studiomcah
Art • Books • Writing
Musing about Paperbacks
June 25, 2024

I continue to work on my online shop… last week I finished uploading and hooking up all the paperbacks, making them available for purchase to US customers. (International frens, you are few but mighty! I am researching options for you!) I listed all the reason I’m happy about this on the store announcement post, but the most pertinent are that I can offer them at lower prices, and I can bundle them so people can buy entire sets at once.

The lower price thing is key, though. To allow expanded distribution (so that, say, you could walk into a bookstore and order one of my paperbacks), I needed to set my retail prices much higher than I was comfortable with…. 16.99, 17.99, even 21.99. When I sell direct, I don’t need to worry about other distribution networks, and I can get you a copy of Earthrise for $12.

The biggest cost in producing a paperback is how much paper you’re using; this is true anywhere. So as you can imagine, my writing long tends to create more expensive physical objects. But that’s brought me to the fact that some amount of that length is my backmatter.

My frens, I love my backmatter. I love adding appendices with artwork and language stuff and background information. As a reader, if I get really into a book, I will wallow in any extra info the author gives me, and I know I’m not alone… so I’m not likely to stop adding that kind of thing to the back of my books.

What I am considering, is only putting them in the back of direct sales editions.

Some number of you are staring at me significantly, so let me reassure you! I have some changes in mind to how I launch my novels. Previously, I went directly to retail, because… that’s what was easiest.

Now, I’m thinking of giving my superfans and dedicated readers privileges, in the form of “first dibs.” Here’s what I’m thinking my process will look like in the future:

  • Launch on Kickstarter: The new book is ready, and instead of popping it on Amazon, I launch it on Kickstarter with my “author’s edition” version with all the fun backmatter. Ebooks are $5, and I make doodle paperbacks and extremely fancy hardcovers (foil! Sprayed edges!) available. My new printer will do affordable color interiors, even, so the cheapest paperbacks will still have color images if I have any to put in it.
  • Second stage launch to the Chimerical online shop: the author’s editions (ebook, paperback, hardcover) go to the shop. The ebooks are still $5. Unsigned physical copies go to the shop; for now, any signed copies still get special ordered via Etsy. At this point, a preorder is made available on retail. Author Edition paperbacks are $12.
  • Retail launch, probably a month or two later, of a non-author’s edition version. Ebooks are $6.99, paperbacks (again, not the author’s edition) are in the $16.99-$20.99 range.

So if you’re worried about grabbing that special edition (especially if you’re not in the US), I’ll make sure you get a chance at some point.

I have several reasons in mind about why I might want to stop putting the chonk backmatter in retail editions, but they boil down to cost savings (because they reduce the amount of paper used), and professionalism. It’s the latter that probably needs unpacking, but I feel that all the over-excited worldbuilding rambling and sketching comes across as a little too over-the-top… sort of like when you run into That Guy who won’t stop bending your ear about their favorite thing and you just want them to get to the point and go away. XD

Here's where I get to ask you how you feel about backmatter… particularly if you first found me via a retail purchase. Those of you who’ve been around for a long time and have encountered me via Kickstarter, Livejournal, some muck somewhere, my old stardancer website… you’ll of course have a different relationship with the backmatter, especially the art. I’m wondering if it was a delight to people who just stumbled onto something on Amazon, or if it was intimidating or cringey. Let me know!

Here also I’d like to say… I was prepping a new paperback edition of Spots, which required a lot of work since the only file I have for the existing paperback is a non-editable PDF, and toward the end I was cutting and pasting the lists of serial patrons and kickstarter backers and… so many of you are still here. You have no idea how that warmed my heart. I am so glad so many of you are on this road with me still. It’s seeing so many familiar names return, project after project, that makes me want to reward you all with extra effort and cool stuff. <3

Anyway, that’s the ramble of the week!

 

Oh, and also today the Stray Cat sticker/magnet campaign launched! This one has a ‘I draw your design’ tier, among other goodies! Go enjoy the fun!

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INNNNNCOMING
News for Early Summer 2025

KICKSTARTER KICKSTARTER GO GO GO

The Jokka kickstarter launches Thursday! And runs for 12 days, so if you want any of the original art (or one of the few “get yourself drawn as one of the Jokka” slots), go sign up to be notified of launch!

ON THE HORIZON: A LOT MORE ART

Scott Adams is fond of saying that you either want something, or you decide. That if you’re in the ‘I want’ phase, you don’t actually take steps; things only start happening when you have decided they’re going to happen. And I, ariisen, have finally decided I’m sick of not scanning and archiving my sketchbooks and turning them into stuff you can enjoy, like art books and prints and wiki images! I’ve already done Sketchbooks 1-10, and I’ve made a start on the next set of ten.

My plan is to run a Kickstarter for the first art book in a month or two (so if you’re a fan of my art more than my writing, your campaign is coming!) and use that as the proof-of-concept for the process for the remaining 200 or so… see where the issues are, streamline where I can, order proofs of the art book and decide what paper I like and what kinds of covers are economically feasible. I’ve timed myself and it takes about two hours to scan one sketchbook, if I stand there and do nothing but turn pages. I don’t think I can make that part go by faster, but I might be able to do something about the post-processing phase. Let the experimentation begin!

While I’m doing that, I’ll be posting some of the scans here! These posts will be separate from Back in Time Tuesday, which is for finished artwork dug out of the closet from whatever time period I feel like sharing. This means the Patreon will be getting EVEN MORE ART.

I’m debating right now whether the art sharing will be my “serial” until I’m ready to serialize new fiction. Someone also suggested writing wiki/worldbuilding entries as serial content, which might be fun. But I’m still only wanting to do those things—I definitely haven’t decided. Until then, there definitely will be an art explosion. I’ve montaged some things up there as demonstration of what you have to look forward to!

If you are a lurker, now’s a good time to decide whether you want to subscribe to contribute to my coffee fund. I do, in fact, literally drink a cup of coffee while trapped in my laundry room, turning pages and leaning on the drier! Or if you’re a paying subscriber, consider buying me a monthly coffee if you’re currently in the ‘tossing the jaguar a buck’ club. My coffee capsules are closer to $2 after shipping. XD

We’re all overloaded and looking for moments of beauty and cheer and inspiration in our days. A lot of this older artwork is silly, or delightful, or cartoonical, and I think it might be just what we need.

Seriously, check out happy bee guy there. What even was that. Lol.😂

Anyway, I'm doing the things! Jokka! Art! Fun! Forth!

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