Mondaily with lots.
Aug. 23rd, 2010 10:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellenmillionBusiness as Usual
Book files have been approved, the quote finalized and fully paid, and reasonable media shipping confirmed. It should take about 3 weeks for production, then about 6 weeks for shipping, so we're looking at books on hand just after Halloween. Maybe just before, if the media mail gods are smiling. I'll be opening up pre-orders as soon as I've eyeballed the physical proof (early next week?!). I will have a few 3-volume bundles available, and need to go check the out-of-studio stock. I will NOT be reprinting volume 1 in its current configuration. IF I go to a second printing, the fiction and (expensive!) art gallery will be removed in entirety, the cover will be re-tooled, and the content will be re-arranged and numbered to match the second and third volumes. The original edition of volume 1 becomes a very rare and collectible item, indeed! Just FYI!
Thank you guys so much for weighing in on my questions about minors.
I will be making a waiver option, and I'm curious to see how many people opt for it. I will be strengthening the verbiage on the join form to note that lying about age is fraud. There have been several court cases that have upheld a contract when a minor lies about their age, so I'm not feeling like I have to pursue other methods of verification. And the risk, with Torn World, is relatively low. Worst case? I have to delete a bunch of stories and remove a member, resolving their monetary earnings immediately. Really, that's a risk with any drama llama on the Internet, and Torn World has been remarkably low on drama as a whole.
And, speaking of Torn World, I made HUGE progress on the backend this weekend. I am moving the canon board story reviews from the forum (non-anonymous, hard to track, very limited poll options, has to be processed for the author) to the site (shows changes with strike-throughs and underlines automatically, anonymous, comments (optionally) shown to author immediately, scoring is automated, pre-scoring can be done with resolved comments, sorts material and easily shows things that still need scored...). I think it will be amazingly awesome, and I may even be able to FINISH it today, even though I only started really digging into it yesterday.
Money Stuff
I am donating an expanding box for charity, here:
(It's actually at $29 now, with another bookmark and another sticker added.)
Still looking for work!
I might actually want this or this more than I want this. But they are all stupidly expensive for USB hubs. Especially with $30 shipping to Alaska... I just can't justify it!
Does someone want to buy or trade a barely-used Intuous3? I have one, in great shape, but I just never warmed up to painting digitally. And, it takes up space.
Art and Authoring
I'm working on a piece of art that I owe no one. It's ridiculously complex and stupidly detailed, and involves perspective, straight lines, multiple figures, teeny mechanical things, crumpled paper and it's bigger than I usually work.
I am loving it to pieces.
I've also got some more plotty bits in the queue for the canon board that will start getting things REALLY moving at Torn World, and I'm motivated to work on continuing them. (Though I'm more invested in finishing the review process today...)
As full as my drawing board is with projects, I've been thinking about new ones, too. Stupid brain. (I love you, brain!)
Other stuff
I got another load of stuff emptied out of the studio this weekend. My workspace continues to improve.
Velcro is snoring across the studio from me. It sounds almost like a harmonica. How can such a little cat produce so much noise?
Book files have been approved, the quote finalized and fully paid, and reasonable media shipping confirmed. It should take about 3 weeks for production, then about 6 weeks for shipping, so we're looking at books on hand just after Halloween. Maybe just before, if the media mail gods are smiling. I'll be opening up pre-orders as soon as I've eyeballed the physical proof (early next week?!). I will have a few 3-volume bundles available, and need to go check the out-of-studio stock. I will NOT be reprinting volume 1 in its current configuration. IF I go to a second printing, the fiction and (expensive!) art gallery will be removed in entirety, the cover will be re-tooled, and the content will be re-arranged and numbered to match the second and third volumes. The original edition of volume 1 becomes a very rare and collectible item, indeed! Just FYI!
Thank you guys so much for weighing in on my questions about minors.
I will be making a waiver option, and I'm curious to see how many people opt for it. I will be strengthening the verbiage on the join form to note that lying about age is fraud. There have been several court cases that have upheld a contract when a minor lies about their age, so I'm not feeling like I have to pursue other methods of verification. And the risk, with Torn World, is relatively low. Worst case? I have to delete a bunch of stories and remove a member, resolving their monetary earnings immediately. Really, that's a risk with any drama llama on the Internet, and Torn World has been remarkably low on drama as a whole.
And, speaking of Torn World, I made HUGE progress on the backend this weekend. I am moving the canon board story reviews from the forum (non-anonymous, hard to track, very limited poll options, has to be processed for the author) to the site (shows changes with strike-throughs and underlines automatically, anonymous, comments (optionally) shown to author immediately, scoring is automated, pre-scoring can be done with resolved comments, sorts material and easily shows things that still need scored...). I think it will be amazingly awesome, and I may even be able to FINISH it today, even though I only started really digging into it yesterday.
Money Stuff
I am donating an expanding box for charity, here:
(It's actually at $29 now, with another bookmark and another sticker added.)
Still looking for work!
I might actually want this or this more than I want this. But they are all stupidly expensive for USB hubs. Especially with $30 shipping to Alaska... I just can't justify it!
Does someone want to buy or trade a barely-used Intuous3? I have one, in great shape, but I just never warmed up to painting digitally. And, it takes up space.
Art and Authoring
I'm working on a piece of art that I owe no one. It's ridiculously complex and stupidly detailed, and involves perspective, straight lines, multiple figures, teeny mechanical things, crumpled paper and it's bigger than I usually work.
I am loving it to pieces.
I've also got some more plotty bits in the queue for the canon board that will start getting things REALLY moving at Torn World, and I'm motivated to work on continuing them. (Though I'm more invested in finishing the review process today...)
As full as my drawing board is with projects, I've been thinking about new ones, too. Stupid brain. (I love you, brain!)
Other stuff
I got another load of stuff emptied out of the studio this weekend. My workspace continues to improve.
Velcro is snoring across the studio from me. It sounds almost like a harmonica. How can such a little cat produce so much noise?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-08-23 06:35 pm (UTC)So...tentatively interested, need more input?
no subject
Date: 2010-08-23 06:49 pm (UTC)You know, I keep getting tempted by your Torn World. I think that next week once the wee one starts school (!!!) I will finally take the plunge. <3
YAY, btw, for Ellen personal art time. I love seeing all your work, but its especially delightful when its a piece just because. ;)
no subject
Date: 2010-08-23 10:56 pm (UTC)(The Doomsday hub is also on there, but priced too much higher *and* with shipping so that it would work out the same even if they didn't up the shipping.)
no subject
Date: 2010-08-24 01:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-24 02:00 am (UTC)Jenny Heidewald
Date: 2010-08-24 10:13 am (UTC)Size? Cost? I too, like the smaller ones (and am trying to save up for things like glasses & other needed health items, and that website, and coloring books... >_< ), though it looks like with the smaller you get less buttons on the side. I really like the one I have, where the pen actually sticks IN the tablet, less chances of it getting lost.
I encourage you to practice more with it first, it does take a bit of getting used to, but tablets are really handy for cleaning up sketches, and all sorts of other thing ( if your hand is feeling achy from using the mouse, you can use it like a mouse, though it is a little morea nnoying when having to double click soemthing)). For me the tablet is indispensible, once he "OMG, this feels strange to draw like this!" wore off it was lieka fish to water.
Recently had to have the wire redone on mine because that bit was wearing out where it joined the tablet, on, off, on, off, on, off, unless I taped it at a certain angle.