Weird, right?! In a year that needs no explanation for the dumpster fire that it is…I actually made my goals!
Kind of.
Every year, I blog about the goals from the past year, followed by the goals in mind for the year incoming. If you’d like to see the original post about 2020 goals, here it is.
But just what WERE my goals for 2020?
Thumbnail/Script The Legend of Jamie Roberts to completion.
Ok, so I didn’t get all 20 (ish) chapters sketched out. BUT, I DID get 10 and a half. I even managed to script through some REALLY tricky plot points, so I consider that a success!
That said – moving to a new home did cut into my scripting routine. And it was hard to jump back after that. I have since learned to be a LOT kinder to myself with goals of “do this thing every day.”
Get Sean’s Book Published
So the book is ALMOST ready to get to print. I’m working with my editor on the final round of edits for these short stories.
This goal took a while to get off the ground properly because I wanted to hire an outside editor. I didn’t have the time to do edits, because of working with NeverEnding, making The Legend of Jamie Roberts, and taking up part-time gigs with DoorDash and Instacart.
ALL OF THAT, plus my first editor just…dropped off the face of the earth. And the second one did NOT do a good job.
The third editor? I went to my old college friend Melanie Doan to work with Sean and me on edits. Holy banana pants she knocked it out of the park!
Like I said, we’re doing the final passes. The goal post for publishing kept moving, so I’m not making any promises for when this book will go to KickStarter.
Read 1 New Comic Per Week
Well, to be honest, I shut down the Indie Comics Hub – the biggest reason I set this goal. That said, if we expand this to reading more books generally, then 2020 was my best year so far.
By Dec 31, 2020, I read 23 books, including graphic novels. However, I did not count single-issue comics, zines, or minicomics in that count. If I did, it’d probably be double that. Possibly triple? It’s hard to say.
Unfortunately, moving to a new home played a role in this, too. I had to leave behind my single-issue comics and a large chunk of my zines because they just. Couldn’t. Fit. In the Truck.
But 23 books? And untold numbers of single-issue comics and zines? I’d say that’s pretty good. Better than 2019, at least.
So what’s in store for 2021? Well, I’m going to write about that next post.
Andy Warpigs – a punk musician based in Phoenix. His song “Chili Pepper” is a fun bop. Also he’s a cool-ass dude. He and another black musician got featured in the Phoenix news.
Zero Polaris – illustrator and comic artist, maker of The Ballad of Pluto. I love his art style.
Lizzo – I feel like she needs no introduction. If you’ve never heard her music, listen to “Boys.”
Vesenia Designs – makes the comic Celestial Pulse and YouTube art tutorials. She’s one of the big reasons I got into recording livestreams on YouTube to begin with.
Fractured Fox – Indie apparel. I LOVE the design aesthetic.
Natasha Burton, aka Mz Pirate Queen – cosplayer, scribbler of stories, another college buddy, and one of the inspirations for my comic series, Charlie & Clow.
Jazzy Flesh – cosplayer, cool ass dude, good friend of mine.
Ron Scott Jr. – filmmaker, director of cultural diversity at the Wheeling YWCA, comics fan, cool ass dude.
Taneka Stotts – television writer, but I know her for her work in comics, particularly the Elements anthology and ESPECIALLY the Beyond queer comics anthologies.
Greg Dae – comic artist, creator of Is’nana the Were Spider.
T1J – YouTuber, talks a LOT about politics in a way that I actually like. Because he’s sincere, empathetic, and goes into nuance that not a lot of people address.
Jungle Jordan – YouTuber, highlights different animals in 1 minute or less.
I know there’s more, so names will be added. Keep checking back!
If you possibly can, buy the work these folks make (check their links for more info). How you spend your money says more than you think it does. Here’s a list of 10 black-owned bookstores to help you get started.
Check back on Monday for a list of my favorite comics by black creators.
In these uncertain times, I’m making this announcement in the Adventures in Moving: I’m being safe, and delaying my move date.
For folks who are out of the loop, I planned on moving because the house I’m renting got sold. Thankfully, mom (who owned the house before) sold it to my sister. Because of that, the time table to move is more relaxed.
However, it is NOT relaxed for my sister’s current roommate. Currently, he’s renting an apartment from a preeeety shady landlord. This landlord has been demanding consistent rent payments and will kick out anyone whose lease runs out if the renter does not renew. Even during these uncertain times.
And what do you know? This roommate’s lease runs out in the beginning of June.
He also has a dog. An elderly, pain in the ass dog, whom both of my cats HATE. And he also has a kitten.
The house I’m in is small – so fitting 3 people under the roof is a challenge. Add an extra dog and cat, and that becomes my sister, the roommate, me, four cats, and two dogs (because my sister has a dog, too) under one dinky roof.
So I DO intend to move before June starts.
However, with coronavirus still being A THING, I’ve heard through the grapevine that Ohio intends to open the state back up around May 1.
I am of the opinion that this is WAY TOO DAMN SOON.
(Personally, I prefer the relief effort ViHart outlines in her latest video. Go check it out if you haven’t seen it yet.)
So I’m going to be safe.
Right now, the plan is to move out of my current home between May 15 and May 31. There are contingency plans if the move has to be delayed. But this is the current plan.
Where am I moving to? Well, it’s looking like the Toledo area – but Columbus is still an option.
That’s where things are at for now. As things change, I’ll keep you posted.
I’ve been thinking about resilience quite a bit over the last few days.
There’s a meditation on the Sanvello app about imagining yourself as a tree. As being as resilient as a tree. Because trees still grow, regardless of how nurturing or toxic the soil is from year to year. They keep growing no matter how windy it gets (and I’ve seen a lot of winds coming through and knocking over branches here. But never a whole tree). Trees stand tall no matter how cold, or hot, it gets. And people are like trees that way: no matter how hot or cold, or windy or stagnant, toxic or nurturing our environment is…we stand tall. Like the trees.
When I was on the Navajo reservation, the other students and I were guided through a sweat-lodge ceremony. Before it started, the woman who led us said, “Look at these trees around us. We people are like the trees, diverse and yet still beautiful. That tree there is short and skinny, but still beautiful. That tree there is tall and knotted and has twists in its trunk, but is still beautiful. And we are the same way. Remember that.” And I have. It’s always stuck with me.
I think, ultimately, people are resilient. Humans are resilient. We are adaptable. It’s one of our strengths as a species. We can live pretty much anywhere, from Iceland to the Sahara desert.
I think we as a species will survive what’s going on right now. Even though there are memes about “the earth is healing now that humans don’t poop out carbon emissions!” or “humans are the real virus!!!11!!” or “guess we’ll just die now.”
I’ve never been a defeatist. Or a cynic. (Or an eco-fascist, but that’s a different blog post).
I’ve been on a rather emotional healing journey for the last month, coming to grips with the fact that I have lived through rough shit. And I’ve seen rough shit. And I’ve seen other people who have been through the same crap as I have, or worse, come out as cynics.
But it’s just not in my programming. I can’t be a cynic.
I have too much empathy.
More importantly, I have too much hope.
Or maybe right now, it’s enough hope.
All of which is to say – all things considered…
I’m ok.
And that’s a weird thing to say. Because here’s the truth: a LOT of artists are getting hit REAL hard right now. With events getting cancelled left and right, or postponed until fall or winter… a lot of artists, writers, musicians, and other creatives are losing their livelihoods.
And it’s not just them: the venues they would have performed or exhibited at are closing. That means the jobs associated with those venues, from food service workers to event organizers to ticket sellers to security – they’re all getting laid off.
And what I see a LOT of on social media feeds are people ranting about folks who are hoarding. (Insert toilet paper joke here).
Honestly, the best thing you can do right now is reach out to the creative people in your life and check in on them. Ask them if they’re ok – because they probably aren’t.
There are creatives trying desperately to figure out how they’ll pay their bills and keep themselves fed with no events to sell at. There are staffers panicking over the same things.
So I encourage you to reach out to creatives. Don’t just ask if they’re ok.
Ask what you can do to help.
It can be anything, from donating money to donating food. Literally anything will help.
Because the other truth is: artists are often the first to run livestreams or other virtual events to help raise money for charities. As Amanda Palmer puts it, creatives are the first to do charity events…
But they are THE LAST to get assistance. More often, they’re the first on the chopping block to be denied assistance.
It should not be this way.
And in my opinion, I think this crisis we are all going through as a collective is making us realize that the old way of doing things is no longer working.
Now is the time to reach out and help however you can. Even if you can only just call or text to talk to someone.
As for me…
Like I said, I’m surprisingly ok. I have a lot of food (in fact, I’m organizing a little no-contact pantry swap with a friend of mine after I post this). I have a LOT saved back as a cushion, and most of it is liquid, meaning I’m not pulling from retirement savings in the event that I need the funds.
Also, to my surprise, I still have freelance clients who haven’t bailed on me during this crisis. I’ve also started working with a new startup, NeverEnding, Inc, which is exciting. And I still have KickStarter rewards to fulfill. I’m incredibly privileged to have this, and I’ve been sharing my resources however I can to help other artists.
A lot of people have been complaining about the social distancing required to contain the calamity, but I’m already a social recluse outside of convention season. At the moment I don’t have roommates except for my cats. But I have friends and family I can text and call. My D&D group is figuring out virtual playing spaces. I’ve been listening to new music and enjoying my down time. All in all, I’m ok.
I will say, because convention season has been effectively cancelled for the next few months, I will be doing a livestream every Saturday on YouTubeuntil further notice. These livestreams will run from 1 pm to 3 pm EST. Each livestream I’ll be doing different things.
This Saturday, from 1 pm to 3 pm EST, I’ll be drawing commissions from my latest KickStarter campaign. Who knows what I’ll do the week after that?
If you’re a patron on Patreon, you know this already, but I turned in my two week notice at the local gas station I work at part-time. I’m now preparing to freelance with a more open schedule than ever before.
For the last year or so, this has been the situation: because of the part-time gas station gig (with indeterminate hours from week to week), there were times that making comics had to go from a full-time job to a part-time one. Then right back to full-time. It was a strain on my energy AND the energy of my clients.
Now that I’m leaving that station job, I’m freelancing more fully again.
So what am I doing to prepare myself?
Well, first thing’s first, I turned in my two week notice at the gas station, rather than just walking out or saying, “I QUIT.” This is not just to protect my ass just in case I need to get the job again. It’s also more professional of you to turn in a notice, instead of leaving at the last minute.
For the last week and a half to two weeks, I’ve been analyzing my income streams, which are these:
Patreon (this includes producing The Legend of Jamie Roberts). It’s a weird day when you realize your passion project is paying for your groceries. A weird day, but a GREAT day.
Making comics for clients. I have one dedicated client whom I’ve been working with for years. I have two whom I work with when they have work for me (which is intermittent at times). And I’m hoping to get more clients to draw/write/letter/design for.
Commissions, which encompasses anytime someone wants me to draw their D&D characters or even family members or pets. This is usually through KickStarter, but I get occasional odd requests.
DoorDash and/or other labor. However, I live in the middle of nowhere, so DoorDash isn’t as lucrative as it would be in a major city.
Ko-Fi. This is still new, so I’m not sure how much this will bring in. But I’m keeping it in the income stream lineup.
Consignment Deals. This one I only have to check in once every 3 to 6 months. So the income is not as regular as the other streams. But it pays out once a quarter, so it works.
KickStarters WOULD make the list, but they are exceptionally situational. Also sporadic.
I’m looking into other income streams. I’m considering going back to Gumroad to sell ebooks through (I want to avoid Amazon as much as I can). Otherwise I’m looking for new clients to fill out the gaps.
I’m also looking to launch a new KickStarter campaign. But you should sign up for the (free) email newsletter for more details on that. I’ll talk about it with subscribers in their inboxes tomorrow.
If there’s an idea that you think is worth considering, make a suggestion below. I’ll look into it.
