Letters to Holly

Thursday, May 6

This Year's Second-Most Anticipated Delivery


This is what 300 minicomics look like. My friend at OfficeMax met me at the door and completed the purchase. The price was half -- half!-- of what I expected. I thought the estimate I was given covered only the 20-page mini. I figured that the passage of months since that estimate would mean the actual price for the hero comic would be maybe 20% higher given the ever-rising cost of paper. Then I'd pay something close to double that for both comics. Nope. The final price for both was $30 more than the estimate. That's a steal.

The print quality isn't consistent. There are some jagged edges to at least one page's artwork. When I saw that on the initial proof copy, I was assured that was due to a quick "proof" printing to set the print template. Not so, it seems. I'm not terribly upset; it doesn't distract much from the story, and it's possible the casual reader wouldn't notice. I'm in publication. It leaps to my eye. I don't think a request for a do-over would get my books on time, and I'm lucky to have found a store close to home that would/could handle the job this well. It's not perfect, but it's not as if the art was professional quality to begin with.

Also, 300 comics is a smaller bundle than I feared. I envisioned stacks of copy paper boxes. I thought I'd need a dolly to get them to the convention table. Now I think I can get everything from my car to my assigned spot in one trip.

Here I am with the vast majority of convention preparation done. Feels odd to be set this far in advance. I'm wracked with anxiety that the comics will spontaneously combust. But that's tempered with astonishment that I have made actual comic books.

We tried to hit the local Mexican restaurant for Cinco de Mayo and found half the county there. All items were half-price, even the beer. It was madness. We retreated from the mob and got pizza at the nearby sports bar.

Back home, we swapped name lists. She had more than ten names because she's a rebel. Both of us added names from the other's list. We then agreed to let the lists simmer on a shelf before we start the official whittling. My ideas are proper and inspiring. Her picks do nothing for me. But she admitted she has no affinity for boy names.

I learned the new local roller derby team, the French Broads, is holding a logo contest, and I am absolutely giving that a shot.

Awesome Consumer Demographic Marketing of the Day
The Tom Tom GPS system now offers Star Wars voices. Behold:


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