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I've been making coloring books since... hmm... 1997? Maybe 1996? I currently have 10 titles available.
( History )
The coloring books have two major hurdles: getting submissions and printing them.
Printing was very expensive when I did it locally, so I went online, and found folks who could do it cheaper. I tried Comixpress, first, and found that they did fine for the first few jobs I ran through them - then started sending things out later than they said, and then they fell flat on their faces promising coloring books in time for a show, then failing not only to meet that deadline, but to deliver the books at all, despite repeated emails. It took opening a paypal dispute with them to get them to sit up and send me my coloring books (with many apologies and a genuine-seeming confusion about how the order and my emails got overlooked). I started shopping for a new printer, and settled on Ka-Blam. They are slooooow, but their prices are competitive, they have always made the date that promised to, and their quality is consistent. Also, they are willing to ship priority flat rate mail, which is a make-or-break deal with suppliers for me, what with living in Alaska.
For now, I have printing figured out. It is not super-fast, but it is reasonably cheap, and reliable.
Submissions. Ah, submissions.
Now, again, this is probably a lot of my own fault. I have not had the energy or focus to maintain any nagging in the last few months, so the Arabian Nights coloring book (did you remember I was trying to collect work for one of those?) has been languishing. Seriously. 2 entries so far. 2 entries do not a coloring book make. The deadline was supposed to be the end of this month.
This happened with Steam Dreaming when I had more energy and nagged more regularly, too - I think I delayed that sucker 2 full years before collecting enough work to put it out.
It's nice being an artist of my own, honestly, because I can fill in gaps, but a coloring book that is 16 pages of my work and 4 pages of other artists is not balanced, and I won't print it. At that point, I might as well put out something of only my work!
I'd like to keep doing these coloring books. The production end of them is relatively minor, I love the products, and they are relatively easy to stock and ship. (Horrah for flat rate priority envelopes!) I can afford to sell them wholesale, and they are steady sales. It's nice having a solid backlist, and they don't take up much space or break the bank to ship to me.
The biggest problem to solve, is getting the work.
I have a wildly talented pool of artists, and if I can keep them focused, we can keep making kick-ass coloring books. Prove me right, guys...
( History )
The coloring books have two major hurdles: getting submissions and printing them.
Printing was very expensive when I did it locally, so I went online, and found folks who could do it cheaper. I tried Comixpress, first, and found that they did fine for the first few jobs I ran through them - then started sending things out later than they said, and then they fell flat on their faces promising coloring books in time for a show, then failing not only to meet that deadline, but to deliver the books at all, despite repeated emails. It took opening a paypal dispute with them to get them to sit up and send me my coloring books (with many apologies and a genuine-seeming confusion about how the order and my emails got overlooked). I started shopping for a new printer, and settled on Ka-Blam. They are slooooow, but their prices are competitive, they have always made the date that promised to, and their quality is consistent. Also, they are willing to ship priority flat rate mail, which is a make-or-break deal with suppliers for me, what with living in Alaska.
For now, I have printing figured out. It is not super-fast, but it is reasonably cheap, and reliable.
Submissions. Ah, submissions.
Now, again, this is probably a lot of my own fault. I have not had the energy or focus to maintain any nagging in the last few months, so the Arabian Nights coloring book (did you remember I was trying to collect work for one of those?) has been languishing. Seriously. 2 entries so far. 2 entries do not a coloring book make. The deadline was supposed to be the end of this month.
This happened with Steam Dreaming when I had more energy and nagged more regularly, too - I think I delayed that sucker 2 full years before collecting enough work to put it out.
It's nice being an artist of my own, honestly, because I can fill in gaps, but a coloring book that is 16 pages of my work and 4 pages of other artists is not balanced, and I won't print it. At that point, I might as well put out something of only my work!
I'd like to keep doing these coloring books. The production end of them is relatively minor, I love the products, and they are relatively easy to stock and ship. (Horrah for flat rate priority envelopes!) I can afford to sell them wholesale, and they are steady sales. It's nice having a solid backlist, and they don't take up much space or break the bank to ship to me.
The biggest problem to solve, is getting the work.
I have a wildly talented pool of artists, and if I can keep them focused, we can keep making kick-ass coloring books. Prove me right, guys...
