Last night, my Kickstarter for my debut picture book Hilda & Richie ended. The campaign was a resounding success and I am now a picture book author right up there with greats like Dr. Seuss, Beatrix Potter, Richard ScarrJack Keats, Mercer Mayer and many more! But that’s not what I’m here to talk about. (Hilda & Richie has its own blog anyway.)
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I have big announcements to make regarding Sunnyville Stories. Sometime ago, I announced a planned reprint of my original comics. I want to expand on that; as a committee of one, I came to a series of decisions after lots of thinking and several cups of coffee.
First, the reprint I planned – Sunnyville Stories: Beginnings – will go ahead as planned. I’ve left my Sunnyville work on the back burner for too long and it’s high time I get back to it.
Second, the planned Sunnyville Stories reprint will be digital only! In fact, there will be a small Kickstarter later this year to help cover costs; we’re talking $100 to 300. I will put this up for sale on Amazon, Comixology and Payhip.
Third, there still may be a print edition in the future. I may run Kickstarters in 2023 and 2024 to fund new runs of Sunnyville Stories books.
The next question you may have is why I am doing digital only and not print editions. My plan was to crowdfund print copies; the recent Hilda & Richie Kickstarter proves I can raise funds in the $1,000-4,000 range. The problem? During said Kickstarter, my resources were badly mauled. I need time to rebuild and strengthen my email list. This is a necessity if I ever expect to fund more books and comics. I also need to review marketing. Besides my own sources, I’m going to need additional help on that so I’m consulting with outside assistance. I meant to overhaul my email list last year but made the mistake of putting it off.
Another reason why I am sticking to digital only? I still have print copies of the older editions. My plan was to liquidate the older copies during 2020 but the events of that year stopped all events like conventions. To be honest, I want to get rid of all the old print books first before moving onto reprints.
So you should be expecting the Sunnyville Stories reprint later this year. I have one more decision to announce in regards to that…but that will wait until tomorrow.
