Search results for secret santa.

Last Day to be a Secret Santa

Above is you and your Secret Santa before the exchange.

 

Below is you and your Secret Santa after the exchange.

I will continue to accept signups through midnight (CST) tonight. Then I’ll begin assigning randomly the Secret Santas.

Do it.

Be a Secret Santa and support independent authors/presses/publishers.

You just might like it.

Web Hype / 8 Comments
December 5th, 2008 / 12:24 pm

100 Secret Santas and counting…

That’s right. 100 of you have signed up for our Secret Santa Gift Exchange for Independent Literature. Things are happening.

Hooray!

One of you has even signed up twice!

Okay, what should the next goal be? 125?

If you’ve signed up and you’re wondering what to do next, don’t worry. I’ll have an email/post out to you with details about the exchange as soon as we get every last name on the list.

Remember, December 5th is the deadline.

Web Hype / 2 Comments
December 2nd, 2008 / 3:00 am

A Thanksgiving Post: Secret Santa Update

Some things you won't regret include signing up for the HTMLGIANT Secret Santa Gift Exchange

 

Thank you everyone who has signed up so far for the HTMLGIANT Secret Santa Gift Exchange for Independent Literature. As of right now, we have 60 people signed up to take part in the gift exchange, including some people from the United Kingdom. I am amazed; this has sort of gotten out of hand. So thank you for this.

So. We have nine days until the due date. Those of you who are participating, I ask you for your help in spreading word. Some of you have already blogged about it; great stuff. Keep on doing that. Do other things too. Those of you who are still trying decide, well, you have plenty of time. I suggest you take Thanksgiving to think it over. Hopefully, you’ll get drunk and email us. Unlike other things that happen when you get drunk, this is one you won’t regret.

Let’s try for 100?

Web Hype / 14 Comments
November 27th, 2008 / 12:32 am

Secret Santa Ideas from Adam Robinson

If you can’t please Adam, you can’t please this V of me. See here now:

HTML GIANT is Secret Santa. What this means is you email htmlgiant@gmail.com and tell them you want to participate and they email you a person’s name and then you send them some indie lit present, like a subscription or a book. There are more details, too. Check it out: Secret Santa.

For the occasion PGP is offering Rupert Wondolowski’s book, THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES AS A HEATED MOLE SUIT, at a reduced price of $9, shipping included. Email adam@publishinggenius.com if you want to order internationally.

Other great Secret Santa ideas are:
a Keyhole subscription
Mud Luscious Press books
Verb Sap by M. Magnus from Narrow House Press
What are other awesome things I’ve bought in the last couple weeks
A long arm stapler I think is a good present for anyone who cares about indie lit
Abraham Lincoln book ends
Talk has begun re: No Colony 2, maybe you could buy your person a publication in pink
I finally read Altmann’s Tongue, that’d make a good gift
Preorder the book Ryan Call will be publishing someday I imagine; THIS IS THE ONE I WANT
Just get them Rupert Wondolowski’s book he’s been at this game for years and years

Random / 14 Comments
November 24th, 2008 / 4:26 pm

HTMLGIANT is Secret Santa

Dear Readers,

We are pleased to announce our First Annual Secret Santa Gift Exchange to support independent literature.

Here’s how it works:

1) If you want to participate, email your name and mailing address to htmlgiant@gmail.com with the subject line: SECRET SANTA. The due date for this is Midnight on Friday, December 5th.

2) As soon as possible, we email you the name and address of your assigned gift recipient.

3) We assign your name and address to another Secret Santa.

4) By Christmas, you purchase for your gift recipient a wonderful gift and email us to let us know what you got him or her.

5) You simultaneously enjoy the gift that you receive from your own Secret Santa.

 

Frequently Asked Questions:

So why a Secret Santa gift exchange?

We at HTMLGIANT enjoy two things: promoting independent literature and surprising people. We figured a Secret Santa thing might allow us to do both. We hope that by doing this we can get independent literature into everyone’s faces, but in a way that would expose those faces to new, unheard of things. That’s the surprise part.

So what should I buy for my gift recipient?

Well sure, we have some suggestions. Buy a subscription to your favorite independent journal. Or buy a subscription to an independent journal you’ve heard good things about. Buy a book from one of the many small presses around the scene. Buy a book by an independent author. Buy a book in translation. Buy an anthology of work published by one of the many online literary journals. We can’t make you do any of this, really, but you should know that we certainly hope you’ll consider something of the sort. That was our intention. Maybe we’ll come up with a list of suggestions?

When should I buy and send my gift?

We don’t really know. We’re not very good at logistical problems. If you’re buying a subscription online, you could technically wait until Christmas Eve to pull out the credit card. But then your gift recipient wouldn’t have anything in hand to read and enjoy that morning. In this case, it might be worthwhile to send him or her an email and say, “Hey, guess what? I’m your Secret Santa and I just bought you a year’s subscription to such and such magazine.” If you’re buying him or her a book, maybe you should purchase it a week or two ahead and have the press/journal mail it directly. If you’re planning to mail it on your own, don’t wait until the last minute. There’s really no excuse not to. You have all you need to send the gift: a name and a mailing address. And remember, a late gift is better than no gift at all.

How do I learn the identity of my Secret Santa so that I can thank him or her?

Because HTMLGIANT will know who is paired with whom and what gifts everyone received, we will post a massive list on Christmas morning of all of the exchanges that occurred. Then you can comment on the list and post your thanks. Ultimately, we’d like to give everyone an idea as to how much cool stuff was received, how many independent presses and journals and authors benefited from your goodwill, how many people are into reading independent literature.

What if I already own what my Secret Santa purchased for me?

If you find out that you already own the gift, we encourage you to regift it to someone else. You might also consider commenting on our massive post to say how happy you are to receive such a wonderful gift, but that you already own it and would be willing to set up a trade with someone else. The idea here is to create some chaotic sort of gift exchange. In order to do that, we ask that you embrace the giving spirit of the holidays.

How can I avoid giving someone a gift that they already own?

Good question. We struggled over this one and came up with this: we recommend that you get people things they’d likely not have, such as a subscription to a small magazine you think you’ve discovered on your own, or a book just released by a small press. Check out catalogues to see what books have just come out.

 

 

So, that’s all. We really do hope you’ll consider participating. And spread the word. The more people, the better. If you have any other questions, please email us.

Web Hype / 120 Comments
November 23rd, 2008 / 8:03 pm

What I Want From Santa Claus

Christmastime is the best time. There are sparkly lights and cute reindeer and cute snowmen and cute songs, and so on. There’s also a lot of gifts to be given, which is great, especially if you like books and things, as I do. Alas, almost all Western culture subjects won’t get any gifts from Santa at all, as they only care about their Twitter feed, their sexuality, and leading a “grievable life” so that this doesn’t happen to them. But for those thoughtful boys and girls who don’t go around kissing dead Nelson Mandela’s tushy, they should expect estimable presents. These are the ones I want:

Gossip by Samantha Cohen: Gossip can be malicious and harmful, so everyone should do it.

Cunt Norton by Dodie Bellamy: While the cannon is actually quite commendable, so is cutting, which is what Dodie does to one of the Norton anthologies.

Salamandrine: 8 Gothics by Joyelle McSweeney: According to Diane Sawyer, those divinely deathy Columbine boys “may have been a part of a dark, underground national phenomenon known as the Gothic movement and that some of those Goths may have killed before.” So…

Begging For It by Alex Dimitrov: This boy was the subject of some criticism for his appropriation of some kind of AIDS-related art. But AIDS is silly, and Alex is sort of cute.

Butcher’s Tree by Feng Chen: Her Spork book, “Blud,” was really cute and sassy, so these poems probably will be as well.

Our Lady of the Flowers, Echoic by Chris Tysh: Jean Genet was a violent, cutthroat boy, and I want to see Divine and Dainty Feet in verse.

Haute Surveillance by Johannes Goransson: Johannes read an excerpt from this at the first and only ever Boyesque Reading (also featuring Peter Davis, Tyler Gobble, and me). It was violent, stylish, and totalitarian.

The Memoirs of JonBenet by Kathy Acker by Michael du Plessis: JonBenet Ramsey was cute and tragic. This year, she published a collection of rhymes for my cute and thoughtful Tumblr, Bambi Muse. I want to see how Michael portrays the pageant princess.

The Mysteries of Laura by Andrea Quinlan: It’s a collection of poems that are Victorian and gothic, which is to say it’s Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte and Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris.

Mother Ghost by Casey Hannan: I like ghosts.

Thank You for the Window Office by Maged Zaher: He once composed a very pleasing poem about Paris Hilton.

Since the outside is important too, you should be decking a delightful outfit while you wait for Santa to come. For girls, picking out what to wear isn’t arduous at all, as all girls should wear what they should wear all the time, a babydoll dress, a big but elegant hairbow, and ballet flats. For boys, choosing the correct clothes is much more vexing. Most boys hold the opinion that tight jeans and an ironic top are stylish. But this isn’t so. Style should have meaning. Boy in the vintage Supersonics Shawn Kemp jersey, can you inform everyone who Shawn Kemp is? Are you aware that he once showed up to the Cavaliers training camp as an unacceptable fatty? No, you’re not. Style, like literature, must have meaning. So, while anticipating Santa’s arrival, all boys should wear a meaningful outfit, like the one that I am:

IMG_0372

Sunnies because eyes should be kept secret.

Basketball hoodie that I stole from a friend, because basketball players are like monsters.

Purple-striped dress shirt because it’s proper.

A skirt because boys should wear skirts.

Skull-and-crossbone pants because they’re deathy.

Werewolf purple socks to match the purple dress shirt.

Buckled shoes because they’re proper too.

I Like __ A Lot & Roundup / 4 Comments
December 20th, 2013 / 2:33 pm

Books for Christmas?

The kid in this video (via Harriet) feels like I do. Unless it’s htmlgiant’s Secret Santa thing, don’t ever give books for Christmas.

The wtf-est book I ever received was Kurt Warner’s bio. What gives, Pop?

Mean / 25 Comments
December 21st, 2010 / 1:08 pm

Holiday Sales

I’ve tried to gather after the jump as many holiday sales as I could find over the weekend. Secret Santas, pay attention; some of these sales go above the $20 limit, but you can always keep some books, send other books, or bust the limit knowing you might not get the same in return. Any editors/publishers who’d like to drop their special on our internet, do so in the comments or email me and I’ll add the sales here. For those not in Secret Santa, many of these will still apply to you, though some are only for Secret Santa participants. If you haven’t, please consider signing up to participate in the exchange.

READ MORE >

Random / 5 Comments
December 9th, 2010 / 11:47 am

At Montevidayo, Megan Milks wrote about Anna Joy Springer’s The Birdwisher from Birds of Lace Press. She received The Birdwisher from her HTMLGIANT Secret Santa last year. If you haven’t signed up yet, you have less than two weeks to make sure you get a cool gift like Megan did.

Last year I participated in the HTML Giant holiday gift exchange and Birds of Lace Press was my secret giftgiver, sending me among other things Anna Joy Springer’s The Birdwisher. Because I was focusing on my qualifying exams all year, I couldn’t crack it open…until now………

Random / 3 Comments
December 2nd, 2010 / 10:49 am

Best Comment Exchange Ever?

Maybe the sommelier will pick this up later but: This just in: READ MORE >

Author Spotlight & Massive People / 11 Comments
December 18th, 2009 / 3:26 pm