BEFORE OR NEVER

How does it work?

The public may purchase 8-Ball Almanac on this website from June 18 to October 18, after which it will no longer be available, never to be reprinted. In fact, only copies that have been pre-ordered will be printed and shipped directly to customers.

At the end of the pre-order period, the only way to buy 8-Ball Almanac will be from the bookstores, comic book shops, associations, and publishers which have decided to distribute it, as with previous titles sold on this platform. Distribution requests must be made within the same time window as the general pre-order, from June 18 to October 18.

Copies will be delivered by: December 18 for orders in Europe; December 22 for orders in the US.

Why has it been organized this way?

Before or Never has been created out of a need to explore new forms of production and distribution within independent publishing. Using tools that have developed organically, this approach seeks to overcome the drawbacks of traditional publishing by capturing and directing the enormous possibilities created by the growth of online sales. By prioritizing efficiency and creating longer promotion periods for products, this platform aims to increase both the freedom and compensation for all parties involved in the conceptualization and production of projects. Authors will receive 50% of the net income from sales with the remaining 50% to be divided between all other contributors of a given project.

Before or Never does not intend to replace publishing houses, but rather stimulate artistic praxes and create a path for realizing unpublished projects.

The approach seeks to offer the possibility of greater economic satisfaction for book makers by offering them the thrill of making a truly unique product, one created in complete autonomy but with the budget required of a high-level publication.

Before or Never aims to give life to projects which were previously (“before”) impossible, and­ once created, never replicable. The project unites the ephemeral nature of all organic things with artistic production, in an attempt to dominate the logic of the market rather than simply overcome it.

Before or Never is a gamble. Authors and contributors who work on the production of a book will only be compensated based on the results of pre-orders; the book will be printed and shipped to customers regardless of whether the number of copies sold covers the cost of production. Similarly, if readers don’t make a pre-order, they may miss the opportunity to ever have a physical copy of the title. Risk, as we know, is exciting.

Before or Never is not a crowdfunding platform, as made clear by the risks involved. After all, it may be nice to stroll through sun-dappled woods, but it’s much more thrilling to run through a forest in the dead of night.