NOW ON KICKSTARTER – Reprinting The Legend of Jamie Roberts

Jamie Roberts is not a boy or a girl – they are a PIRATE! Jamie and their two best friends, Thomas and Daniel, find an unfinished map during a pirate raid and decide to leave the seas to hunt for treasure!

But the land they have arrived in has many secrets, including the secrets kept by their new employer, Ragun Basho. Who was chasing after him? Why is he talking about dragons? And who are these people Jamie is seeing in their dreams?!

The answers are revealed in the first two volumes of The Legend of Jamie Roberts, capturing the lush, vibrant, Indigenous-inspired world of this swashbuckling adventure.

Fans of my work may be like, “Hold up. You did campaigns for volume 1 and volume 2. What’s going on?”

So here’s the short version: when I made volume 1, I worked with a comics printer that ruined the first run of books. I did manage to get reprints, but let’s just say it was the latest in a long list of issues I’ve had with them in the past. After what happened, I switched to a new printer for volume 2.

However, the second printer raised their prices without warning over the last few months. They also have a minimum order that makes things prohibitive for me, a person doing all of it solo. That left me searching for a new printer, which leads us to this campaign.

This campaign is to help fund a new print run with a NEW printer for The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volumes 1 and 2. 

It means new and improved quality paper! Vibrant colors! Better pricing! All to share the magical genderqueer adventure that is The Legend of Jamie Roberts with as many readers, new and old, as possible.

“But isn’t this a webcomic? That I can read online for free?” Yes!

“So why should I get these books?”

BECAUSE…

  1. Both books have specific pages redrawn and remade from the original web versions.
  2. These books have extra content the webcomic site does not have, like  bonus comics, sneak peeks at the comics-making process, and more!
  3. By purchasing these books, you’re helping to continue The Legend of Jamie Roberts as an ongoing comic project. Seriously, we’re very close to releasing volume 3 next year! I plan on making 5 volumes of The Legend and need support from readers like you to make it happen.

This campaign starts October 1 and ends October 21 at 11:59 pm EDT. There will be a 24-hour “Late Pledge” grace period, but Late Pledges have a late fee. Keep that in mind!

We also have new add-ons and new stretch goals – so even if you backed the previous campaigns, there’s something new for you to check out, including…

minicomics are available as add-ons! Minicomics include The Legend of Azu-mi, The Legend of Norsa, Legendary & Casual, and Ranki in Cosplay
stickers are also available as add-ons for this KickStarter! Stickers include Thomas, Jamie, and Daniel dressed as punks, Basho's twin in a crop top, and Jamie posing with their sword

So if you’re able to support The Legend, go to the campaign and pick the rewards that work best for you!

Broke? Share this campaign far and wide! Be sure to use the link tinyurl.com/tlojr-reprint. Shares help more than you know. 

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

You. Are. Awesome.

A New Campaign on the October Horizon…

There’s a new campaign on the October horizon… By that I mean I have a new campaign coming on October 1.

If you’re thinking, “What about your campaign for New Punk Signal and Fwishi’shi?” I’ve been posting weekly updates on KickStarter. This is the latest update, all about which printers I’ve heard back from and what’s done already.

However, New Punk Signal and Fwishi’shi are at my least favorite stage of getting to print: “Hurry up and Wait.” It’s the stage where you send off your files and you’re waiting to hear back from your printing partners. It’s a lot of back and forth, waiting and then a flurry of activity before you send things off and wait again.

During this waiting time, I started setting up the next campaign.

a blonde sword-wielding person stands with their back to the viewer. Their green cape flaps in the wind. Beside them is a dragon, of which we only see the dragon's orange arms, yellow-scaled belly, and red-scaled tail. We see mountains and trees and canyons on the horizon

On October 1, I’m launching a KickStarter campaign to bring The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volumes 1 AND 2 back in their next print run! I’m very nearly sold out of my current stash, and would love to print more of this swashbuckling, genderqueer epic.

If you missed the previous campaigns for these books – or even if you backed them and are looking for new rewards! – you can now sign up for notifications.

More details about this campaign are coming next week. Why the delay? Because I’m also preparing for TWO in-person appearances coming up soon!

Find Me In Toledo…

Sept 21 and 22, find me at Momentum in downtown Toledo off Summit Street. I’m under the big tent with a handful of other artists. Be sure to come down and check out my work in person, and take a look at the other very cool artists local to the area! More details are on the official site through The Toledo Arts Commission.

Sept 28, find me at River East Mural & Art Festival in East Toledo. I’ll try to share more details when I get them, but for now, you can check out their event page on the Visit Toledo site. (The site also links to their Facebook page).

After these two events wrap up, The Legend of Jamie Roberts reprint campaign will launch October 1!

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more updates!

Thank you for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.

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.