A Crying Shame - Layout Critique

I've finished the lining and colouring of A Crying Shame, and have taken the chance to lay out the pages in the correct layout to see how the pages look side by side as they will when being read. I am really really happy with the way they look. The flow feels natural and slow. I still feel quite aware that the comic itself is quite short, and know that I struggle to stretch out dialog and let the pictures tell more of the story, but I am much happier with this layout than earlier versions which were more condensed and word heavy.

I'm looking forward to seeing it fully lettered, which I will work on next, and re-evaluate again at that stage that the flow still works, and the pacing matches the story.

Comic Progress - Update

 

Now that my pre-orders are live, and the target has been met I am focusing solely on getting my comics finished. My target for finishing outlines/the bulk of the drawing was the end of this week, I will hopefully hit that for A Crying Shame but then need to focus on A Walk to a Waterfall. My print deadline is June 9, which I am tentatively hopeful I will hit. However, I need give myself some leeway, and have contacted my printer for their turnaround to make sure I take that into consideration.

Self-Publishing - Launching Pre-Orders!!

 On Thursday May 18th I set comics live for pre-orders! I made a few graphics to promote this specifically for Instagram Stories, Instagram Grid and Twitter! Below are screen caps of the posts:

I have previous experience in selling things online, and that really helped me feel confident in setting this all going. I set myself a target I hoped to reach, similar to what I would have done on a crowd funding campaign, something that would allow me to cover the costs of my initial print run of 50 of each comic, and I achieved this within the first few days of the pre-orders being live! I can now go ahead and finish the comics knowing that I can easily pay for the initial print run, which cover all pre-orders, as well as leaving spares for my upcoming comic markets and some stock for comic stores!

Self-Publishing - Dissemination - Stockiest Research

I contacted OK Comics and Travelling Man, two local comic shops to discuss their approach to stocking small press/self-published work. Below are the responses:

Travelling Man

"Most of the time it is Sale or Return but sometimes Wholesale, depending on how many we order to be honest, it really varies. We mostly wait for people to get in touch with us but again, sometimes we seek out and contact creators. Quantity wise, usually 2 or 4 copies per shop, but it really can vary! I've attached our guidelines too!" 

Mama, who runs the small press for Travelling Man, also added their guidelines for me which detailed the ins and outs of getting paid and it was really useful.

OK Comics

"We used to purchase small press on sale or return but this was hard to manage, buying at a discounted rate (usually between 40/50%, we usually discuss this with the creator and find a price that works for us both) and letting them tick over works better for us. We also find that this gets us more excited to stock and sell the comic!

We tend to order a small amount to start with and gage customer response before ordering more,

Hope this helps!

All the best,

Danielle"

Leeds Zine Library - Dissemination

After visiting Leeds Library a month or so ago,  I contacted the Art Librarian, Emma Hayton, to discuss the potential of revamping their Zine Library. The Library currently is tucked away in a corridor, and visually isn't the most appealing; although the library itself has some really great pieces in it. It felt like with a few changes and some time dedicated to it it could be something really special. 

Today I had an initial meeting with Emma, pitched my ideas and it wet really well. They already have plans to move the collection to a more accessible space within the Art Library, and we discussed some furniture options from other zine libraries that I have come across during my MA research. 

We also discussed having an official re-launch party, and building a donation drive into that where creators can donate copies of their work to replenish the shelves. 

The outcome was that I will become an official volunteer at the library, and work on the zine library long term. We have more meetings booked in, and in the mean time I'm going to work on some rebranding.

A Walk to a Waterfall - Cover Redesign

I've stepped away from A Walk to a Waterfall for a while whilst I focus on A Crying Shame. It's been interesting to come back to it now with the additional knowledge I have built whilst working on my second project. It's made me realise there are a lot of things I really like about this first project, I still really like the script and the general aesthetic I have set for the book (the colours, and textures etc); I realise that the cover didn't quite fit with that style, so I've done back, using the same basis but taken out the figure and scaled back the colours to greys and pinks. I really love how it looks, and think it reflects the stories overall feeling much better.

Here is the older version for reference:

 

Emma Carlisle - Professional Casestudy

Emma Carlisle is an illustrator and children's picture book maker, Emma has also lectured illustration.n. Her practise has evolved over the years, and it has been really interesting to see her authentically follow her own interests and see her style progress and change. She has children's books that are published, she also publishers her own sketchbook work and run an art based Patreon. This biggest part of Emma's career that I am drawn to is the Patreon she runs; it's a community of artists of varying levels, and Emma prints her own teaching experience into this community with regular digital workshops, drawing sessions and lessons. She shares really interesting ways to approach a sketchbook and how to improve your work in a way that works for the individual.

Accessed May 4