So Dei Ex Machina is almost finished, but I have been feeling a bit antzy with it as of late due to the fact of various mysterious reasons mostly related to my own mentality. I try not to explore myself too much mentally because when I do it's sorta like hell so I ignore it. That said, since book 4 is almost finished and book 5 is in the works (which may be the final one in the arc), I thought I was kind of ahead so I might do something a little new this coming around like a one shot comic.
So what is the next/new story going to be? Well it's not going to be Dei Ex, it's going to be something completely different in terms of plot and characters. It may be pushing more of a fantasy side and while I do have lots of ideas going forward (i think i am zooming in on something), the idea for one issue, sorta, isn't there yet. Needless to say this is kind of a story I been working on for a while in a way that has been, incarnated, reincarnated countless numbers of times to the point it got so huge and overwhelming that I wanted to put it on the back burner. I was playing ideas with how to approach it again and how to come back to it but right now I think it's important if I maintain some kind of comic like form as a result. So I have been trying to write a novel and that hasn't worked, so I am playing with the idea of doing this going forward and seeing how long it may take me and what I might have to do with it. I don't even know if it's going to be in color or not, lol. So it may be a webcomic, may be a single issue comic, maybe both or neither. I don't know yet. Needless to say now, I am starting to get a little excited about it and I am hoping it will have more of a cleaner direction than Fragility has- that doesn't mean I am finished with it because there is one issue left and I have a really really good idea of where I want to go, it's just getting there that is the hard part in some areas in terms of writing.
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So I am still working on Book 4, in case there is any doubt that I stopped or something. I am still trying to write things at the same time too, perhaps make a novel but so far I haven't been coming up with much just random ramblings but at least it's something so I assume I am getting some kind of practice out of it.
I'm not sure exactly what I want to write, only that I want to write, which is sorta bad when you don't have anything to say and you're trying to say it, it just comes out as meaningless garbage. I suppose in a way it is kind of interesting because I never really tried to write this way before but it doesn't honestly seem to be leading me anywhere. Perhaps I will just consider starting another comic, I don't know yet. I will have to continue on and see it's still too early for me. I can't just start up new stuff as most people think, it has to be somewhat planned, brewed upon before I actually start. So that's why it takes me so long it start up things when it comes to stories. Anyway I'm gonna keep at it, so stay tuned! Motivation is probably just as important as actually drawing when it comes to anything else associated with webcomics or self publishing. You have to stay motivated on goals if you want to continue to actually want to be able to get any work done- and your goals may be different from others.
That doesn't mean that, simply doing it for a hobby doesn't have anything to do with goals, maybe you just want to tell a story or maybe you want to get better at drawing or story telling. Those goals are associated with getting your work done so it's fairly important to keep such things in mind while continuing your projects. I have actually been struggling recently with motivation issues, sometimes I feel like I am getting no where fast or that no one actually is paying attention or bothering with the release of my comics. As far as I am concerned, if I can get one person really interested, I consider myself a success. I much rather that than anything else. Depending on what you want to accomplish, sometimes people use fame as a motivator, this is perfectly okay, I am not going to lecture people about what they can or can't do. But I find a lot of the time, people tend to use the same old tropes and cliches when they try to make something popular compared to everything else and it gets even more boring than stuff that is already out there. So if you're going for fame maybe try to use it to your advantage to make something fresher and not the same old crap people use all the time, like keeping it PG or whatever but still trying to showcase lots of sexual innuendos and what not. Nobody is holding you back so why bother conforming to it? Because of a larger audience? Trust me, online it's not an issue. You aren't going to make a lot of money unfortunately by making comics, at least not right way even if you have a lot of merchandise it will still take forever to sell anything. For publicity, you can try to start kickstarters and what not that award them or even merchandise draws or something, which is good if you can afford it. If not it will just drag you down even more if you find you're spending so much time on merchandise that people aren't going to bother to buy. To me, for my motivation, it's going to sound corny but I just want to be remembered, and want to continue writing so maybe in the future somehow somebody will notice what I have written. H.P. Lovecraft for instance didn't become really popular until years after his death... I kind of hope that isn't the case for me, but popularity isn't the same as being remembered. I'd prefer people remember the characters and the stories than me myself as a writer. But I'm sure a lot of you are thinking “You're full of shit!!” and maybe you're right. But I will still continue on as long as I can because I have this motivation to keep moving forward. This drive, so reach down inside yourself and find out what really matters to you when it comes to whatever it is you're doing- and what you want more than anything else, then picture failing. If failure isn't an option then don't make it one, if you keep failing find out what you did wrong and keep moving forward, above all else continue because as the old saying goes.. uggh.. If you quit after failing then you do succeed at being a failure, but if you continue on and on regardless and never quit you will eventually see success. (Hopefully). Hello, This is Zumie. I don't normally like making blog entries about myself, mostly because I find my way of doing things to be somewhat, haphazard. Regardless, I figured if I can give people some insight on self publishing and what not people might find that interesting since I been doing it for so long.
I noticed some people may actually say, there is no difference between Self Publishing and regular publishing especially when it comes to marketing, but that's just not true. You have a lot more freedom when it comes to self publishing and there isn't nearly as much pressure to conform when it comes to content. That said a lot of people conform themselves anyway, and as a result they get something really bland that anyone from Marvel or DC would publish. I'm not a fan of Marvel or DC, as I said before, my goal is never to draw or create batman or spider-man titles, I much rather do my own original work than actually doing something else so ridged as an existing “franchise” (if that's what you want to call it), because it's fresh and new and not something rehashed over a billion times because they put out a movie every two years. But that's not really the point here, the point is to be able to do what you want when you want and not have to worry about someone looking over your shoulder. There are a lot of people who have issues with marketing as well, and I will tell you the secret is, is that it's all the same crap. Every single person will say it comes down to “social media” and engaging on it, which is an insane double edge sword. But half the time unless it's a hot topic you will go ignored- which isn't half as bad as everyone coming down on you at once. Another thing is mailing lists and as I mentioned earlier in an article, the sad truth is... nobody wants to be on a mailing list. Unless you're giving away something suddenly for free, it will probably go straight into the garbage regardless of how you obtain it. Then eventually you get flagged as spam and that's a whole other barrel of pickles right there- that's a major pain in the ass to rectify. Yes there are services available but most cost 10 dollars a month or something- and in all honesty it's a waste of resources. Blogging is something I don't like. I hate talking about myself because the more I do the more people will disagree with me. This sounds like self-defeating but I have never been someone who went with the flow of anything. My opinions are more often that not something that would draw out down right hostility when it comes to anything I have my mind on, and I am one of those people who has an opinion on everything- I just never state it. I suppose printing is something I need to address. I see these people starting kickstarters for printers that are so over the top expensive when they could easily afford something cheaper or just go with a print on demand model. It makes zero sense to me to try to distribute it yourself unless it was to local shops or something. And I hear a lot of people talk about quality, but there are ways to get high quality books- KDP fucked themselves over a bit with printing- but they're new so I will give them a chance to change. IngramSpark is a bit better, but if you want, Lightning Source, from the same company last time I checked was vastly superior. It's just a real, REAL, ordeal to get an account from them. Unless they changed that, not to mention the extra fees. But 12 bucks a year per title may not mean much when you can be everywhere on the whole planet. Same when it comes to IngramSpark, which is the same model. There are other companies too like KaBLAM and comixology. Ebooks are also a thing to consider that is a lot cheaper but people seem to feel the need to have print models present. The only good thing about Kickstarter is publicity, but organization and what not is another issue. I never had one, I don't know if I will. It probably would make more sense to have it purely for marketing. I brought this up before with other fellow creators, most of them didn't care or weren't interested. That's fine, they can do what they want. Anyone can do what they want when it comes to self publishing. Which is kind of the point, you can do whatever you want through self publishing, it's up to you and no one else. |
AuthorI'm the writer and artist for Dei Ex Machina, you should know me by now! Archives
July 2020
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