I have finally gotten some quotes in for printing book 3 and/or the omnibus.

After the results being pretty split on skipping to the omnibus, I’m probably going to print both volume 3 and the omnibus. My rough thoughts are as follows:

Initial campaign: $10k. Book 3 would be $25, as would the omnibus in the form of a book the same cover size as the previous volumes (5.5×8.5″), but much thicker. Separate tiers for book 3, omnibus, and both; high-end backers would probably get their choice of 3/omni/both.

First stretch goal: $15k. Omnibus becomes three times as wide as the existing volume, and slimmer. This is really the form I want it to be in, and if I almost make this stretch goal I’ll probably throw in some of my money to make it happen.

Second stretch goal: Unlocks a hardback option of the omnibus. Not sure on the numbers of that yet. Need to make some more quotes happen now that I have an idea of the feasibility of the omnibus in the first place.

Further stretch goals: Tart up the hardback omnibus. Embossed clothbound plus a dust cover.

Also maybe throw some stickers for everyone into one of those stretch goals, I dunno. Maybe add french flaps to the softbound omnibus.

Does seeing that the omnibus will cost the same as a book 3 change anyone’s opinions on the prospect of me skipping it altogether?

Oh wow, big thanks to whoever added Rita to TVTropes. “Gainax ending”… yeah, I’ll own that.

Kickstarter ETA: who knows? I spent all day lying around in the living room, recovering from the last of four conventions in a row. At least I got to end on a pretty good note; Geek Girl Con was good to me both financially and emotionally. I should probably go eat something; all I’ve had so far was some cookies, because I don’t want to dirty any dishes until the landlord gets my dishwasher fixed.

I also have a little press release about the comic being finished. I’m compiling a list of places to send it to; if you have any suggestions for comics/sf/queer news sites that you follow, please let me know.

And here we go. New pages are happening. In clumps, now.

This first clump had a couple of pages not show up initially. I’ve fixed that, and removed a bit of sketch layer left turned on for two other pages. So, like, look at chapter 25 or something. Because it’s all posted now.

The final chapter will start showing up Thursday.

Oh. That’s why everything was looking a little fuzzy in the chapter view. At some point I’d set the css up for a page height of 728px instead of the 768px I’m actually drawing it at. Durrrrh. Everything should look crystal-clear now.

Well. Aside from the fact that at this point the storyline is pretty dense and impenetrable unless you read it from the beginning. But that’s why the site is designed to drop you at page 1!

I was cleaning up the pile of sketchbooks lying around the studio today. Part of this process involved photographing a bunch of stuff to stick it into Evernote so I can find it again easily.

I also found some early notes for chapter VIII and thought I’d share them, so you can have a glimpse into How This Thing Evolves. If you’re interested in that sort of stuff then enjoy!

I just set up decryptingrita.tumblr.com. New pages should start appearing there when I finish them; if Tumblr is your preferred Front Page For The Innanet then go follow it there.

Still workin’ ever so slowly on the next page. I posted some process shots over on my main blog; check them out here.

Book 2 should be hitting the press for the second attempt early next month. And then soon after I will finally be able to ship everyone’s copy, yay!

These were my first shipment big enough to come on a pallet! I managed to charm the driver into taking that away, as there’s not really room for that in my apartment’s trash.

I didn’t have any tracking on this, so I was five blocks away on my way to brunch when the driver got here. Oops. I ran back and got them all in the house, signed for them, and gave him a glass of water for his troubles – it’s hot out today!

Some friends and I are toying with getting a place downtown for shared storage and work space. It sounds like a better idea than ever now. I have shelving for these here, but only just barely.

Anyway. Off to that delayed brunch! And then drawing some comics.

Thanks for the feedback, folks! Clearly the drag-image-to-scroll thing I hacked in before going off to a drunken Smash Brothers tournament/general party didn’t work. It’s back to where it was before.

I’m sort of toying with the idea of overlaying a ‘move back a page’ link on the left side of each page on the chapter view. Dunno. I’m sure people who Only Use Mousewheels will still hate it, but whatevs – a script to turn u/d wheeling into l/r movement seriously fucks with scrolling around via the Mac’s trackpad, which is how I navigate when I’m on my laptop. I got book-printing stuff to take care of first today.