Elin's Journal

--Twitter seems to hate playing nice with LJ lately, and will only sometimes post my tweets here. It's pretty vexing.

--I've been so busy all the time, doing regular LJ updates has unfortunately become a thing of the past. I'm either at work at the DayJob (minimum 36 hours a week), working on Radio Comix stuff (minimum 25-30 hours a week), doing necessary housework/errands or trying to recover from working all the time. I don't get much of a social life anymore. That's why it's so important that Twitter update my LJ for me, since about all I can get out anymore are 140-character updates on things.

--The SinFactoryComix.com site is currently down at the moment. smudge_dragon was in the middle of upgrading it to fix some vulnerabilities in the ancient code (some of the code was five or more years old, which in website time is like a hundred years) and none of it played nice. So, we're having to redo huge hunks of it from scratch. We're hoping it can be done quickly, so I'm mucking about with CCBill to see if we can extend some kind of free time to our subscribers. Their interface is anything but intuitive.

--At the DayJob, I'm working six days straight this week due to the Diamond order being due and store-wide inventory happening on Sunday. I'm not thrilled by this (though I can use the money), mostly because I had plans on Sunday to go to a friend's Mad Men premiere party. I've waited a year for season 5! Maybe I'll get to go, maybe I won't. Also: working six days straight makes me a cranky pants. Well, more so than usual.

--I'm probably going to have to tell our accountant to file extensions for our taxes this year, for both Radio and me and Mr. suarez. I literally haven't been able to get time to finish getting everything ready for him. (And, had to save up to pay him his fee.) I'll be honest too, I've had so much stress about the taxes that I haven't been dealing with it fast enough.

--I'm already up to my eyeballs in A-Kon Cosplay Staff work for A-Kon 23. I am looking forward to the con this year, because even though I work the entire time either at the Radio tables or dealing with Cosplay Staff Head stuff, it's such a different kind of work than usual that it's a break from the norm. Also, I get to see a lot of good friends at that con and lots of pretty costumes. I like pretty costumes.

--Genus #94 is coming up, and the first deadline is April 15th. But that might end up being extended to the end of April, just due to all this other work & DayJob I have on my plate.

Have you done work for us in the past? Have you not heard from me in a while?

I'm in desperate need of new contact information for many, many artists. With the DayJob sucking 38+ hours away from me every week (and it was *supposed* to be part time, but in this economy, I am not about to complain), I've been incredibly horrible about keeping up with people. I also lost vast swathes of my contact info/address book/rolodex (yes, I had an actual rolodex still) between the move from the Radio Apartment to the rental house I share with The Husband and then the Horrific Hard Drive Failure of 2009. So I am in need of information, lots of information!

I need:
--Real Full Name (this helps to send packages!) along with any pen names used.
--a physical mailing address (for the aforementioned packages)
--current email address
--if different than the above email address, a PayPal address (if you have one)
--Current website address (or dA or FA page); as we are building our Links page on the Radio site and want to drive traffic to people!

I don't need phone numbers, since I don't ever get to call people anymore, being stuck at the DayJob during the day most days.

Please send this info to me via note on this site, or via the radiocomix@gmail.com email address (though, that MAY get buried in the floods of emails we get on that account.... I'm in the process of setting up a new email just for editorial stuff.)

Also, I can always be contacted on my Twitter account. There's also the Radio Comix Facebook page and the Radio Comix Twitter account. Please! Get in touch with me! I feel awful when I forget something important for one of our artists, and I am trying to get caught up on many things.

EDIT TO ADD: Even if you think I already have your information, SEND IT AGAIN. I am wanting to make double and triple sure I have current, reliable contact information for everyone. Please take the time and do it, it will be a great help to me!

It's officially the last day to get anything in for either Genus #93 or Genus Male #10! If you had stuff you wanted to send to us for either book, THE TIME IS NOW. We're definitely going to have Genus Male #10 at Further Confusion; hoping we'll be able to have Genus #93 there as well (depends on the time it takes at the binders; the stapled comics take less time to produce).

Status so far for both books:
GENUS #93 (48 pages): Cover by DAQ, a great long story by ReDaDillio, a short piece by Dennis Clark, illos by several people so far (still making my final count- I'm in the middle of it). Straight or lesbian anthropomorphic material, adults only rating (so at least, it has to have some nudity in it).

GENUS MALE #10 (32-48 pages, depending): Cover is already scheduled (waiting for it to arrive at the moment); story by Tabitha R. Jones & JK Blacklin, story by Tredain & DarkZel, illos by Michele Light & ReDaDillio, a couple more things I have to look over still. Gay male anthropomorphic material, adults only rating (so again, at least some nudity in it).

Let me know in the comments if you've got anything for this, and get used to seeing these posts weekly until it's time to send the books to press! If you already have something for either book, please email the files to Will at willworks AT gmail DOT com. Please include all important information with submissions, including real name, pen name (if you have one), email address, and a valid postal mailing address. This information is essential! (This is from our standard submission guidelines.)

Pages should be black and white, minimum 300 dpi, TIFF format, 6.875 inches by 10.5 inches.

Naturally, if you do not normally draw adult material, DO NOT force yourself to draw adult material. If you don't like drawing such stuff, it will show in your work and the readers can totally pick up on that. ^_^;

(Now the legal stuff: Submission does not guarantee publication. We reserve the right to refuse publication on the basis of quality, unacceptable material/themes, or space available.)

Reposting, because this is *really* important!

The deed is done; these books are scheduled officially! Genus #93 will be in the new format we've been doing, and will carried by Diamond Distribution (plus Haven and the various furry distro houses). Genus Male #10 is the TENTH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE, and will be regular comic format (as it's always been), and carried by Haven Distribution and the various furry distro houses.

Thus it's DEADLINE TIME! Both these books are scheduled for January release, to coincide with Further Confusion. As FC is earlier this year (Jan. 13-17, instead of around the 25th, as it usually is), this means we have to seriously get cracking on these books! They have the same deadline, since they have to be done at the same time. Also, Xmas falls in the middle of the production time, so that always slows up the works.

The ABSOLUTE LATEST you can get things to me for publication is: DECEMBER 15, 2010.

Status so far for both books:
GENUS #93 (48 pages): Cover by DAQ, a great long story by ReDaDillio, a short piece by Dennis Clark; still room inside for stories/illustrations. (Possibly a Karno story as well, have to double check my files.) Straight or lesbian anthropomorphic material, adults only rating (so at least, it has to have some nudity in it).

GENUS MALE #10 (32-48 pages, depending): Cover is already scheduled (waiting for it to arrive at the moment); story by Tabitha R. Jones & JK Blacklin; still room inside for stories/illustrations. Gay male anthropomorphic material, adults only rating (so again, at least some nudity in it).

Let me know in the comments if you've got anything for this, and get used to seeing these posts weekly until it's time to send the books to press! If you already have something for either book, please email the files to Will at willworks AT gmail DOT com. Please include all important information with submissions, including real name, pen name (if you have one), email address, and a valid postal mailing address. This information is essential!

Pages should be black and white, minimum 300 dpi, TIFF format, 6.875 inches by 10.5 inches.

Naturally, if you do not normally draw adult material, DO NOT force yourself to draw adult material. If you don't like drawing such stuff, it will show in your work and the readers can totally pick up on that. ^_^;

(Now the legal stuff: Submission does not guarantee publication. We reserve the right to refuse publication on the basis of quality, unacceptable material/themes, or space available.)

Haven't had time to post much lately, between work at the DayJob and Radio Comix stuff, so here's a bullet point update of Various Things!

--I took a vacation for the first time in two years to go visit my family up north. The trip served multiple purposes: it was my mom's 60th birthday this month, both my sister and my brother had babies in November last year and I wanted to see them, my pop is likely retiring at the end of this year, and my mom made me an appointment to see a dermatologist about a couple of moles on my face. Turned out the face moles are harmless (I have prescription bleaching cream, like Michael Jackson), but there was a mole on my toe that was Suspicious. So, they cut it out of my toe, leaving me with a square divot-like hole. I find out soon if it was malignant or benign.

--The Radio Comix Online site is chugging along, thanks to Smudge's masterful web-fu. We've got a goodly number of delightful comics up now, free to read. They are:
Bureau of Mana Investigation by Smudge
Coyote by Mel. White
Duncan & Mallory by Robert Asprin & Mel. White
Ebin & May by Smudge & Ed Garcia
Tiger Team Three by Mark Moore
Trouble Express by Will Allison

--We're in the middle of scanning and page cleanup for more comics for the online site- Havoc, INC, Pervert Club and Tales of the Fehnnik. They're sadly going slower than we wanted, due to Will having a lot of computer issues the last year. We've just gotten them all fixed (fingers crossed), so the work is going a bit faster now.

--In Not Safe For Work news, the Sin Factory Comix site has had a complete interior overhaul! (The outside public pages are the same as always.) But the interior is totally revamped, with a shiny new interface! It's been getting updated regularly with more goodies from Sutton, Howell and DAQ, and we've been working on getting even more ready for uploading!

--Our next book is in production right now to ship soonish- the Bureau of Mana Investigation Vol. 1 trade paperback! We're just getting the final bits handled. You can still special order it from your local comic store using the Diamond order code SEP101106! It will also be going up for pre-order on the Radio Comix Online Store in the next couple of weeks. (Untamed #1 and Furrlough #190 are up at the moment! Those are the newest books!)

--Speaking of new books, January 2011 will be when the next Radio Comix print books come out- Genus #93 and Genus: Male #10! Just in time for Further Confusion, which we will definitely be attending!

--The Radio Comix Facebook page is up and running, and I'm trying to keep it updated regularly. Check it out if you are a Facebook-using sort of person!

Other than that, I've been out of town, so I have no new auctions up. I will be doing some at the end of this week though, due to a lot of vet bills from September and October that are still hanging over my head. We lost Batty to a combination of diabetes and a brain tumor in October. Still pretty down about that, but trying to keep busy to get my mind off of it.

Now, back to work, before I have to go into the DayJob at the comic store later today!

I'm so sad to hear that legendary comic artist Al Williamson has died. When I was just starting in comics and first going to conventions at the tender age of 23, I met Al and the late Julie Schwartz at a Dallas Fantasy Fair. That is to say, I met Julie and he insisted I had to come meet his friend Al, and dragged me all the way across the convention center. They both flirted with me shamelessly and adorably, and then Al stated I had "the best legs" he'd ever seen in the industry! (I wore a lot of miniskirts back then...) After that, I'd always make a point of going to say hello to them and to pay my respects at San Diego Comic Con. Julie Schwartz sometimes hovered on the line between appropriate and inappropriate (come on, making me kiss your cheek in front of my boyfriend...? a little weird...), but seeing Al was always like seeing your favorite uncle, the one who always encourages you and who tells you how pretty you look that day.

Chummy con stories aside, the man was also an amazing artist with a fantastic career. 79 seems far too young to pass away.

Mostly for my own purposes/memory...

Radio:
--get Untamed and Furrlough #190 color illos to smudge_dragon for header use on Radio Comix Online
--finish prepping Sin Factory sample comics
--wash table cover sheets
--pack con supplies (receipt books, markers, mini-easels pens, CASH BOX & KEY)
--get Radio Comix Online flyers printed
--check mail at PMB one last time
--process online store orders
--GET CHANGE!

Cosplay:
--check cosplay email one final time
--type up FAQ for information desk staff & print out
--pack cosplay stuff (Black Cosplay Binder of Doom, soundtrack CDs, badge stickers, notepaper)

Personal:
--choose & pack clothes
--pack toiletries
--charge DS and iPod (and find my freaking Animal Crossing: Wild World...)
--dye hair (pink)
--fix eyebrows & nails, shave legs
--scoop cat boxes
--groom cats
--clean out purse (too heavy again by half...)
--do dishes
--take out trash (Don't forget to put it on the curb Weds. night!)
--get house keys to denshousha and work out feeding information for kittehs
--work last pre-Kon shift at Day Job

TO-DO IMMEDIATELY POST-KON:
--call accountant to deal with state tax oddness (#1 priority!)
--bug the printers
--scan more pages for Radio Comix Online & upload
--get color illos to smudge_dragon for new online series (Tales of the Fehnnik, Pervert Club)
--finalize ISBN assignment for current books and BMI

Ooogh, so much to do. I so wish I could just escape into a video game for a few hours, some WoW or maybe some Sims2. Alas, that is not for me until after the Kon. (And until the post-Kon list is partially tackled...)

Preparing for A-Kon, which means I am answering some email, and in my email box, I discover Diamond Distribution has finally decided to standardize what they want for bar codes. To whit, ONLY UPC bar codes will be allowed on floppy comic books (periodicals). ISBN or EAN bar codes will not be accepted on any floppy comics. (Previously, when they started the "you must have a bar code" rule in 2007, they accepted other types of bar codes; as long as it scanned, they did not care.)

Well, fortunately, this doesn't really affect us at Radio any more. We've always just used the ISBNs we'd already purchased- and yes, we were using them on our floppy comics. But, we no longer make floppy comics- everything is perfect bound and graphic novel/doujinshi style now. To be more precise, we don't make floppy comics that are meant for Diamond or the Direct Market. (We still publish Genus: Male as a floppy, but did not even bother to solicit via Diamond. We knew it would not generate enough orders through comic shops to make it over their new minimum order cutoff. It's been selling just fine through Haven, specialty furry outlets and through direct sales on our website. But I digress...) So, even though we are using ISBNs on our books, we should be fine. They're book format, after all, which is what Diamond wants from us.

What worries me about this is that UPC bar codes cost considerably more than ISBN or EAN bar codes. We're talking a *LOT* more. This bodes very poorly for anyone new starting out in comics, if they want to make your standard 24-to-32-page comic book. Your average small press publisher is usually doing comics as a labor of love- they are pouring their sweat, tears, hard work and likely all of their disposable income into just getting the comic *printed*- having to invest anywhere up to $2500 on top of printing costs into getting a UPC bar code for a comic that Diamond might not even carry.... well, that's going to be a huge barrier for most people. (If they even know they need such a thing... and that $2500 fee is a possible annual membership fee for UPC membership- it ranges from $158 to $2500 annually, depending. The codes are another charge, and when I last looked them up, the smallest "pack" was a hundred or so.)

There have always been barriers to traditional publishing; they just got higher.

So, I guess work on those webcomics and publish nothing but graphic novel collections, kids! It's the only way to go anymore! Well, if you want to use an ISBN on your book and have it get into comic stores!

PS I thought about copying and pasting the information from the email into this post, but wasn't sure if that would be kosher. As much as this worries and upsets me in regards to the future of independent comics in the Direct Market, I am not a Diamond hater. They're our business partners and we value what they do for us. I understand that they are only doing what they feel they must in order to survive- the economy is bad all over for everyone. Business is business.

OH! And Edit to Add: Diamond owns Alliance Distribution, the big gaming distributor that we use at the store I work at for the Day Job. I have noticed that while Diamond insists on bar codes on *everything* (seriously, everything has one), we get things through Alliance constantly that don't have bar codes on them. Or ISBNs. Or EANs. Or any kind of thing that can be scanned at all. It's frustrating on the retail end, but always makes me go "WTF?!" as a publisher. Why don't gaming items need to conform to the same standards comics have to conform to?

First off, I have new eBay auctions up today! There are also a bunch ending tomorrow/Weds.-ish, so please go have a look! We're still getting rid of a ton of comics, graphic novels, manga, art books, toys and video games that we either have doubles of or simply do not have the room for. Bonus, every little bit we get goes towards tax time, which is fast approaching!

I was a bit ill over the weekend, sick enough that I had to stay home from work on Saturday. This is unusual, because I usually try to just power through any illness I get. But, this bug I had made me dizzy every time I tried to stand up on Saturday morning and my fever was fairly high. So I spent most of the day asleep, and slept most of Sunday too. I'm doing better now, just some residual snot and one ear that needs to pop or something.

Paid bills today, which is always my favorite task. Then, worked on auction stuff (obviously) and mail order stuff. Day job wise, we are getting new flooring at the comic shop this weekend. (Desperately needed new flooring, I might add, the carpet in the shop is pretty godawful and well over fifteen years old.) This means my work schedule for the week is all wonky and strange, since us employees are going to be tasked with the moving of all the fixtures/stock to accommodate the guys who will be installing the new (non-carpet) flooring. And then next weekend is Furry Fiesta up in Dallas!

I finally saw the Twilight movie, because suarez and I watched the Rifftrax version. Even then, it was painful and terrible, and the film was so stupid, my brain reacted by forcing me to fall asleep multiple times during the movie, I guess in order to save itself. It really is a piece of craptastic Mary-Sue type self-insert fiction. Awful, awful, awful.

It's Valentine's time in the World of Warcraft, so I am excitedly doing the holiday themed quests before bed every night. Those are my favorite quests of all!

Wellll.... after I work a New Comic Book Day shift at the day job today. I go straight from the store to the airport. A good planner is me! XD

I may not have much time during the convention to check internet stuff, so don't panic if you can't get ahold of me till I get back. I may Tweet, if I remember to do so. (I usually am so busy at cons, I am in a perpetual state of distraction.)

We will have Genus: Male #9 and Genus #92 available for sale at the con, along with all our other older comics and TPBs. I'll also be helping Trump-san and Team Shuffle with their sales like I do every year. The Radio table area will also be home base for Smudge, DAQ and possibly Baron Engel as well, so do stop by and say hello.

Now to run off to the comic shop to work, and to try to not panic about flying (which I hate)! (Also have to try not to think about how much I am going to miss my husband while I am away.) See you peeps at the con!