I’m Off To Detroit Zine Fest!

I’m off to Detroit Zine Fest this weekend!

March 4, from 11 am to 7 pm EST, at The Jam Handy in Detroit, MI.

This time I’m sharing the table with other members of the Columbus Cartoon Coalition!

Be sure to check out Samir and Nick. They have cool stuff and they’re coming with me to the show! Find Samir on Instagram and their website, and find Nick on his website, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Now, I’ve never been to Detroit Zine Fest before. I think this is their first year as a zine fest in existence.

But hey, this could be another Feminist Zine Fest Pittsburgh – a cool show with cool people.

Hope to see you there!

Thanks for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.

Introducing – Zine Club 2.0

characters from the Charlie & Clow adventures are celebrating the holidays - from the Fantasyville Holiday special zine

If you don’t know, I created an alternative to Patreon for my fans and myself – my Subscribe page. On this page are 3 different clubs, each with rewards that stack the more that you pledge.

Previously, one of these clubs was only for folks who lived in the United States: the Zine Club. As part of the rewards, I mailed physical zines to members each month. For the sake of how much postage costs, I kept the reward to only folks who were based in the US. International shipping just cost too much.

But now, things are DIFFERENT…

It started with the zine I made for February. I made THAT zine digital, because of how I formatted the pages. It just couldn’t work to make it a print book, so I made it a PDF download instead.

Then I thought, “What if I did that…EVERY month?”

Because here’s the thing – I’ve made a few comics exclusively for digital release, not print. Comics like PuzzleSpell, for instance.

So I did some poking around on the backend, updating the Stripe system, making a special segment of my newsletter, and now, we have…

ZINE CLUB 2.0!

By joining for a subscription of $5 a month, you get a new zine downloadable sent to your inbox before the end of the month. No shipping is necessary! Plus you get early webcomic updates and behind-the-scenes news in your inbox each week.

Here’s What’s Next

If you are currently a Zine Club member, you don’t have to do anything. Everything will continue as normal.

If you aren’t subscribed, use this link to sign up.

Are you a Pin Club member but wish to downsize? Here’s where you do that. (It’s also the place to go if you’re a Zine Club member and want to upgrade to the Pin Club.)

If you’re a Digital Club member and want to upgrade to the Zine Club 2.0, reach out to me directly. I have to make certain adjustments because of backend stuff.

Bottom Line…

I’m VERY excited about Zine Club 2.0. Now anybody worldwide can join – and I have SO MANY fun comics and zine Ideas!

That’s all for now. I appreciate your support!

You. Are. Awesome.

No More Live Streams??

I have one last stream on February 18. In this one, my comics buddy Ben Wright-Heuman and I will be discussing the END of social media as we know it…And what indie creators can do.

After that stream, there will be no live streams until further notice.

WHY?

In short – I’m starting a new, temporary office job this upcoming Tuesday. It’s on weekdays only, but it IS full-time. I took the gig to help me save up for a new apartment.

For now, this leaves all my comics-making to evenings and weekends. There aren’t TOO many conventions lined up during my time at the office. But there are some. So I have to plan accordingly.

So I looked at the work I do right now, and made choices on what to continue and what to stop.

I will NOT stop making The Legend of Jamie Roberts, New Punk Signal, Vanita and the Demon King, and other comics. Those are important. To stop working on them would feel like cutting off my fingers to me. I can wiggle on other things, but my comics are my priority.

For me, live streams have to end.

They require a lot from me that I don’t have the energy for right now. Setting aside 2 to 3 hours in one day for one stream? Making assets for it? Live chat moderation? Managing a StreamYard subscription to stream on multiple platforms? There is a LOT that goes on behind the scenes for a stream. And once the office job starts up, I won’t have time for them.

BUT…

Instead of live streams, I’m going to make videos.

With videos and vlogs, I can work on those in small chunks of time, rather than one long time slot. A lot of the material for a vlog, like recording my art process, is stuff I’m already doing. So making videos is not a drastic change to my workflow.

(Exporting and uploading videos are time sinks to consider, though. But I have ideas for how to work with, or around, those.)

So yeah.

The Feb 18 stream is my last live stream until further notice.

If I DO return to streams, they’ll be on YouTube ONLY. Twitch just doesn’t work for an artist like me.

Should any other changes come, I will let you know (of course).

That’s all for now. I appreciate your understanding!

You. Are. Awesome.

I’m Coming Out (Again)

I have written blog posts before about being genderqueer – someone who does not fall into either the “woman” or “man” boxes. Someone who falls between the two.

I have also worked with a lot of transgender people and cisgender people, each with different gender expressions. Some trans folks fully embrace the binary, while others do not. Even some cisgender folks won’t fit neatly into the expectations of their gender.

For example, I know a lot of dudes, cis and trans, who bake, crochet, and raise children, and have no lack of masculinity.

I know women, cis or trans, who are furniture makers, interested in cars, run banks and businesses, and have no lack of femininity.

I’m saying this because I still enjoy being nonbinary. I love the gray area between what’s expected of certain genders and what is actually put into practice.

That said…

I have noticed that when people say “she,” “her,” or “daughter” in my direction, it feels like they’re talking about someone else. They’re not addressing me, they’re addressing a disguise.

(Honestly, with how many people are declaring war against trans people, a cisgender disguise is making more and more sense.)

At some point, however, I would LOVE to be addressed as who I actually am, not the puppet that I walk around in sometimes.

For a while, I have asked close friends and family to call me “they” or “their.” English lacks a decent third-person gender-neutral word outside of s/he that’s not a plural. And people online can get NEEDLESSLY pedantic about the use of “they” when referring to a single person.

It’s obnoxious and I hate it.

At the same time, I think back to times when I’m called “he” or “sir.” This happened a lot when I wore gender-neutral work uniforms or wore clothes that weren’t coded as feminine.

And any time I got called “he” or “sir,” I realized…that felt right.

So I’m Coming Out

I’m coming out as a transgender man.

Now, I’m not going to be following all the “rules” of masculinity. I’m still going to cook and knit and have a “stereotypically feminine” side. I’m still nonbinary. Because fuck the idea that men and women have to act or behave in certain ways.

However, you might wonder, “Then why are you coming out as a man?”

Because when folks call me “he,” “sir,” or “my dude,” I feel like myself in a way that I haven’t felt in a VERY long time. If at all. It feels like when someone calls me a man, I feel SEEN. Like I don’t have to put on a cisgender disguise to fool the Straights.

So moving forward, I’m going by he/him/his as well as they/them/their.

My name is still the same: Kelci D Crawford. Historically, Kelci is a gender-neutral name. But if you nickname me Kel, that feels right, too.

I’m still the same person as before. The only things that have changed are my pronouns and the feelings I get when they’re used.

And to answer any other questions because I KNOW these will come up:

No, I’m not doing any surgeries. I HAVE been wanting to change hormones for a while, but for reasons outside of “becoming more of a man.” In my case, my hormones are not my gender. But I’m not going into my medical history with the internet unless I get terribly sick and am unable to keep up making comics, videos, etc.

No, I’m not changing my name. Good luck trying to “deadname” me, haters.

No, I’m not changing official documents unless I absolutely have to. Do you Straights have ANY idea how long it takes to get government paperwork to reflect your identity? And this is just on the LOCAL and STATE level, never mind the federal one.

Besides, with SOME politicians being allergic to trans people to the point of banning trans children, the government can think I’m a “cisgender woman” all they want. Not all laws are just or good. Like, just because some places are banning abortion does not mean all abortions have stopped. And historically, people have tried banning people of color from going to the same places as white people. But they still exist. These politicians can try to ban trans people but we will still be here, fighting for our rights.

I’m still going to fight for trans rights. I’m still going to depict trans people in my comics and games. That’s not changing.

Make of this announcement what you will. I’m not changing my mind. I’m here. I’m queer. And I’m here to make stories that matter.

Thanks for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.