Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Update: The Journals of Simon Pariah #1
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Lessons Learned in Self-Publishing: Be Careful What You Wish For
In my opinion, the next best thing to a sale is a review. I'm always happy to send out a review copy to anyone who writes for a public forum and is interested in reviewing one of the books I publish. Even better when a reader takes the time, unbidden, to write some helpful comments about something they've read.
So, I was briefly thrilled to check my email this morning and find that someone had both read and reviewed my new book, "The Journals of Simon Pariah" on DriveThruComics.
Very briefly.
Apparently this reviewer was less than thrilled with my book, rating it a mere two stars, an adding the following comments:
"I felt like I had been misled based on what I had read in the description. I thought I would be reading original ideas using past events/figures both real and imagined. This story was basically a retelling of RE Howard's "The Thing in the Crypt" featuring Conan the Barbarian. The author freely admits after the tale his character was inspired by Howard's creations as well as another sword/sorcery author.
The art was good and supported the story but I found the illustration of Wolverine to be unnecessary and detrimental to the feeling of the time period the author was trying to create.
The text could have benefited from a good proofreading. There are numerous grammatical mistakes in punctuation and spelling that could have been caught.
I did like the format. I like comics that are text heavy with fewer illustrations allowing for better fleshed out storytelling.
All in all this might not have been the strongest issue to start the series. Perhaps it might have worked better as a flashback."
Ouch!
What I'd like to do is go through this review point by point, constructing a good argument to explain how this reader has misunderstood the book, and how what he sees as flaws are the same things I consider strengths.
I'd like to do that, but I won't.
I won't do it because there's nothing to be gained by it. If I respond to every bit of negative criticism, I'm only going to make myself look worse, and not add anything productive to the conversation.
I also think that no matter how good an argument I construct, I won't change this reader's mind...he's read the book and formed his opinion, and that's that. Better luck next time.
I won't do it because I think he's right. At least insofar as to say that his criticism is as valid as anyone's, and whether I agree with him or not, he's got every right to express it.
Finally, and most importantly, I appreciate that this reader took the time to write this review and let me know what he thinks. It's well written and attempts to be constructive, and balanced with some positive commentary as well. Whether he enjoyed the book or not, at least he took the time to respond to it, and give me something I can learn from and, hopefully, grow on. That's worth a lot to me.
The lesson is, if you're looking to get into self-publishing, you'd better grow a thick skin when it comes to reviews. Not everyone is going to praise your efforts, and people will more quickly jump on the keyboard when they've got something negative to say. Don't turn every bad review into an argument or it will only weaken you in the eyes of your readership. Instead, try to appreciate the feedback, learn something from the comments and move on. That's just one of the ways you grow as a creator.
In the meantime, why don't you try the book for yourself and tell me if you agree with this review? If you're a blogger/reviewer/journalist, contact me and let me know where you'll be writing your review, and I'll set you up with a comp copy of the book. Everyone else can grab a copy for under a buck over at DriveThru Comics and then join in the conversation.
So, I was briefly thrilled to check my email this morning and find that someone had both read and reviewed my new book, "The Journals of Simon Pariah" on DriveThruComics.
Very briefly.
Apparently this reviewer was less than thrilled with my book, rating it a mere two stars, an adding the following comments:
"I felt like I had been misled based on what I had read in the description. I thought I would be reading original ideas using past events/figures both real and imagined. This story was basically a retelling of RE Howard's "The Thing in the Crypt" featuring Conan the Barbarian. The author freely admits after the tale his character was inspired by Howard's creations as well as another sword/sorcery author.
The art was good and supported the story but I found the illustration of Wolverine to be unnecessary and detrimental to the feeling of the time period the author was trying to create.
The text could have benefited from a good proofreading. There are numerous grammatical mistakes in punctuation and spelling that could have been caught.
I did like the format. I like comics that are text heavy with fewer illustrations allowing for better fleshed out storytelling.
All in all this might not have been the strongest issue to start the series. Perhaps it might have worked better as a flashback."
Ouch!
What I'd like to do is go through this review point by point, constructing a good argument to explain how this reader has misunderstood the book, and how what he sees as flaws are the same things I consider strengths.
I'd like to do that, but I won't.
I won't do it because there's nothing to be gained by it. If I respond to every bit of negative criticism, I'm only going to make myself look worse, and not add anything productive to the conversation.
I also think that no matter how good an argument I construct, I won't change this reader's mind...he's read the book and formed his opinion, and that's that. Better luck next time.
I won't do it because I think he's right. At least insofar as to say that his criticism is as valid as anyone's, and whether I agree with him or not, he's got every right to express it.
Finally, and most importantly, I appreciate that this reader took the time to write this review and let me know what he thinks. It's well written and attempts to be constructive, and balanced with some positive commentary as well. Whether he enjoyed the book or not, at least he took the time to respond to it, and give me something I can learn from and, hopefully, grow on. That's worth a lot to me.
The lesson is, if you're looking to get into self-publishing, you'd better grow a thick skin when it comes to reviews. Not everyone is going to praise your efforts, and people will more quickly jump on the keyboard when they've got something negative to say. Don't turn every bad review into an argument or it will only weaken you in the eyes of your readership. Instead, try to appreciate the feedback, learn something from the comments and move on. That's just one of the ways you grow as a creator.
In the meantime, why don't you try the book for yourself and tell me if you agree with this review? If you're a blogger/reviewer/journalist, contact me and let me know where you'll be writing your review, and I'll set you up with a comp copy of the book. Everyone else can grab a copy for under a buck over at DriveThru Comics and then join in the conversation.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Presenting: The Journals of Simon Pariah #1
Some readers may remember Simon from his old incarnation at webomics host Keenspace (the files are still up at http://simonpariah.comicgenesis.com for now), or perhaps from my earlier days of trying to get other publishers and distributors interested in the book. I've been working on this idea for a long time, and although it's been publicly dormant for a few years, I've never let go of it. More than any other, it's the story that I want to tell and I'm beyond thrilled to finally be able to bring it to the world on my own terms and under my own banner.
For the uninitiated, the book description I've used at Amazon and elsewhere tells you all you need to know for now:
""The Journals of Simon Pariah" visits entries from the career of an immortal adventurer, charting his travels through time and around the world. Encountering figures whose shadows loom large over history and legend, he is sometimes witness, sometimes participant, sometimes prime mover to the events that have shaped our world.
Written and illustrated by Dominic, this book combines a love of classic fantasy, historical fiction and pulp adventure with a Japanese influenced art style in an attempt to make something that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. Won't you join the adventure?"
Further to that, I can tell you that there is an overarching story to the Simon Pariah books that will unfold slowly over time. In the meantime, the book will be very episodic, with self-contained stories set in various times and places. The whole thing will make a coherent whole one day, but I'm in no rush to get there.
The book is 28 pages, black and white with a color cover. Like anything else I publish, it will be done on an "as soon as I can get to it" basis, but I plan to get out several issues a year, so it won't be a glacial pace. Regarding the first issue, I can tell you that I don't try to hide my influences in this one, and fans of Robert E. Howard's work will find it very interesting.
So....from here it's up to you, the reader. It's up to you, in large part, to determine how well this book does, and through that how well I do at producing this book. And the best way you can determine that is by buying the book. It's available right now in a print edition for $3.99 USD at Amazon, and in a digital edition at DriveThruComics for just 99 cents. Get out there and give it a try! Then come back here and drop a comment to let me know what you think of it; I'll be waiting to hear from you.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Seasons Greetings from AIM Comics!
This is coming a day late, and we're always a dollar short around here, but here's wishing a Happy Whatever You Do to all and sundry this year. To celebrate, here's a nifty piece of art I swiped from two-time Brutal Blade pinup contributor Mike DeStasio. It's a holiday themed tribute to Frank Frazetta and all things wintry and wonderful.
Be sure to check out Mike's self-published comic, Blod, especially if you're a fan of all things sword-and-sorcery. It's great old-school barbarian fun!
Be sure to check out Mike's self-published comic, Blod, especially if you're a fan of all things sword-and-sorcery. It's great old-school barbarian fun!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Publishing News!
It's been a slow year, both sales-wise and in terms of output. I have only myself to blame, as I've allowed myself to become distracted with other projects. Nevertheless, as December rolls in, there is some good news to share regarding upcoming publications.
First of all, The Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit will be available early in 2013, now that we've nailed down a fantastic new cover artist for the book. I'm not saying yet who we've managed to capture, but let me just say that it's someone whose work both Ian and I are mad about, and who's been an inspiration to both of us through his art and through is approach to self-publishing. Heck, he even gave me advice on my computer setup!
Now that we've got him signed on to do some work for us, it's time for me to get to work formatting the new book.
Secondly, I have just this minute submitted my files for the first issue of "The Journals of Simon Pariah" for review. If all goes well, the book should be live very shortly, ready for you to (hopefully) devour. Frankly, this has been so long in coming that I just can't wait to kick off the title and get the work out there again.
While I'm waiting, I'm going to post some previews of the first issue, starting with the pencils below, just to give you a taste of the good things to come.
So, it looks like 2013 is going to get off to a rolling start, and I hope it'll help me build a little more momentum for some of the other projects I want to take on (no details, but there may be some public domain work involved). Now we just need you, dear reader, to get out there and make it worth our while to do this by buying the books we publish.
You can start by grabbing any of the three volumes of Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit published so far; just click the links to the right to go to the various stores and buy either the print or digital versions of the books.
Or, if you want to get the whole story so far, I've just updated the Brutal Blade Bundle over at DriveThru Comics to include the 3rd volume. Even better, the bundle offers discounted prices on all the books, so you can get all three volumes to date for just $3.00. That's almost $2.00 off the price of the individual issues! What are you waiting for? Go get 'em!
First of all, The Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit will be available early in 2013, now that we've nailed down a fantastic new cover artist for the book. I'm not saying yet who we've managed to capture, but let me just say that it's someone whose work both Ian and I are mad about, and who's been an inspiration to both of us through his art and through is approach to self-publishing. Heck, he even gave me advice on my computer setup!
Now that we've got him signed on to do some work for us, it's time for me to get to work formatting the new book.
Secondly, I have just this minute submitted my files for the first issue of "The Journals of Simon Pariah" for review. If all goes well, the book should be live very shortly, ready for you to (hopefully) devour. Frankly, this has been so long in coming that I just can't wait to kick off the title and get the work out there again.
While I'm waiting, I'm going to post some previews of the first issue, starting with the pencils below, just to give you a taste of the good things to come.
So, it looks like 2013 is going to get off to a rolling start, and I hope it'll help me build a little more momentum for some of the other projects I want to take on (no details, but there may be some public domain work involved). Now we just need you, dear reader, to get out there and make it worth our while to do this by buying the books we publish.
You can start by grabbing any of the three volumes of Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit published so far; just click the links to the right to go to the various stores and buy either the print or digital versions of the books.
Or, if you want to get the whole story so far, I've just updated the Brutal Blade Bundle over at DriveThru Comics to include the 3rd volume. Even better, the bundle offers discounted prices on all the books, so you can get all three volumes to date for just $3.00. That's almost $2.00 off the price of the individual issues! What are you waiting for? Go get 'em!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Halcon 2012
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending Halcon 2012, the third in this new series of sci-fi/comic based conventions in Halifax. Due to one thing and another, I couldn't attend from behind a table this time, but with the proverbial cloud's silver lining, this meant that I was free to wander and enjoy the con as an attendee instead of having to worry about table setup and sales pitches.
I only went on Sunday this year, which meant that I missed the costume contest, one of the real highlights of the show. Still, if the costumes I saw on Sunday were any indication, the contest must have been tough to judge. It's always amazing how much work people put into making these things, and they seem to be getting better with each year.
Here, my Whovian daughter has the high point of her day as Nicholas "Exterminate" Briggs autographs a photo of her in last year's Dalek costume. Mr. Briggs is, among other roles on the series, the voice of the Dalek's in the newest incarnations of Doctor Who. This is a clear sign of the growth of Hal-Con that they can now fly in guest like this and (barely visible just to his left) "Lord of the Rings" star John Rhys-Davies.
Or this fellow, barely recognizable as more than a blob due to my low-rez camera and poor photography skills. That's Rene Auberjonois, best known to current genre fans as Odo of "Deep Space Nine", although fondly remembered by me as the stuffy Clayton Runnymede Endicott III from "Benson".
I was also pleased to get the chance to talk briefly once again with Scream Queen Debbie Rochon, and purchase this signed trading card from her table. Debbie is the star of one of my favorite Lovecraftian films, "The Colour From the Dark", a loose adaptation of "The Colour Out of Space". I think she embraces and embodies the culture of B-movie horror in a way I've not seen since Linnea Quigley and Brinke Stevens in the '80's.
Of course, for me, the highlight of this, or any, con, is the swag I get from Artist's Alley. That's where you really get to meet and connect with creative people. It's part networking opportunity, part fanboy heaven.
The highlight of the artist tables this year was Marvel legend Larry Hama. Although he was too busy to really chat, I was able to get him to sign a short stack of comics that have long been treasures of my collection. Now, of course, they've gained much more value for me for having passed through the hands of their creator.
Even though he's local, and I've occasionally seen him just hanging out at the comic shop, it was still great to see Darwyn Cooke, and get him to sign a couple of Parker books. These are my favorite of Darwyn's works, and I'm proud to say that I've had all the books in this series so far autographed and/or sketched by him. His work is deceptively simple in the tradition of artist like Will Eisner, and he really seems to be most at home with the writing of Donald Westlake (aka Richard Stark).
Did I mention Darwyn Cooke was there?
Oh yeah...and, Darwyn. See what I mean about the fanboyishness?
I only went on Sunday this year, which meant that I missed the costume contest, one of the real highlights of the show. Still, if the costumes I saw on Sunday were any indication, the contest must have been tough to judge. It's always amazing how much work people put into making these things, and they seem to be getting better with each year.
This steampunk "Wild Wild West" tribute was probably the costume highlight for me. With the amount of detail and creativity that went into this, they looked like they just walked off the movie set. I heard mutterings about a mechanical spider for next year; that's about the only way they could top this.
Of course, HALO had to get its representation, and this pair represented it well with what must have been a year long project to create these incredibly detailed costumes.
And what would a sci-fi con be without a Dalek or two?
Taking cosplay to the next level is the Society for Creative Anachronism and their combat sessions. To give an idea of how intimidating these guys are in person....I'm 6'4", but that guy against the back wall on the right towers about 4" over me. Not someone I'd want to meet on a battlefield.
As impressive for me as the costumes are the miniatures and models. Take this scale model Millenium Falcon for example. This photo doesn't do justice to the amount of detail the builder put into this thing. It's about two feet wide, with obsessive attention paid to not just the details of the ship, but the textures of the materials. George Lucas would be proud to own this thing.
I'm not sure who this guy is supposed to be (but it reminds me of a character from Ricardo Delgado's "Hieroglyph"), but it was an impressive figure, and an interesting counterpoint to the more mechanical pieces surrounding it.
My day at Hal-Con started off right with a presentation on "How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse". Informative and entertaining, with bonus machetes! In the photo above, presenter Alex Hall shares a moment with Twilight's Kristen Stewart (actually her cardboard understudy) before getting busy on her with his zombie killing weapons. She might be pretty, but Bella is still one of the undead, so don't be fooled.
My day at Hal-Con started off right with a presentation on "How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse". Informative and entertaining, with bonus machetes! In the photo above, presenter Alex Hall shares a moment with Twilight's Kristen Stewart (actually her cardboard understudy) before getting busy on her with his zombie killing weapons. She might be pretty, but Bella is still one of the undead, so don't be fooled.
Here, my Whovian daughter has the high point of her day as Nicholas "Exterminate" Briggs autographs a photo of her in last year's Dalek costume. Mr. Briggs is, among other roles on the series, the voice of the Dalek's in the newest incarnations of Doctor Who. This is a clear sign of the growth of Hal-Con that they can now fly in guest like this and (barely visible just to his left) "Lord of the Rings" star John Rhys-Davies.
Or this fellow, barely recognizable as more than a blob due to my low-rez camera and poor photography skills. That's Rene Auberjonois, best known to current genre fans as Odo of "Deep Space Nine", although fondly remembered by me as the stuffy Clayton Runnymede Endicott III from "Benson".
I was also pleased to get the chance to talk briefly once again with Scream Queen Debbie Rochon, and purchase this signed trading card from her table. Debbie is the star of one of my favorite Lovecraftian films, "The Colour From the Dark", a loose adaptation of "The Colour Out of Space". I think she embraces and embodies the culture of B-movie horror in a way I've not seen since Linnea Quigley and Brinke Stevens in the '80's.
Of course, for me, the highlight of this, or any, con, is the swag I get from Artist's Alley. That's where you really get to meet and connect with creative people. It's part networking opportunity, part fanboy heaven.
The highlight of the artist tables this year was Marvel legend Larry Hama. Although he was too busy to really chat, I was able to get him to sign a short stack of comics that have long been treasures of my collection. Now, of course, they've gained much more value for me for having passed through the hands of their creator.
Even though he's local, and I've occasionally seen him just hanging out at the comic shop, it was still great to see Darwyn Cooke, and get him to sign a couple of Parker books. These are my favorite of Darwyn's works, and I'm proud to say that I've had all the books in this series so far autographed and/or sketched by him. His work is deceptively simple in the tradition of artist like Will Eisner, and he really seems to be most at home with the writing of Donald Westlake (aka Richard Stark).
Did I mention Darwyn Cooke was there?
Oh yeah...and, Darwyn. See what I mean about the fanboyishness?
I have a small sketchbook that I carry with me to cons like this, and over the past few years, I've collected work from a number of personal favorites. Drawings by Ty Templeton, Richard Comely, Jim Craig, the aforementioned Darwyn Cooke, and others grace the pages as it slowly fills in to completion. Making a significant contribution to the roster this year was Men in Black co-creator, and cover artist to our own "Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit" Vol. 3, Sandy Carruthers. I had a good, long chat with Sandy about his work and comics in general. He says he's really enjoyed the Bruno stories he's read, and had fun working on our cover. We were happy to have him, and I was just as happy to have him do this original piece for me, featuring a character of his own creation that I hope to see in print someday soon.
Not to be overlooked, cover artist for Brutal Blade Vol. 2, Geof Isherwood, was also in attendance. As usual, Geof was just rocking the sketches and had some prints and originals for sale that were just mind-blowingly good. I was also lucky enough to grab a preview copy of an upcoming book he's worked on, "Heroes of the North". As you can tell from the cover above, we've got some Canadian superhero goodness to look forward to from this great artist.
Speaking of Canadian content, Nova Scotia's own Mark Oakley was also in attendance. I seem to be making an unofficial mission of getting every obscure work by this creator autographed, as seen by the rarities pictured above, Mythography #1 and Blip, both from the defunct Bardic Press. By the way, if anyone has a copy of Mythography #2, I'd love to get my hands on it, as it apparently contains a never reprinted short story by Mark that I'd like to read.
Finally, after two years of trying, I managed to track down the elusive (to me, anyway) Connor McCreery, co-creator of "Kill Shakespeare", the comic for English majors everywhere. Connor is a very engaging person to speak with, and is very enthusiastic about this book, in which he's helped create a layered yet accessible story that deserves the praise it's received all around.
As usual, there were plenty of small press people represented as well. I always enjoy picking up the odd books that I find with as yet undiscovered talent. Some of them go on to greater things, some are never heard from again. Either way, they make great additions to my increasingly eclectic collection. For example, there's this book, "Manga Ganda", an odd anthology of work that has some very interesting art in it. Unfortunately, I can't recall the name of the person I bought it from, although I did give him my contact info. So, I hope he'll contact me soon so I can update this page with his info.
To close out, but certainly not meant to be least, there's this piece by New Brunswick artist Danica Brine. I've picked up a couple of prints from Danica, and am really enjoying her crisp, clear style. The lovely creature pictured here is from her forthcoming zombie comic, "Pandemic". If this is anything to judge by, it should be worth a look.
Hal-Con, or any con, is different experience depending on which side of the table you're on. While I enjoyed spending more time meeting the other creative people, I did miss being behind the sketchbook, meeting the fans and promoting AIM Comics. I'm definitely going to have to put a push on to get myself better organized for next year so that I can be back behind the table where I belong. The good news is that Hal-Con seems to be continuing to grow, which means I should be able to look forward to many opportunities to participate. Hope to see you all in 2013!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Bad News, Good News...
OK, first the bad news...
It looks like I won't be able to attend Hal-Con this year, at least not from behind an artist table. I mean, I suppose technically I could, but in order to do so I would have to spend money that I really shouldn't spend right now, and rush some things that really shouldn't be rushed. So, rather than do a halfway job of it and have my work suffer in the long run, I've opted to take a pass on this year's con and try to ramp it up for next year.
I'll still be attending as a patron, and you'll probably see a report of it, with photos, in this space in early November, so stay tuned for that.
Now the good news: the pages for the first issue of "The Journals of Simon Pariah" are just about ready to send to the printers/distributors. I know I've promised this before, but this time I'm certain that I'm about 95% done. I could probably send the book out as it is, but this is one of those things that I mentioned earlier about not wanting to rush. There's one page, one fairly important page, that I'm not satisfied with and want to redraw a bit. Once that's done, the book will be on its way and ready to order shortly thereafter. Look for it in October.
Of course, while you're waiting, you could check out a copy of Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit. We've got three of them out now, all of them with some pretty stellar work. Hit the links on the sidebar for our various stores and give it a try. Frankly, each copy sold will go a little further to helping me put together a decent presentation for next year's Hal-Con.
It looks like I won't be able to attend Hal-Con this year, at least not from behind an artist table. I mean, I suppose technically I could, but in order to do so I would have to spend money that I really shouldn't spend right now, and rush some things that really shouldn't be rushed. So, rather than do a halfway job of it and have my work suffer in the long run, I've opted to take a pass on this year's con and try to ramp it up for next year.
I'll still be attending as a patron, and you'll probably see a report of it, with photos, in this space in early November, so stay tuned for that.
Now the good news: the pages for the first issue of "The Journals of Simon Pariah" are just about ready to send to the printers/distributors. I know I've promised this before, but this time I'm certain that I'm about 95% done. I could probably send the book out as it is, but this is one of those things that I mentioned earlier about not wanting to rush. There's one page, one fairly important page, that I'm not satisfied with and want to redraw a bit. Once that's done, the book will be on its way and ready to order shortly thereafter. Look for it in October.
Of course, while you're waiting, you could check out a copy of Brutal Blade of Bruno the Bandit. We've got three of them out now, all of them with some pretty stellar work. Hit the links on the sidebar for our various stores and give it a try. Frankly, each copy sold will go a little further to helping me put together a decent presentation for next year's Hal-Con.
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