First, Some News
A reminder of the big launch date!
Crazy Latte Thing Called Love will be launching on Kickstarter Wednesday May 15th at 8am EDT.
If you haven’t hit notify on the campaign page yet, there’s still time! We’ll have early bird deals, until the end of Friday May 17th (ending at 11:59pm EDT), that include deep discounts on already discounted bundles and early backer rewards every pledge level will receive - as long as they get in before the deadline.
The first couple of days are make or break on Kickstarter, so we’re really hoping to launch strong with this outing. I’ll be sharing a lot more on my socials as we get closer to launch - and I’ll highlight everything that’s available right here in this newsletter on launch day.
Tell your friends, your cat, your mom and your ex-lovers. Get them to back the campaign day-one so we can get Kickstarter’s attention and make this another “Project We Love”.
Hear me on True North Country Comics
I’ll be on True North Country Comics - recording tomorrow night with host John Swinimer. If you haven’t heard the podcast before, he has short 15-20 minute interviews with Canadian creators from coast to coast.
John has a very friendly and easy-going style while still being pretty structured. It leaves a lot of room for fun conversations.
Please give it a listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or YouTube!
Campaign from a Friend
I had the great pleasure of meeting the uber-talented artist
in person in his hometown of Niagara Falls. Not only is he an overall great person, but he’s also part of the Pesto Comics family as he’ll be doing a variant cover for Crazy Latte Thing Called Love!The more pressing matter is that he has an active campaign on Kickstarter: Nathaniel Fox and the Tomb of Humayun #1
It looks incredible and I’ve already picked up my copy - helping rocket it to 85% funded in the first couple of days.
This is the kind of pulpy goodness I love. It has real Doc Savage meets Indiana Jones vibes and promises to be a ton of fun.
Help Roberto get this project over the line and beyond! The campaign is running until May 18th.
‘The City We Chose’ going strong!
Live right now is the TO Comix anthology I’m a part of: The City We Chose.
This campaign started really strong and has crossed the halfway mark of funding. There’s still plenty of time to jump onto this campaign.
If you read last week’s post, you know this story means a lot to me. I’m hoping that even more people will get to read Il Pescatore in this great anthology.
I’ve been keeping really busy, but there’s a piece of unfinished business to bring back up…
Voting STILL Open for ‘Chop, Chop, Chop’
If you haven’t read my finalist story for the Writer’s Digest “Your Story 128” - there’s not only time to read it, but time to help me get it published!
There’s still a lot of ground to cover, so every vote it very much appreciated.
Speaking of short stories…
New Project Announcement!
Big Smoke Pulp
This project is a little different than the comics-focused projects I’ve been doing over the past two years…
Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 1 is a pulp genre anthology of short stories, flash fiction and micro-fiction. With this project, I’m looking to share stories across all kinds of pulp genres: sci-fi, noir, romance and anything else that following the tenants of pulp storytelling.
I’m a pretty avid reader. I joke all the time that I need to take a sabbatical from work just to catch up on all my reading. I already subscribe to a bunch of short story mags like Asimov, Analog, Ellery Queen, Apex and Clarkesworld. I read as much as I can from the library too - and that’s not even counting all the weekly LCS and indie comics I’ve got piling up.
From the short story standpoint, I don’t always get my fix in the pulp realm that I’d like. Sure, Ellery Queen has incorporated a Black Mask section in their bimonthly magazine, but that’s not enough to scratch that itch. That’s what inspired me to put together Big Smoke Pulp. I want to read all the great stories that aren’t making it past editors at those magazines.
When I first envisioned this project, I wanted to replicate those magazines I love tearing through. I pictured a shelf full of stories, coming out every few months, but I’d rather give some time to find the best stories I can and assemble them in one nice volume.
This isn’t a departure from comics by any means. If you see the projects that are lined up, all except this one are comics. There is plenty to come. I have many stories to tell and this is just another outlet to do exactly that.
The unfortunate, and realistic, truth is that comics are difficult to make. Especially as a writer. I’ve been very lucky to work with some amazing artists and to be in a position to fund their work before launching Kickstarter campaigns. I plan to continue doing so, but there’s only so many artists I can float at the same time without launching a campaign to recoup some costs.
I’ve met so many writers that are in the exact same boat. Writers that, being from the comics world, have a more pulp-genre bent than most lit-mags are willing to accept. I wanted to have a place to showcase those stories. This is where Big Smoke Pulp comes in.
If you’re a writer and have a story you think could work for this, check out our call for entries at bigsmokepulp.com. Get paid for your writing and be a part of our first volume!
I’m announcing this project well ahead of when it would be released to get stories sent over, but I’m aiming for an Autumn Kickstarter campaign.
There’s at least one more comic project launching in between. I have two artists working on two projects simultaneously and I’m remaining flexible - so I’ll have more about which project is next after Crazy Latte Thing Called Love is fulfilled. Stay tuned.
Now let’s get to this week’s topic…
Convention Season Begins!
Anyone who has been following my exploits over the past year knows that I applied for a table at TCAF this year - and was rejected by the jury to get one. I’ll be trying again next year, but my luck didn’t end there…
TCAF Word Balloon Academy
Friday May 10 9am
Toronto Reference Library
It turns out, I’ll be representing Pesto Comics at TCAF anyway! Not at a table, selling my wares, but sharing what I’ve learned about Kickstarter with my own projects - and backing nearly 800 other comic projects since 2012.
If you’re in Toronto and interested in launching your own comics, please join me at the TCAF Word Balloon Academy this May 10th at 9am. It’s an invaluable day of interesting panels for a variety of speakers. All focused on independent comics creators!
But for the more traditional appearances…
Which Cons Am I Tabling At?
Niagara Falls and Hamilton, Ontario are tied as my home away from home. I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time in these cities, so I jumped at the chance to get a table at Niagara Falls Comic-Con.
It’s a pretty decent sized event and gets a number of different kinds of guests, so there will be lots of new audiences available to meet. I’ll have my long-time friend, Danon Hennessey, tabling along with me who is spinning up his TTRPG social service hybrid: Dice & Development.
Plus, there’s friends like the aforementioned
who will be tabling as well! (Here’s that campaign link again!)
I was too late to join the fun in Vaughan-Con last year, but this looks like one of those old-school cons. Really focused and built around the fandoms rather than corporate sponsors handing out Amazon Prime bags. It should be a good show.
There’s an asterisk to put next to this con. In moving venues, applicants to artist alley have been put on a waitlist while they figure out how much space they actually have.
As I’ve mentioned, Hamilton, along with Niagara Falls, is like a second home to me. I’ve spent years of my life in this city, for work and play, and getting to be a part of the festivities in the Hammer would mean the world to me.
Let’s hoping I get a table.
Thought Bubble was a big swing for me - and it worked.
I’ll be tabling overseas - along with a number of some of the coolest creators I’ve met online. It’ll be a real treat to meet them all in person and see how they do things across the pond. This one is very much circled on my calendar.
The way the new Brexit’d visa rules work, I may just be handing out freebies and driving locals to pestocomics.com (which I’m working on a refresh of, should be up soon!), but it’ll still be worth it to meet everyone!
(Note: If any non-UK folks have some good advice about this, I’m all ears! Leave a comment, message or email me!)
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It feels like a packed schedule, but I’d love to do more Canadian shows. Winnipeg? Quebec City? Montreal? Vancouver? Calgary?
All possible - though only those first 3 are still doable in 2024. Maybe next year I’ll try some more Canadian locales. I’ve visited all of those cities to watch hockey (except Quebec City, obviously, but hopefully the NHL comes to their senses in that market). I’d love to see their comics scene! Plans to be made, for sure.
Are you coming to any of these shows? Let me know!
If that con schedule wasn’t crowded enough, I’m also bought tickets to some shows this year…
Find Me Walking Around as a Fan
If Big Smoke Pulp didn’t give it away — I’ve been looking to dip my toe back in the literary side of things. This conference should really get that motor running.
Just one week before TCAF, the Toronto Indie Author’s Conference (TIAC) is a newer, smaller conference focused on indie publishing for fiction and non-fiction authors. I think I’ll be bringing something different, being more comics focused, but I’m looking to be a sponge and learn as much as I can from these great creators.
I’ve been going to Fan Expo Canada for what feels like forever. It was barely a 1/3 of what it is today when I first went - similar to the size of March’s Toronto Comicon.
This is the show in Canada - and it’s always a blast. Not to many comic book guests have made the trip in the past two years, but here’s hoping it recaptures some of that former glory this time out.
The big one. I’ve never been to SDCC before and this was a big bucket-list item for me. I managed to get the less popular tickets this time out, Thursday and Sunday, and had a hotel until they cancelled it on me once prices started to skyrocket.
Nonetheless, I’m very excited to take in everything this year - and meet a lot more people that I’ve been chatting with online.
A Lot to Take In This Year
I don’t like to paint myself as an introvert or extrovert. I change depending on the scenario. It depends on the crowd and how I’m feeling that particular day.
Getting into comics, I found a whole bunch of like-minded, friendly people that have made it so easy to put myself out there. I have a good amount of friends…but I could always use more!
If you find yourself at one of the many shows I’ve listed here - come find me at the table or track me down wondering a show floor. I can’t wait to meet you!
What’s Next?
May 15
Have Yourself a Crazy Latte
Launching Crazy Latte Thing Called Love on Kickstarter
(Plus: Reviewing two cons - in two weeks?!)
June 1
How Lucky Am I?
Highlighting the amazing artists I’ve worked with so far
(Plus: A ‘Crazy Latte’ Mid-Campaign Update)
Welcome to Convention Season