ebook research

So far this is what I have found out

Amazon kindle (AZW format)
Format your content using HTML then upload to Amazon to convert to an AZW file. Book has to be sold for at least .99c with Amazon always taking 60%
tutorial here

ePub format
The ePub format is probably going to be the best one to go with as the Sony eReaders and the new Apple iPad use this format.
Here is a list of ways to format ePub files, but for my money I am extremely pleased that you can do it from Indesign CS4.
Most of the ePub websites I have found are based on the 'everything is free' model. As I have blogged previously I would like to see a pay model website for like what lulu.com does for POD publishing.

Comparisons of eBook readers

Any suggestions, thoughts, links, ideas are welcome in the comments

This Town

My new 48 page comic to be put out by Sure Shot Comics. This book will be launched at the Zine fair in Melbourne on the 13th of February. The comic precedes the subscription comic, 'Good to Go', and documents our move to Canada late 2007, which means this comics has been in the making for around two years!

Drawing / Drafting table for under $20

Here are some photographs of the drawing table I made recently for under $20. Admittedly I found the table on the side of the road with a free label on it, but I figure most people could find a cheap or free table in their area. A drawing table does not have to be huge either just big enough to draw on and rest your elbows.

I made this after completing my Blood and Thunder comic submission which was a real pain to finish. I even put off doing the comic at first as I did not have a space to work on it except the kitchen table. This usually is not a problem as I work in my sketchbook which enables me to draw anywhere. Which is in itself why I work in a skecthbook, from years of living in rental houses without space or money to have a studio.

The B&T comic however was approximately A3 in size which meant I had to work on the kitchen table at night, and pack up everything when I was done. I began to remember that having a space to draw, and better yet a drawing table, really aids in making comics. It sounds obvious, but when you are starting out in comics you may not realise the importance of a permanent drawing space.

Anyway I am out of work currently and a drawing table can cost hundreds of dollars. I saw this table and immediately thought of converting it into a drawing table with a titled top. The table itself was one of those ones with extending sides which in some ways made it easier to remove the table top, and also gave me the material to add a side table for equipment and coffee. It also helped that a massive hardware store was just built over the road from my house late last year. This meant I could spend time scratching my chin, deciding on hinges and screws and take them back if they were wrong. I will try and explain the steps I took in order. To do this I had one of those small and cheap multi-piece tool kits that have different screwdriver attachments and drill bits. This would not work for every table but it may give you the inspiration to realise you do not need a fancy deign or instructions, just some simple tools and a little know how.

1. I removed the table top from the legs, luckily it was only connected on two of the sides, with two screws on each side and was surprisingly easy
2. I measered the area I had to work with and bought to hinges that would fit, and measured and marked where the hinges would go
3. I pre-drilled holes by hand using the drill attachments, using the drill size suggested on the packets of screws. I then screwed the hinges to both the table bottom and top
4. The tricky part was trying to decide what angle I wanted the table at, I decided on 35' and then needed to do some trigonometry to figure out how long the arms needed to be. I used this calculator to figure it out
5. Unfortunately at this stage (after getting the piece cut) I realised that 35' angle was going to be way too steep for me (personal choice) and I need to reduce the length of the arms, I had specially cut at the hardware store. Luckily I still have access to a drop saw at the Art school I teach at. This time I measured by eye and cut both arms the same length
6. Again I marked where I wanted the hinges. This time I didn't need to pre-drill as I was using different screws and they didn't need to be pre-drilled
7. I also attached a piece of timber across the bottom of the table to hold the arms in place
8. This is now a working drawing table

Notes:

• The table top is basically chip board and is uneven in places, I will probably replace it with a similar piece of ply in future
• I intend to drill two holes in the arms and loop a length of rope to keep them in unison.
• The side table is not permanently attached as I do not have a hammer to nail it it in place, although I have tape holding it for now
• Slanted tables are excellent for drawing comics and illustrating, not only can you reach areas on large pieces of paper it also aids in a better posture whilst drawing.
• It cost me around $16-17 all up, for four hinges, a few packets of the right sized screws, a length of pine timber cut to size and a small piece of rope.
• I should have taken the photo without the chair in the road of the screws in front!
• If all this sounds too complicated you can just get a piece of ply cut to size and rest this against a table
• My last drawing desk (before I moved and lost it), I just nailed a piece of dowel to the front of the wooden desk and slotted in a loose piece of ply in between the dowel and the wall. Again you will need to do the trigonometry to figure out what size board you need. This had an added advantage of coming lose from the wall, if I needed a flat surface

Rick Amor, comic artist

 Rick Amor, Landscape with a Car, 2000

Panel from Star bores, by Rick and Tina Amor,  1978

After a little digging I confirmed that the Rick Amor from Falcon comics, is indeed the Famous Australian painter Rick Amor, and Tina Amor was wife.

1970
Amor rejoins his old jugband as a guitarist and meets Tina Schifferle,1 the
washboard player. In September he moves in with Tina in a shared house in
Hawthorn and begins full-time employment at the Public Works Department’s
survey section as a field assistant. Amor and Schifferle marry on 27 November.

1975–76
Amor’s professional relationship with Brown ends abruptly. Amor finds work
illustrating five English educational comics for Macmillan Publishing Company,
which he compiles with his wife Tina, and receives a Visual Arts Board Grant from
the Australia Council. The dismissal of the Whitlam government in November marks
the commencement of his involvement with the Australian Labour Party and the
Trade Union movement.

From here,
www.heide.com.au/downloads/A_single_mind.pdf

Also this from here,

Amor worked in the mid-'70s as an illustrator and cartoonist. He had moved with his wife and two children to a cottage at the residence of Daryl and Joan Lindsay in Baxter, Victoria, and there he wrestled with his conviction that art should be engaged with life, the private and the political.

Beard

It's a little shorter now, Heather doesn't like it still.
Also Hope Larson process pics

iPad + Comics

I have been waiting with baited breath all week for the announcement of Apples new product as I blogged earlier. It was almost unfortunate that the hype grew so big because I think everyone, me included, thought that this new device would have everything, you know like steak knifes and a lawn mower. Whilst I can see some immediate drawbacks I am still holding to my conviction that this will be a fantastic platform for digital comics.

The name aside (iPad? come on!!) imagine reading digital comics on this! Before it was announced I thought iSlate sounded bad and iTablet sounded like medicine. I think the name iTab would have worked well.

It appears that apple will have it's own store called iBook so it will be interesting to see what sort of graphical content will  be offered there, comics books, picture books, art books kids books.

There will be other companies like comixology that will continue on with the model they have with the iPhone and no doubt a host of other companies.

What I feel needs to happen is a website that lets anyone upload their own comic eBook content and set their own prices for that content, much like lulu.com does with print on demand. It could have a built in suggestion feature like that of amazon.com and librarything matching users with their tastes and tags.

I also feel that creators do not have to go all wiz bang with their comics, ie, sound and moving images. I could see that being an interesting realm of interactive storytelling and animation and fits into Scott McCloud's idea of the future of comics, I just think it would be its own genre. I think a comic will work just fine as static pages. The pages could be zoomed in on, or read as a spread of as multiple pages per screen but the images would remain static as they do on a page. Just like prose text would not be animated with sounds and movement, even though there is room for that type of thing to be explored. For example imagine buying the complete Titin through the iBook store to read on your iPad and carrying that around with you to access at will, as well as other titles. Also you wouldn't want it to be animated with sounds and movement, just the original hi resolution comics would be great and would speak for themselves. After all that is the simple beauty of comics.

For years I have dreamed of some sort of mobile platform that you could read comics on. My interest started with colour ipod screens, although they changed the designs so quickly I did not want to bother formatting my comics for any particular one. My interest had increased recently with the iPhone  and iPod touch and also the kindle, but really the iPad takes the cake in terms of screen real estate for comics.

I think I will wait out the first round in terms of buying one, for the improvements in version 2.

Here is an article about how the iPad will effect comic book stores,
http://www.manolith.com/2010/01/27/ipad-good-for-comics-bad-for-retailers/

Another that thinks the ipad will be great thing for comics,
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10443109-1.html

Comixology's response to the news,
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/Comixology-iPad-100117.html

Video on possibilities with comixology,
http://vimeo.com/9029643

Falcon comics by Macmillan

After posting about the comic that had inspired me as child (Star bores) I started thinking about the other titles in the Falcon comics series and wanted to find out more on the artists. I read on another website that there was a book on Australian comics called 'Panel by panel' by John Ryan and that the book had information on the Falcon comics series. Luckily a copy of the book was at the University library, although unfortunately there was very little information on the actual series other than Macmillan chose from the underground comic artists of the day. 

Imagine how great it would be if a publisher were to do this same thing today, it would be so awesome to see Australian cartoonists do a series of books that went out to younger readers.

A have begun to try and list in the Hayase Australian comics wiki all of the titles in the series that I can find on the web,  I would love to be able to add any information to the page and related pages as possible especially artist and writer information and any cover and or inside images. Please get in otuch with me or join the wiki to add information. 

The State Library of Victoria has some copies so I will try and access them and scan some covers.

Here is a list of the titles I know of so far,

1975

    * Chubs, Spike, Harry into the black mountain / [by] Colin Stevens.
    * Cucumber blues / by Rick and Tina Amor.
    * Herbie / [by] Izi Marmur.
    * The ghost of Gaffer's creek / [by] Rick & Tina Amor.

1976

    * Black mountain breakdown / [by] Colin Stevens.
    * Sylvia : a real spunky chick / by Rick and Tina Amor from a story by Kay Stirling.
    * The adventures of Moven Marven: special agent / [by] Don Porter.
    * Tram fury / Geoff Cook.
    * V8 madness / by N. Curtis.
    * Wiggy Cramp in the waste land / [by] Rick and Tina Amor.

1977

    * Bobby's speedball two-tones / [by] Con Aslanis.
    * Rock Island rescue / story: Roger Vaughan Carr ; illustrations: Chris Payne.
    * Rollin' through / [by] Alex Nicholas from a story by Roger Vaughan Carr.
    * The Glen Street girls / [by] Rick and Tina Amor.
    * The junk shop [by] Rick and Tina Amor.

1978

    * Billy and Captain Joe : high adventures on the high seas / written and illustrated by Peter Dickie.
    * Cleaned up at the Royal Mint / by Bruce Baldwin.
    * Star bores / [by] Rick and Tina Amor.
    * Strike / [by] Joni Dennis.
    * The Baloni family / [by] Colin Stevens.

Any information would be greatly appreciatted!

Links
Falcon comics
Hayase wiki

HAYASE wiki

I am still getting a kick out of editing the Australian comics wiki HAYASE which is probably linked to the library course I completed last year. Before this however I had been intimidated editing wikis fearing I would get it wrong or step on someones toes. I thought I would compile a few tips for the beginner to hopefully demystify the whole thing

For starters anyone can edit pages you just have to sign up first, this is so moderators can keep track of who has done what changes.

It helps to make yourself familiar with the 'Formatting' page found in the 'Help' link in the sidebar. This tells you how to mark up to achieve things like bold, headings or bullet points etc.

Another help page in the 'Help' section is the page on 'Links', although you can get by without looking at it as regular 'http' type links work as hypelinks automatically without formatting.

Then lastly log in every now and again and check out the recent changes page, also in the side bar. this will tell you what changes have been made recently and by whom. Looking at this may give you ideas of things that you want to add or you may have information relating to the new content.

So don't be afraid to play around with it, you can't break it or muck it up irrevocably!