Incremental forward progress

My wife's input has been invaluable; her comments have allowed us to steer our publishing venture in exciting directions, and I'm grateful for that.

We've discussed the format for our first book, based on printing cost; she also brought up the point that a certain book size is popular, and it got us rethinking the pages I'd already inked. With rescanning and reformatting, we can package Ninja Baby as a 'manga digest', which will allow the artwork to breathe better, and appeal to our target demographic.

I'm thrilled by this direction, and will start tweaking the finished artwork. As a bonus, it'll be easier to achieve a certain number of pages, without necessarily creating much new artwork. 

I'm looking forward to having our first book ready to sell!

A New Year, ripe with promise

It depresses me a bit how I haven't spent much time on our small press endeavor over the last few months. Focusing on paying work remains a priority, and I look forward to the day when I can place all my attention on our 'baby'.

Discussing things with my partner in crime, it seems that a decent sized 'graphic novel' is the way to go. That would be easier to sell than a comic book, especially considering that the market for kid's comics seems so dead (which is itself depressing considering how comic books were a powerful entertainment phenomenon in the past). Deciding to target young readers hungry for graphic novels just makes sense.

The trick is figuring out the size of the book. 100 pages seems daunting; even 80 pages (a size which appeals to me on account of the Silver Age 80 page giants I love to collect) is a lot of pages to fill. I think 64 pages might be the answer, a decent amount of material for the print format we're looking at.

Currently I have 24 inked pages of Ninja Baby; expanding the book as described above will involve some work, but the end result should be exciting and inspiring. Just gotta get cracking on it, which fits in with my resolution to sharpen my focus in 2013. 

Funding options

When I first considered self-publishing, funding sources became a priority. I assumed (naively) that launching this blog with my online 'hand' held out hoping for a donation would generate some money. This didn't transpire. I realize that folk are bombarded daily with requests for charity or demands on their disposable income (as well as the fact that promotion of STP has been so far limited). I was never completely comfortable asking for money to fund my publishing dreams anyways, and when nothing trickled in, I prepared to do things out of my own pocket.

Last week, I noted that IndieGoGo is available for Canadian projects. I've eyed Kickstarter ever since it began, but they restrict projects to US citizens (as of this writing). I like the concept of rewarding folk willing to contribute to my dream with nifty 'gifts'; I have some neat ideas bouncing around my noggin if I ever had the opportunity to try either site.

I've discussed the matter with my co-publisher, and we have some mulling to do. Funding is a powerful tool; it could either help complete material that is at a fledgling stage, or allow us to print stuff that's almost finished. We'll have to go over out list of concepts, and decide A) if funding is worth pursuing, and B) which 'baby' should be our focus.

I'm confident that if people were properly introduced to my ideas, they'd become as passionate about them as I am. Once we've decided if/when to take that step, this blog will share the details.

Moving forwards

Thanks to the assistance of my lovely wife, Sore Thumb Press is on the move! I've completed inking 24 pages of Ninja Baby and have found an excellent colorist ready to tackle the pages; it feels absolutely wonderful that one of my 'babies' is that much closer to being ready to print.

We're considering print options; I'd suggested a black and white book for traditional paper. Color does look a lot more vibrant, perhaps pdf versions would sell just as easily. Once the book is colored, lettered, and finalized, we'll make the decisions necessary to have the book ready to share with the world.

While my colorist works on this project, I'll focus on a second concept. That will involve a bit of mulling, since I have many that I'm attached to; whichever it is, the news will be broken next week!

Choices

Inking Ash's Ninja Baby pages has been much fun so far. He uses an expressive, dynamic style that suits the material well. Poses are interesting, and action sequences are really effective.

Inadvertently, a lot of 'me'  creeps into the finished pages; I add background details, trying to keep consistent with prior panels. I've started to add panels, in order to flesh out the story.

Here's an example. This is Ash's pencilled page:

This is a critical moment in the story, where the main villain is introduced. My concept is that she sucks the energy out of well-loved toys, and they turn into controllable 'zombies' as a side-effect. While inking, I decided that more was needed to show the villain in action, which would result in a smoother pace (the story now has a beat to 'breathe and create tension):

This also pushes Ninja Baby's discovery of the villain to the next page, which I find works better.

Although my drawing skills are still improving, I've always prided myself on my story-telling skills, a bi-product of my days doing storyboards (where clearly defining action and showcasing 'acting' is essential). I'm glad I'm confident enough to tinker with Ash's nice pages, and it ultimately becomes more of a collaborative effort. 

Next week: a progress report on NB 

Onward with Ninja Baby!

My wife suggested I create some character poses; not only would this result in a model sheet of sorts, we'd end up with artwork that could be reused for different purposes. I whipped up some sketches this morning, and am surprised how easily Ninja Baby flows from my pencil.

The design might still use a bit of tinkering; I'm not sure about the hair and belt, or if her onesy should have texture. Things that can be worked out at the color stage, of course.

Inking pages progresses smoothly; I'm at page 4 of the second story that will grace our first 'issue' (format still under consideration) and I really like the overall vibe. Having material directed toward really young viewers seems natural and appropriate, and my mind is whirling with which concept to focus on next.

That's it for this week, more behind-the-scenes next time.

Back on track

The Summer has just flown by.

Well, at least as far as STP is concerned.

I put aside my self-publishing endeavor to focus on commissions and entertaining kids home from school. With them back in class, and with my wife's help, I can devote time to finally getting things moving.

We've decided to focus on finishing pages for Ninja Baby, since I had a good amount already pencilled. I've inked 11 pages of a first story, and am working on the second tale right now (there's a good chance I'll add a page to the first story to 'beef' it up). 

Although I may keep material in b&w, color would be essential for web presentation or pdfs. I'm having someone tackle a sample page, and I'm excited at how it may turn out.

Once I have 24 pages ready, we'll figure out the next step. It makes sense that our priority should be having completed, print-ready work.

Let's hope I can keep up my weekly pace, and much appreciation for the comments and assistance of my wife!