Where have I been? Well, I’m glad you asked because I’ve got a fun story to tell. Accompanied by illustrations, no less! Here we go…
Back in March, I got accepted as an artist at the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival in June.
And three whole months to get ready! For two months, I worked feverishly, drawing new illustrations for washi tape, art prints, postcards, and journals. I printed more copies of my zine Twenty Questions. I helped my art kid design a sticker sheet of Morgana from Persona5 and print and fold the full color zine she made with her friend.
And lastly, I finally collected the bulk of my dragon family comic recipes into a real softcover book, a project that I have been slowly chipping away at for 6+ years! I’m so proud of this book. I still see all the things about that could be better but I do believe it’s finally ready for print.
With 30 days to spare, I sent files off to various printers and now all I had to do was sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor.
Stickers and suncatchers arrived on time and looked exactly as they were supposed to. The art prints also arrived on time. So far, so good.
Postcards arrived quickly but printed way off center. Printer was able to reprint them and ship new ones out to me in time. Sent the wrong zine file to Staples for the kiddo’s art zine and had to reorder. Just a few hiccups, no probs right?
A week before the festival, I learned that the notebooks and washi tape would not arrive in time for the festival. The delivery date for the cookbooks was pushed back by a week. Ugh!
The cookbooks arrived nail-bitingly late – just two days before A2CAF. The spine binding wasn’t glued properly on 36 of the 49 books I received (I ordered 50) and the covers literally peeled off the front of the book when opened.
I got a refund for the damaged books and then I let myself have a good cry about this – it was definitely not the end result I wanted after 6 years of development. While 13 of the books seemed fine, I now worried about selling them at all.
In this final moment of despair, I decided to throw together a compilation of my family comics from the last six years. I printed it at home on my trusty Epson WF-7820, cropped it and stapled it with some pretty green staples.
It turned out to be my best-selling book. Heh. Insert something about hiding one’s light under a bushel here…
The Festival itself was a great experience – I got to chat with loads of folks, made lots of great trades (see recommendations below), and, most importantly, sold a lot of comics and dragon stuff! It was such a great experience that I immediately made a list of comic arts festivals to apply to for fall and beyond.
If you’re one of the people who helped support my work, thanks! All the new dragon items are in the shop now and can be ordered for shipping in the US and beyond.
In other news, it’s officially summer, my favorite season. Here’s to more orange creamsicles, red-winged blackbirds and lazy days at the lake. Time to sit back and read some recommended comics: The Extras, DnDoggos, Autumn Wing and The Legend of Jamie Roberts.