Tag: art
ASSISTANCE NEEDED!
So I need a little help guys. I’m trying to get the word out about my book, Quiet Courage, and what better way I figure than asking the tumblrverse for some assistance.
If everybody that follows me could just reblog this message once when you see it, that’s 150 some odd blogs this post is on that it wasn’t before! Help me out and support a changing movement to bring more LGBT characters to the front of every genre.
We live in an incredibly changing era and its time for everyone to have a visual representation in the media. Since I was young I’ve always found escape between the pages of a good fantasy adventure. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The worlds of Tamora Pierce, all of them brought me so much excitement and solace as I struggled fitting in at school and in life.
But despite their splendor these stories never fully resonated with me. I never found someone like me. So I decided one day to make my own. What resulted was the world of Sundast and Cienn’s story in Quiet Courage. Cienn is an openly gay youth in a home that doesn’t quite know how to accept him. His struggle personifies the journey thousands of young gay men and women, including myself, experienced growing up. I won’t lie, being a gay youth in today’s society still isn’t easy. Many of us still struggle to find our place in the world.
We unfortunately live in a world only halfway to perfection. Many of us have seen the errors of the past and are striving to change for the better. But there is still the influence of those that came before us weighing heavily on the shoulders of today. We see that in the seemingly never-ending list of teen suicides, the continued hate crimes both at home and overseas, and the snail’s pace of change of social reform. And while we lock ourselves in this boisterous, overly dramatic argument about the rights of human beings some of those human beings get left on the wayside crying out for a lifeline.
Some lifelines do exist. And more are popping up all the time. But the fact of the matter is that the people who need these messages of acceptance and equality aren’t the 45-year-old moms who absolutely love Kurt on Glee, but are the boys and girls who cry themselves to sleep at night wishing they could just be normal. They need to know there is someone out there just like them who rises above the expectations society sets on them. They need to know that “normal” is what you make it and they need to know that it’s still okay to love whomever you choose.
I needed this story growing up, and I would hate to deny the next generation something I wish that I’d had. So I thank you for helping me spread this message. And if I can bring solace to even one person I will have done my job. If you are one of those people who are confused and lonely, this is for you.
The book is available for purchase in all of its splendor (currently as an ebook or paperback) or can be read for free online. Just follow the link and head on over to sundast.tumblr.com/home or click the image above.
Thanks again!
~Patrick, author and illustrator for Quiet Courage
Updates on my books.
Hello my ducks,
Just checking in with my kind-of-bi-weekly/monthly-whenever-I-honestly-have-a-moment update.
The books are here and boy do they look swell! No seriously they look awesome. You guys want to see? Of course you do. 😉
visit the kickstarter update to have a look here:
So totally cool right? So you might be asking yourself, “Patrick, why haven’t you mailed those books yet? You’ve had them for weeks now!” What a good question mystery-duck. The answer is quite simple really, I still have more to do.
I don’t want to send out any prizes until I know everything but the hardcover copies can be sent out together. I have finished tallying, organizing and laying out the bookmarks and have begun the process of printing and laminating them. Once those are done and the ebook is finally settled (more on that in a second) I’ll begin shipping. Again I’m sorry my initial time estimates were so off everyone, but how was I supposed to know how long it would take to publish a book? I’ve never done it before. But don’t worry everything will be on its way in due time.
Now, about those ebooks. I’ve got most of the glitches figured out (I finally figured out how to anchor the images into the text so they don’t end up in random spots) but there are still a few problems. The first is inserting the Table of Contents and having all the hyperlinks actually work. But thats really only a problem for the Apple and Kindle copies, Nook is cool and makes contents for you anyways. There’s also the issue with missing or changed fonts on export. They show up fine on my computer but when I upload them to Nook they all change on me. Finally the ebook publisher I’ve been using has major issues with my epub file, and I’d really rather not transfer everything back to Microsoft word.
Oh and if anyone knows how to upload a .MOBI to the Kindle app I’d greatly appreciate the help. Amazon what are you doing with your book app? Get your shit together. haha. Anyways I hope i can figure it out.
Oh, and speaking of the hardcover copies I figured you should know their status too. I don’t know if I mentioned my decision to switch to stab binding instead of the more traditional coptic stitching for the books, but I’ve decided to go with a stab binding for greater simplicity and ease of construction. Plus now I can make great use of cool colored threads and intricate stitches. The problem lies not in the stitching or binding, but in finding a way to print the signatures without a cover in a large enough quantity to use. I’m currently looking into more local printing options.
But overall we’re making some good progress on everything. You should all see packages in your mailboxes very soon.
Till next time my ducks!
~Patrick
ITS OVER!!! (Kickstarter ending)
FUNDED!!!!
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!! Okay, with that excited shouting out of the way lets get down to business. Again, thank you for your help and enthusiasm that has made Quiet Courage’s 1st Edition such a success! With your help I’ve been able to raise enough money to print 200 books! SWEET SORKA that’s a lot of books.
I just have to pause a moment to reflect on that number. Have I mentioned to you guys how thankful I am for all of you?
Okay. To my backers expect some surveys along with a backer only update coming your way in the next few days. There will be a few questions for my own records (and because I’m curious of course) as well as a request for shipping information. Please at least reply with your shipping info. I will be shipping everything together, so please be patient in receiving your rewards.
Here’s a rough breakdown of where these funds will be going:
Total funds raised: $1761.00
Additional outside backing: $500.00
Total amount: $2,261.00
–$250.00 will be spent purchasing ISBNs for both the paperback and hand-bound hardcover editions of Quiet Courage.
–$1759.50 will be spent on printing cost (excluding initial shipping costs to me)
– The remaining $251.50 will be split between out of country shipping costs (for a number of orders) and printing costs for all bookmarks and reward prints. Any additional money left over after that will go to purchasing initial supplies for the ten hand-bound editions for backer rewards.
Here’s a better timeline of everything including a basic breakdown of the work ahead of me.
Provided there are no unforeseen hiccups I should have:
~Everything ready to ship off to the printers by Friday August 2nd, 2013 at the latest. I will try my hardest to have it done before that but definitely not before that preceding Tuesday (the 30th).
-That breaks down to about two header illustrations a day.
-It also leaves two weeks to finish the two new full page illustrations and the spread. All of which have been started. All illustrations will be in full color and also released with the new ebook edition as such.
~Full color print rewards as well as bookmarks will be printed within the week of Sunday August 4th – Saturday August 10th.
~The ebook re-release (possibly even including mobile compatibility for your smartphone) will begin production the week of Sunday August 11th. And should be completed in time to “ship” with the rest of the books.
~The books should be here by the week of Monday August 19th. That’s not a definite date by the way, just my guestimate. I’ll be updating with an actual arrival date once I have one.
~Shipping of rewards will begin as soon as all components will be in so expect me to start shipping to US and global backers (provided I have your shipping information and any additional shipping costs for those across the border or pond) by Tuesday August 20th. Again this is a tentative date and may change as I get the actual shipping and production times. Actual shipping times may vary as I am shipping by myself plus any volunteers I can wrangle together.
~Production of the 10 Hardcover, hand-bound copies of Quiet Courage for all of those backers who are receiving the $50 reward tier will begin by Sunday Sept, 1st and be shipped as they are completed. Your bookmarks will ship with the initial shipping. So you’ll have that first.
And that’s basically it for a rough timeline. Please note that things will be subject to change as time goes on and dates might alter slightly. There will be updates both here and at the kickstarter page as things progress so keep an eye out on both as well as on my facebook (facebook.com/PatrickHarrisonIllustration) and twitter (@evendarart).
Thank you again everyone. I’ll be over here now painting and struggling to be worthy of your guys support.
Again, backers be on the lookout for surveys and a more specific update for your good selves.
Till next time my ducks!
~Patrick, the awestruck and humbled littlest author.
The Sundast Sagas Online 