Donna Barr's Blog, page 20

2012 Clallam Bay Comicon Report

This went out this morning to authors, customers, editors, reviewers, newspapers, magazines (online and print): 

The first Clallam Bay Comicon was held during Clallam Bay/Sekiu Fun Days, July 13-15.

The event was surprisingly successful, considering the isolated community and long drive. Artists, writers and fans traveled from Seattle, Forks, and Clallam Bay to buy books, convention t-shirts, and to pick up tips for for a new convention "Dragon model," that will allow small towns to host their own comicons.
Donna Barr, who has been in the comics industry as author, publisher and promoter since 1986, took advantage of her long experience, wide contact base and social media to promote and organize the event.
Dara Korra'ti wowed the small audience with her pirate and protest songs and her "Irish Bouzouki."
Seattle authors Kevin Boze and Mark Monlux, and Donna Barr - who hosted the event - enjoyed themselves and sold more product than expected.
Comicon attendees enjoyed the local scenery and beaches, as well as refreshments at Fun Days and meals at restaurants. They were favorably impressed by the comfortable and reasonably-priced motel accommodations. The Fun Days fireworks were a special treat.
Plans are already afoot for the 2013 Comicon. The Facebook page, "Clallam Bay Comicon," is taking fan and professional input on best time of year. So far, the voting has been leaning toward May, but the actual date would also depend on when west-end businesses open after the winter season.
Clallam Bay Comicon encourages other peninsula communities to sponsor their own Comicons during the Clallam Bay event. Chambers of commerce as well as individuals and businesses interested in details are advised to contact Donna Barr.
She may be reached at: donnabarr01@gmail.com or call 360 963 2935
Dara Korra'ti performs for Ron Austin's on-going international film project about authors and artists at the 2012 Clallam Bay Comicon, Saturday, July 14.The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

Beast Year/Zodiac

Poster for Photosynthesis Festival in Neah Bay, July 2012.

The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

2012 Clallam Bay Comicon Ka-Blam!

Yes, I wore my Ka-Blam tshirt to the Clallam Bay Comicon. So I get $10.00 for printing for Indyplanet books!

The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

You BETTER get this year's T-shirts!

Um... the Clallam Bay Comicon has just 'sploded.
We now have in addition to the rage-driven elf-metal of Ms. Korrati, from Crime and the Forces of Evil, Kevin Boze of The Virgin Project will be here -- as will the Comics Critic, Mark Monlux! 
Can I say Oh Fucking Wow, now?
I've realized I need more tshirts, but I won't have a lot at the show, because nothing had really happened until right now.  I'm SERIOUSLY thinking of charging collector's prices.  Well, they will be VERY rare.  The only one getting one for her very own wearing will be our Talent.
If you want a good price on the hoodie or tshirt, in all sorts of styles and colors, check 'em out at my Zazzle account.  The day after the show -- and I mean THE day after -- the prices shoot up to collector's level, and staying there, forever.  And yes, I have already designed next year's hoodie.  
And Roberta Gregory promises to be here in 2015.
This is going to be SOOOOO much fun! The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

Down with Amateurs

Okay. Rolling up the sleeves right now to strike at more BS.  
The times I have worked with writers, the script is ALWAYS thin, clichéd and boring.  It's why I do it myself -- I write what I've seen and know and think about, not some leftover genré scene that excited me when I was 12.  That is NOT a muse, no matter what you think it is, and if you can't tell the difference -- well, you can't learn it.

Writers who claim "not working without pay" for artists is "destroying indies" are amateur wienes.  There are PLENTY of us in mainstream drawn book world (Not "Indies," you boobs -- superheroes are the niche market now!) who write, draw and own the project. We're original, driven, knowledgeable, and have no time for manipulative amateur BS any more. If you, as a writer, WANT an artist, you are in the position of the producer and director. who has to find the funding for the actors and crew. Go to the film people and find out how it's DONE.

NOTE: I just did art for writers who did not grizzle over prices or payment schedule. Their only question:  "Paypal or check?"  They got a Kickstarter project and they wrote the artists into the costs.  Guess who already has the art in their hot little hands?  Like my editor on the Forks Forum says, "It's so nice to work with a professional."The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

A Little Death - Paper for your Hot Little Live Hands

A Little Death is now a lovely paperback. 
And I can get it for you for $15.00.  The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04/my-emergency-website.html

Fun With Senior Projects

Always help the youngsters with senior projects.  While answering questions can make us feel like, "Oh, geez, how am I an expert on this?" go ahead and do it anyway.  Drawn books and cartooning are HARD work -- those of you who did it before the interwebs know what it was like to do it all alone, as The Only Nerd in the neighborhood.  Or the house.
As for what follows: Sometimes these things fall apart -- trying to get art done is HARD, even for professionals.  Especially for professionals like me, who have the procrastinator gene in about 75% of their cells.   I DID email back and told the student to tell their mentor to stop using the idiot term "graphic novel," which is almost as stupid as "Speculative Fiction" (No argue with me; it has since mutated into - put down your coffee -- "Imaginary Fiction").
Wonder if the hooked-up mentor is an in-house teacher they didn't have to pay extra?  Just sayin.'  And they really do need a class in bullwhip publishing -- as in, "You've got a deadline!  Get on the paper or get a bloody stripe down your back! Wa-chow!"
Anyway, so nothing goes to waste: What is your typical day like?D: Get up, do business (Hotmail, gmail, banking, bill-paying, marketing - PING, Twitter, Facebook). Fart around on Facebook a while, which often picks up customers. Researching and getting freelance newspaper stories and photos, doing art, layout, erranding, whatever needs to be done for the day. I try to get in walks on the beach (including picking up litter), or fishing; some kind of exercise. Work in the garden, yard, with chickens. In the summer, do house repairs, painting, etc. Always plenty to do. In the evening, while doing more art, like to watch videos (mostly police prodedurals and animation). What supplies do you need/use for your comics?DB: Traditional: Paper, dip pens, ink, brushes, sometimes technical pens, watercolor. Digital: scanning, tablet, GIMP coloring, OpenOffice for layout, MacBook for all processing and publishing layout (extra files dumped onto extra hard drive; MacBook upgraded to 4 GB).How long do you work each day?DB: From ten to twelve hours, on average.Does making comics alone pay the bills or do you also have to have a day job?DB: A little of everything. Artists have hundreds of employers over a lifetime. You have to run your own business.How long does it take to make one page? One full comic?jDB: In my case? 56 years (it's not a valid question without including training, research and length, size, processing, etc., of the drawn book), When did you start doing art related activities (drawing, coloring, art classes, etc.)?DB: 1954End of interview.  The student's email follows: 
This is an update on my senior project stuff, but it is also a thank you/apology letter as well. I have to thank you all for taking time to help me with my senior project. I have read all of the questionaires that you guys sent back to me, and I will use that information as a guide to help me in the future. Now here comes the apology part. The other part I was supposed to do was to sent 5 images to be critiqued so that I could redo them and get them critiqued agian. I was going to have them sent sooner, but here's why I havn't. first off it was trouble making the drawing in the first place. The first pictures that I had made before I startred this project I didn't really want to send because they weren't really that good, and they were almost the same (as in being drawn from the boring side view)  but when I tried to draw a new picture, I just couldn't get the the thing drawn. I know these alone are not a good excuse for the delay, but the next part is the true reason for why I may not send them at all. The biggest part of my senior project is my field of evidence, where I would work with a mentor through May 21-25 on the project. I have to accumulate 30-40 hours of work on this. While my project advisors definatly agreed that this electronic communciation thing may be a good experenice, it wouldn't count towards the field experience hours I need. My advisors have kindly hooked me up with someone who is currently my mentor on this. Now what I am doing is converting the novels thatI have started writing over the past 4 years into comics/graphic novels (the mentor is guiding me through this process like critiquing the script and synopsis, helping me with how a page should look etc) so thats currently what im focusing on now, but with both that and other school work to do, I don't really have time to do the drawings I meant to send (especally since I have to do some character illistrations in its place.) So I'm sorry I'm kindoff cutting out of the deal, but I got to keep up with the part of my project thats actually counted. I may or may not sent the drawings I promised just so I can get the feedback. Even though I'm probably not going to be working with you guys on this project anymore, if you still want to see the drawings, or if you just still want to work with me (which you probably wont given your busy schedules) just message me about it. thanksThe Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

Nerd Parties

Okay, we think we're such hot shit as marketers.  So how come we're not selling what we do like Tupperware™?
You just get some product - for now, you can clean out the dollar boxes at the local comics shop, invite the owner as a guest, put up some flyers, set out some cheese and crackers, and add 40% to the junk price.  Any you have left over, you can push off on the next nerd for their own party.
I didn't name Nerd Parties -- somebody else at the 2012 Emerald City Comicon did.  When I asked the Wacom rep about them, he blinked and said, "We could get a call from a nerd party and just show up and not even unload!"
My first nerd party, sold at the Prism Comics booth, was only $10.00 worth of backstock, a little stack I sold to an enthusiastic beauty in a cossack -- pardon, "Socialist," costume.  She's going to hold the first nerd party in Bremerton.  Oh, yeah -- THAT navy town.  I didn't even have to tell her the Nerd would come out of the woodwork.  She said they would.  Talk about guts.  She is now Nerd Commissar.
Another girl grabbed a $10.00 party pack.  Then I told another that if she got me a $20.00 nerd pack, I'd give her five dollars.  She dragged back a friend, who looked skeptical until we admitted the plot.  The party got bought and the five bucks got plowed back into the Prism booth.
If you want a nerd party yourself, get the Everything box from me -- I'll pack that puppy with backstock and you can make yourself some cash.  Just go to my website and hit the book store link.
What are you out?  You get a bunch of books for your party or yourself and your friends.  And you can make yourself some cash.
Some guy started throwing out complaints about how this wouldn't work, and I said, "Then get out of your girlfriend's way."
Maybe this could bring back the magazine comics we all love.  20 or 30 nerds in your stable, and you could do a print run.



The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

Emerald City Comicon 2012

Emerald City Comicon was great fun.
That's me with the long hair, the one in the back, in the Prism Comics Booth.  One on the left is my new friend Kyra, one on the right is the amazing Zan, Master of Prism.
Made many new friends, sold lotsa books, got to use the new Square card reader on my Ipad -- whoo whoo, real credit card capability without stupid accounts and stuff!
This here is my in the Ka-Blam t-shirt, worn at Emerald City to show off the new reprints.
In my next post, I'll finally get down and tell you all about Nerd Parties, and how I sold three of them and found a minion -- and a commissar.
Next week is Norwescon, then back to the Wet End, for the Clallam Bay Comicon and Photosynthesis 5!The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

Clallam Bay Comicon Hoodie

Now we have a fancy new logo AND a hoodie
Our mascot's name is "SeeSee," and our motto is, "Who let you out of Clallam Bay?"
Carol Schultz, our local realtor, originated the motto when she saw me shopping in Forks and blurted it out at me.  It's what locals say when they see some of the more entertaining neighbors leaving the Clallam Bay Correctional Facility.


The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...