Recently I took my youngest artist and started showing him the numbers.  This is a part of the industry that I think we all neglect from time to time but I have to keep a close eye on it always.  The reason for this post is to enlighten the masses to some truths that have come to light.

I used to think after Capital distribution folded that Diamond was the only distributor.  I was wrong.  There was Cold cut which eventually became Haven.  But then I recently found out that Haven has folded.  So in reality the only way for a third party publisher to get to the book shelves is to go through one of the big 5; Marvel, DC, Image, IDW or Dynamite.  IDW and Dynamite do not look promising and Marvel and DC are very much the corporate scum we all think they are when it comes to intellectual property.  It looks like the only one willing to help out the small press is Image.  With this I give kudos out to the Image folks.  They look like they take more chances and give up and coming people the best chance at expanding their talents.

Don't get me wrong I think working for Marvel and DC is the bomb but like anything worth value you have to sacrifice to work for them.  If you are not willing to make that sacrifice then you really shouldn't look to them as an end game.  Working in the independent field you need to sacrifice.  Believe me I have sacrificed time and money to start this venture.  I knew it was an uphill climb and the road would be paved with thumbtacks as I walked along it with bare feet.

Don't get me wrong it all sounds depressing but its not.  There is a clear line between reality and fantasy.  Thinking your comic will be the next hot thing like the 'walking dead' is fantasy.  Making the comic you want to read that isn't being written is reality.  If people are able to see and enjoy your vision then you succeeded no matter how many fans you have. 

With that I have decided to let the fans make judgment calls by offering free to select fans.  I haven't decided if I want to make it free online or free through the mail yet.  I would rather have it free through the mail.  But what I need is honest unbiased opinion on story and art.  If the story sucks ass let me know.  If the art is crap let me know.  If it's kick ass story and kick ass art let me know.  I would rather create something people want to read than stroking my own ego.

Terry Wagner

The new strategy is paying off in spades.  The schedule of work is right on track and with luck we may be able to increase what we are scheduled to release next year.  Either way it is persitance that will win the game in the end.  The first show of the season is fast approaching and prepping for shows is always a bear.  We are changing the layout at the table.  I want to feature the artists more prominently.  In the past we have covered the tables with prints and books.  Where that is a great thing I believe that focusing on the artists appearing is a better way to cater to the people.  I may still put the current release or have what the artist has worked on on display; But I will not put all the stuff out there.  If you didn't get it over the past year it will be in your local shop soon.  I am working up a proposal for Diamond distributors that should be ready by the end of January.

The convention circuit is done for this year but that does not mean the work is done.  I had a friend tell me once that no matter how many days you take off the work just keeps on coming.  In a sense if I take a break I suddenly have a backlog.  Well that is the reason for the title of this post.  Because of the hectic convention schedule this past year we have been lacking in several areas important to us. 

The first being quality.  Don’t get me wrong we are putting out quality product but like all things we can do better.  And when errors are made they are made the more visible by the astounding quality of the surrounding work.  So the primary focus in the next coming year will be on check, double checking and triple checking the work before it goes to print. 

The second thing is the convention schedule ate into our production times.  Conventions are fun and we get to meet new people but it is time to scale back the schedule.  We have three scheduled for the next year plus one.  The main reason is to focus our resources into creating fantastic books.  We also have some major projects coming up in the next year so limiting the schedule will free up people and money.  The conventions cost money to attend and diminish any profit gained by attending.  They still are the best way to connect to fans so we will attend them.  We just won’t attend them as vigorously.

The last thing is we will do is adhere to a strict schedule.  I have had a bunch of false starts with various artists.  I have gotten a little bitter about this but you know what; you can have the best art and story in the world but if it never makes out to the rest of the world it’s wasted.  This is just as important to the fans.  They don’t want to see the same things over and over again.  They want new stuff, hell I want new stuff.

With that I am setting in stone (or blog) the goals for next year.

1.       Completed trade paperback suitable for submittal to Diamond Distribution.

2.       At least One Quarterly Title (Fusion)

3.       One Bi-Monthly Title (Shifters)

4.       One Bi-Annual Title (Mentally Challenged Magazine)

These are all doable goals.  We are very capable to of achieving them and we will.  With the submittal to Diamond we will be aggressively seeking advertising dollars for the titles.  This is because we will now be national if accepted by Diamond.  I would then feel comfortable approaching people to advertise in the books for that reason.

Overall I see a good year forthcoming. 

Bear with me folks the changes are coming!  With the big show coming up (Wizard World in Austin) and the next year looming closer; it was time to address the changes that we are making in our production.  Yes we will still make comics.  It's what we do and why we do this.  But now we are expanding to include web comics.

I am woking to revamp the site a little to include the web comics.  These are free!  Currently I have Altered Reality by Terry Wagner; but I have more in the wings coming.

There will be Mercy the Ghost Girl by Dani Vanwinkle and Terry Wagner; and Tex by Robert (Red) Grote.

Also it looksl like Spandex Avenger will become a web comic also.

Next year looks to be an amazing year.  Next year will be the introduction of a new title "Shifters" written by Cheryl VosKamp and art by Kyle Clement.

Next year we will be more streamlined and not do as many shows but we are also putting a proposal together for the distributor so your local comic book shop can carry our titles.

Three quarters of the year are complete and we have three titles on the shelf.  We have two more shows to finish out the year.  So I am going to take time to reflect a little and share some of our first year. 

Overall the year has been a learning experience.  Dedication to the team and business has been my goal.  In doing so, I have let some things slip.  It is a big challenge starting a business.  It is a bigger challenge when you have to re-learn the industry.  I have made many mistakes this year.  And I am pretty damn sure I am going to make many more.  But in light of that I am learning and sharing with the team my experiences.

The Mistakes.

The first mistake I made was moving too fast.  I could have kicked back and produced one or two books a year.  But I set a schedule and intended and have kept most of the schedule.  Was it ambitious? Of course it was.  Was it the right thing to do?  That’s debatable.  At the time yes it was.

The next mistake was taking on many more conventions than I could support or could support us.  Some shows turned out nicely others slammed us hard.  It was surprising to see the ones that did and didn’t do it for us.  Because of this next year we will have a very limited convention schedule.

Another mistake was one that many publishers have, talent.  I assumed that there would be many more artists out there willing to work for me at a reasonable rate.  I understand the need to make a certain amount of money to survive.  But if you aren’t working guys, it isn’t my fault.  Among the surprises is how many artists would turn down cash for a percentage of a book that may or may not be released.  One of the primary tenants was that the artists get paid.  That has never changed.   If I were to have offered a percentage of each book to my creative team they would end up owing me money.  Yeah I would have a lot more money in my back pocket but in my eyes I would be cheating the team out of compensation for their hard work.

The final and probably the most damning mistake was quality.  I was recently reminded of this mistake by a comic book shop owner.  But in reality I cannot take this as a mistake.  I have spent the year learning the new tools of the trade and new methods to create the comics.  Along the way I released Fusion 1 and 2 as a single book.  Fusion was written and drawn over 15 years ago using old methods that lacked the polish provided by today’s technology.  Fusion was a launching pad, a beginning.  The following Demon Seed/Suicide Jacks was also done in the old style of comic books.  15 years ago these books were par with what marvel and DC were putting out on the shelf.  Today they look and feel dated.  But you know what, I don’t regret releasing them.  And I also used some of today’s techniques to improve them though not as much as they could have been.

What did we do right?

The compensation for the talent was the right thing.  This is a burden on the front end of the business.  I take a huge hit even before I have a product to sell.  This is the right way to do it and I will continue to support the development team.

Flexibility when the situation calls for it.  I cannot stress how this has saved us throughout the year.  Being small and open has really allowed us to shift focus on the fly.  A testament to this was Dallas Comic Con.  We reviewed our set up before the convention and made adjustments on the fly.  We have done this with production also and that will bear fruit at Fan Days in October and carry over into Wizard World in Austin.

Keep using tools to improve product and production.  We have only scratched the surface of the tools available at our disposal.  We are constantly learning new methods and techniques to make a more polished product.  I have to give kudos to the other artists who have shared some of their tricks with us.  I also have to give the team big thanks for sticking it out and learning how to do things differently.

We provided our services to help charity.  This is something I am proud of and will continue to do.

Keep networking with other talented people and businesses.

And finally, it’s all about the fans.  This is something I try to instill in all the team members.  It’s not about us; it’s not about getting some comic shop owner to carry our books; it’s all about the fans.  The team has taken this to heart and for that I am truly blessed.  I thank god everyday for giving me a dedicated and talented group of people to work with.

Where does that leave Mental Diversions?

I won’t lie to you we took a beating this year emotionally and physically.  There have been times when I questioned why I was doing this.  When that happens I look back to the tenants that created when I started this business.  I am dedicated to this 100%.  One of my favorite bands has a line in a song that says “if you fail, at least you tried.”  I would rather fail than never have tried at all.  In that I can see that we will succeed.  I began to see the success around May of this year and now the rest of the team is starting to see it also.  Sure there are stumbles and missteps but when in your life does everything go smoothly.  With that in mind the following list our direction for next year.

·         Next year we will have a limited convention schedule.

o   New Orleans, Dallas Comic Con and Wizard World Austin are definite

o   Chicago is a possibility but depends on funding.

o   Phoenix is a definite maybe.  This again depends on funding.

·         We will continue to produce on a quarterly basis.

o   Our production schedule will be stricter but I know the team will rise to it.

·         We will foster more online content. 

o   This includes Kindle and Nook sales.

o   We will also start providing a regular batch of web comics.

·         Doing it for the fans.

o   More public appearances.

o   More correspondence from the talent to the fans.

o   More freebies.  Everyone loves freebies.

I know this was a long read but I needed to write this not only for my own therapy but to mark a milestone.  Technically I have been at this one year.  The team is almost at the one year mark and January 1^st of 2012 marks the official one year in business for Mental Diversions.  A lot has been learned in the last year and I am looking forward to new learning experiences in the coming year.

Special Thanks to

Comic Book Shops

·         Empire Comics, League City, Texas

·         Nan’s Comics and Games, Houston, Texas

·         Third Planet, Houston, Texas

·         Titan Comics, Dallas, Texas

Conventions

·         Wizard World

·         Dallas Comic Con

·         Apollo Con

·         Strip Con

Artist and Creators

·         Walter Jimenez II

·         Michael Champion

·         Terry Parr

·         Kevin Steele

·         Halo Seraphim

·         David Doub

·         James O’Barr

·         Jonathan Caustrita

·         Joel Watson

·         Jason Chalker

·         Cal Slayton

·         Bernie Wrightston

·         Kerry Gammil

·         Kit Lively

The Core Team

·         Allen Adams III

·         Damon Jackson

·         Garrett Gainey

·         Cheryl Sandison VosKamp

Well we had fun at Strip Con web comics Expo. We met some new people, made some money and helped out the Scottish rite childrens hospital with some original artwork.

Sitting behind the table I got industrious.  I did up a Lion-o in the classic style.  I also did a Supergirl but you will have to go to my deviant art site to see that one.

Well guys I am catching up on a lot of belated work.  I wouldn't say neglected but the conventions tend to draw effort from the current projects.  Ok, what current projects?  Fusion 3 inks are complete and the test color is ready to send off to the colorist. 

Here's a sample without backgrounds added.

Artistic side is getting the reformat treatment as well as preliminary edits.  The first NASA Toons is getting a re-edit with the stories behind the drawings added.  Gods of Thunder is well on its way and is looking fantastic. 

On the reprint front we have Season of Storms(aka Demon Seed) already available on kindle and the reprint is out for print.

Speaking of Kindle, Fusion 1 and 2 are up on kindle now.  For those who own the comic you will notice that the comic contains both stories in one book.  Also if you check the copyright info it is listed as Fusion 1.2.

The Corpse is getting a reprint also.  New cover colors by Garrett Gainey and Spandex Avenger is getting a page reformat and a new cover.

For those that have the original Demon Seed and Corpse covers, both those runs were limited to 75 copies and the reprint will be noted in the copyright on the next print run. (Just a note to collectors)

I will be posting an archive on the website to keep track of what was printed and what the run was on each title.  I too am a collector and the more detailed information on a particular title the better. 

I had seriously thought about setting up at ONICON.  It was close to home and it would be a way to promote the upcoming 'Artistic Side' book by Clarissa Wagner.  Then I saw that all the artist alley tables were sold out.  On top of that the price versus benefit was very lacking.  I even checked into doing a dealer's table.  Really way out of the price break for me.  So you won't see us at ONICON.  Not much of a loss in my eyes though.  We have Sci Fi Fan days in Dallas on Oct 8TH and Wizard World in Austin on Nov 11th. 

In the future we are going to be more selective on the conventions we do.