The entire The Life & Times of Baby Otto Zeplin series will include ten volumes, four of which will be themed. What I mean by “themed” is that there will be an over-arching adventure, recurring character, or abstract idea that runs through the entire 25-page volume. For example, in the current volume, Otto is a hobo, traveling the rails of the United States. I already have ideas for two of the three remaining themes, but I thought it might be fun to have the fourth theme be reader-created.

To enter: Email me with your theme idea (multiple submissions are more than welcome). Below, I will keep a current list of all ideas sent to me. I will keep track of who sent which idea and will announce the winner once I have decided. That lucky person will receive a free copy of each volume, as it gets released, through the end of the series. (If the winner already owns Volume One, his/her free copies will begin with Volume Two)

I feel it necessary to keep my two already-decided themes a secret. In the event that you suggest a similar idea, please do not feel cheated that you didn’t win the contest, but instead feel proud because great minds think alike.

Contest ends August 3rd, 2008!

THEME IDEAS:

  • Anything involving sasquatch
  • Oregon Trail (the computer game)
  • The advent of electricity
  • Vividly insane dreams born from eating like 5 sticks of butter or some other form of food poisoning
  • Dismemberment (losing an arm or leg) or blindness or polio
  • A gold rush
  • Otto gets married
  • Otto visits relatives in Germany
  • Otto meets bizzaro Otto
  • Otto invents/fights a robot
  • Otto finds oil
  • Otto invents rock n roll
  • Otto publishes his memoirs
  • Otto competes in the Olympics (3)
  • Otto meets Mark Twain (Addition from 2nd source, also meets Mark Twain’s characters)
  • Otto runs away to Las Vegas
  • Baby Otto in Time and Space (time portals and space ships)
  • Baby Otto and the Old West
  • Baby Otto becomes a detective
  • Baby Otto becomes a werewolf
  • baby otto creates 25 different inventions
  • baby otto travels to alaska
  • baby otto directs a play
  • baby otto talks w/ a young albert einstein (and/or other famous figures)
  • baby otto goes to the world’s fair
  • baby otto discover an uncharted island with strange creatures and vaguely canibalistic natives
  • Otto gets an office job
  • Otto runs for president
  • Otto at a speak easy (ok it’s a little early for prohibition)
  • Otto and the Aztecs
  • Otto gets tattoos
  • Otto gets a job
  • Otto in the haunted mine
  • Otto goes around the world in 81 days
  • Otto at the circus
  • Otto inherits a million
  • Otto and the motor car
  • Otto and the flying machine
  • Otto at the opium den
  • Otto and the gentleman dandy
  • Otto in New York
  • Otto meets Queen Victoria
  • Otto learns the blues
  • Otto in Australia
  • Otto escapes from prison
  • Otto stars in silent film
  • Otto and the Japanese empire
  • Baby Otto gets bullied at school
  • Baby Otto gets kidnapped
  • Baby Otto goes on a cruise
  • citizen zeplin: the newspaper tycoon
  • Otto attends an automobile show.
  • Otto eat the thirty-second hamburger sandwich ever.
  • Otto attends the State fair.
  • Otto organizes a baseball league.
  • Otto is befriended by Leon Czolgosz or Gaetano Bresci.
  • Otto joins the Signal Corps.
  • Otto starts the precursor to the Bilderberg Group.
  • Otto becomes the personal seussaphone player for J.P. Morgan.
  • Otto rides as a jockey in the Kentucky Derby.
  • Otto perfects method acting. Takes off-broadway by storm.
  • Otto builds a radio but has to burn it to keep warm for a night.
  • Otto ends up in Japan and has a run-in with Baby Emperor Hirohito.
  • Otto survives an earthquake, saves a family.
  • Otto becomes a celebrated fashion designer. Falls apart when he tries to start a goggles-on-forehead fad. Ahead of his time.
  • Otto builds a roller coaster amusement ride.
  • Otto has run-ins with Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid.
  • Otto tries his hand at table tennis.
  • Otto takes on work at a farm.
  • Otto saves the world without anybody realizing it.
  • Otto visits the dentist.
  • Otto works at the zoo
  • Otto develops a gambling problem.
  • Otto builds a cabin and befriends the owls.
  • Otto is put on trial, demonstrates his filibuster skills.
  • Otto fakes his own death for the sake of good showmanship.
  • Otto goes on a fox hunt.
  • Otto starts his own penny candy factory.
  • Otto meets Aleister Crowley and gets mixed up with the occult.
  • Otto versus Cthulu.
  • Otto becomes a lumberjack.
  • Otto joins a wild west show.
  • Otto visits Russia.
  • Baby Otto becomes a Dad

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