I’m back!

I was on holidays from August 4 – 21, which is why the blog has been so quiet. I am back and almost settled in my routines again so in the next couple of days I will be back with updates on Black Salt, Cutter’s Reward, and Special Edition and the Zuda project.

Balfour Presentation

I had the honour of speaking at Balfour Collegiate in Regina, Saskatchewan today. I spoke to two classes, back-to-back presentations on the topic of “Turning an Idea into a Story”. Each presentation was an hour in length. I was invited by Balfour Collegiate via the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild of which I am member. The students attending the presentation were studying graphic novels in their combined English and Fine Arts classes. Each student in one of the classes had written and illustrated a two page comic set in Regina as part of the curriculum. These comics were also entered into the Queen City Comics Contest, which was part of the Queen City Comics Conference held in Regina the first weekend in May. After my presentation the class teacher announced that two student entries won a prize. One student won second place and one won third! Congratulations to those two students, and all the Balfour students that successfully completed a two page comic and entered it into the contest.

10 Steps to Publishing Your Graphic Novel

I had the honour of doing a presentation at the Sunrise branch of the Regina Public Library on the evening of March 18. The topic was “10 Steps to Publishing Your Graphic Novel”, which was based on my experiences and the experiences of my creative partners. If I counted correctly, there were twelve people in attendance, including Warren James. Warren works with the Regina Public Library and initially approached me to do a presentation. Thanks for reaching out, Warren, because I really enjoyed myself.

A couple of the people who attended asked if my presentation was available online. I said I’d post it on my blog. I’ve converted my Powerpoint presentation into PDF format, and am making it available for download for a limited time. The PDF will be available until Monday, March 23, at which time I’ll take it off.

I should mention the PDF is a replication of the Powerpoint slides and does not include my speaking notes, which is where I expanded upon the points mentioned in the slides. I decided not to publish the speaking notes because they are written in point form– they are little more than trigger words and phrases– and thus wouldn’t be very useful. If you have questions or wish to discuss any of the points in the PDF, feel free to get in contact with me.

Here is a list of the Web sites and online resources mentioned during the presentation:

Creator Forums / Web sites
Digital Webbing
Pencil Jack
Panel and Pixel
Comic Space
Deviant Art
Dimestore Productions

Online Comics and Related Sites
Drunk Duck
Zuda

Print on Demand Services
Lulu.com
Ka-Blam Digital Printing
Comixpress.com