Glossy on the front, matte on the back. They look good!
I ordered from Vistaprint to see what their quality was like, and requested expedited shipping, so that I can have them when I go to the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair on Sunday!
The Bookmarks Came!
Category Archives: Marketing
A Need for Giveaways
So there I was. I had just wandered into a convenience store while wearing my new shirt that I had made with the logo of The Rabbit Trap. The cashier was asking me about it, what did it mean, and I was describing the book. He asked, did I have any info on it that he could give out, and I had to admit I did not yet. Creating something to give away was literally the next major thing I was doing.
To that end, I have now created and ordered bookmarks for The Rabbit Trap. Hopefully they will be here this week.
Versions of the First Book Trailer
The book trailer for The Rabbit Trap went through a lot of evolution.
It’s technically an ‘animatic’, a kind of draft animation that can be quickly produced and adjusted as ideas change. A fully-animated work would follow on from it.
I started out by drawing a few rough sketches on paper and putting them in order.
Then I decided to try Boords, the online storyboarding service.
Continue readingA Book Trailer for The Rabbit Trap!
With the help of friends, I finished it! I am very thankful for Akosua Brown, who provided inspiration and support, and to Dave Ranson and Sandy Kay, who provided voices (even if just one word!).
Another Stop on the Journey to Social Media Art Posts…
It turns out that Facebook does not allow external plugins to display posts from a personal Facebook tiimeline. Only posts from a Facebook page or group can be selected and displayed remotely. This is apparently for privacy reasons.
I picked up a Custom Facebopok Feed plugin from Smashballoon to display selected Facebook posts on my WordPress blog. Its FAQ mentions this restriction.
So I may have to make a proper SRD Books Facebook page, and post art things to that. Since many of these would be various stages of artwork and book preparation, that makes sense. But general sketchbook posts like I’ve been doing lately? I’ll have to think about it. Maybe I can sort and redisplay them on my personal page and then link to that.
A proper FB, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc page for SRD Books is something that Orzala would probably recommend anyways…
Books Ready to Go Out!
I just wrote letters and packed up the books I am sending to various friends and family. I also threw in more of the postcards. I have no idea how much postage is going to be…
When Can I Use Real Names and Products?
In the Devilbunnies universe, writers used the names of existing concepts, characters, products and companies. Some of them were associated with the Bunnies or their enemies:
For the Bunnies
- Frith, Inlé, the Black Rabbit (rabbit mythology from Watership Down);
- Snapple (a “cute” drink),
- Sailor Moon, Project A-ko (anime);
For the Bunnies’ Opponents
- Elmer Fudd (from Warner Brothers; lent his name to the anti-Bunny forces);
- Moxie, Irn Bru, D&B (“uncute” drinks);
- Vanilla extract (the Bunnies were actually supposed to be allergic or even burned by it);
In some cases the group authors took the name and ran with it.
Continue readingAuthor Copies!
And here they are! Twenty-five copies of Nineteen Tales, picked up from Jackie in Bowmanville today. We had a great meeting with all kinds of ideas and I have a lot to think about.
Promotional postcards came!
I ordered some promotional postcards from Package Plus in Peterborough. They came on Monday, and they look really good!
Alas, no exhibiting at online TCAF… this year.
However, I got a great message back from them with some useful advice:
For those who are interested in applying for TCAF in the future, we want to take a moment to provide some context for what our committee considers when selecting applicants for TCAF:
TCAF exhibitors should have a substantial body of comics in print. We are a comics focused show, which means that we try to prioritize exhibitors who have lots of comics for sale.
TCAF exhibitors are encouraged to debut new work at the festival. New comics and new books help make TCAF exciting for patrons, and tend to ensure more successful and profitable shows for exhibitors. It’s great to see applicants who have a solid idea of a new comics project, especially one that has a clear and confident plan for completion.
It’s important to note that these aren’t “the rules” for applying to TCAF, and many other factors are taken into consideration, but we hope this helps with your future TCAF applications.
TCAF
So I’m going to finish “Little Lost Part” as if I were exhibiting it at TCAF, and keep going from there!