The Never Ending Interview: Day Nine

One question a day will be addressed, for as long as it remains interesting to me, and the questions keep coming.

Today’s question was asked by Rich Johnston.

Rich: Can I ask about your post Kickstarter plans?

Bill: I’m not dispirited that the Kickstarter didn’t work out. It would have been a giant advantage towards getting this project underway, had the Kickstarter made its funding goal. The big hurdle all along wasn’t the desire or determination to do the book, but the ability for Frank to be able to take the amount of time off from other work to be able to do this as a side project. It simply wasn’t feasible to do in bits and pieces squeezed in among other projects. So the Kickstarter money was designed to allow Frank to take a pretty large bulk of time off to devote solely to this.

Oh well.

The good news is, results like this keep me humble, and that’s worth whatever embarrassment comes with a failed Kickstarter push.

Now, as to the plans for the Bifrost novel. I’m still going to write it. Whether or not Frank will still be able to illustrate it is subject to a long conversation we haven’t had yet.

In projects like this, it’s always all about the art. I can find the time to write now and worry about being paid for it down the road. The art side of things takes up so much time though, it’s difficult, approaching impossible, to ask for the same sort of “wait to be paid someday” sort of commitment.

In addition to Bifrost, I have three separate new comics projects (unrelated to Fables, or any other ongoing series) written and ready to go to artists. But all three are of the “wait for money down the road” sorts of deals, which is why no artists are attached to them yet. I’m reluctant to approach anyone with a plan that involves doing the work now and then getting paid someday. I can ask that of myself. I find it difficult to ask of another.

If I were rich enough, I could easily solve the problem by paying for the art in advance out of my own pocket. Then the worry about how and when pay might come lands entirely on my own shoulders.

So, that’s where we are right now. The moment my ship comes in, Bifrost and those other projects will be off to the races. Yes, that was a horribly mixed metaphor, for which I am not in the least bit apologetic.