Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Business Skills = Fail

To start things off with this blog, I wanted to discuss my recent business ventures. Good and Bad. Because I think a lot of people have been under the impression that I know what I'm doing... [laughs].


The Business of Commissions:
I'm still on the last set of my commissions from earlier in the year. This was the first year I received a bulk amount of commission orders. I learned a lot from both the success and failure of these commissions. - I’ve had people waiting a long time for their orders. I’ve also had people change their minds and cancel. And unfortunately I’ve had to refund money to people as well.

I’m willing to admit, I’m not very good at this.  But, I have been learning to improved and have been getting better as I push my way through the learning experience that 2011 has been. 

Some people would say “What’s the big deal? Why don’t you stay on top of things, Greg.” And I really wish I could explain everything and anything that caused all these problems. But there are too many to talk about.  And not all of the issues are things I can make public. A lot of it is personal.  And a lot of it has to do with other people’s business; which I don’t feel is something I should be speak about publicly.

What I can tell people is that I am doing all this on top of working a full time job, fixing debt from my failed marriage, finishing my divorce and fighting depression.  I don’t say these things to excuse my actions.  But merely to provide some answers and understanding about what I am going through.

Future Commissions: I’m looking to start up a new round of orders in December. However, I will be setting up more firm commissioning rules. These are for protecting myself and the customer.  This list will be available by December 1st and posted in as many places as I can provide it.


WANT vs. CAN:
One of the problems I’ve been learning from is my “want” vs. “can” situation.  I want very much to have a vast comic book Universe to entertain people with.  But since I am only one person, with only so much time, there is only so much that I “can” do. 

The problem; I tell everyone what I want to do and I have had a lot of people asking “Where is the book? You’ve been talking about creating a comic for 15 years!”  Well, like many creators, I’ve had ideas on my brain since I was 6 years old. And MockTales is an accumulation of all my years as a sentient being daydreaming about this and that.  I wrote the core of what you’ll see in the first book of MockTales in 2003. I adapted to a new version in 2007 that gave it a little more edge. And then after my wife left in 2009 I wrote what I feel is the final version that has more character and plot development, and I am now going forward with now that I am single and have more free time again. 

All these years I haven’t been ready, despite expressing my want to have the book out.  And because of this, I feel I have let a lot of people get hyped or mislead that it was going to happen.  I wanted it to happen.  But I wasn’t ready.  Want vs. Can.

So now that I’ve explained that tidbit, “where are you at now”, you ask?  As of this Blog this is the following schedule for my art and comic activities:

MockTales: Project Molten – An 80-page concept design and art book for the MockTales Universe. This book is being moved to release in December 2011. Delays are due to formatting issues with printers. Spending the next 30-45 days tweaking and making sure things are right before final print production.

MockTales 2009 Ashcan reprint – Our 2009 Ashcan written by myself and illustrated by Rob Hicks will be re-printed into a regular comic book format and then re-lettered and colored. This will give everyone a look at Tim Garn before the fateful day of the first issue.  We will be bringing this book out in February or March of 2012, prepping for the first issue of the main book at Emerald City Comic Con late March.

MockTales: The Adventures of Tim Garn #1 – Coming out at Emerald City Comic Con, March 30, 31st and April 1st, 2012, Seattle Wa. This is the book that I have been telling everyone about. Most of the book is done and a preview will be in the Project Molten Art book as well as online in December.  The current goal is to put out 3-4 issues a year.


Conventions:
I will be looking to attend as many conventions during 2012 as I can.  Initially I was going to schedule 12 shows (12 in 2012). However, that is a lot of money and seeing as how I’m trying to get out of debt, I will be attempting to make it to conventions only if I can afford them and the time permits.  You can guarantee that I will be at the local shows in my area; Emerald City Comic Con, Spokane Comic Con, Bellingham Comic Con and Jet City Comic Show. (Other formatted local conventions are TBA. i.e. Crypticon or Norwescon, ect)

My goal at conventions is to get as many people as possible interested in MockTales. Advertise and spread the word on the Universe I am creating.  I’m not looking to make a ton of money out of this whole venture. (Of course I won’t complain if I do either).  Drawing comics is what I love in my spare time.  I work a day job to pay the bills.  But if I can break even at conventions, then I can schedule more and visit various areas of the States, let alone eventually making it to shows in other Countries as well.


Make it or break it - I’ll rest in 2013!:
In all honestly, 2012 is my “make it or break it” year.  If I’m not able to make this comic book work in 2012 then that is pretty much it for me. I’ll pull back to doing occasional commissions and maybe a few 1-shot books once in a while.  But no more creating a comic book series and Universe.

The reason behind this is because I am going to be giving up a lot of my time to get this all going next year.  And time is valuable to me.  If it becomes a waste of my time and money, then I would much rather work my day job and just stay out of the comic book business. 

However, if I can make some success or maybe break even with this venture, then I will keep going.  So either way, I’m looking to work hard in 2012.  And part of knowing whether or not this is working is getting feedback from everyone checking out my work.  Email me.  Send me a message on Facebook.  Or buy art and books from me and show me your support when you can. 

Thanks again everyone.  This crazy train is about to leave the station!

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