Contest: Win a Portrait, Hardcover Book, Softcover Books

Update: Half Off Caffeinated Toothpaste: Volume 1

Hello

My name is Josh Bauman and I'm an American cartoonist based in Berlin. For the past two years I've been drawing Caffeinated Toothpaste, my daily diary comic. Drawing a daily comic began as an exercise to improve my storytelling, writing, and art, though most of all, it was a way for me to do more of what I love most, which is making comics! After a few months and lots of great encouragement I decided to share the strips as a web comic. 

What began as an exercise started becoming more exciting for me. With each milestone I reached with the diary comic the more I wanted to keep on working on it. As months went by I found myself looking more and more forward to the part of the day I spent drawing a strip. After one year I self-published the first compilation of my diary strips.

Having just reached the 700-strip mark I have no plans of slowing down. I am, however, preparing my second compilation of diary strips. Unlike my first book, which was produced using print-on-demand publication, this second volume will be offset printed in vibrant full color. It's not just the color that's the different in this volume. Caffeinated Toothpaste: Volume 2 will be printed with far superior materials. Best of all, I'm working with a local printer and graphic designer! My personal goal for this project is to create the best looking book possible. 

What I Need

Using print-on-demand for my first book allowed me to order a small quantity of books at a given time. However, for high quality offset printing the entire order must be produced at once. Unfortunately offset printing requires a great deal of technical preparation. The initial setup for the print run makes up a majority of the expense whereas the actual cost of the printing materials is rather low, which makes it financially necessary to order a single larger shipment of books. 

The Book

The details of the book are: 

• Format: 297 x 210 mm (11.7 x 8.3 in)  
• Pages: 96 
• Copies: 250
• Color: 4-color offset printing for cover and interior
• Contents: approximately 150 comics 
• Cover: softcover, 300 gr. matte chromo board
• Paper: 135 gr. white matte
• Binding: PUR perfect bound
• Produced locally entirely in Berlin
• The final cost of the book will be approximately $25 (€20)

Everyone that helps will be given credit in the printed version of the book and will also receive a PDF copy of the book. The $25 reward level is a pre-order of the book (not including shipping). Each book will be signed to your specification and I'll also draw a little picture in there.

At the $100 reward level you will get a signed limited edition hardcover book, created specially for this campaign. As with the softcover version, I will also sketch a small picture inside. 

Rewards at $300 and up include limited edition prints and original art as well as both hard and softcover books.  

At the $2000 level is will draw a diary strip about you and your support. That strip will be published online, printed in the book, and you will receive the original framed hand-inked comic. In addition, you will also receive both hard and softcover books.

The ultimate reward level at $4000 is a tour of my Berlin studio (travel expenses not included). From there we'll venture to the best comic and coffee shops around. Sights will be seen, delicious foods will be eaten, and the day's activities will be turned into a diary strip and published. You'll receive the original framed hand-inked comic.  

You can see the full list of rewards on the right-hand side of this page.

Keep your eyes peeled for additional rewards as the campaign continues.