Hello Again
I’m going to try something a little different. I’m going to do the audio podcast, but I’m going to record my face so there is video. I’m doing very “no-edit to low-edit” here—just enough that at least what I’m saying makes sense.
I’m not really thinking about what I’m going to talk about; I’m just kind of freely talking this week.
I have plans for the next few weeks in terms of what the posts are going to be, so this is a one-off. I’m trying something new.
I just want to talk with you guys about what’s going on: all the plans that I have, some things I’m getting a little worried and stressed about, and things that are going well. Consider this just a check-in, a journal of how things are going.
I’m recording this on Wednesday, the day before I release it. It gives me a little bit of time to edit, but like I said, I’m not planning on doing too much to get the video “up to snuff.” I have my lights here to make myself look pretty and backlight my beard a little bit, but other than that, I’m not really focused on the sheen of things.
For a while, I was thinking I was going to really push to do well on YouTube, but that’s not really what I’m worried about. I don’t think YouTube is the be-all, end-all. That’s really where I was pushing this whole newsletter; it was becoming more of a video post than actually just sharing what’s going on. I was trying to pick trendy topics and do all that—and I’m still doing that with the shorts on socials, trying to push buttons and ask questions while sharing the process. But really, what I’m trying to do here is tell you exactly what’s going on with me today.
I’m just going to go project by project and tell you where we’re at with everything and my feelings about it all. It’ll be real simple. Next week you can expect more of a prepared post, but this week I’m just going to freewheel it.
Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 2
Let’s start with Big Smoke Pulp Volume 2. A lot of people backed this a while ago and they haven’t received anything from me yet. This is not a position I’m used to being in. Normally, I have books done and they just get shipped out to people as soon as they’re finished.
This time, there have been a lot of little nagging things I’ve had to correct. I’m not blaming the authors; a lot of it is on my end, to be fair. The authors sent little corrections and I took way too long to get to all of that. Then I messed with the formatting, and I changed this and that. It didn’t go as smoothly as Volume 1 did, to the point that I don’t know if I’m going to do Volume 3—at least not on an annual basis. It may be a while before we ever do Volume 3.
It’s not done yet. My hope is to get surveys out by the time you’re watching this or shortly after, or at least provide an update as to when those surveys will be out. The digital copy will come in next week—that’s the epub and the PDF. The print copies will then be in production shortly after, but this is way later than I had planned. Normally, I set the delivery time on Kickstarter campaigns two or three months beyond where I actually think they’re going to land in people’s hands. This time, I used up all that time and I’m not even there yet.
The only reason this happened is because of all the good things happening with Pesto Comics. This foray into the direct market has taken up much of my energy, and it’s reasonable. It’s a very important, very big thing, and I need it to be successful. I’m focusing on it more than anything else—even the things I owe people, like copies of Big Smoke Pulp. But it’s going to be done very soon. I’m happy to finally get it in people’s hands and let people read all the really cool stories. I apologize to all the authors who were expecting their stories a little sooner, but the quality will be exactly where I want it. That’s really what has been holding it up: I wanted to make sure it was the book I envisioned in my head. I think that is the joy of crowdfunding: you can take the time to deliver the best version possible. In the direct market, you have deadlines and you have to hit them.
From Parts Unknown #1
So, let’s talk about From Parts Unknown #1. I don’t mean to disparage any of the books I’m putting out there; I’ve already put a ton of energy into making them the best they can be.
It’s been about 18 months since I actually looked at the art and the lettering for that book, and there were some improvements I could make. So I’ve done so. The version that will be on store shelves doesn’t quite match the version that came out with the Kickstarter—for the better, I think. The direct market version is the “best foot forward” version. I’m really excited to see the improvements in my writing and how far we’ve come with the art.
I actually got a new letterer on board to redo all the lettering and make that look a lot better than my pass on it. Even the production design is a huge improvement. I’m excited for people to see what happens when there’s a team behind the books. As much as I can do things well myself, having that extra “rocket boost” through Prana and the folks they’ve connected us with is going to make a big difference.
We’re also doing a couple of extra special things. For this first issue, we have some extra pages in the back, so we’re going to do a profile explaining From Parts Unknown, who Pesto Comics is, and all that cool stuff. For issue two—and this is a preview just for you guys watching or listening—we’re going to have a letters page. I’ll be collecting letters through the month and we’ll have a Q&A type thing, like the old-school comics. That’s something I never thought I’d get to do.
Because of the way printing works with Transcontinental (our printer, who also prints all the Marvel and DC books), they get a cheaper price for doing more pages. So we’re going to use the pages, and what better way to use them than to talk to you guys in print? If you want your name in print, let me know.
Snip #1 & #2
Then, of course, there’s the live project happening right now: Snip. It’s doing really well. We’re almost at $4,000 Canadian, which covers much of the production costs.
We get to make those exclusives for folks. We’re going to use higher quality paper than we do with the direct market, and the covers have less stuff going on. We really thought of ways to make the Kickstarter special so that you’re still getting a premium experience. Then, in the direct market version, you get all those extra features we can’t do via Kickstarter, like the letters page. It should be interesting having two products that are the same but different.
One thing I’ve fallen off with this campaign is sending updates. I’ve been busy, and coming up with things to say when there’s not much to say is tough. Normally, you could share progress updates, but I find I do more updates after the campaign ends than during. It does suck for cross-promotion because people want to share followers, and when I never do updates, that’s hard to do. It’s something I’m trying to get better at.
I always have to remind myself that I am not my own customer. I don’t love getting constant updates; I already backed your book, I don’t need you to tell me something new every day. But that’s just me being a weird person and imagining everybody feels the same. I imagine people do want an update here and there, so I’m going to do better. I’ll try to send one out after recording this. I don’t want to constantly bombard people, especially since I’m already doing that on socials, but doing only three updates for a whole campaign feels like it’s not enough.
Naked Kaiju Woman #3
What’s next? Naked Kaiju Woman #3. Rafael is hard at work. I had a plan to launch that within a week or so of the end of Snip, but I don’t think we’re going to hit that deadline. I like to have the books done before I launch the campaign. Arguably, I could launch knowing 90% is done, but JP hasn’t received all the inks yet in order to finish the book. I don’t want to do anything until I know that the book will be done.
So, Naked Kaiju Woman #3 waits just a little bit longer, which unfortunately pushes the whole slate down a bit. We’re still okay for the direct market, though. From Parts Unknown goes right through to September, then Snip follows that. Ricardo is already delivering pages on issue three; he’s been very consistent and I can rely on him.
Crimson Frontier
What I’m a little bit worried about now—again, my fault—are the books that come after. I have the book Crimson Frontier. There’s a pre-launch available right now, and you can see an image I put together of Mars and a little ship flying down. It is a placeholder image; it’s not anything from the book.
The reason for that is because while Daniel is the artist, I haven’t given him a script yet. It’s all written and ready to go, but I haven’t gotten it to a level where I’m comfortable handing it off yet. Daniel would’ve been done by now if I had handed it off when I said I would. He easily would’ve drawn the whole book. I’ve just got to get over it, get it done, and get it to him so I can continue this trend of getting things on shelves.
Prime Cut
If you read my posts or watched the video at the beginning of the year, you also know that I have even more artists working on books. I have Nate Walkington, who just today sent the first 12 pages of Prime Cut. However, he has a newborn coming, so I don’t know if he’ll be able to deliver the rest of the books on the timeline he hopes to. I totally get that he’ll have his hands full. I may have to shift when that book comes out because, again, I want to make sure the book is done before I ever hit launch, especially before I set dates for the direct market.
Untitled Mattia Monaco Book
And then, of course, there’s my book with Mattia Monaco. We’ve been working on this for about a year already, on and off. He’s been having great success with Mad Cave, and I’ve already told him I’m reaching out when we do this book. It’s happening. However, I haven’t delivered him scripts again, so I need to get him engaged and make sure he gets started so we can finish this together.
Untitled Sword & Sorcery Book
Then there’s another book with my buddy Roberto Viacava. I owe him scripts as well. That one is a sword and sorcery book—something I’m not used to writing. If it’s inspired by anything, it’s inspired by things that it probably shouldn’t be: Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules, and TV shows of that ilk. It’s not the modern stuff, nor is it the classic stuff; it’s this weird in-between. It’s a copy of a copy. I’m trying to get that vibe out of it and make it something more traditional, but I can feel the influence of the “copy of the copy,” and I’m trying to get past that.
Avoiding Burnout
I think the whole point of this is that I am the thing holding most projects back. I get that. I’m also trying to manage my own burnout so I don’t become a “full stop” on all these projects. It’s important that I keep working so that I can keep all these people working. I realize the responsibility of that and I’m trying to manage it well.
I think we’re in good shape and on the right path. Things are going okay, but they could be going better. First, though, I’m going on vacation. I am gone this weekend. I’m doing the “bad Canadian” thing and going over the border to watch some hockey, but I’ll also be visiting a couple of shops out there. If you’ve been following the Pesto Comics Roadshow, expect to see those. I’m going to relax, come back refreshed, and be ready to bang out everything that needs to be done.
Coming Next Week
I want to thank you for listening as I kind of just riffed. Next week, I’ll have more of a point; I’m going to talk about the Roadshow, old comics, and all that. The following week is FOC week, so we’re going to talk about the first FOC Pesto Comics has ever had and what that journey into the direct market feels like. That might be a little more focused, but also a little loose, because I just want to tell you exactly how I’m feeling at the moment.
I haven’t recorded it yet and I don’t plan to until we’re closer to it. I can’t wait to share it all with you. For now, I’m going on vacation. Talk to you next week. Have a good one.
