UPDATE

It's been way too long since I updated this, my sincerest apologizes.  

Things have been tough. I got a promotion, but I'm still working on multiple TV shows (only getting paid for one though, that's 'swell'), so really it just means I have even less time then before.  We had to put Ollie down, he had a really bad heart condition, and it was the right thing to do, although the decision has haunted me every day since.  I'm having a hard time writing this bit right now, so I apologize. It just. . .really took a toll. I still think about him everyday.

Also there's been a number of financial . . .problems, that are getting resolved just now, and so on and so forth.  I'm not trying to make excuses although I'm sure it sounds like it, I just want to explain what's going on, and why it's been so long of an absence. 

SO, without further ado, I'll try to lay out how this comic is coming and will be put out. 

At the moment, I'm taking a step back to take a step forward. Doing a print run of the size I'd like may be complicated, especially as I'm a 'rookie' in the world of comic publishing.  But one thing I know is games. Fairly well actually. 

So what I'm doing is working on a Zombie Miniatures game first, the comic to follow. 

I can almost hear the collective groan from here, "Another Zombie game on the market? Ugh"

We'll for one, I've got some unique publishing and mechanic values, and while I don't want to give much away, there will be helpful factors that will give it an edge like, portability, low cost, wide availability, among others.  And oh yeah, and appendix that has conversion rules for Zombie Dinosaurs (along with an advertisment for it).

The reason I'm doing it this way is I can coincide it with a digital release, get a decent amount of distribution and it establishes the brand. So there's that. And you know, the potential for extra income to then fund the comic is nice IF it happens. 

Now back to the comic. . .

I'm going to switch away from the realistic style to a more 'cartoony' (is that a real word. . .whatever) style.  Trying to create a realistic comic was part of what caused the large delay.  Coming home at somewhere between 8:30pm to even 2 in the morning and having to sit at a drafting table and draw for 12 hours was literally impossible.  I've always been able to draw in a cartoonist's style far more efficiently, so I should be able to produce pages without suffering in quality too much. 

I'll have some pictures up soon of more recent work and also for the game. In any advent, thanks for sticking with me.  Sorry for the delays. More to come. 

Thanks for listening.  

The Art of Being Stubborn (or how to get back on the horse after suffering repeated concussions).

Perhaps its because of Comic Con right around the corner (my wife is going this year, strangely enough I couldn't scrounge up a pass-been so busy working on three TV shows that it slipped my mind to even get one) or perhaps because I picked up and blew off the dust of the Wacom tablet yesterday, that I feel I should get back into posting on the blog.

Truth be told the comic has stalled a bit (obviously).  The pressures of what I get paid to do for a living, along with animating a short (pitch for Nickelodeon) by myself, guests staying over, the dog's sickness, and pretty much everything life could throw at me, meant I had to take a step back.  But a step back doesn't necessarily mean 'away'

I'm still determined to get back on the horse and get this bad boy done.  I've done you, the reader, a dis service by not posting so long, and not responding to emails, which is just stupid, and I'm sorry.

Right now figuring out how to budge my time is the major thing. I figure if I can create a schedule as stick too it, I should be done fairly quickly, even though at the moment I have increasingly less time, and less energy. Oh, and the fact that I'm being stupid enough to do this: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dark_knight_training.htm
yeah, Christian Bale's workout routine for Dark Knight.  I promise I will not walk around like this though:

Anyway budgeting time.  I've been looking a lot at what great literary writers have done, at least schedule-wise.  I'm not saying I'm remotely on par, but I figure you look at what a successful person does, try to mimic that to the best of your ability, with variances that work for you and you should, in theory, get something that works.  For example:


Granted #2, pretty easy to do, but you get the picture.  One of the things that really intrigued me was this however, Ben Franklin's routine, which he apparently had printed up:



I love that A) he only sleeps 4 hours a day, and B) the "What good shall I do this day". It has nothing to do with the purposes of this blog, but I just like the little side note he has set aside for introspection.

Basically what I'm babbiling (again. . .I know right) about is that in order to complete your goals, especially if they are something outside you usual skill sets you're going to need to:
A) Observe others that are successful, especially if they are related to what you want to accomplish.
B) Plan, and plan for you
C) Stick with plan
(Step 4: ? Step 5: Profit!. . .sorry couldn't resist)

Welp, I'm trying to bang this out while at work (big shock right) so I may edit this later.  Just know that the comic is coming back and so am I. . .

Oh and the next post should be about how I'm trying to do the comic digitally (the process of creating it more so than making it a digital format)

Later Gators and have fun at Con.
-Trevor.

So Sorry For The Delay Guys

Hey guys, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry about the delay. For those of you that have been reading for awhile, you probably remember how crazy I was when I was working on one show (HBO's "Luck") and all the insanity of that. . .well, apparently I'm insane, because I'm currently Assisting on 3, yes THREE, separate shows now, all at the same time.  Which is why working on the comic is so hard.  Assisting on one show is labor intensive, time consuming and mind-numbing.  Three. . .don't get me started.

In addition, I've been trying to get a few more show pitches together.  In fact I should have one by the end of March I may put up here just for kicks and giggles.

But I want to be clear, I AM NOT STOPPING THE COMIC. But as many of you know it's damn hard to come home from work and start back up on the comic.  Normally I'd say it's like working a second job, but for me it would be working on a 4th. . .which is stupidly crazy.

Also this little guy has been taking up a lot of my time. . .

My wife and Oliver

His name's Oliver (for Oliver Twist. . .his full name is Oliver Twist McGiggles) and he's a rescue.  My wife found him on the street in Santa Monica, and after trying to get him adopted, he pretty much came home to us.  It took a little time, because he obviously came from an abusive past owner, but now, he's so well adjusted it's crazy. . .but that took a lot of bonding time, so that was time away from the comic. Not that I would trade it. Love that little furball. 

Anyway,

Later Gators.

  

If you're thinking about self-publishing. . .

. . .you need to read this.  It's written by Jim Zub, the artist behind SkullKickers.  I can't recommend this article enough:

http://www.jimzub.com/?p=1953

READ IT.

Diamond Distro. Plus a silly sketch

(Sorry about the quality-quick pic with my phone)

If your new to the comic world, or if you just focus on comics when you’re in the comic shop, you are probably new to Diamond Distribution.  If you’re not, you most likely know, that they are practically the sole distributor to almost all the Comic Shops across the United States. They also have a strong international presence, however I’m quite frankly not sure if they are as strong in those markets as they are in the United States.  Simply put, if you want to mass market your comic and get as many stores carrying your product you will be dealing with Diamond.

While I’m not normally for monopolies, from what I’ve seen and heard Diamond, may be the exception rather than the rule; I have seem them be very quick, efficient, and most interestingly to comic retailers fairly understanding and compassionate (Not something I typically see attributed to big business).  I have heard some standing complaints; they typically use an in store POS (Point of Sale) system and occasionally I’ve heard some retails gripe about some of the details, but the fact that they even provide the POS (as to my understanding)  is great in the first place. I have discovered something I don't like which I'll get into near the end.  In short I really like Diamond and that’s how I want to proceed, and it's not like I really have a choice anyway.  There are a few other distributors out there, and I’ll try to list them in a few.

Now I’ve brought up some information on Diamond before, Day 13 specifically if you want to go back and look at that one (which is about funding) , but never gone into much detail.  So here we go. I’ll try to go through some basic terminology that you’ll need to know as well.  Such as

Vendor.  This is what Diamond is going to consider you if you’re putting out a comic. The comic book stores that sell your product are resellers or retailers.   So the first thing you’ll want to do is spend some time here: http://vendor.diamondcomics.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=2&s=244&ai=29178

Which is Diamonds Product Life Cycle. Read this till your eyes bleed, as you’ll need to get familiar with this.  One of the more important parts is the Product time line, which shows (on average) the time from your submissions package to when you finally get paid. In this case 6 months.

One of the things that we’ll and I mean WE have to research is the Terms of Sale. This is more or less how much we are selling to them, they are buying and then reselling for.  To be honest, some of this doesn’t entirely make sense to me YET.  As the comic gets back on track and I get closer to getting it completed, I’ll post my findings on things like their Net30 terms, discounts, and the like.

One of the other things, as long time readers know, will be looking up on how Diamond markets our product.  I personally don’t have the cash to do a one pager.  Period.  Getting the samples made to send Diamond, and then put it a short run ( I have revised the figures from previous.  Realistically I’m looking at only selling around 400-500 if I’m lucky, unless I have a snazzy plan. . . which I do, but more on that later).   Diamonds marketing information can be found here:

Markekting and Promotion through Diamond:

http://vendor.diamondcomics.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=2&s=245&ai=36074

As for other distributors, there used to be a cool one called Haven  (http://www.havendistro.com/) however at the time I write this, I think they may have gone under.  Check in once in awhile, see if they're back up if you're making a comic. Some other options: http://www.lastgasp.com/, 

Finally popgun chaos wrote an interesting article on Distribution a few years ago, that you may want to read. It has some good points against Diamond, and how the monopoly effect the comic industry: http://www.popgunchaos.com/2010/11/29/the-direct-market-of-comic-book-distribution/

and while I said I like Diamond, which I do, I do have a few problems with them.  For instance while writing this post I discovered that you now need to put in 2,500 units  in sales or they may pull your book, meaning really only the big two (well 4 really) will be able to easily get on this.  I may be given inncorrect info however, so we'll see when I start really dealing with them.  As soon as I know I'll let you guys know. 

Well folks I hope that helps.  I am getting back on track, despite not working one but TWO Post Production PA jobs at the same time.  Oh, and my disgusting 'horder'* neighbor moved out so the Roaches that were starving in her place decided to try to find food in mine.  So that was fun.   Anyway upward and onward. . .wow, that was cheezy.   Hows about, “be excellent to each other”.

Trevor

*http://ocd.about.com/od/glossary/g/Hoarding.htm

Guess who's back in the ring. . .

 

I might get knocked down, but never out.  My apologizes to everyone for the large amount of time between posts. No excuses, even if valid.  You should have legitimate posts regarding both the comic and the comic process by the end of the week. 

More on the way.

I should have an update for you guys soon.  Seeing as the show I'm working on got cancelled, and I totaled my car in a nasty little accident, so I've had a bit too much on my plate as of late. However next two days or so I should have something for you.  Keep in mind with all this stuff happening, on top of an insane work schedule (which will only get more hectic as I have to shut the show down) if I can get this comic out, you guys definitively can.  Now get to work.