Chapter 3
So here's my plan. What do you guys think of this?
I do want to eventually publish Amnia in print. I don't know who I'll be publishing it with yet. We'll see. But I am thinking about the format. What I'm thinking is that I'd like to do it in 4 or 5 double sized issues with whatever extra content I can think would be worth having in those issues.
Trying to think of extra content for Amnia is really tough. You're getting everything in the pages. There isn't any concept sketches or anything like that. I think I'll have to create some extra stuff. It might be fun to do one or two page short side stories, or a universe map, stuff like that. I'm open to ideas.
Till next week.
Blogged and blogged
Of course there are many ways you could go about doing this, but I think it depends on your priorities. If you really want to get it out there, get the public a taste for the story, you could release it a scene at a time on your blog/tumbler site. One scene a week and so on, depending on how many you have stored up. Then after you get a story arc or two completed, you could publish it as a trade paperback. The trade paperback could include exclusive extra material, short side stories, prequel stories, character sketches, etc. This might save you on costs of publishing individual issues while giving a publisher a built-in audience.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought. I'm not in the industry, so take my thoughts for what they're worth. This is just an idea I've come up with for a couple of projects I'm working on (I'm a would-be writer in search of an artist, still saving up money to get some artist to help me out).
Anyway, good luck with it.
Thanks for the comment… Um Yeah. Posting Amnia Cycle on my blog a few pages each week is a great idea… And good luck to you too.
DeleteYou know Dustin, you should really think about putting this stuff all online.
ReplyDeleteGreat Great! You know, I'm liking all these suggestions. If anyone else has some helpful tips, I'd love to hear them.
DeleteSide stories would justify a purchase (of content free online) I think. Something you can only get in the print and something with a little meat. Who doesn't want additional material? I'm super curious what these little stories would be. Events unrelated to the main narrative but featuring the main characters, or little bits of what happened off panel and in the gutters?
ReplyDeleteI'd also be into cool illustrations of each character. Just cool promo drawings, you know what I mean? A full page of Zigzag would be great.
Oh yeah, they're called pin ups!
Also, how about swimsuit illustrations? I want to see what kind of weapon Byzner was issued if you know what I mean.
Swimsuit pinup comics! Oh boy! Even when I was 12 years old and those kinds of things were being done I remember thinking to myself-- these comic creators need to grow the fuck up. I would think that right after I came.
DeleteYeah yeah, here are some ideas for short side stories that might be fun-- What happened in Tara and her Mom's adventure with the painting and Myron and his men?… What was the "Intruder Speed Gamut" mentioned on page 51… What's the story behind Marcronis's battle with the "white ship" (for everyone who isn't Ben Bates, you'll be meeting Macronis soon)… Stuff like that.
I will admit, I'm a wait-for-the-trade sort of cat myself. I think a proper trade would be nice! I liken your Amnia cycle pages like a weekly shonen issue, and holding out for a tankobon is something I get.
ReplyDeleteAs for the extras: I understand you said everything you got it out there on the line.
Full character designs and ship break-downs are neat little extras! You've created a neat universe and given some extra background information if you have any really fleshes it out for us.
Or something I have liked about these pages being posted by you is that some of them you annotate the design or art choice. It's not the same as a script, but it gives a reason for the page or design you chose and for me and such a visual story that's strong value. The double-connected planet? On its own, stunning, but with the reason why you chose it? That gives more insight and worth getting a collected copy.
The Annotations is a good idea. Did you ever get the individual issues of From Hell? I really liked the annotations in those books. Good idea.
DeleteAs for the idea of waiting to put the whole thing in a trade verses issues, I hear you. I don't buy issues ether. But I know that they are still an important part of selling comics still. If I just suddenly put it all out in one big book I think most people would hardly notice it, but with single issues you can build some hype. But I've also noticed a lot of that hype dies after 4 or 5 issues. So my thinking is, do double sized issues with extra stuff through Image or something, and really make each one feel substantial. Make single issues that feel like small graphic novels, you know-- and only do 4 or 5 of them.
Also, really I don't think a lot of people are reading this stuff right now as I put it online. You are in a relatively small group of readers right now, so for most of the comic world, the issues would be the first they will be hearing about it.
I don't know, though. Really this model I'm thinking of makes sense if I do release it through Image. If I did it through Archaia or something like that, then maybe just one big Graphic Novel would be the way to go.
I don't know. We'll figure it out.
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