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. 

Quick Rough

Thought I'd put up a quick rough. This is actually a 'workout' piece.  What I mean by that is I don't have the amount of time to pencil as much as I'd like.  Drawing is a skill, and as such falls under the 'use it or lose it category'. Since I'm limited on time because I work in television, I try to do one detailed practice drawing before I start drawing for real.  So this is a rushed drawing that I inked in. Under that criteria, I'm okay with it.

It's of the Suicide character fighting of the zino horde. . .whiiiich I guess is kinda obvious.  Man I need to get some sleep. 

Day 31: Flats (no not women's shoes) [cc/zf]

I've mentioned before that I'm most likely putting out my comic in black and white first, and then color second, when I release it digitally.  The reason for this is that it's cheaper to put out the physical comic in B&W, and honestly I'm not the greatest at color.  But then again this is all about the learning experience so I thought I'd give folks a Valentines Day 'treat'.

When it comes to starting the coloring process, most industry experts will use flats.  And what are flats you ask.  Think of it like a palette for choosing colors, and if you're working with an expert colorist, a way of saving time and heart ache as the the colorist will know what your looking for.  A friend of mine used to do flats for a certain comic company that starts with I, wink wink, so I think I'll try to badger him into doing a much better article than I am.  Also DC Comic's book; Guide to digitally drawing comics, while focusing a lot on creating everything in a digital space (which requires the expensive but awesome tablet interfaces) can be a great help as can 'Digital Pre-Press' for comics.

But I created something for a really basic example, a zombie that for obvious reasons loves turtles:

 Now you may want to look at the lined art.  One thing I personally have a problem with is closing off lines.  What I mean by this is that I don't connect all of my lines, so when I use the paintbucket tool in either Gimp or Photoshop that I flood the entire 'canvas' of the peice.  So this time I tried to keep the shapes simple and basic, and connect every open space.  The result was it took just a few moments to create the finished flat.  Which looks liiiiiiiike:

Now in no way would I consider this anywhere near a finished colorwise, BUT it shows whats great about using flats: I don't like the way the belt buckle looks.  I know to change it.  Also with the color in, I now know that I need to take the right side of the torso and fill that in better.  So in a word, if you're doing a color comic USE FLATS (technically you'd have to in the long run anyway) but use them as a tool to check and see problems about your art and composition. 

Still stuck at work (on Valentine's Day yeesh. My wife's going to be really thrilled) so if I can I'll post so more updates later.

Day 30 (I think) Roughs for covers(ZF and CC)

So thought I had the scanner at work uh, working. . .but apparently I now can't get the contrast to work correctly. As such I'll try to rescan these at a later date.  I'm putting up now, so people really new to the process can see how I approach design from abstracts (which didn't scan at all -was using 4h & 6h lead so no surprise) to thumbs to roughs.  You may see some arrows and such by the notes.  It's how I mark what the intended flow is for the readers eye.  Certain shapes and shape combinations tend to draw a viewers eyes in specific ways across the page. But more on that later.  Here we go.

Here you can see I want the Mikey character (the velicoraptor with a shotgun) leaping into the fray.  I dunno, just seems bad @$$ to me, and that 7 year old view of what's cool and not applies to this kinda comic. . . the upper right corner is where I had the basic blocks out of the form and movement. From there I went to really quick thumbs.

Here's the quick sketch of Mikey. Still playing around with the arrangement of his body, and you can see I'm trying to form a rough idea of where the rest of the focal points, in this case a horde of infected zinos may be placed.

and here you can see I'm trying to work through how I want to place the horde of zombies that will make up a large swoop of the cover.  By setting up a wall of zinos I'm also creating a block that will have the readers eyes hopefully follow the arrow, and therefore see the title.

It's all about the sneaky.

Hope that helps.  I'm still at work and honestly pretty tired so I may come back and edit this a bit more coheriently later.  If you have any questions or comments, please leave the in the (not suprisingly) comments section.  I'll answer all questions as soon as I can. Oh, and sorry about all the typos. Tired.

Quick sketch toss up: Zombie Compy. . .Zompy!

Hrmm. . .maybe the scanner may be working again. Not great, lost some detail, but serviceable. 

This was a character design sketch for the Compies that appear on page 2.  A lot of the Dino's I'm drawing I'm actually not too familiar with so hence, I need to the design sketches (like an animators style sheets for them).

As a side note, still working with a friend to create an animated show. If you want to take a gander at our efforts:
http://www.wix.com/thehomeshow/the-home-main#!__site
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Home/144254018995904?sk=wall

Most of the sketches (not the coloring) are mine. 

Anyway: ZINO ART!

Day. . .Whatever:Playing to your Strengths and Challenging your Weaknesses (CC)

So the scanner is STILL acting up, but I'm in a bit of a financial crunch, so I'm still plugging away, but it may be a bit or two before I get some of the art up.  Trying to though.

As a large chunk of this blog is, in essence a diary of what I personally encounter while creating this independently produced mess of a comic, I thought today might be a good day to talk about how I try to a) play to my weaknesses (apparently one of which is spelling and grammar) and b) things I'm doing specifically to challenge myself with this project.

As I've stated before this isn't my first attempt at creating a comic.  The other efforts were mostly stopped as I felt that I didn't have a quality enough product to send out; that it was too rough, too amateur level.  And of course there was the a fore mentioned "Abraham Lincoln; Zombie Hunter" that got killed when 3 to 4 different similar ideas suddenly flooded the market. Which is a shame as I really liked that one.  Maybe I'll dig through my old stuff and put some of the rough inks I had on it up, we'll see.  The drawn out point I'm trying to make is this; all those failed attempts were a good thing, because I got to see what my personal weaknesses were in the process of comic creation.  These are as follows:

-Heavy handed with inks and use of dark spaces.  Need to lessen crosshatching, it may have worked in art classes, but comics have unique rules due to how reproduction works. Perhaps need to study up on far more. Alternatively, I can attempt to ink digitally.  While it would save time, I have however never (really) tried this process. Could look far worse.
-Lettering.  I suck at lettering.  BAD.  Knowing this however, when writing the comics, I kept this in mind.  If you go back and look at the pages of script I provided last year, it shows I'm keeping this in mind. Characters dialouge on the page is short, sweet, to the point.  It helps that I picked a genre that is tailored to quick, precise statements (anyone quoting Shakespeare during a firefight with zombies deserves what they get).  While I typically prefer to have a heavy story especially through inner character dialogue, I'm keeping that to a minimum until I'm confident I've learned enough to do a really good job at the lettering process. Note to others:  Please never use comic sans if you're producing a digital comic.  I've picked up some indy comics that have been using it and just. . .ugh.  There are plenty of free fonts out there and available.
-Perspective.  This is a big one with me, which sucks because it's one of the most important things possible in conveying a scene.  Instead of drawing pin-up shots all the time, I should have focused more on practicing backgrounds.  In fact a lot of people that complain, that they can't get into the comic industry, despite how well they draw their characters suffer from this.  It's great you can draw an amazing picture of 'Super-Duper Man' but if he's flying over a city that looks like it's made of cardboard boxes how interesting is that.  So how do I get around my lack of experience. I knew it was a problem after all. . .well lets see, I have LARGE creatures (Dinosaurs) that take up most of a scene.  A TRex (even a zombie one) does seem to hide a lot of the background. . .It's a cheat, but for now, one I'm okay with.

This discussion does bring me to the next part however. . .Challenging yourself.

To start, let me say that Green Lantern is my favorite comic (or was till DC's reboot.  Not a huge fan but I digress), but back in the day I would have never wanted to work for it.  Actually I still wouldn't until I felt I was really ready for it. Why?  Because of the insane frame of references the comic has; billions of alien races, all different, in unique exotic locals,. . .hell, even a GL's weapon makes anything anyone can imagine. Penciling that just seems. . . intimidating.  And I realized recently that fear is because I never challenged myself (artistically at least).

BUT that's good (challenging yourself that is) because that's how we grow as artists.  Tell you secret. . .before this comic it had probably been about 10 years since I drew a dinosaur.   While I like them, I was always drawing humans, superhumans, humanoids, etc. Because that's what I thought I needed the most.  What I should have been doing, is looking at everything I could that made me go "How do I draw THAT?" and then doing it.  Despite what I said about the perspectives above, I AM really forcing myself to get into the background and dig it out.  I still 'cheat' when I can. . .obviously with as long it's taking with the updates to the blog, my day job is hectic as all get out and busy as @#$@#$@ (Hollywood Reporter actually ran an article about the show I work on and how hard it is to work for it. Keep in mind I've got the bottom of the barrel on the show, and you could reasonably say I have one of the more 'unique' jobs in Hollywood. And that's saying quite a bit.)  So anything I can do that saves me a bit of time, and gets another page done is a god send in my book, but still, I'm using this book not only as a learning tool, but as a way to bring my skills to another level.

So that's today's babble;  know what your weakness as an artist, writer, whatever ARE.  Think for ways to either work around, or even use them.  And most importantly challenge yourself, because it's the only way you're going to grow.

"But you don't have to take my word for it"-Levar Burton (who rocks btw).

Zombie Dino goodness coming soon.

-Trevor

Why so long on the updates?

First off, I'm really sorry it's taken so long.  Usually to wrap a television show it takes about a week of very uncontrolled chaos.  This had/IS going on way too long. It took about 2 months to get everything wrapped and show delivered to the parent company, then a week or two ago the EP wanted to change the Pilot and we all had to come back.  I 'technically' had some vacation time, if  you consider a vacation being called in on random days and answering questions constantly. . .yeah, I personally don't either. 

Essencially the Day Job burned me out to the point where I would just drink some Whiskey and pass out when I got home.  I'm in the office right now as I write this, as we're gearing up for season two.  Yeesh.  However after the initial insanity passes, the begging of the show while in Post isn't too bad, so I'm going to try to push through and get this bad boy done.  I do have some art but I left it at home.  I'll try to scan it in when I get home if I'm not too dead on my feet.

Again, thanks for sticking with me, and I should have some more info and art for you soon.


-Trevor

Post coming soon

Sorry folks, the day job's show is getting near the air dates so it means long long hours that drain the life out of you.  I have to have a colonoscopy (don't think that's spelled right) on Friday meaning I have to stay home and drink this vile medicine stuff they give you pre-operation on Thursday, so in theory I should have time to get some stuff up, answer questions, etc.

Later Gators.
Trevor

How I do layouts (CC with a little ZF thrown in) Part 1

Scanner has been acting wonky at work so this post took awhile, and I'll have to do it in parts.

This post is really about how you can actively know what your strengths and weaknesses are and how to plan accordingly.  For example, as I mentioned before I'm horrible at backgrounds, and I feel they are a very important part of the visual layout of the page.  If perspective is off, the reader may not know why they dislike a panel/page, but they probably will dislike it more than something put in the proper perspective.  Also detail is important on a background.  A slum should look like one; trash strewn about, graffiti, etc.

The below picture is a version of the start of my layouts (after the thumbnail process as mentioned in a previous post). The reason it looks so rough is I had to HEAVILY adjust the levels after it was scanned (more about Levels and Photoshop/Gimp in an upcoming post).  I included a picture with just the straight scan so you can see how light the 4H pencil I use looks.  Also, that does bring up a good point; discover the range of lead pencils you want to use.  Some people use much darker leads than I do, as they provide a clearer image.  I prefer things in the mid to high H (hard lead) pencils as they don't show up heavy in a scan, and if done right are easy to erase.

Anyways, onto the start:

 So you can see the basics of the city have been laid out.  In fact you can see some of the perspective grid I set up just to make sure everything stays in proportion as well.  I already started putting some of the debris in the street, but obviously that, and of course most importantly, the Zombie Dinosaurs need to be put in the page.  But by laying out the backround first I know where all the little stuff would be (Stop sign, Fire Hydrant, etc.) that the characters would need to avoid when moving. It makes the world seem more real, more complete. Now you'll also notice the large amount of space at the top and bottom of the page.  This is because I have a large caption box going at the bottom, and, as I'm a fan of when Silver Age comics put the title on the first page, I'm going to do exactly that. And lets face it, especially of late, I've very limited on time, so it'll save me some when drawing the page. 

BTW this is how light my pencils are (no levels ajusted, just a strait color scan)

So you can see how easy it is to erase, and how little work I have to do digitally to clean it up as it barely registers (actually I had do a little touch just to get that to show).  As always taking the time to think and plan before you start will save you more time in the end.  The military has a saying "slow is smooth, and smooth is fast," and it's dead on. Additionally since I know I'm bad at backgrounds by having this problem dealt with first will same me a lot of time.  When I used to layout the character first and the backgrounds around them, it would often take me forever because I'd notice little faults I was constantly correcting.  The running dino is very sketchy and will probably be changed.  I had already altered it from this scan (this scan was done awhile ago) but as I leave everything in pencils, until I'm ready for the next stage, I can still change it).

More on the page progression later. I'll try for later today but we're really busy at the day job right now.  

-Trevor

I assure you I'm not dead. . .yet.

Sorry for such the long delay in posting folks.  I've had some serious health issues come up that I had to deal, and in fact am still dealing, with.  Not to mention work, and my cohort in crime's TV show that we'll be pitching soon. 

However that being said, I should hopefully have a post showing how I set up penciled pages, going all the way through the process.  To do this I need to use the large industrial scanner we have at work, so I'm trying to figure out how to get the pencils (I start using 4h pencils typically so it's very light) to shop up in the scans.

Oh and I'm making the little guy up above public domain, so free to use for whatever you want. . .

See you soon.

Day 26: Info on Copyrights and Trademarks

Feeling kinda nocuous at work, but I promised on this post and I feel it’s important so here goes, oh, and again, I’m not a lawyer.  This info is based purely on research, make sure to looking into the subject in depth yourself.

Before you get started on your company and comic if you’re thinking of self publishing you’ll want to check existing copyright and trademarks (© and TM respectively).  Now people will tell you have to hire copyright lawyers and such, which is a good idea if you can afford it, but as we’re all comic and/or zombie fans here, it’s a safe bet none of us are hording away money for obscure legal fees.  Thankfully there’s a lot you can do yourself, so let’s look at what courses you have open.

First off; Protecting your work, aka Copyrights. 

A lot of people will tell you to mail yourself your work so it comes back to you in a postage dated envelope and as long as it’s sealed your good.  No.  IF it makes you feel better go for it, but this ‘form’ of copyrighting doesn’t hold up in courts, and quite frankly is a waste of time. 

And you don’t have to worry about it as much because of recent changes in copyright laws.  Currently the United States operates under a creative copyright basis, meaning if you can show that you came up with the idea first, the concept is considered operating under your copyright.  This was actually one of the reason for the blog; it proves for all that this is my concept, when I came up with it, etc.  Keep in mind the trick is to protect your idea before you have it published. You can legally file a copyright, but in my opinion I’d wait till you start getting the bucks before you consult with a lawyer.

Trademarks are tricky, and it’s easy to step on peoples toes without even knowing it.  While trademarks seem similar to copyrights there are defined differences between the two, and you’ll want to read up on what makes them unique.  Basically Trademarks are designed to protect a service or product, Copyrights protect original ideas or artistic works.  So really what you want to focus on is Copyright for your comic, comic ideas, etc. and Trademark search to make sure whatever name your putting your comic ‘company’ under, hasn’t been taken, or is similar to an existing publishing company.

That being said you’ll want to start with searching copyrights and trademarks.  I’ve seen services, and or lawyers charging $200-$300 for this service. . .and all it takes is basically time.

Copyright

http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First

Trademarks

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4004:ag9594.1.1

Make sure when you do the searches you look for both broad descriptions and more specific detailed searches.  It’s pretty much all common sense. 

Hope that helps.

-T 

Upcoming Post

The next post up is going to be about how to research copyrights for free (instead of having a lawyer do it for you) something almost everyone forgets about and is AMAZINGLY important for North American Publishers, and something a lot of people overlook.  For fans of the blog outside the US I'll try to look up some of the information for you as well.  I should also have the website for the publishing company up.

In the meantime. . .

For our friends outside the us or if you don't get the joke see the comments section.  It should hopefully explain the joke. 

Day 25.3 Marketing info (CC: Comic Creators)

Hello and welcome to the middle of the film.

Sorry for the delay in post. Going to the range to blow off steam with my shotgun became quite the reverse when a live round got jammed in the chamber and the slide release wouldn’t open. . .so essentially it became like defusing a bomb.  A very ‘shotgunny’ bomb, but I digress.  

Anyway, let’s get into it, at work and don't have much time.  Today is mainly about marketing your comic, especially the theories of paying for marketing versus grassroot ‘free’ or ‘very low cost’ marketing.

If you’ve been reading the blog for awhile, you may recall that I worked up some marketing materials, mainly bookmarks, that have the blogsite  and facebook listed on it.  The theory was it didn’t cost anything (day job let me print out the bookmarks on extra card stock we had) and comic book readers, well, read.  So If I gave them a free bookmark that had the site information in it, it would, logically draw more traffic.  So far my feelings are mixed.  I’ve gotten them handed out at comic book shops and one of my friends, Ben (from http://frogofthunder.blogspot.com/) dropped out what was left of my bookmarks at the San Deigo Comic Con marketing materials table since I couldn’t attend this year.  And while I saw a slight increase in traffic, it didn’t seem like it was being generated by the bookmarks, but rather by my internet efforts.

At this point I’m thinking digital efforts for all of my marketing efforts.  I seem to get a wider reach and as an independent comic publisher, I need everything I can get, and obviously I don’t have a lot of time to do it in. 

One great thing that’s come up recently that may assist with this is Google.  Blogspot is owned by Google and apparently I’m picking up enough traffic that I just received $100 free Google Adsense.  I’ll be thoroughly reviewing the information once I get home and as long as there is no strings attached be trying this out. I’ve thought about using both Adsense and the Facebook ads to draw more people to the site.  IF Adsense seems to garner in traffic, I’ll definitely think about putting some money into both. 

On a side note, in a discussion with one of my retailer friends, we discussed ads in Diamonds Previews.  And his advise which I have to concur with was: don’t.  If you are unaware of what Previews is, it’s a large monthly catalog that goes to retailer shops and that they select comics out of (Diamond Distribution is the worlds largest comic distributor, at least at the time I write this. . .in a few years it may be iTunes which really bums me out but more on that discussion in a later post).  The problem is that Previews USED to be how comic fans picked out the comics coming out; you’d go to the store, look at their copy (or buy yours) and tell the retailer what you wanted. . .now with sites like comic related, newsarama, comic book resources, etc.  most comic fans already know about up and comic comics and just walk in or email their comic shop what they want pulled. 

So in a nutshell: I recommend internet marketing over physical marketing, I’ll be using Adsense soon so I’ll post my results in a bit, and recommend getting the word out on your comic by using internet news and trend sites over paying for it.

I’ll have a post with more panel art, scriptwork, and whining about not being able to get to San Deigo for Con for the first time in years later. . .actually nothing on that last part, skip that.

L8R ZINOS!

-T

Day 25.2

Did a quick 10 minute 'keep my sanity at work' sketch.