BOOK ONE STATUS UPDATE
As it stands, the first MeatShield book, The Quest for the Scepter Thingie is nearly finished. I have a few minor things to complete for it, such as the cover (!) and some of the bonus content and it's ready to go. Now it's time to consider printing options. There are two ways I can go with this.
- One is to go with a Print-on-demand (POD) publisher such as Lulu.com, which means that I would have no inventory to pay for up front and store in my storage unit. The book would be printed whenever anyone ordered one. However, a fellow webcartoonist recently had a very bad experience with Lulu and I am a tiny bit leery of going with them now. On the other hand, MeatShield is still in its infancy, more or less, and by using a POD publisher I can gauge the demand for the book and later take it to a larger printer for second and third printings.
- The other option is to raise the funds to print the book myself by starting a Kickstarter campaign. This has the advantage of me being able to send out autographed copies to those that want them, of having the inventory on hand to sell at conventions, and to offer folks that contribute the larger amounts cool contribution gifts and generally keep this awesometrain rolling. However, the drawback of a Kickstarter campaign is that if there aren't sufficient donations towards the printing of the book, it doesn't get printed and I most likely go the Lulu route anyway.
It's a quandary and one that I wouldn't mind some input on. Thanks, folks!
See you all on Monday,
~Rob
Hey Rob.
1.) I’m still really enjoying your comic strip and I’d love to see it in book form!
2.) I’m not a very business-minded person, but here are my thoughts on the printing dilemma. First, how did your friend’s bad experience with Lulu get resolved? What it easy / was Lulu cooperative & reasonable, or was every moment of it like pulling teeth? That would be a huge determining factor for me, if I was in your situation. Mistakes are going to happen, but the key is, how do they get resolved? Second, are there other POD companies you could use, if you’re still leery of Lulu? I guess I’d probably be leaning more toward the POD route, at least to start & until you can gauge demand, like you said. Plus, even though I have no clue what your house looks like, I’m guessing that with a couple kids at home, you & your wife probably don’t need any extra items (like boxes & boxes of MeatShield books) taking up space! 🙂
Those are my thoughts for now.
— Jason
Are you planning on getting a booth at cons? If not, then there’s no reason to have the inventory sitting about.
Also, if you go the more traditional route, take preorders. There’s a simple way to gauge demand.
The Pre-Orders can help you out. Though sitting at the comic conventions can be a bit tiresome. The thing with these comic cons though is its a buisness decison. If you can’t get away for a few days, or if money is tight, you may want to hold of on getting a booth at one.
I love the kickstarter – give it a try! It’ll expose you to a *lot* of people also!
Has his belt buckle always done that?
@Mercenary: Yes, yes it has, since about the middle of the strip’s history.
Ah, yes. The Barbarian ‘knock’ spell.