We are one week into the Ko-fi Membership Drive and we have already unlocked a goal!
Now that we have 10 members on Ko-fi, everyone of these members are receiving a Little Caticorn 4×6-inch mini-print!
The next goal is 15 members – when we hit that, everyone will receive the Little Caticorn mini-print AND the Forest Spirit 4×6-inch mini-print!
For the folks who have joined recently, thank you for your patronage. Your rewards will mail out on/after February 1st, 2025. Also you can start receiving early access to The Legend of Jamie Roberts already!
There are more benefits to membership – like shop discounts, exclusive zines and mini-comics, exclusive art, first dibs on commissions, and more. To get these perks, head to my Ko-fi page and join!
Alternatively, you can give just once, and get access to shop discounts and first dibs when I’m available for commissions.
If you want to get your hands on some goodies, I now have some bundles for you to check out:
Keep in mind, you can ONLY get these bundles during this membership drive. So you have UNTIL JAN 31 to claim these. Once the drive closes, the 2024 bundles are gone forever.
So can we make it to 15 members? Who will claim the 2024 rewards? Stay tuned for more updates next week!
Jamie Roberts is not a boy or a girl – they are a PIRATE! Jamie and their two best friends, Thomas and Daniel, find an unfinished map during a pirate raid and decide to leave the seas to hunt for treasure!
But the land they have arrived in has many secrets, including the secrets kept by their new employer, Ragun Basho. Who was chasing after him? Why is he talking about dragons? And who are these people Jamie is seeing in their dreams?!
The answers are revealed in the first two volumes of The Legend of Jamie Roberts, capturing the lush, vibrant, Indigenous-inspired world of this swashbuckling adventure.
Fans of my work may be like, “Hold up. You did campaigns for volume 1 and volume 2. What’s going on?”
So here’s the short version: when I made volume 1, I worked with a comics printer that ruined the first run of books. I did manage to get reprints, but let’s just say it was the latest in a long list of issues I’ve had with them in the past. After what happened, I switched to a new printer for volume 2.
However, the second printer raised their prices without warning over the last few months. They also have a minimum order that makes things prohibitive for me, a person doing all of it solo. That left me searching for a new printer, which leads us to this campaign.
This campaign is to help fund a new print run with a NEW printer for The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volumes 1 and 2.
It means new and improved quality paper! Vibrant colors! Better pricing! All to share the magical genderqueer adventure that is The Legend of Jamie Roberts with as many readers, new and old, as possible.
“But isn’t this a webcomic? That I can read online for free?” Yes!
“So why should I get these books?”
BECAUSE…
Both books have specific pages redrawn and remade from the original web versions.
These books have extra content the webcomic site does not have, like bonus comics, sneak peeks at the comics-making process, and more!
By purchasing these books, you’re helping to continue The Legend of Jamie Roberts as an ongoing comic project. Seriously, we’re very close to releasing volume 3 next year! I plan on making 5 volumes of The Legend and need support from readers like you to make it happen.
This campaign starts October 1 and ends October 21 at 11:59 pm EDT. There will be a 24-hour “Late Pledge” grace period, but Late Pledges have a late fee. Keep that in mind!
We also have new add-ons and new stretch goals – so even if you backed the previous campaigns, there’s something new for you to check out, including…
So if you’re able to support The Legend, go to the campaign and pick the rewards that work best for you!
Broke? Share this campaign far and wide! Be sure to use the link tinyurl.com/tlojr-reprint. Shares help more than you know.
That’s all for now. Thank you for your time and support!
I’m discontinuing the print runs for my art books, including Witches, Gods & Spirits, and Dragons. Here’s why.
First, the cost of printing has gone up. Since 2021, the cost of printing books has increased across all the printers I work with. This is especially true for the printer who runs Witches, Gods & Spirits, and Dragons. (Stars of Fantasyville and CATS got printed with a different company.)
Second, when I looked at my sales stats across the decade, the numbers shocked me. I ran my numbers to account for which books earned the most from crowdfunding AND convention sales. Dragons and Gods & Spirits barely made it in the top 10 overall earners list and the top 10 earned per year list. Neither title made it to the top 5 in either. Witches only made one list (top earners overall).
And that’s if I took out Johnson & Sir from the stats. If I left that title in, the outlook for those art books looked worse.
Third, and this is the big one for me – I’m feeling called not to make any more art books. My energy wants to make more comics, and any art that’s not comics wants to be stickers and prints. Not art books.
I also want to work on and grow The Legend of Jamie Roberts. It’s hard to do that when time and energy are being put into art books that cost more and more to print but sell less and less. So I’m taking art books out of the equation, so more time and sweat can go where it wants to go – making comics.
So what does this mean?
Well, there are some shops I sell on consignment with who are carrying the last of my art books. Last week I dropped off the final copies of Witches and Gods & Spirits at Handmade Toledo. Quimby’s in Chicago and Indie Northern KY are also options if those are closer to you.
This also means no Junicorn or Inktober art books for the foreseeable future. My energy is not called to participate in those challenges anymore. So I’m going to honor that. I would rather pursue things out of joy and curiosity, not obligation. And Inktober doesn’t inspire me the way it used to.
The good news is – if you want art, prints and stickers are still happening! In fact, I’m hoping to do a flash sale soon to get two new sticker designs in print. If you saw this livestream replay, you may know which designs I’m talking about. Hint: Godzilla be thicc.
Here’s the difference – prints and stickers are happening when I want to make them. Not out of a viral art challenge or out of a sense of obligation. I’m making the art I want to make, that I feel called to make, that I think would bring joy to others. I want that to be my driving force moving forward.
Having said that, there are two exceptions (ish) to the final-run art books: Stars of Fantasyville, and CATS. Stars have a ton of extra copies left – like, over 60. I’m not doing another print run because the first print run is still in stock. But I won’t do a second print run of it either.
CATS, on the other hand, will get reprinted as soon as possible. It was only released less than a year ago! It hasn’t had the chance to expand its reach yet. Also, it brings joy to me and many others.
As for the other books? It’s time their runs come to an end.
Don’t get me wrong – the art books did bring me joy at the time. But for reasons including the cost of printing, slumped sales, and discontinued interest, I’m letting the concept go.
Thank you, art books! You brought joy to me and a lot of others. I think it’s time to let you rest so new stuff can be made.
Stay tuned for more of that new stuff – including that flash sale I mentioned.
Thank you for your understanding and your support.
Fun fact: the first 69 pages of The Legend of Jamie Roberts…were drawn traditionally, then colored and lettered digitally. After page 69, the comics-making process became completely digital.
Why? Well, I moved to a smaller apartment at the time. So I had to switch to a digital process to save on physical space. There was also the problem of my old scanner being in rough shape. I had to leave it behind in the move, and replacement scanners could not scan 11×17-inch pages.
Also…I wanted to achieve certain special effects in the pages of this comic. And those special effects are easier to do digitally.
I do like the work that went into these originals. I’m still very pleased with how they turned out. Yet I don’t have the space to hang them up or show them off.
So I’ve been sitting with these 69 pages in studio storage. I think it’s time they find homes where they can be shown off and appreciated more.
That’s why I’ve included these 69 pages in the Spring Cleaning Sale on Crowdfundr. There are also tons of other original art available, from sketchbook pages to pins and keychains. Plus, pages from my other webcomic projects are also available.
Shipping is free on these original pages, as well as the other big-ticket work that’s available. You have until May 6 to get these.
