All Of Them. Take All The Buses.
You wait all day for a bus and suddenly three show up. That’s not true. You chase after a bus all year and suddenly three show up.
Which bus to take though?
All of them.
How We Got a $30,000 Grant To Work On Our Afrofuturist Comic
2019 was going to rock for our little Afrofuturist comic, Outcasts of Jupiter. I said as much at the start of the year, but I’m not sure I really believed it.
I knew it represented a crossroads for Shof and me on the book. After five years of spinning our wheels, we felt a desperate need to tell the story we began in a Kickstarter in 2014. So we looked for comic book grants online.
I can tell you that searching for comic book grants online doesn’t return a whole lot of truly viable options. Most of what you’ll find is relatively small (but nonetheless vital and welcome) endowments that focus on funding a modest self-publishing run, or covering the cost of materials.
We needed something more.
When we found a grant that pledged $30,000 to support the production of a creator-owned comic, we thought it was too good to be true. We applied anyway. One year later, here we are, working on an Afrofuturist epic, getting sent monthly checks to support the building of a brand new science fiction universe of our own design.
Shof and I were awarded the 2019 Creators for Creators Grant, and I kinda feel the need to talk about it, because I believe it’s an incredibly important and unique grant for the medium. More people need to know about it.
What is the grant, and how does it work?
- You get $30,000 paid out over the course of one year, in support of the creation of a 64-100 page comic book or graphic novel.
- Single cartoonist or writer/artist duos welcome.
- An incredibly simple application process. Look.
- It’s an international grant, with no geographic restrictions.
- Some very impressive creators behind the grant, including Charlie Adlard, Jordie Bellaire, David Brothers, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Nick Dragotta, Leila del Duca, Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen, Jonathan Hickman, Joe Keatinge, Robert Kirkman, Jamie McKelvie, Rick Remender, Declan Shalvey, Fiona Staples, Eric Stephenson, C. Spike Trotman, and Brian K. Vaughan.
- You retain all rights to your work. This was massively important to us. Best of all, the grant opens up some seriously exciting publishing options, including Image and Iron Circus Comics.
- There’s precious little paperwork or legalese to stress over once you’re awarded the grant. The entire process has felt surprisingly painless, and help/advice/guidance is only an email away.
- The grant is not an “advance.” Let that sink in for a moment. This is money that you, as a creator can use in any way you see fit to support the creation of the comic. That could mean ditching ramen for proper food, or exhibitor passes to experience-enhancing cons, or simply the ability to take a little time off work and focus on the comic.
There’s a ton more information on the official website. You should have a look.
A few words in closing…
We weren’t lucky. We worked hard for it.
Anyone can apply for a grant, but to “win it,” you’ve got to get your act together. That means producing the best pitch you can possibly muster. I’ll talk more about that soon. For now, if you’ve got a dream and a burning passion, you owe it to yourself to apply for the C4C Grant.
Most importantly, always remember you aren’t alone. There are folks out there who want you to succeed.Rock on, 2019
Under a Jovian Sun Returns in 2017
Under a Jovian Sun will finally get new pages in 2017. It feels fantastic to finally say that.
We started posting in October of 2015. The goal was to post a new page every couple of weeks and run through the entire story. However, production issues meant that this simply wasn’t possible. Our talented artist and good friend, Claudio Grassi had to bow out for personal reasons. It was tough, because Claudio brought so much passion and love to the project, unfortunately, his departure couldn’t be helped.
Shof and I are very protective of who we share the Jonahverse with, so we took our time when it came to finding someone new to work with. We spent months looking at applications from nearly 400 talented artists, and In the end I think we found the right partner in Francisco Muñoz. Francisco’s style is very different from Claudio’s, but it’s equally as engaging and he comes to the project as a fan first. We’re lucky to have him on board. While pencil/inking duties have changed hands, the irrepressible Harrison Tombra remains on colors, bringing that vibrant signature look of his to our pages.
Over the course of the past few months, we’ve been working quietly with Harrison and Francisco in an effort to build up a buffer of pages that will allow us to post new Jovian Sun pages on a regular schedule, one dictated by the demands of the story. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re mighty close, and we wanted to share an early look at what’s to come over the course of the year. Here are some work-in-progress pages of what’s to come from Under a Jovian Sun. As always, you can follow our progress on Twitter and on Tapastic.
Outcasts of Jupiter is On Sale!
Our little comic is part of the @comiXology Submit SXSW 15 bundle! 30 comics for $3, you want this!! ://bit.ly/SubmitSXSWBundle
Toys for Grown Ups are the Best
Last week, Shof sent me a package with samples of some of the Kickstarter rewards that backers of the Outcasts of Jupiter comic we created would be getting early next year, and I’ve been playing with them since.
When we launched the Kickstarter campaign, we asked for $9,500, and ended up getting just over $14,100 from nearly 500 incredibly generous backers.
As soon as the extra money started rolling in, we got super excited, not because it meant more money for us, but because it meant we could put more into making sure the stuff we created for the Kickstarter was top notch. Many months later were starting to get samples, and oh boy, was it worth it. It feels great knowing we made the best comic we could inside and out, and that we’ve got the best posters, the best postcards, the best figures.
Our goal with Outcasts has been to introduce people to an interesting universe they can learn to love, and one that’ll love them back. If this was going to be our one shot, we wanted to make the most of it. I can’t wait till backers get their hands on this stuff.
