My kingdom for some paper!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Apr 07, 2022 at 01:56:07 PM

Hello friend of By the Time I Get to Dallas,

Just a quick update on where things stand with this here comic book.

By the Time I Get Some Paper

I sent Book #3 to the printer in January and got the printed proofs 9 weeks ago. Since then we have been waiting for the right paper to be available. The global supply chain for paper is a mess, and the printers have no idea when paper will arrive, what kind it will be, or how much. They have a backlog of orders to get through for major publishers and small joints like mine. I want to use the same heavy paper stock as the earlier books so they match as a set, that is important to me if not to anyone else. I am next in line for the 80# paper, I just don't know when it will be. Switching to another printer is not feasible as the expensive part of the process, making the printing plates, has already been done, and it still wouldn’t necessarily make anything faster. So I’m in a holding pattern here and for that I’m sorry.

The Trinity Project is printed and bagged is waiting for By the Time I Get to Dallas #3 to join it.

Digital delivery

I sent the digital books weeks ago to everyone so if you want the story now, be sure to check those emails for the links. Let me know if you didn’t see them.

Credit card charges on Backerkit

If you made add-on purchases through Backerkit, I don’t plan to charge your card until I have the books in hand. Some have asked I give a few days of warning before I charge cards so I will via this space.

Keep making stuff

In the meantime, all I can do is plug away. I’m happy to report that I’ve redrafted the script for By the Time I Get to Dallas #4 and sent it to my new editor, Claire Napier, for her insight. Claire has worked on great books by creators I admire and I’m excited to have her input on the second half of the series. And nervous. I hope she likes it…

If all goes well, art production on #4 could start this month! More big news on that soon. 

How do I kill the bunny?

As we approach Easter I’ll share this 10 year old pic of my son Ezra gleefully watching me prepare to slaughter his chocolate bunny. Should I have been worried? Luckily, he has turned out to be a nice boy, not at all violent towards animals or candy.

Thank you for your support and patience,

Colin

Backerkit survey correction: Dallas #1 METAL edition
over 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 15, 2022 at 04:42:57 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Printing, new rewards, surveys, Flipsnack, bloopers, and more!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Feb 10, 2022 at 04:37:08 PM

We are printing

Good news: By the Time I Get to Dallas #3 and The Trinity Project #3 are both complete and at the printer. I've even gotten hard copy proofs of Dallas #3 and it looks fantastic. Bad news: there is a paper shortage in the US so printing will take a while. After what we’ve been through in the last two years of Covid, this is not a big deal. Sit tight and before you know it I’ll be packing your mailers.

Survey coming via Backerkit--be sure to open it!

Soon you will get your survey to finalize your pledge, shipping address, etc. Things will look different this time because I’m using a service, Backerkit, that allows customization of your order and makes the fulfillment process easier for me. So if you see an email from Backerkit, please open and respond--I can't fulfill your rewards without your response.  Backerkit can help you with questions right from the survey if you need (hit the help button), and feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].

In the survey I ask for everyone's mailing addressing, including digital backers. This is so I can send the Early Bird Postcards to everyone who earned them. If you weren’t an Early Bird don’t worry I won’t use your address for anything else.

New Rewards!

Be sure to check out the Add On menu in the survey because there are some new items we didn’t have during the campaign. In addition to some stickers and stuff there is a whole range of METAL covers to feast your eyes on. Backers who pledged for Dallas #1 METAL during the campaign got the best deal, but there are limited number of #1 still available, plus all the other metallized standard and variant covers offered at an introductory low price. I’m very excited about how they came out. If you’re a collector, you ought to collect these.

Flipsnack

I’m super excited about this. I just invested in a document delivery service called Flipsnack that lets me present these comics digitally in a way that is much closer to the real comic experience and is  easier to share, open and read. You’ll get a link to all the Flipsnacked books as part of your digital rewards, but I want to give a preview with Dallas #1 here:

https://www.flipsnack.com/9A56DD77C6F/by-the-time-i-get-to-dallas-1/full-view.html

Note if you’re on a laptop with the sound on you can hear the pages turn. Very satisfying. If you are still old school with the PDFs don't worry, you'll have options to download the old fashioned way as well. 

Comics bloopers!

We don’t get comic book bloopers very often but this one cracks me up. Some text bubbles found their way into the wrong panel and it created an Eyes Wide Shut sort of situation. The correct panel is below, it's not quite as creepy.

Next up: surveys!

Colin

Update about non-US shipping of By the Time I Get to Dallas rewards--all others can ignore
over 4 years ago – Thu, Feb 10, 2022 at 04:35:25 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Production Update #1: Hello, 2022. It's okay to meet you, I guess.
over 4 years ago – Thu, Jan 06, 2022 at 10:18:01 AM

Hello friend,

Just a quick update on where things stand with By the Time I Get Dallas #3 as we limp into the new year. Not gonna lie, after the campaign closed I was burnt out and enjoyed staying quiet for a while, for all our sakes. Then moving apartments, a bit of travel, the holidays, a lot lot lot more Covid around us and at work, a million other real life things, and before I know it it’s 2022. Not to worry, this comic is still coming along fine, albeit a bit slower than I had hoped. Here’s the state of things:

• By the Time I Get to Dallas #3 is lettered, and all but the inside cover is ready to format for the printer. As with the first two issues, the inside cover is a Photoshop collage I make myself, it ties into what’s going in the companion book of the Trinity Project. I’m a little slow with that stuff, but getting there. I start with staging a photo, then I’ll make a mock up newspaper page and photos to insert into it, and work the credits and other fine print stuff around it. That's a picture of me and Ethel at our wedding rehearsal. Aww!

• Trinity Project #3 is colored and lettering is about to start. Most of the back matter stuff is done.
• I have learned that the final steps of preparing the books for print always take more time than you expect but I’m hoping to have both books to the printer by the end of the month.
• Early bird postcard: I have them, but getting the addresses and filling them out is the labor intensive part, which I‘ll do once the books are at the printer. I’m scheduled for knee surgery in early February, and with a week out of work I’m hoping it’s good chance to get these postcards done. No binge TV for me, people, I’ve got fulfillment to do!
• Digital rewards: I don’t want to over promise but I’d love to get these compiled during my post op time also, fingers crossed.

All right, that’s where things stand. I’ll let you know as I progress. In the meantime, get vaccinated, get boosted, test if you can, wear masks, limit unnecessary contact, and keep your head up. It’s been a long 22 months but we can do it, I promise.

Colin