Howdy Brave Being,
Welcome back, dear readers. It’s been some time! I’ve had a busy summer filled with weddings, a family reunion, working, writing, and most recently, I attended Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC). Something big also happened…let’s hop to it!
What I’m Working On
The big thing that happened: DEAD DREAMS: THE LUCID CHRONICLES #1 has been arriving in supporters’ mailboxes and I received all the overstock! Getting the overstock was a bit of a trial—it turned out that redirecting the package via UPS from my home to Seattle, so it could arrive in time for the con, was rather difficult…but the end result has been absolutely unreal. People are now reading our book, giving me feedback (all positive so far, yay!), and I am entirely humbled. I’m so grateful to the supporters, the entire team, and Zoop. It truly takes a village to make comics and a lot of funds—something I’ll discuss below in my tips and tricks section—but first, to address the headline of this fair newsletter…
ECCC
Day 1: Meet and Greet
Walking up to the newly named Seattle Convention Center, I entered the building with trepidation, masked of course, and amidst eager fans (completely forgetting I could go in the entrance for pros and exhibitors). It was my first convention since ECCC 2019, and it I was a bit nervous, covid and all. So far I’m in the clear, and walking around the convention hall was immediately reassuring. Everyone was masked, and it was so wonderful to be back amidst creators and fans.
Upon first entering the exhibit hall, I spotted SEASON OF THE BRUJA by Aaron Durán and Sara Soler—what a beautiful series! I then beelined it for artist Liana Kangas’ booth, who did the variant cover for DEAD DREAMS, and they introduced me to TRVE CVLT writer Scott Bryan Wilson and BLACK’S MYTH writer Eric Palicki—both wonderful humans. I then attended a fantastic panel, “Behind the Merch Table”, led by expert comics marketer Jazzlyn Stone. I learned so many things that I’ll probably write another newsletter about it.
Afterward, I spent a time wandering artist alley, and meeting up with artist and writer Kasey Quevedo, writer and artist of DEAD MAN’S PARTY. He was there with his daughter Lys, an artist themselves who sells the cutest stickers!
It was then time to hit up the exhibitor hall, where I visited the Vault Comics booth. I met a few awesome folks who work behind the scenes at Vault, David Dissanayake, Daniel Crary, and Ian Baldessari, who were all delightful to chat with. While I was there, so was Liana, who was signing their variant for END AFTER END #1, available in shops now!
I was pretty pooped after all the walking, taking, and taking everything in, so I departed and enjoyed a dinner with my husband and family members. They had received their copies of DEAD DREAMS, and asked for my autograph. It was exciting! Then I got a notification that my overstock package was on its way, felt utterly relieved, and relaxed. But before I went to bed, I got another notification that it was only an attempted delivery—they couldn’t deliver my package! So I redirected it to a nearby UPS store hoping it would arrive in time. The estimated time of delivery was 7:00pm the next day…after I would leave the convention.
Day 2: Stretch and Flex
I attended “Conventions Are My Workout” led by health educator Robyn of Geek Girl Strong—who taught me more about my body and exercise in an hour than I’ve ever learned in my 36 years of life. We did some epic stretching! I then attended a TRVE CVLT signing and met more of the book’s team, including colorist Gab Contreras and color assistant Jimmy Savage.
Afterward, I had some much needed snacks with writer Riley Biehl of MIRANDA IN THE MAELSTROM and we had so much fun catching up! He also asked me to sign his copy of DEAD DREAMS, which was an honor. We stopped by artist Jey Parks’ booth, who draws the cleverest cats dressed in cosplay; and we met artist Rio Burton of AZZA THE BARBED, who did the doppelgänger commissions for the DEAD DREAMS Zoop campaign! Through Riley, I met artist Rachael Stott of FANTASTIC FOUR, who is an impossibly lovely person. Riley and I then visited Liana where they signed Riley’s copy of DEAD DREAMS and we got a photo together (see below!). Afterward, we visited END AFTER END writer DB Andry, who had a signing at the Vault booth.
It was around 3:00pm and suddenly, I received word that my DEAD DREAMS overstock was delivered successfully. I rushed back to where I was staying to pick it up and was so overjoyed that I made the unboxing video below:
I then secured some books in my bag and trekked back to the con, uphill by the way on quite a steamy day. But don’t worry, I had the forethought to reapply deodorant! When I got back to the con, I visited a few folks in artist alley who were interested in getting a copy. What can I say? Handing out a book that I wrote was absolutely wild.
I then met up with writer, artist, Popverse reporter, and PanelxPanel critic Tiffany Babb and we got to admire her recently purchased Fish purse (see image below!), which saved her since her dress didn’t have pockets. Then DB , artist and writer Adam Cahoon, who did the vintage ad in the back of DEAD DREAMS, and Riley met up with us for dinner. Tiffany had to jet, the reporter that she is, and the rest of us sat down to dinner at 8:00pm! Liana and artist Gavin Smith joined and we stuffed our faces full. Jazzlyn showed up later with the aforementioned Robyn (Geek Girl Strong) and her amazing assistant Andra and her husband/partner (I can’t remember his name). We exchanged con stories and chatted about living in Seattle.
Phew, wipes sweat off brow. I’m still sweating from this con, I swear. I would have attended the con for the rest of the weekend, but I had to get home to help host a family reunion at my house! Like I said, it’s been a busy time.
New Comic in the Works
Other than that, I’ve been working on a new short comic. I was accepted into Fugitive Poems’ upcoming comics anthology, CONTAINMENT BREACH Vol. 3, earlier this summer! I’ve been diligently co-writing a script with artist Jack Van Thomme and we’ve been having a blast. Editor Christian De Matteo has been invaluable with A+ feedback. We’ve created something that is equal parts weird horror and absurd comedy with a heartwarming slice of life vibe. Jack’s working on inks right now, and I can’t say too much more since the theme of the anthology hasn’t been revealed yet, but here’s a little preview of his thumbs…
Tips & Tricks of the Trade
Today’s tip is about funding the creation of comics. But first, the big question: How do people do it? Lots of ways. Some creators run Patreon accounts so that they can receive regular funds to help them make comics, some run crowdfunding campaigns, and some pay out of pocket, or all three (this is not an exhaustive list btw). For the writers who don’t draw, like me, they save up over time and pay collaborators to help them create their projects. That’s what I did to get the first issue of DEAD DREAMS completed and it took from 2016-2022. Six years to make a single 32-page issue: 22 pages of art, back matter content, and three covers.
First, I wrote the script and then worked with 12 creators, which was a bit abnormal but I had a couple team changes—a common occurrence when it takes so long to make a comic—but I didn’t let those hurdles stop me.
I then planned a crowdfunding campaign via Zoop to help fund the printing and fulfillment costs of the book, which meant that 25% of the funds went to their platform use and service fees. I also hired marketing coordinator James B. Emmett to reach a larger audience through comics press and guide me through the crowdfunding process. While I had been familiar with managing crowdfunding campaigns, I needed some outside help to keep my head on straight while working full-time.
All in all, this single issue cost me $7,172 out of pocket over six years, plus the $4,039 raised on Zoop, for a grand total of $11,211. I personally have not yet made any money from it but I’ve learned some valuable dos and don’ts about budgeting and the financial benefits of sticking to a timeline. With the Zoop campaign, I have, so far, broke even, meaning all the funds raised paid for everything, including a 10% donation of all funds raised to Kathy’s Legacy Foundation. Whew! Massive undertaking, am I right? I hope seeing these numbers doesn’t discourage you from making comics. I’m sure I could have done things a bit differently and saved some cash here and there, but the bulk of the cost was in paying the creators to help bring my story to life, and that’s 100% worth it to me and to them!
Now, what the heck is my tip for creators looking to make comics? Save up money if you need to hire folks to help make your comic, utilize crowdfunding sites such as Zoop, Kickstarter, and Crowdfundr—whichever one speaks to you most—and consider platforms like Patreon and Substack where you can earn money while sharing progress snippets of your work.
Things I’ve Been Digging
There are a few things I’ve been digging lately amidst my crazy schedule…
Video games! About a year ago, I shared a trailer for Stray, the video game where you can be a cat. It’s amazing and I love it so much! I also just got Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which is so outstanding. The venom punch that he can do is wicked awesome and I’m digging the story thus far.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope: Have you seen the images?!
Getting Kickstarter books in the mail, such as THE COLOR OF ALWAYS: AN LGBTQIA+ LOVE ANTHOLOGY by Brent Fisher and Michele Abounader, and COMMANDER RAO by Fell Hound and Lettersquids.
Merry Musings
Lots of things are constantly happening in the universe, many things unseen. I’m reminded of the recent images of Jupiter, coming from the James Webb Telescope.
The composite image above is only visible to our human eyes because people worked together. Like making comics, observing our universe takes a village. I read that there were 1,200 scientists, engineers, and technicians spread across 14 countries who built the James Webb Telescope. That doesn’t count all the scientists and inventors who came before them to make this technology even possible. It all makes me appreciate how there’s so much out there that goes unseen. I suppose my merry musing is more a recommendation: Look up, seek the unseen, and appreciate that incredible things happen when people work together.
Thanks for reading!
Mercy buckets,
Brittany