Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Sketchbook Experiment

It's that time of year again, when the streets of Pittsburgh are flooded with unofficial autonomous mascots - Anthrocon! And though Volume 3 is still far from completion, we actually do have a new book to sell at our table. What's it about, you ask?

Well, nothing really... Literally. Literally nothing. The pages are all blank... I dare say, it's the easiest book I've made so far. It's a sketchbook!

It's not much different from your average art-pad sketchbook, except it's bound in a really pretty glossy hardcover which I designed myself. I figured, if people are going to collect drawings in a sketchbook, maybe they'll want one with more of a themed cover.

Now, will there be any interest in our new sketchbooks? I have no idea. But I wanted one! So I made a batch, and we'll see if anyone else wants the other nineteen. Based on how well they sell, we might wind up printing more and offering them online, too.

Before you get too excited about our new sketchbooks however, I want to point out an excellent alternative I've recently discovered;

Having sent the hardcover files to the printer, I felt knockingly clever at being the first to offer custom sketchbooks - when , at the Furry Connection North, something caught my eye:

Another table selling custom sketchbooks - and with a fun variety of covers! Some were pop-culture related, and others were actually tactile and fluffy - they are the sketchbooks custom created and sold by Neko2. Neko2’s sketchbooks have other noteworthy features, too: They're bound on detachable rings, so you can shuffle the order of the pages however you want - plus, for those collecting commissions at conventions, you can keep your sketchbook with you and drop individual pages with multiple artists at once! The books include a plastic backstop to prevent ink-work from bleeding, and the paper quality is superb.

Now, to be clear, my Sketchbooks don't have those features... They just have nice looking covers, and paper inside. If you want more of a traditional-styled book to draw in, our Vivid Sketchbooks may be of interest to you - but check out Neko2's products too!

Check out his work here: http://www.etsy.com/profile.php?user_id=6279425
Or here: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/neko2/

Why, you ask, am I pimping someone else's product alongside mine?

Well, heck - I don't want someone to buy a sketchbook from me if there's another option that would fit their needs better. With the Dreamkeepers graphic novels, we can offer something completely unique - but a sketchbook is just blank paper, after all.

KAZAAAM! After such a blindingly persuasive sales pitch as that, it suddenly occurs to me that perhaps I should stick to drawing. I ought to get this guy to sell my stuff for me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUbWjIKxrrs

He could coin such phrases as 'NOW with 20% more Igrath included in every story- COMPLETELY FREE! Your life will be EXCITING!'

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

he's in jail...
you know that right?

Joshua said...

Who's in jail?

ilvos01 said...

While I love the cover, They give out sketchbooks for 4.00 a pop at B&N. Good ones, too! Maybe I'll stick a DK sticker on the front, for some class.