Sebastian Chow

The tale of a London Comic Book artist in his quest to complete an original, creator owned, graphic novel.

Sunday 22 January 2017

2017 Plan


2017 is underway and the clock is ticking. Whats the plan for this year art-wise? Well I have several goals and ideas and the easiest way to talk about it is to break it down into different categories.
Comic Cons
Comic cons in the UK have come a long way and whilst they're not as frequent as cons in the US there are now a number of mainstream and independent cons up and down the UK. I've attended London Super Comic Con ever since the first one where Stan Lee attended. This year will be the first year I have booked a table as an exhibitor. That means my very own table in artists alley, selling art and promoting any comics I've made. More on that event in future updates.

I have also applied to Though Bubble 2017 however I am doubtful I will get a place as I think my online presence is weak and currently my comic Catapulted is still WIP. I'm still hopeful and will probably attend even if I don't get a place as an exhibitor.

There are a couple of MCM cons in London however these tend to be super packed and I'm not convinced the artist alley gets much attention as the crowd tends to be a mix of different interests. Also the crowds are large and just attending one day last year felt tiring.

Publish a comic
I have about 20 comic book ideas in storage. These are at various stages but I constantly add to the collection. The idea is that when I finish and complete a project I have at least another idea ready to be developed. Currently I am working on a miniseries Catapulted. See here for the draft cover and for a short description of what the story will be about. Hopefully I can have some prints ready for LSCC2017. I 'm going to try and get it published with a publisher, that process alone will help me see how the publishers see it in terms of quality. Failing that there are many other ways to get published and some of these other methods are ways I want to explore anyway.

Kickstarter
I would like to launch a Kickstarter this year. These can be quite involved but I would like to start small with a modest goal. I see the first Kickstarter as a digital download only comic with various rewards (directors cut, extras etc.) and perhaps a stretch goal for prints or physical rewards.

Webcomic
I did start a Tapastic series last year and had ideas for short 6 panel webcomcis through Tapastic. I would like to continue this, however it won't be a priority. This would be more to take a break from commissions and comic making and draw with no pressure, which seems to help me when I'm try to produce my best art.

Commissions
At the end of last year I tried to advertise commissions a little bit more and to my surprise I got my first commission. Someone had saw the cover to Catapulted and wanted something similar featuring himself in it too. It's currently WIP but commissions are something I'll be doing more of, especially as I prepare to exhibit at my first con.

And that's it for now. Quite a lot to achieve but without goals and plans its unlikely that you will achieve a lot. Subscribe to my newsletter if you want updates in your inbox, use the form on the main page of the blog on the right hand side.


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Newsletter!



So I thought I would start a newsletter to help build my subscriber base to my blog. Whilst some social platforms are great for promoting art/comics, newsletter subscriptions are the best and most consistent way to reach people who want to keep up to date with your content creation.

Therefore I launched my first newsletter last week. To the starters who did subscribe, thank you and I look forward to sending updates on my content as well as useful articles on different aspects of comic book creation.

What kind of articles could you expect if you did subscribe? Here are a few topics:

  • Updates on new articles discussing writing, penciling, inking, coloring and lettering comics
  • Updates on conventions as well as my first experiences exhibiting at Comic Con
  • Reviews of useful books and tools for making comics
  • Updates on my creator owned comic Catapulted
  • Reviews of online comic book platforms (Tapastic, Comixology, Webtoons etc.)

I kept my first newsletter light and I did mention that its not going to be a super frequent newsletter that is super long. Instead it's going to be succinct and to the point as often I find newsletters I've subscribed to lengthy and sometimes a bit spammy. 

However I did receive a response from one of my subscribers suggesting a schedule so at least the newsletters are regular and can be expected. The opposite end of the spectrum is that newsletters aren't frequent enough which therefore runs the risk of getting forgotten, meaning your content never gets looked at. 

Therefore I've decided to send a newsletter twice a month. Content wise I think that's all I could handle at the moment.

How do you subscribe to the newsletter? 
At the top of my blog on the right is a small sign up form, pop your email in and away you go, or more so your email address.


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