Kai and I are now making pages for An Ignorance of Romance!
Here’s a peek at the thumbnails for the first 4 pages…
This is the stage where I read the script, then I lay out what I think the pages will *roughly* look like. Once sketched, I send them to Kai for approval. If approved, I can start actually drawing the pages.
Good news – Kai approved of these thumbnails! So now I can start drawing pages.
Thanks to the funding raised so far, we can cover webhosting and domain registration, and covering costs for the first page or two.
As an FYI – there will be extras in these opening scenes, like castle staff, stable hands, and market folks. So if you (or a friend!) want to be drawn in this comic, there are spot available for you to claim that reward!
You might be asking, “Will this comic be drawn in color?”
Surprise: this comic will be drawn in black and white with tones. This is so we can post two (or more) pages in a week, because black and white pages are faster to produce. There’s a LOT of story here, so we want to post more often!
Got more questions? Ask them in the comments and we’ll get back to you!
Also, I (Kelci) just came back from Pittsburgh Indie Expo, where I had some promotional zines for An Ignorance of Romance for free for attendees to nab. I hope to see some folks from PIE in the comments (maybe even signal boosting this campaign and backing us)!
My next show is Detroit Zine Fest, were I will have more promo zines for An Ignorance of Romance. I hope attendees are ready for me to gush about this webcomic project!
You may be thinking, “I see this is a Keep-It -All campaign. Does that mean you get my order right away?”
Yes, and your payment is processed the same day.
“So what are you doing with the money before the month ends?”
Right now, our next step is booking the domain name. Possibly two, so one could be a back-up. We have enough raised to cover that, plus the cost of hosting this webcomic ourselves.
“Why aren’t you posting this on Webtoons or Tapas?”
I’m opposed to Webtoons’ treatment of their artists, especially the ones they have under contract. They also started using and embracing AI art, which is antithetical to our ethics and what we’re doing. So on those alone, we’re not posting to Webtoon.
We *might* mirror the webcomic on Tapas, but Tapas has formatting standards that would mean changing the comic art. So let’s put a pin in that for now.
Kai and I want to host this comic ourselves so we have more control over how the webcomic looks, and so we can cultivate a community outside of the Webtoons or Tapas culture. The fans who have been with us since 2013 know that we respect the folks who engage in our comments section, and that any bad actors are removed ASAP. We don’t have time for trolls, and neither do you. And we want to respect our readers and their time.
If you have any other questions about the webcomic, please leave us a comment! We read them all.
An Ignorance of Romance is the story of an unfortunately straight young man named Lian, tasked by his father The Duke with embarking on a quest to find his True Love™. Assisted by his squire, the two encounter Amber, a warrior woman searching for her lost husband. Adventures and attempted seductions ensue!
Here are some sketches we have finished so far for production!
Kai and I are running a small Crowdfundr campaign to cover the cost of domain registration and webhosting costs so we can host this comic ourselves. We also want to cover the labor for the first handful of pages of the webcomic.
We have some fun rewards available, including (but not limited to):
Early access to the webcomic pages!
Commissions!
And even the opportunity to be drawn as a character in the comic!
This campaign will run for one month, starting March 28 and ending on April 27, 2025.
And full disclosure – we are running this as a “Keep It All” campaign, not “All-or-Nothing” like KickStarter. This way, we can start production as soon as possible!
I have a series of crowdfunding campaign updates involving robots, C’s, and radio shows.
Let’s break it down one campaign at a time…
Universal Flaws of Robotics
We reached out to KickStarter and got a deadline extension! We’re now running until August 20.
This is a new feature – I didn’t know KickStarter would let you do this. This is apparently an option you can only ask for if you haven’t hit your goal yet.
Which, yep – we’re still shy of hitting our goal on this one.
So if you haven’t checked out this comics anthology about robots, please do over on KickStarter! Back it if you can, share the link if you’re broke.
This campaign now ends on August 20!
C Stands For…
This anthology from the Columbus Cartoon Coalition is still running to its goal! If met, contributors to the anthology will get a pay bump of $10 per page. If $1500+ is raised, the pay rate goes up to $15/page!
These two stories focus on podcasts/radio shows, community, and the power of platonic love. And they’re coming to KickStarter in a 2-books-in-1 campaign!
Now, thanks to a grant from the Toledo Arts Commission, many expenses for these books are covered. But both books will need a little extra to make it to print – plus KickStarter can help distribute these books to more readers.
The page will be live by this Friday, August 16. If you want first dibs on these books and their rewards, sign up for my email newsletter. It’s free and private.
As For Everything Else…
I will be updating my Ko-fi shop to de-list certain items, as those items will be available in the New Punk Signal and Fwishi’shi Kickstarter campaign coming up this weekend.
Now, prices for commissions did go up. And that’s because I realized that the prices in my head did not match modern-day, post-inflation pricing. I still have rent to pay and groceries to get, so I upped my rates to cover those as much as possible.
(Now, if you saw the new prices and thought, “What? That’s too high!” First, I get it. Second, email newsletter subscribers and Ko-fi Club members get discount codes on commissions. Pick the outlet that works best for your budget.)
I will also be updating my “Hire Me” page to simplify my offerings and match my pricing to something that will actually help me live and cover bills.
