rain and other such musings
It’s raining! I love the rain. I always have, and I’m not sure why. Perhaps it is the change of pace. Perhaps it is because I grew up with The Munsters. But oh how I love the sound of rain on the roof and a foggy horizon and the wind howling and all of that.
Anyhoo, lots of exciting things are a' happening! Firstly, I’ve been working on a fancy shmancy real children’s picture book pitch — which contrary to my deep devotion to Pebble Prose has no relation to pebbles or potted plants (GASP!) I was hesitant to mention it, because, well, the publishing process is long. Sometimes it takes a book years to go from acceptance to publication — let alone submission to potential acceptance! But, it’s something that I’m excited about that has taken up quite a bit of time, and it is nearing the finish line! Excitin’ stuff.
I’ve also been thinking more about self/indie publishing as of late. I listened to two really wonderful interviews of the comic strip artist Todd Webb (whose strip The Poet is found over on Substack!) He talked about his process, and it was ever so inspiring as he discussed all of the different projects he works on. The Poet, but also dozens of other comic-based projects, along with music, and television, and all sorts of things. As someone who is constantly hopping between projects, it was nice to hear someone talk in a similar (but much more experienced) fashion. That it’s okay to not fit into one category, it’s fine to explore many different areas…
And one of those areas is self/indie publishing! He discussed the current world of comic strips and how traditional syndication works within it. Before, getting syndicated was The Thing. To be in the pages of a newspaper was the way to get your strip out there. But now? With fewer and fewer paper newspapers (alas) getting syndicated would mean your comic strip just being on a website — which it already would be if you were personally sharing it. And with syndication would mean that the syndication would be in charge of turning your strip into books, not you. And Webb’s argument was simply, “But I wanna do it.”
He wants control of formatting his books, and choosing the colors, and so forth. And this, again, was quite relatable and refreshing. To see self/indie publishing not as a “last resort” but as an active decision. I’ve always sort of wavered on my stance on self/indie publishing. I want to be traditionally published, but when it comes to the pebbles — I like the control. I like designing the copyright page, and the cover, and so forth. I like being able to choose exactly what the book looks like. And, well, what’s wrong with that? So, I’ve decided, that pebble prose and all pebbly things will stay in this controlled environment, while other characters are thrown into the confusing — but exciting — world of traditional publishing.
As mentioned, tis raining and howling beautifully and I must make hot chocolate before this weather leaves us.
— ht
