But Can She Spin?

Take a look here folks.

The Gist:
Because of an improperly healed fracture, Rachel Nabors is now looking at $15,000 - $20,000 worth of orthodontic surgery. She is already experiencing bone thinning and, without surgery, faces inevitable tooth loss. Like many of us, she makes too much money for government assistance and not nearly enough to afford insurance.

What won’t help:
-Suggesting she get a loan. Those of us over a certain age know just how difficult and treacherous that track can be.

-The Hero Initiative won’t be of much use either. Their MAX allotment is $1000 and it’s a gauntlet run to get approved. Sure, some is better than none, but she’s not likely to qualify in the first place.

-”Jokes” about moving to another country to make use of their medical system. If you can’t think of anything useful to contribute, keep your dumbassery to yourself.

What will help:
PASS IT ON! The more people who know, the more who can help. Seriously! Many, many people giving a small amount will do wonders.

At my LiveJournal, I explain the basics of good comics lettering 2 U.

It's a very short walk between lousy lettering and good lettering.

The reception for Beneath the Surface, my solo exhibition, is next Wednesday, September 26th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. I will be discussing my work at 7:30 pm. I am showing my illustrative pastels and watercolors along with the web comic pages from Girlamatic.com.

The show will run until October 26, 2007 at the Louie-Meager Art Gallery. The promotional card is here:

http://www.karenluk.net/Gallery/bts_web.jpg

I hope to see you at the reception!

From the San Diego Comic Con Int'l 2007 Program book:
“Up until the last few years, graphic novels were published primarily by specialty houses that produced only comics and related works. Now, however, traditional mainstream publishing house are producing graphic novels and even setting up graphic novel divisions, spurred by bookstore sales trends, library demand, and critical recognition. What has led to this trend? What sorts of books are these publishers looking for? Who is the audience? What role has manga played? And is the graphic novel market going to continue to expand, or will the bubble burst?”

The panelists with a brief introduction about their work:

Charles Kochman, Senior Editor, Harry N. Abrams
Abrams published mainly art history books on Monet, Disney, Windsor McKay, etc. with a fall/spring publishing schedule. Picked up Mom’s Cancer for publication, which won the Eisner in 2005 for Web Comics. Recently published Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.

Dallas Middaugh, Associate Publisher, Del Rey Manga
Del Rey Manga focuses on the translated manga market.

Karen Berger, Executive Editor, Vertigo/Minx/DC
Collections of mainstream comics, Vertigo line of books and the Minx line for teenage girls with creators not limited only to a comics background.

Chris Schluep, Editor, Random House/Villard
Personal selection of books with potential. Published Flight volume four and will reprint the previous volumes.

Calvin Reed, News Editor, Publisher’s Weekly and Co-Editor, PW Comics Weekly
Writes reviews and features on comics/graphic novels, serving to educate book readers about the emergence of comics.

Jackie Estrada, Panel Moderator
Eisner Awards administrator, consultant to Forward magazine’s Comique graphic novel supplement

David Saylor, Creative Director, Scholastic/Graphix
Children’s publisher looking at the 7-10 year old market. Working with established book titles such as Babysitter’s Club and Goosebumps, as well as established comics like Jeff Smith’s Bone.

Mark Siegel, Editorial Director, First Second
Interested in bringing over books from around world and publishing American books, like American Born Chinese by Gene L. Yang.

The current success of the graphic novel was attributed to various factors by the panelists. Siegel stated that the creators were drawn to the format and is optimistic about the marketplace ready to accept graphic novels. As a children’s publisher, Saylor ignored the mainstream comics (i.e. Superman and X-men) and focused on bringing in more kid friendly books in order to capture a different readership. Kochman cited Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, published by Houghton Mifflin, making the New York Bestsellers’ List and raising awareness of graphic novels as books. Middaugh tied graphic novel success directly to the manga being translated and brought over to the US.

Emphasizing the Vertigo line, Berger maintained the presence of graphic novels brought to the fore by movies, such as V for Vendetta, and popularity of collected works like Sandman. Schluep mentioned the quality and readership of internet users. Reed listed four converging factors for the graphic novel’s success: the incredible, varied creative work available; going to the where the readers read; support of libraries; and movies based on graphic novels and/or comics drawing in the mainstream audience.

The mainstream audience still views comics as kids’ fare, despite recently acclaimed books, like Persepolis from Pantheon and American Born Chinese from First Second. Graphic novels are not considered worthy for grade school book reports. The marketplace defines a graphic novel as a square bound book with an ISBN, ignoring that not all graphic novels were “novels” but rather collections of single comic book issues.

The concept of creating a generation of readers who only see comics and/or graphic novels as another book category was appealing to most of the publishers. This would broaden readership, hopefully into prose novels. The panelists discussed building audiences for their various book lines via marketing at schools, book fairs, libraries, online and direct catalogs. Graphic novels have encountered resistance from educators and parents, but not from librarians.

Middaugh noted that there were two business perspectives for the market: manga and other graphic novels. Siegel viewed the market in thirds: young readers, teen/young adult and adult. Siegel claimed that the American market was a huge nut to crack. The perception of graphic novels by teachers and parents needs to change.

Saylor chimed in with issues about shelving the books and the difficulty of finding them. Even with mainstream reviews from the NY Times, LA times and PW.com touting graphic novels, book chains are failing to help readers find the books. Saylor asked: does Jeff Smith’s Bone go under S for Smith in the prose section or is it grouped with the graphic novel section alongside Batman?

Saylor said that Bone was doing well for Scholastic/Graphix at the book fairs. DC Comics’ Minx line just launched and Berger conceded that it was not doing as well as expected. Siegel promoted First Second pooling quality, international and homegrown talent as a home for graphic novels. Middaugh stated that his company was content with manga readers only.

Kochman believed that all ages books are the key to bring more readers into the marketplace. Readability, explanatory and self-contained stories are what his company wants. Unlike the other panelists developing a particular line of books, Schuelp said that Random House/Villard is riding the coattails of the other publishers, taking the long view of the market.

Overall, the panelists were optimistic about publishing graphic novels, which is a boon for comic creators. The majority of panelists, from non-monthly comic companies, reflect how the market for comics/graphic novels has changed. The potential of reaching more readers and the variety of interested publishers can only spur on the growth and acceptance of graphic novels.

I have two major announcements mixed in with some personal maunderings, so feel free to skip over anything that isn’t in bold text.

Announcement 1: I am ending my sabbatical early and will return as the Editor of GirlAMatic this Friday, July 13th.

Announcement 2: I am discontinuing my webcomic series, Arcana Jayne.

The purpose of my taking a sabbatical inn the first place was to relieve the giant stress burden that I had accumulated and to figure out the underlying causes of said stress. I needed to rest, relax and reassess. I did those things. Well, I did them to the best of my tightly wound ability, anyway. But now, I find I’ve had just about as much rest and relaxation as I can possibly stand.

Leigh Dragoon has filled in admirably for me as Editor, but she’s got her own obligations and it’s not fair of me to let her continue to shoulder mine. Especially when one considers that I never entirely left off in the first place. I must confess that, sabbatical or no, I’ve been doing editorial work behind the scenes.

So, I’m taking it all back. And I find that I’m perfectly relaxed with this decision. I feel no anxiety about being the Boss of GAM again. In fact, I’m eager for it.

What I do feel anxiety about (and have for many, many months) is Arcana Jayne.

After a lot of soul searching and many talks with the Husband, the Best Friend and my own reflection, it’s time to rip off the bandage. It’s time to discontinue the series.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t because I don’t love the series, the characters and the world, I do! But it’s just not working anymore; not as it is, anyway. This isn’t easy for me, I’ve got nearly ten years invested in Jayne and her world; five of those in actively publishing online. And by “isn’t easy” I mean it’s been a gut-wrenchingly painful decision to make. It is done, however, and I believe, for the best.

For those of you who might worry that I am giving up my creative aspirations altogether, don’t. I’ve actually begun to enjoy drawing again, for the first time in a long time, but what I want to do most is write. Though, truth be told, either drawing or writing, it probably won’t be in comics. Well, drawing definitely won’t be. I have long since lost any interest in drawing sequential art; it just isn’t in me. And I’ think I’m just going to see where the writing takes me. I think that’s best. Especially since writers, like parents, are rarely in control of their creations as much as they might like think.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I have work to do.