New Punk Signal AND Fwishi’shi Are NOW LIVE on KickStarter

the kickstarter header image for new punk signal and fwishi'shi. This is split down the middle: on one side are two white boys smiling at the camera in relaxed streetwear. On the right is an anthropomorphic bird man with his back to the viewer, gazing out to the sea

NOW LIVE!

New Punk Signal – two college boys, Mike and Steve, have big dreams to support their friends and their indie music…until the pandemic hits and shuts everything down. Now they have to figure out how to support the people they love when the world is changing its frequency.

Fwishi’shi – Fuloos is a bird-man who lives alone in a home by the sea. By day, he runs a radio show in the small town of Seabank. One day, he meets a fan of his work and her boyfriend – and everything changes.

These two stories are about community, assistance, and platonic love that saves the day. And with your help, I’d love to get these stories into the hands of more readers with the power of KickStarter!

So New Punk Signal is a comic spin-off-slash-sequel to Validation and ROXIE, following resident himbos Mike and Steve. And Fwishi’shi is – for the first time in my book catalog – a written novella. It’s not a comic (gasp)! It’s also set in the same universe as two comic projects I’ve done called Johnson & Sir and Thoughtful Dinosaur.

I like to think that you don’t need to read the other books to understand what’s going on in New Punk Signal and Fwishi’shi. But if you would like to delve more into those worlds, these extra stories are available as add-ons in the campaign! If you’re inclined, there’s also The Radio Tower Tier, where you can get all of these stories in one bundle.

new punk signal page #6

THE HOW

The good news is – a lot of expenses for Fwishi’shi are covered by a grant from the Toledo Arts Commission! Thank you to the commission for covering the cost of the ISBNs, printing 20(ish) copies of the book, and printing bookmarks.

However, New Punk Signal needs a little support to get to print. Also, if Fwishi’shi gets a lot more than 20 orders, I need a little help to cover printing. There’s also the added wrinkle of distributing these books once they’re printed.

For these reasons, I’ve opted to run a KickStarter – not only to help New Punk Signal get printed, but to get BOTH books in the hands of readers with KickStarter’s reach.

So in short – the asking goal is low because some expenses are already covered thanks to the Toledo Arts Commission (yay)! But KickStarter will help get these books out to the masses.

THE WHEN

Because of grant deadlines and printer timelines, this campaign will run UNTIL Aug 31. Once the funding period ends, I can place orders to the printers right away. The goal is to get everything printed and in the hands of backers by September 30.

ally from the webcomic Validation checks her phone to see a text from Steve. This comic is in the upcoming New Punk Signal

THE WHY

New Punk Signal and Frishi’shi are both projects I made during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Both were created to process my feelings and what I had seen work – and not work – during this time. I’ve also come to realize that as time goes on, the more my stories focused on the importance of community and helping friends along the way. And, as a result, both of these stories are my love letter to the importance of platonic love.

We live in a culture that romanticizes individualism, and only allows exception for romantic love. I wanted to challenge both by creating New Punk Signal and Fwishi’shi, stories that focus on the importance of interpersonal connections outside of romance.

So if you can, check out the campaign and choose the reward tier that works best for you! We also have add-ons such as spin-off comics, prints, and even art books!

Broke? Share this campaign far and wide! Shares help more than you know.

That’s all for now. Thank you for your support!

You. Are. Awesome.

Robots, C’s, and Radio – A Series of Crowdfunding Campaign Updates

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…

banner for the Universal flaws of robotics, a robot comics anthology on kickstarter

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!

You can help support central Ohio comic artists by checking out the campaign on Crowdfundr, backing it if you can, and sharing the link if you’re broke.

This campaign is running until August 26.

New Punk Signal and Fwishi’shi

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.

Speaking of Ko-fi updates, I have changed my commissions offerings! I simplified what I offer by narrowing it down to two main options.

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.

Stay tuned for more updates!

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

New Robots Comics Anthology Coming to KickStarter!

There’s a new robots comics anthology coming to KickStarter!

Canonwrite Productions got 19 different creators together for The Universal Flaws of Robotics, a comics anthology all about robots. I did a short story for it, and served as editor for some of the stories!

The Universal Flaws of Robotics will launch on July 14 – but you can sign up for notifications now on KickStarter. Be sure to also sign up for my email newsletter, because tons more books are coming this summer.

This campaign will be Canonwrite’s biggest campaign yet, asking for $9,000 to pay contributors and make an offset print run of the paperback books. So be sure to spread the word so we can get as many folks as possible hyped!

Here’s the link to the campaign page. Once again, it opens on July 14. And sign up for my newsletter to stay up to date on more upcoming books.

Thank you for your support!

You. Are. Awesome.

NOW LIVE On KickStarter – Zine Club Pledge Drive!

Now live on KickStarter, it’s the Zine Club Pledge Drive!

I love making zines! 

For the first half of my webcomics-making career, I offered zines as rewards for patrons on Patreon…back when I was on the platform. After I left Patreon, I moved to Ko-Fi and offered the Zine Club as a membership tier. 

And for this latest KickStarter campaign, I’m opening up for new pledges to my Zine Club!

Right now, our membership is small – less than 13 people. We are a pretty cozy community of creative folks. I love them! AND I would love to grow the club to more members. To get more zines out into the world AND to make more webcomics happen!

Growing the Zine Club would also mean less of a need to hustle so much for income. Less hustling means more time for making rewards, too.

With your help, I would LOVE to grow the Zine club to make these goals happen. KEEP IN MIND, These are set intentionally low so we can hit goals and spread the word faster:

(This is already unlocked!) If we raise our Base Goal of $72, all backers and Zine Club members will get the Deluxe version of my tabletop roleplaying game, Toe Beans & Broomsticks! This game was originally designed for Free RPG Day last year. In it, you play as magic-casting cats, crows, dogs, and owls on a Saturday Morning adventure. The Deluxe edition of the game will have updated character tokens, NPCs, and a homebrewed game setting, The Lost Scroll of Madam Jellybean!

(ALSO UNLOCKED!) If we raise $143, all backers and Zine Club members will get the remastered PDF of Thoughtful Dinosaur!

If we raise $220, all backers and Zine Club members will get the PDF of New Punk Signal (The Signal So Far), the spin-off/sequel to Validation featuring everyone’s favorite himbos, Mike & Steve.

At $385, all backers and Zine Club members will get The Lore of Jamie Roberts, the zine containing SO MUCH RESEARCH that went into The Legend of Jamie Roberts. The zine will also contain concept art and a recipe for the pepper soup that appears in Chapter 3 of The Legend.

We also have stretch goals if we go BEYOND $385! But we’ll unlock those when we get there.

Can you pledge and become a member – even for just a month?

Then back this campaign! There are base rewards on the main page, and whichever one you click, you have your choice of add-ons to pick with your bundle!

Broke? Share this campaign far and wide! Sharing is caring and it helps more than you know. The link is tinyurl.com/kzineclub

That’s all for now. Thank you so much for your support!

You. Are. Awesome.

Lettering Comics in Clip Studio Paint – A Workshop/Presentation

On Feb 1, 2024 at 6 pm EST, I’ll show you how to letter your comics in Clip Studio Paint, why good lettering in comics matters, where to download fonts, and so much more!

There will be a Q&A section at the end of the presentation, as well, for the audience to ask questions.

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for upcoming workshops and tutorials!

I have other tutorials available for you to watch, including working with Affinity Publisher to format books AND Tips and Tricks for Clip Studio Paint: What I’ve Learned so far.

By the way, the Zine Club Pledge Drive is about to launch on KickStarter! Get first dibs when I launch by signing up for notifications.

Did you find this stream useful? Did I forget to talk about something? Got a question for me? Leave a comment below!

That’s all for now. Thank you for watching!

You. Are. Awesome.