Hmm.
I attended the Zinefest in Milwaukee this weekend. Had a nice talk with a guy who ran a distro (that's a distributing 'company' for home made zines) and who had gotten his comic strip published in book format. HARDCOVER! 300 pages!
His publisher was up in Canada. They'd done a print run of 4,000 books. Price was set at $29.99. Out of that he got $2 per book. If he wanted copies he could purchase them at half cost. So the most he took in as an author for that would be $8,000. Don't quit the day job.
Sure, the publisher takes on the printing costs, the storage fees, shipping, etc. And the middle man takes a huge chunk too, but TWO DOLLARS per book for the author/artist? Wow.
Sure makes it more appealing to look at self publishing. Hey?
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Another Strip in the Making
One of the cats has envy of the Siamese' ninja skills. I wanted him to get excited about making nunchucks out of toilet paper rolls, and threatening another of the cats with them (not to much effect obviously). It goes downhill from there.
Comes to 4 strips total before it wound down. Not bad.
Comes to 4 strips total before it wound down. Not bad.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
How a Strip Gets Done
I was looking through one of those high end food magazines the other day, they had gorgeous pictures of pre-cooked steak and lobster (at prices of $140 and up for 2 people) with home delivery and everything. WAY out of my price range. The images were so well done that you could practically taste what was shown in them.
The phrase Licensed to Krill popped into my mind. Nice way to end a comic strip, but how to set it up to give the payoff dialog line? There had to be at least two cats in the frame, to work off it.
What I came up with was the previous panel would have one cat commenting that he felt like James Bond. All the cats (or maybe only the one) would have a shrimp. The comment about Bond would be stated, one of the others would ask why, then the payoff line in the last panel, to which the other(s) would respond ‘lame’.
At that point I figured, heck – give them all a shrimp to nosh on. So the first panel was them being given a shrimp each by the owner as a treat. Either just tossed, or they already have one each and are digging in.
The strip still needed a counterpoint, so at the very end the final cat in line in the picture would add something like ‘actually that’s very appropriate’.
Done. Now to draw it…..
The phrase Licensed to Krill popped into my mind. Nice way to end a comic strip, but how to set it up to give the payoff dialog line? There had to be at least two cats in the frame, to work off it.
What I came up with was the previous panel would have one cat commenting that he felt like James Bond. All the cats (or maybe only the one) would have a shrimp. The comment about Bond would be stated, one of the others would ask why, then the payoff line in the last panel, to which the other(s) would respond ‘lame’.
At that point I figured, heck – give them all a shrimp to nosh on. So the first panel was them being given a shrimp each by the owner as a treat. Either just tossed, or they already have one each and are digging in.
The strip still needed a counterpoint, so at the very end the final cat in line in the picture would add something like ‘actually that’s very appropriate’.
Done. Now to draw it…..
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
What Color Is Marcus?
In black and white he seems to be 'white', however I've always considered him a more pale buff color. Not a true orange.
On the down side, ALL the cats people are familiar with in published cartoons seem to be orange male cats! Argh! Do I follow through and use the pale buff, or do I just show him as white if/when I can do the strip in color? Will it surprise people at that point? Do I allow my creation to follow in the cliche footsteps and do 'orange' as if I have no originality in my main character?
Maybe I can use a pale gray or something at that point..... I hate to bow to convention and put another orange cat out there to the public and keep the cliche 'cartoon cats' color perpetuating.
That's going to be a hurdle when I come to it.
Help me Obi Wan....
On the down side, ALL the cats people are familiar with in published cartoons seem to be orange male cats! Argh! Do I follow through and use the pale buff, or do I just show him as white if/when I can do the strip in color? Will it surprise people at that point? Do I allow my creation to follow in the cliche footsteps and do 'orange' as if I have no originality in my main character?
Maybe I can use a pale gray or something at that point..... I hate to bow to convention and put another orange cat out there to the public and keep the cliche 'cartoon cats' color perpetuating.
That's going to be a hurdle when I come to it.
Help me Obi Wan....
Steampunk!
I now think I have ENOUGH strips to do one whole issue as a Steampunk Special. The two little mad scientist cats with their mutating box (time machine, submersible, air balloon, etc.) have enough adventures at this point to have me be able to present them all together in one booklet. Yeay!
A Watched Artist Never Boils
Last night I attended a local writers workshop, their theme this meeting was to sit and write something. Everyone had laptops, I had a pad of paper (did I feel like a dinosaur). Some worked on their novel but most were focused on writing a blurb or 60 second sound bite about what their book was about. Me, I sat trying to do a new strip for the cartoon. With no pre-thought-out idea at the time.
Thanks to the potted plants seen through the window of the meeting room I did come up with an idea and did a rough sketch with dialog, but it wasn’t my best effort. Still, it seemed to amuse them when I passed it around.
Thanks to the potted plants seen through the window of the meeting room I did come up with an idea and did a rough sketch with dialog, but it wasn’t my best effort. Still, it seemed to amuse them when I passed it around.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
How Many Cats......
My sister asked me how MANY cats are in the strip. Honestly if this is all taking place in one household, how many am I actually implying are in the home -- I had to give that some thought.
Marcus, the main guy
The Siamese (she was a 'rescue')
The white one (this is one of the pair of 'mad scientists')
The tabby (with white paws)-- (he's the other part of the pair of 'mad scientists')
The tabby (with NO white paws) - in truth I sort of confuse the two tabbys
The white and gray
The gray with a white tail tip (he was our Hudson, we lost him to cancer in 2009)
The tortoishell (she's based on Hershey, who's 17 years old at this point)
The tuxedo cat (he's based on Merlin, who is a tuxedo cat of course)
The long haired gray one (he's called Jake, same as our Jake who not surprisingly is gray and long haired)
Then they have the occasional visitor like the long haired black and white cat that's the same size as Marcus. I wanted to mention a diabetic cat in the strip. You never see any comics about handicapped cats, you know? Our Hudson turned diabetic after he'd been with us for 7 years, it's not a problem dealing with it in cats once you learn how to do the insulin and regulate the type of food they're on.
Marcus, the main guy
The Siamese (she was a 'rescue')
The white one (this is one of the pair of 'mad scientists')
The tabby (with white paws)-- (he's the other part of the pair of 'mad scientists')
The tabby (with NO white paws) - in truth I sort of confuse the two tabbys
The white and gray
The gray with a white tail tip (he was our Hudson, we lost him to cancer in 2009)
The tortoishell (she's based on Hershey, who's 17 years old at this point)
The tuxedo cat (he's based on Merlin, who is a tuxedo cat of course)
The long haired gray one (he's called Jake, same as our Jake who not surprisingly is gray and long haired)
Then they have the occasional visitor like the long haired black and white cat that's the same size as Marcus. I wanted to mention a diabetic cat in the strip. You never see any comics about handicapped cats, you know? Our Hudson turned diabetic after he'd been with us for 7 years, it's not a problem dealing with it in cats once you learn how to do the insulin and regulate the type of food they're on.
Self Publish? Publisher?
Hmm, I'm self publishing via Office Depot, which gives me a 40 page booket (80 strips) per issue for a very good price. All photocopies, of course, but they work out really well. I've been thinking of possibly having the strips done up in book format, a REAL book format, but have still been collecting information on how to do it cost effectively.
There's the vanity press/print on demand, which is one way of doing things. It's not just lulu.com anymore. The guy doing the online cartoon Wondermark had his printed up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin for a decent price. I went to a pet seminar at the Raddison in September and talked to the speaker there, she had a good dozen different small books on dog training at her table for sale afterwards, she'd used a printer just south of Madison, WI who she was very happy with. And the writers group in Milwaukee here had a guest speaker from Chicago who has had three books published by two small presses.
He said the print runs on the books were done via the print on demand places, that's what the small publishers are using now. Interesting! The print runs on his books were anywhere from 800 to 1,300. I know that the larger publishers have been staying under 10,000 copies per print run. It was nice to get some idea of what the small publishers consider a 'print run'. Plus HE got to design the covers (they got the artist to do the actual art though) and he got to name the novels, the publishers did not change the title of the books.
ALWAYS nice to get the actual facts on how this stuff is done. I do want to have these printed up in book format at some point, not just home made issues as I've been doing.
Hey, if Hark A Vagrant! can get published then I certainly can!!!!!
(http://harkavagrant.com/ The artist got a book deal!!!!!)
There's the vanity press/print on demand, which is one way of doing things. It's not just lulu.com anymore. The guy doing the online cartoon Wondermark had his printed up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin for a decent price. I went to a pet seminar at the Raddison in September and talked to the speaker there, she had a good dozen different small books on dog training at her table for sale afterwards, she'd used a printer just south of Madison, WI who she was very happy with. And the writers group in Milwaukee here had a guest speaker from Chicago who has had three books published by two small presses.
He said the print runs on the books were done via the print on demand places, that's what the small publishers are using now. Interesting! The print runs on his books were anywhere from 800 to 1,300. I know that the larger publishers have been staying under 10,000 copies per print run. It was nice to get some idea of what the small publishers consider a 'print run'. Plus HE got to design the covers (they got the artist to do the actual art though) and he got to name the novels, the publishers did not change the title of the books.
ALWAYS nice to get the actual facts on how this stuff is done. I do want to have these printed up in book format at some point, not just home made issues as I've been doing.
Hey, if Hark A Vagrant! can get published then I certainly can!!!!!
(http://harkavagrant.com/ The artist got a book deal!!!!!)
Life Follows Art!
Ok, NEVER NEVER NEVER draw a cartoon strip about something you don't want to see. I've now had FOUR times when I drew a 'funny' and the thing happened within a week in real life.
The vet trips in the strip - within a few days we had to have an emergency vet trip done on one of our cats. The strip where the ceiling walking cat barfs - the next day we had projectile vomiting across 5 feet of hallway floor as Hershey tried running while she threw up. It was almost all water she'd just drank, but still..... I can't tell you how many paper towels it took to get it all up off the floor. She's the ONLY cat I've ever known who tries to run as they vomit. Ewww.
So now I'm very very leery of doing any vet strip in the comic, and I pull back from thinking of putting some things down in drawing on paper. For my peace of mind you realize. Last thing I want to do is jinx something else here.
The vet trips in the strip - within a few days we had to have an emergency vet trip done on one of our cats. The strip where the ceiling walking cat barfs - the next day we had projectile vomiting across 5 feet of hallway floor as Hershey tried running while she threw up. It was almost all water she'd just drank, but still..... I can't tell you how many paper towels it took to get it all up off the floor. She's the ONLY cat I've ever known who tries to run as they vomit. Ewww.
So now I'm very very leery of doing any vet strip in the comic, and I pull back from thinking of putting some things down in drawing on paper. For my peace of mind you realize. Last thing I want to do is jinx something else here.
Dreams
I realized recently that I'd only done ONE dream sequence in all this time. A sort of Sorcerer's Apprentice story, multiple strips long. It was time to do another one.
One thing I wanted to try was a sort of Little Nemo type, no not the Disney Finding Nemo, I mean LITTLE Nemo from the early 1900's that showed up in the Sunday papers back then. Check Wikipedia if you don't know about it. It's funny, and very artistic.
Not that mine is going to be all that 'artistic' but it's going to borrow a bit from the art style. Marcus's house mates will elongate, swirl, 'pop' in via bubbles, and in general give him some mighty strange nightmares! Ha!
One thing I wanted to try was a sort of Little Nemo type, no not the Disney Finding Nemo, I mean LITTLE Nemo from the early 1900's that showed up in the Sunday papers back then. Check Wikipedia if you don't know about it. It's funny, and very artistic.
Not that mine is going to be all that 'artistic' but it's going to borrow a bit from the art style. Marcus's house mates will elongate, swirl, 'pop' in via bubbles, and in general give him some mighty strange nightmares! Ha!
Friday, May 27, 2011
My Vet Requests A Cartoon
LOL! When I took our 'ample' Siamese in for a checkup the vet talked about how most Siamese have that middle body spread from eating too much. She asked if I could do a cartoon showing a dainty overweight lady Siamese with the notation "I'm not fat, I'm Rubenesque!"
A fitting first try for my Wacom Cintiq, since I can do color with that. The Siamese won't be the one in my comic strip (she only speaks in Korean) as this one uses English, but it's a fun cartoon to try.
A fitting first try for my Wacom Cintiq, since I can do color with that. The Siamese won't be the one in my comic strip (she only speaks in Korean) as this one uses English, but it's a fun cartoon to try.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
I Has A Wacom
Yes Yes Yes!
A Wacom Cintiq! All the better to do art with. It has a HUGE learning curve...
No No No!!!!
Ok folks, gimme time. I have to learn how to use it via the online tutorials and the inch thick book. This may take a while.
A Wacom Cintiq! All the better to do art with. It has a HUGE learning curve...
No No No!!!!
Ok folks, gimme time. I have to learn how to use it via the online tutorials and the inch thick book. This may take a while.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Is It Funny?
How do you do humor? Visual humor/written humor? It ain't easy.
I keep a list or words, phrases or general ideas (mostly words though) on the wall and try combining two or three together to see what sparks. If I come up with at least two lines of dialog then I run with it. Some just plain take off and I find myself winding down 5 or 7 strips later. Others are a one shot for three panels in one strip. Doesn't matter how long it is so long as it's FUNNY!
I keep a list or words, phrases or general ideas (mostly words though) on the wall and try combining two or three together to see what sparks. If I come up with at least two lines of dialog then I run with it. Some just plain take off and I find myself winding down 5 or 7 strips later. Others are a one shot for three panels in one strip. Doesn't matter how long it is so long as it's FUNNY!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Boxes!
Boxes and cats go together. They love them, and with good reason. They can hide in them. They can attack from them. They can play mad scientist in them. Every cat in the world loves boxes.
Big, small, makes no difference! Give a cat a box on the floor and he'll be in it.
The same works for paper bags too.
Big, small, makes no difference! Give a cat a box on the floor and he'll be in it.
The same works for paper bags too.
What WON'T Be In The Strip
Well, I've learned the hard way that there are some quirky things in life. EVERY time I did a strip about a vet visit *BAM* one of our own cats needed to go in for some emergency or other! Does the strip make this happen? Or am I in 'tune' with the universe in some way?
Don't laugh. There have been other things that happened the same way.... Less than a week after doing the strip of the tuxedo cat walking on the ceiling then barfing bug detrius down all over the place one of ours decided to projectile vomit across the hallway. I've NEVER seen that much water and half digested cat food end up spread over so much square footage! Hershey, do NOT tank up with as much water as you can hold right after finishing off whatever was left in the dry food bowl.
The vets... so much barf it could have come from a moo cow? Coincidence? I think not.
Don't laugh. There have been other things that happened the same way.... Less than a week after doing the strip of the tuxedo cat walking on the ceiling then barfing bug detrius down all over the place one of ours decided to projectile vomit across the hallway. I've NEVER seen that much water and half digested cat food end up spread over so much square footage! Hershey, do NOT tank up with as much water as you can hold right after finishing off whatever was left in the dry food bowl.
The vets... so much barf it could have come from a moo cow? Coincidence? I think not.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Being 'Fresh' and 'New'
After reading the same old jokes over and over and over in the newspaper, it makes me wonder why so few strips ever show anything NEW and exciting. They just keep recycling the same few ideas constantly. Even Foxtrot has settled into a routine. Honestly... Calvin and Hobbes was one of the few that broke out of that rut and stayed out of it.
One thing I want with my work is to NOT do any of the standard Garfield 'fat' jokes, to NOT keep to one storyline all the time, to NOT recycle someone else's work. There's no need for me to go over territory that's been so overused it's got a six mile deep rut to climb out of.
Another thing I've found with cat cartoons that get published on a regular basis is that the cats tend to either be pretty stupid creatures, or (time and again) they're downright mean. I guess trying to be mini-humans makes them mean? The real cats we've known never fell into that category, so my characters aren't going to follow in other's footsteps on that level either. They are going to be cats, seeing things from a cat perspective, but basically being themselves (with an added fantasy element here and there, yes).
One thing I want with my work is to NOT do any of the standard Garfield 'fat' jokes, to NOT keep to one storyline all the time, to NOT recycle someone else's work. There's no need for me to go over territory that's been so overused it's got a six mile deep rut to climb out of.
Another thing I've found with cat cartoons that get published on a regular basis is that the cats tend to either be pretty stupid creatures, or (time and again) they're downright mean. I guess trying to be mini-humans makes them mean? The real cats we've known never fell into that category, so my characters aren't going to follow in other's footsteps on that level either. They are going to be cats, seeing things from a cat perspective, but basically being themselves (with an added fantasy element here and there, yes).
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Decisions ....
There's a lot of things to be figured out before everything can go up online. I want to get a website devoted to the cartoon and link it to my other website of Falcons Mew, which is being phased down quite a bit.
Back in 1993 I was in the Science Fiction field and had items that were sold at my hucksters table at a few SF conventions.
Then I sequed into the SCA and shifted into making dragons and medieval creatures as stuffed toys for the Pennsic War event, selling them at my merchant table.
Now I need to move into what's being focused on by customers of my original site -- basically cat toys and the Ferret Tarot (the paper dolls get more clicks than any of the other items outside of these two main things). I'm hoping to move any remaining SCA type toys over to Etsy.com and fine tune my main website.
That leaves some things to be determined. Here's a few of them.
Do I do t-shirts/trading cards/Catnip cartoon related cat toys or not?
Do I get a Facebook account to promote the strip or not?
Do I continue to use Office Depot to self publish the booklets or check with a printer to do them up in larger format in book form?
Do I post a daily strip with an archive or put up rotating samples with a mention about the issues available for purchase?
Decisions, decisions.....
Back in 1993 I was in the Science Fiction field and had items that were sold at my hucksters table at a few SF conventions.
Then I sequed into the SCA and shifted into making dragons and medieval creatures as stuffed toys for the Pennsic War event, selling them at my merchant table.
Now I need to move into what's being focused on by customers of my original site -- basically cat toys and the Ferret Tarot (the paper dolls get more clicks than any of the other items outside of these two main things). I'm hoping to move any remaining SCA type toys over to Etsy.com and fine tune my main website.
That leaves some things to be determined. Here's a few of them.
Do I do t-shirts/trading cards/Catnip cartoon related cat toys or not?
Do I get a Facebook account to promote the strip or not?
Do I continue to use Office Depot to self publish the booklets or check with a printer to do them up in larger format in book form?
Do I post a daily strip with an archive or put up rotating samples with a mention about the issues available for purchase?
Decisions, decisions.....
Monday, April 25, 2011
Two Issues Are Available!
I have both Issue #1 and Issue #2 printed and ready. Each has cover art, 80 interior strips in black and white, and are saddle stapled.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Where An Idea Comes From
Sometimes it literally falls on you.
I was brushing my hair in the morning and had more CAT FUR on the brush than my own hair. Made a comment on that and my sig. other said that maybe there was a cat fur fairy that came in the night and spread it around.
Thus was born the 'fur fairy'. It made an amusing two strips.
I was brushing my hair in the morning and had more CAT FUR on the brush than my own hair. Made a comment on that and my sig. other said that maybe there was a cat fur fairy that came in the night and spread it around.
Thus was born the 'fur fairy'. It made an amusing two strips.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
STEAMPUNK
I'm aiming for having one of the booklets be completely 'Steampunk' with the smaller cats. I don't quite have enough to fill it yet since it takes 80 strips each, but I'm getting close.
Two of the cats decided to be Mad Scientists when they utilize empty boxes as play areas. They've had a time machine, underwater submersible, glorious air ballon and a mobile observation blind so far. One of the Tabbies is the lead scientist, the foil he works off of is the white cat. Both show obvious superiority over the others when they're in their Steampunk mode.
I'm up to sixty strips so far. Another two 'adverntures' and I'll have enough to print the booklet off. Huzzah!
Two of the cats decided to be Mad Scientists when they utilize empty boxes as play areas. They've had a time machine, underwater submersible, glorious air ballon and a mobile observation blind so far. One of the Tabbies is the lead scientist, the foil he works off of is the white cat. Both show obvious superiority over the others when they're in their Steampunk mode.
I'm up to sixty strips so far. Another two 'adverntures' and I'll have enough to print the booklet off. Huzzah!
The Cast of Characters
Marcus is the big guy, he's the main cat.
The smaller ones all started out as just tails moving around (the rest of them were below the 'camera frame') and the occasional paw going up into view. I've been working them into the picture slowly.
So far we have two tabbies, a black and white, a white one, a gray one, a gray and white, an orange and white, and a tortoishell. I added a Siamese rescue to the group when we added one to our own group of cats at home.
The Siamese in the strip is not able to speak in English. She speaks in 'Siamese' which I was wanting to use Japanese for, but after looking at Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Thai written characters, I settled for Korean as the most visually expressive. Some of the smaller cats can 'speak' Siamese and translate (the black and white one is half Siamese himself) but over time all the smaller cats can understand what she says now. The translation factor doesn't need to be done. She's still in the process of learning what's going on at this home, so is still adapting, as are the others adapting to her. Marcus would prefer that she be given away but even he is 'dealing with it'.
The smaller ones all started out as just tails moving around (the rest of them were below the 'camera frame') and the occasional paw going up into view. I've been working them into the picture slowly.
So far we have two tabbies, a black and white, a white one, a gray one, a gray and white, an orange and white, and a tortoishell. I added a Siamese rescue to the group when we added one to our own group of cats at home.
The Siamese in the strip is not able to speak in English. She speaks in 'Siamese' which I was wanting to use Japanese for, but after looking at Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Thai written characters, I settled for Korean as the most visually expressive. Some of the smaller cats can 'speak' Siamese and translate (the black and white one is half Siamese himself) but over time all the smaller cats can understand what she says now. The translation factor doesn't need to be done. She's still in the process of learning what's going on at this home, so is still adapting, as are the others adapting to her. Marcus would prefer that she be given away but even he is 'dealing with it'.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Their 'Universe'
I figure there should be certain ground rules:
You don't see the owner, you just hear her.
Marcus can talk to her (the word balloon is the same as hers) but the smaller cats can't be understood (their words are not in balloons).
I'm sticking to mostly reality, no flights of fancy where they drive cars or do too human a sort of thing. They do use their imagination in play, but it's all contained within the house.
You don't see the owner, you just hear her.
Marcus can talk to her (the word balloon is the same as hers) but the smaller cats can't be understood (their words are not in balloons).
I'm sticking to mostly reality, no flights of fancy where they drive cars or do too human a sort of thing. They do use their imagination in play, but it's all contained within the house.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
CATNIP, The Comic
Welcome. Soon this will be up and running, with regular updates, and dealing with bits and pieces of information about my new comic strip. It's been in the works for 4 years now and I have two issues produced plus am in the process of putting out another 6 or 7 of them as $$ allows.
They're in black and white, 40 pages, containing 80 strips each. So far I've had some really good feedback on them.
Does the world need another cat comic? Apparently so! Online my competition is The Mows and Two Lumps (I don't include Garfield because that strip does the same basic five or six jokes over and over, and Get Fuzzy has gotten so mean spirited I don't find it funny anymore).
Here's to unique and new! Yeay Cats! Make 'em laugh guys!
They're in black and white, 40 pages, containing 80 strips each. So far I've had some really good feedback on them.
Does the world need another cat comic? Apparently so! Online my competition is The Mows and Two Lumps (I don't include Garfield because that strip does the same basic five or six jokes over and over, and Get Fuzzy has gotten so mean spirited I don't find it funny anymore).
Here's to unique and new! Yeay Cats! Make 'em laugh guys!
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