LAST Friday update of the campaign :D
over 7 years ago
– Fri, Dec 02, 2016 at 11:35:02 PM
Here we are the LAST Friday update of the campaign!! Everyone, thank you so much for this overwhelming outpouring of support. The last comic goes up on Monday and I'm so excited to be ending the project on such a positive note. The video above showcases some of my original pieces. They're all meticulously catalogued in the shop here: https://www.wastedtalent.ca/shop/originalart and I'm also offering a "random original" special as part of the KS. $80 (confirm through BackerKit survey) and I'll send a random original anywhere! (Express shipping included :) )
Stretch Goals
Since Friday we crushed the BOX Stretch Goal!! I'm so excited!!!
If you are currently in a "Complete" or "Extreme" tier... do nothing! The box will be added to your order automatically :) In other tiers, I will be offering the box through Backerkit AT COST. The Printer is currently mocking up the box to determine the final price, but it will be less than $10 if you want it.
I'm very happy with the goals we've hit - foil and box were my two BIG dreams for the campaign and I can rest easy that my full vision for this set is happening. my last two stretch goals are purely "thank you"s!
At $55k I'll add a SECOND double-sided print to any tier that is currently getting the first double-sided print :) (signed and up) I haven't 100% decided what the other side will be. Victorious? Virtual Insanity? We'll see. We're well on our way to hitting this one, so I'll announce the next too.
You know me. Might as well indulge in my Actual Passion, stickers. The second sticker sheet will be Flitzybon themed :D
Where to follow along with my work
Wasted Talent ends on Monday! :D .... :(
If you want a way to keep future Jammyness in your life, here are several options:
Tinyletter:tinyletter.com/jammyness big news updates! Infrequent, so I'll only bug 'ya when there's something fun to talk about :)
Patreon:patreon.com/jam This is where I'll be putting the most effort, short term. Want to know what's rattling in my head, what's coming up next? Patreon is where I'll be sharing all the behind the scenes stuff
Or follow me on your Social Media Channel Of Choice, presented here in declining order of post frequency:
A lot of you reacted to the news that I was ending Wasted Talent with "but what am I going to read on Mondays now???" And I gave it some thought! We're lucky to live in a world with lots of great people producing awesome comics all the time, so I wanted to spend the end of this update paying the attention forward to some great comics you might not know :)
Weregeek - geeky (YVR)http://www.weregeek.com/
Weregeek is a long running serial, updating regularly. It's about a group of friends who play roleplaying games, and sometimes it's about their real lives (outside game) and other times it's about their adventures in-game! It's very nerdy and funny and cute, and the artist - Alina Pete - is based right here in Vancouver!
Band vs Band - cute (YVR)http://bvbcomix.com/
Band vs Band is another comic that's got a few years under its belt and updates regularly. The artist, Kathleen Jacques - is another Vancouverite and you can see a lot of the Vancouver Voice in her work, in my opinion :) It's about two competing indie bands whose rivalry turns to… romance???
Awkward Party - cute autobiohttps://www.instagram.com/ginakirlew/
I've been crushing on Gina Kirlew's work for over a year now, her style is so unbelievably cute. Lately she's been posting adorable paintings on instagram, but previously she was posting daily watercolour updates about her life, and she also made some mini comics! She's One To Watch for sure :) She posts paintings pretty regularly but not on a defined schedule.
Up and Out - cute autobiohttp://upandoutcomic.tumblr.com/
I only came across Julia Kaye's comics recently, but I really love what I've seen so far! She updates pretty frequently, but it doesn't seem to be on a defined schedule. If you've followed Wasted Talent from the beginning and like it for the "interesting autobio about an uncommon experience" aspect , give Julia a follow :D
Lastly, here are a few comics that are different from Wasted Talent but are currently updating regularly and are very good:
Eth's Skinhttp://www.eths-skin.com/
A fantasy comic about a fisherman who accidentally steals a Selkie's Skin, by Sfé R. Monster
Mare Internumhttp://www.marecomic.com/
A science fiction comic about a pair of astronauts who discover an underground Martian sea, by Der Shing Helmer
Oh Joy, Sex Toy!http://www.ohjoysextoy.com/ [NSFW... it's about sex] An educational comic about the wide world of sex! I learn something new with every update :) By (Fellow autobio veteran!) Erika Moen
If you have any other online comics that you've been loving lately, please feel free to give them a shoutout in the comments here :D This is my LAST weekly update because the Kickstarter WRAPS on Dec 6th! I'll post a debrief on the closing day (what final stretch goals were hit and when you can expect stuff), but afterwards I'll be transitioning to updates every other week, with the first one scheduled for Dec 20th. Thanks so much again for your support! AWAY WE GO!
Friday Update #3
over 7 years ago
– Thu, Nov 24, 2016 at 11:26:43 PM
Hey everyone! Here's this week's Friday update! (It's Thursday night but I'm tired and you can't schedule these.) The video up there is just a little bit about the printer I chose for this project. I know a lot of engineers are readers and I know how much we enjoy seeing the inner workings of a process, so I wanted to show off some big ol' offset printing machines, and the contraptions that are used to die cut, crease, and print in limited quantities! I thought it was pretty neat, hopefully you do too :)
We hit another stretch goal since last week, and so EVERY physical order will now include some #YVR themed stickers (dogs in raincoats)!
... and we're truckin' along towards our next BIG stretch goal - a fancy box to hold all the books. Less than $5k to go!
Things might get hectic over the last 11 days… only 3 more Wasted Talent updates remain…… ever! :') That's really sad to think about!!! I'm glad we'll be sending it off with such a beautiful bookend, and I'm happy to have you all along for the ride. Thanks so much!
Another pal is kickstarting some fancy omnibuses of their long running work - Sam and Fuzzy! Sam and I are fellow veterans of the webcomic scene, we've shared many convention tables and at this point can very smoothly pitch each other's work, so here we go: Sam and Fuzzy is about a guy named Sam and his talking bear who accidentally take over a ninja mafia. It's really funny!
Third pal Evan Dahm has a hobby making the most beautiful illustrated versions of classic books. This time he's illustrated Moby Dick and man… this book is NUTS. I have all his hardcovers and if you're a book design nerd… well this is one of the bookiest nerdiest projects you'll ever encounter :)
FOURTH and final pal is another local, and another engineer! NOT BOOKS THIS TIME -- he's kickstarting a high speed camera that he built from scratch! A true passion project from a brilliant engineer. Probably not for everyone, but worth checking out just so you can drool over the tech! haha
I wouldn't be anywhere without great partners and talented pals, so it's fun for me to show off what cool friends I have ;D. Have a great weekend!
BIG Friday Update #2 - Stretch Goals and Book 1
over 7 years ago
– Fri, Nov 18, 2016 at 01:40:57 PM
Hey everyone! Friday already AGAIN and I have so much to talk about!!
First things first, my dream of spot foil is becoming a reality. Thank you everyone!
ALL the physical books get this upgrade, you don't have to do a thing :)
My second stretch goal is a mini one. I love making stickers and I want to send stickers to you! They aren't finished yet, but I want to make a kiss-cut sheet based on cute Vancouver things: clouds, mountains, and dogs in raincoats.
When we hit $40k, every single physical order will get these stickers added automatically.
We're almost already at $40k so I want to announce the following stretch goal too. When I envisioned the last two books I had two big dreams. The first was foil. The second was to make a nice box that would hold the complete set:
The design isn't finished, but it'll be a fold-it-yourself thick cardboard full-colour glossy box. It'll ship flat but then you fold it yourself and once folded it just nicely holds all the books together! If we hit this goal the box will be automatically included in the following tiers:
Complete
Extreme
Original Extreme
Because I KNOW the completes are getting all the books and I am FAIRLY CERTAIN that anyone who is backing the Extremes has other books too. But, this box will be available as an add-on to ANY other tier for a small additional cost. I don't want to ship boxes people don't want, and I can't tell who has the other books, so the fee just lets me know you want 'em and helps cover the cost of the boxes themselves, because I've kept my margins pretty tight in this project /:)
People have also been asking about magnets and/or pins from the Extreme Editions as an add-on. I'm working on this. I wanted them to be exclusive but since the Extremes sold out SO fast I am looking to see if I can make it happen. It will either be a backerkit add on or a separate sale.
Next, I know a lot of people have been itching to know what I intend to tackle once Wasted Talent is all wrapped and done. I just put a big comic about that over on Patreon, it's open for anyone to read:
OK. So I honestly did not expect so much demand for book 1. You bought them all and so many people are asking about them!! Well, I'm really glad that I am partnered with a great printer like Hemlock who is super-flexible and not scared of low volume quotes. I ran the numbers and...
I'll be reprinting a small quantity of Book 1: We Are The Engineers.
What does this mean??
1) There will be a new tier available called "COMPLETE Wave 2".
It will cost a little bit more than Complete (+$10 because I need to make NEW book 1s rather than just giving you books I already paid to print a long time ago) but I'm offering a little bit of a break on the price of that book 1 in this tier. It's BELOW COST. I'm not doing this to make money (haha) I just want people to have the books they want.
Otherwise the tier is IDENTICAL to Complete. Same add-ons, same shipping, book 1 will be a high quality 3rd edition.
YES Wave 2 Completes will include a box if we hit that Stretch Goal :)
I have this one shipping in April - this is an unplanned complication and I don't know for sure whether or not it will cause additional delay.
2) I can now GUARANTEE Book 1's availability as an add-on
If you wanna add ANY other book to your pledge, it's $20/bk + shipping adjustment ($5 is my "safe estimate") and I can now GUARANTEE that you can get book 1 at that same price. If you want to add books 1, 2 and 3 to an Extreme: $20 x 3 = $60. If you want to order multiple copies of a book, just multiply the number you want by $20 and we'll clarify in the backerkit survey.
High quality at low volume costs a bit more (which is... the entire theme of this Kickstarter really) but I'm very glad that I'll be able to get everyone the books that they want. But seriously, PREORDER ONLY, just like books 4 and 5.
The more book 1 you order the happier I'll be because it will significantly drop the pricing. So go nuts!! Once this kickstarter is over, book 1 will be gone FOR GOOD
50 more "Completes" unlocked, but that's the end of book 1!
over 7 years ago
– Tue, Nov 15, 2016 at 07:29:30 PM
Hey team, a number of people have been writing to ask about additional book 1s. I had ALL of the copies of book 1 that remain on planet earth shipped to me. Today I finally received that box so I could confirm for myself how many, exactly, were left.
That's it!! That's literally it for this book. No more exist anywhere. The good news is that there were 50 more copies than I was budgeting for, so I've increased the availability of the complete tier.
Once it runs out I have no more :(
BUT I have lots of book 2 and book 3, and those can be added to your pledge at ANY level. Just $25CAD/bk
Ok! Hope that helps :)
We're FUNDED! Thank you!!
over 7 years ago
– Mon, Nov 14, 2016 at 08:29:13 PM
Hey everyone, I didn't expect to be back so soon! Hard to believe that this campaign launched less than a week ago. I asked if you wanted to help me make the last two print editions of the comic and you all came in force to say "YES, let's make it happen!" I'm so grateful to each and every one of you for backing the project and helping me to spread the word :)
So today I can say with confidence - the last two books of Wasted Talent will be printed, they will be beautiful offset printed books. Team, I'm so excited to get these books to you. And the best news is, there's still time to make these books even better.
When I first came up with the title "Professionally Awesome", my dream was to have that title to glimmer in a metallic gold. Now that we've hit goal, it's the #1 stretch goal that I have for the project.
If we meet this goal, every order including a book will have this upgrade. (Redesigned will have foil too, but I'm still deciding whether I want it in silver on the title or metallic purple/copper on the electronic traces! So many options... but I can assure you it will be super fancy.)
Another note... the complete editions sold out today, oh no! The reason that tier is limited is because book 1 is almost out of print. The remaining book 1s are currently in a box on their way over to me, and I want to make ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that I have books to fulfill orders before I increase that tier. We'll know next week.
Enjoy new Wasted Talent comics this week: one page tomorrow, and two pages on Wednesday :) I'll update you all again on Friday!
