V4 Sneak Peek #1!

Volume 4 production is officially underway!

Hard work and much caffeine was poured into the script and thumbnails in previous months, but none of that looks like this:

Digo has invented shorts.  Who knows what her entrepreneurial future holds- shoes?  Shirts? Shoes? 

For this update, I'll mainly shut my trap and let the art do the talking.

It turns out the shock troopers, once you peel their armor off, actually have names and families and feelings and everything.

This one is named Cal- his design was inspired by the Tasmanian tiger, may it rest in peace.  Why are the best animals are always limited edition?

Yet we never seem to run low on mosquitoes.  

More Volume 4 pics are in the future, as well as commission art I haven't gotten around to posting yet.  My productivity always seems to outpace my posting...  

Also keep an ear to the ground for our Prelude book collection Kickstarter, slated to start this summer!

Evil Lair- New Toys

You know you’re somewhere special when you see this:

We’re officially settled in our new lair- and check this out:

That’s right.

It’s a drawing desk- or as I like to call it, my own little slice of heaven.

This may not seem like a big deal to all those sane people out there, but I’ve been dreaming of having an actual real workstation for years.   We didn’t have room for one back in the matchbox.

In the old days, I’d jury-rig a sketching surface by balancing a briefcase on my lap with a dinosaur book on top for a writing surface, and carefully fan out reference papers.   After carefully constructing the teetering edifice and planting pencils and erasers about, I would then immediately dismantle all of it in order to go pee.

But not anymore.


Fully pampered with a workstation that doesn‘t fall apart when I shift my weight, Volume 4 is off to a great start!  Our next post ought to be a sneak peek of the progress.  

Conventions, Kickstarters, and Fluffy Things

If you are a killer for hire, please continue reading.

Despite soggy arctic conditions, Furry Connection North was a blast- thank you to everyone who visited us there!  You're fantastic and you know it.

Keep an eye on our accounts, we'll be posting art from the convention soon.  Speaking of cons, we have our schedule for the rest of 2013:

Anthrocon in July- http://www.anthrocon.org/

Dragoncon in August/September -http://www.dragoncon.org/


We were hoping to attend Midwest Furfest, applying the day dealerships opened- but we were still too slow!   Sold out in less than a day.  I'm looking into hit-men to clear out some space on the waiting list- If any pros (or amateurs, I do have an eye for a bargain) are reading this, please post a blurb below with your credentials and preferred assassination technique.  Bonus points for improbable mo's.

But barring Boba Fett, the above conventions comprise our 2013 schedule.

Meanwhile, check out this Kickstarter!  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/704723768/myriad-song-science-fiction-tabletop-rpg-of-10000


It's for Myriad Song, the new intergalactic tabletop rp book coming out from Sanguine Games.  We were commissioned to contribute some art to the book- and beyond the fun visuals, the idea is stellar.  If you enjoy roleplay, retro 80's sci-fi, dinosaurs, and telepathic arachnids, then you win.  Come on in.

When it comes to Kickstarters, we have some news of our own!  In our 'hardcover Prelude book versus softcover' poll, we had hundreds express their preferences.  But here's some fun- it turns out we can have both.

If we successfully raise the money with Kickstarter, our printer will be able to create both softcover and hardcover editions of the Prelude book.  Keep an ear to our blog, or sign up to our e-mail newsletter http://www.dreamkeeperscomic.com/Newsletter.htm
- more Kickstarter news in the coming months.

Before we go, stop and consider benefits of adoption:

The creative minds behind the Anduruna 2nd life have wrought ryuu-neko pets- guaranteed to be fluffy beyond reason.

Everyone needs an elemental sidekick- even assassins.

Especially assassins.

The Future of Media- Musings

Awhile back, someone interviewed me for a business class.  I thought a couple of the questions dug up some hot air worth blowing around, so here it is!

In your opinion is small businesses, including physical and online stores, growing? Also do you think they will ever grow to the point where they are a bigger and more influential part of the economy than big businesses?

That’s an interesting question- since I mostly just make a comic, my insight is limited.  I haven’t a clue pertaining to business as a whole.  Regarding entertainment media, things are moving in two starkly different directions right now, and it fascinates me.  

Corporate media conglomerates continue cannibalizing one another, growing fewer and bigger, into titanic monoliths.  Think Time Warner- or as a recent example, look at how Disney has assimilated both Marvel and Star Wars.  All those properties are now the domain of one massive corporation.  It’s unprecedented.  These conglomerates keep growing, consuming everything in their path, and solidifying their Hollywood influence over their rivals.  On the corporate side of things, it’s get big or die.  

But at the same time, the internet is giving anyone- literally any person- the ability to start their own show, and start gathering their own audience.  There are hundreds of thousands of individuals sharing their creations via platforms like Youtube.  While a lot of these efforts are of course unprofessional and poorly executed (one could say the same of some corporate-produced films) many are becoming surprisingly sophisticated and entertaining.  I’ve seen lone individuals using special effects in their videos that rival the most expensive mega-budget effects of 1980’s film.  Everything is getting cheaper and easier for a layperson to do- and people are doing it.  And more people are watching them do it, as TV ratings and film attendance steadily declines.  TV’s can now browse the internet and play Youtube videos just as easily as they can play American Idol.

So I see things polarizing at two extremes, corporate and individual.  With the internet leveling the playing field, the source of entertainment will matter less in it’s success- it will be all about whether it’s actually entertaining.  I like to think that, without the need for board-room approval, creativity will be stronger on the individual side and we’ll see the conglomerated monoliths become less ubiquitous.  But that’s wishful thinking, and historically large organizations have been able to leverage their influence to hoard power very effectively.


Also do you believe self publishing will ever grow to the point where they are just as common in stores as other published works?

Possibly…  That depends a lot on what one defines as published vs. self-published.   The line is getting blurrier, with individuals starting their own LLCs or sole proprietorships.  Individually published books can now get freelance editorial polishing and professional-grade presentation, while editing standards at large publishers tend to be dropping, as they stop cultivating talent in their search for the next overnight blockbuster.  When present and future blockbuster authors begin to question why they’re handing the fruits of their labor to a middleman, and consider self publishing themselves-   Well, amateur vs. professional publishing will be a fuzzy prospect down the road.

But stores are practical- especially when it comes to books, since physical bookstores are having a tough time surviving.  They will carry what sells, and drop what does not.   I think in the future, that will have less to do with what company is presenting the work, and more to do with whether readers actually consider the work valuable, and recommend it to other readers.

That’s the one thing that encourages me most about the influence of the internet on commerce- it puts the customers in control, and gatekeepers  lose their power.

The Demise of Tendril’s Demise

Random news- we’re in the process of moving our evil lair. I’ll be offline and disguised until we can fortify the new apartment and reconfigure the death rays.

Before we black out, have a few quick DK news bites:


Volume 3 is now available on the Kindle, and PDF downloads are also available for sale.  That’s correct- not e-books, but the much-requested downloads are now live!  http://www.dreamkeeperscomic.com/GNVol3.php


We’re launching our first Kickstarter campaign this spring / summer for a Prelude book collection.

To that end, I’m gathering printing quotes to see what our Kickstarter target should be- so do people want hardcover books, or soft cover?  If you’re interested, please hit up our poll on DeviantArt:  http://dreamkeepers.deviantart.com/

You’ll also see a poll regarding the update schedule for Prelude- if you have a preference, please cast a vote and let us know!



One last note.  Before starting V4 scripting, we worked on a lot of revisions for the overall Dreamkeepers story plan.  With the improvements I’m more excited than ever to be working on bringing the series to life- but, alas.  Some things have been left on the cutting room floor.

One of those things is Tendril’s Demise ( http://dreamkeepers.deviantart.com/art/Tendril-s-Demise-Page-1-148654793 ), a 2007 comic we had planned to fit in with the story.

After revisions, Tenril’s Demise is officially non-canon.  Now it’s only fun.

Everyone hang tight, and keep an eye out for Kickstarter news coming soon!

Ebooks vs Downloads

Quick announcement- we recently released Volume 3 as an e-book, on a bunch of different platforms.

However, e-books aren't downloadable- after purchasing, you can only read them when you're online.  I've had a lot of requests for V3 *downloads* to be available for sale.

In years past we sold V1 and V2 downloads from our site, but I had to stop.   Selling the downloads personally meant I had a myriad of technical customer service issues to solve, and it escalated to the point where I didn't have enough time to focus on making books.

However, the recent requests prompted me to seek a download-selling solution that would bypass this problem- it looks like Lulu sells pdf downloads from their site, so I'm planning to make all three volumes available there.

Between current busy-ness and an upcoming move, the pdf sales probably won't be set up this spring- probably more like this summer.  But I wanted to announce the intent early, to keep you guys informed.


-David

Daily Dose of Free!

For the first time ever, we're releasing our backlist titles online for free:  http://www.dreamkeeperscomic.com/GNSaga.php

They're on our revamped 'Graphic Novel Saga' website page.  Hop in, browse around, and have fun!

This also makes a great way to attract new readers- if you know anyone who's been on the fence regarding the saga, point them this way!

Volume 1 and 2 are online for free- but Volume 3 is currently pay-only.  We'll *probably* release Volume 3 for free online after Volume 4 is released.


Other website tweaks include revamped Store pages for the graphic novel volumes, a new FAQ, the new Forum of course http://www.dreamkeeperscomic.com/forum/, and a page to sign up for our e-mail newsletter:  http://www.dreamkeeperscomic.com/Newsletter.htm   Which I just learned to make pretty.  8 D