Yeah, so I'm going to SDCC again, after skipping the last couple. I don't have a table, I'm not speaking on any panels, I don't even really have much of a gameplan other than catching up with a few old friends, camping at a couple booths from time to time, trying to catch a few panels (especially the SPACED panel and screening on friday!) and maybe buy a book or two from some friends.

In a perfect world, I'd have had Ellie started up six months ago and would be going to SDCC to promote the webcomic and to meet with potential publishers about a book deal. I think I'll have to save that for next year, though.

The launch is getting closer, and I just finally finished this 'hero' image of Henry for the Cast page. Look at him, he's clearly ready for a very serious adventure, possibly involving some sort of spelunking.

Now, at the moment I have seven pages completely ready to go, which gives me a buffer that should last until the middle of September, so I can promise at least a couple months of regular updates right off the bat. When those pages are finished running, I'll start posting the work I'm doing in the meantime, and hopefully I can maintain some sort of buffer. That being said, though, I expect to get to a point where I'll need to take a break from updating so I can get ahead again.

Until then, though, I hope you'll all follow along with the comic and join me on the adventure! And help spread the word!

Whipped these cards up this evening, as something to hand out at San Diego to promote the webcomic. I was pretty pleased with myself over these, believe it or not. Sadly, now my fictional character has better calling cards than I do. Not sure what to make of that...

The little round green stickers I was using to seal the 8-Bit Tarot packs weren't working so well, so I ordered myself a whole bunch of these little stickers. Plus, I've got a jigillion extra, so I have a nice new little giveaway at cons now. woot!

and as a bonus, I managed to hack a tiny little chunk out of my thumb when the scissors slipped and swung, machete-like, as I was opening the box, which is the first time I've injured myself with office supplies in a long time! No blood, luckily, but a good little scare nonetheless.

I'm spending a quiet night at home, listening to some Coast to Coast AM, coloring another page of Ellie.

Added a couple things to my to-do list this week, including designing the proposed Ellie Connelly forums, creating a small information site for the anthology I'm planning on curating over the next year, getting some things ready for San Diego Comicon later this month (it's coming up way more quickly than I think!)...

Haven't been finding as much time to do self-promotional illustrations as I'd hoped. Nor the Tarot cards, sadly. I'm going to try to get on those and crank out a few more in the next couple weeks.

Pages laid out: 11
Pages Inked: 8
Pages colored: 5

My plan is, again, to start publicly posting the comic once I'm 8 colored pages ahead, and to work in 8 page sections through to the completion of the book. Each page will yield about a little more than a week's worth of updates, so that gives me about 10 weeks to finish the next 8 pages. I'm looking to start posting the comic in mid-July, right before I leave for San Diego Comicon. I'll keep you all posted on updates until then, and will also let you know when I'm ready to open up the Ellieconnelly.com site, which will probably happen a few days before I start posting the comics.

My first submission to Threadless! Do please go and critique! Maybe I can get this worked up to an actual shirt design!

And the Rider-Waite:

Coming up, the King of Swords. Only 22 more to go!

For many cartoonists and self-publishers, tabling at a convention can be a downright chore, a source of anxiety, and at best a necessary evil. Cartoonists are a generally shy, socially insulated lot, and when it comes to tooting our own horns and selling our work, most of us are too terrified to come out of our shell long enough to engage the public. I've seen this firsthand at many a convention, including Stumptown, and I'm guilty of it myself. There are a few tips I've learned over the years, though, and I want to share them, but not here.

What I want to do is make a small minicomic with tips, tricks, and advice for people who've either never tabled at a convention before, or who just don't seem to have very good luck at it. And I want it to be a kind of definitive 'How To' kind of book, so I'm seeking any advice and tips you might have, to include.

The minicomic will be available for free to anyone who wants one, and I'll even be happy to make a pdf and host it for free download. So let's hear it! Reply here and I'll collect the info.

And please spread the word - let's get as much info into this mini as we can!

Just wanted to spread the word that I'll be going to San Diego again this year, i just purchased my plane ticket and everything. I'll be there for the whole convention for once, starting on Preview night, and going through sunday. I'm not going to be exhibiting, though, just walking around and visiting with friends. If you're going to be there and want to meet up, drop me a line and let me know!

With any luck, I'll be toting around small postcards or Ellie Connelly preview minis!

I'm going to look into getting one of those little twitter boxes for the blog here too, at some point.