor many days ago and I haven't been able to pick it up since. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to all of you—the folks who ordered, the folks who sent e-mails thanking us for making the offer, the folks who copied the offer and posted it on their own lists, all of you. It's beyond astonishing.
Victim of success
...And it presents me with a difficulty. It's physically impossible for me to make 700 dye transfer prints before Christmas. it will likely take me through February to do this much printing.
So once more I have to depend upon the kindness of "strangers." I need to ask for volunteers willing to wait a little longer for their prints. If you don't need your print before Christmas, please
e-mail me at ctein@pobox.com (don't post as a comment). You don't need to recapitulate your order; just give me your name, and I'll match it to your order. Folks who really do need their photos by Christmas will all get them shipped before folks who don't, with orders filled in the order in which I received them. So that none of our out-of-U.S. friends worry, those orders will get shipped before domestic ones, because it can take one-to-several weeks longer for overseas mail.
If you do want your photographs by Christmas, you don't need to do anything. Hopefully more than enough of you will volunteer for later delivery that I will not be in a bind.
Thank you all; I'm still in a state of shock. This mixture of elation, gratitude, and sheer terror is one that I am unaccustomed to.
- —Ctein