40% Off; Ebook bundle; New Book on Sharing
Hello!
Let me start with my most exciting news: the retail (or trade) edition of my comics history book is just a few months away from shipping! On June 3, 2025, the slightly retitled How Comics Are Made hits the shelves and ships from online bookstores.
I have so many reasons to be thrilled about this. First, I wasn’t sure of the life of the book beyond its first Kickstarter-funded printing. This means many thousands more copies will be in print. Second, it’s my first time working with a mainstream publisher on a general-interest title. (I did a number of how-to software and hardware books in the computer trade segment in the mid-90s to early 2000s.)
Third, Andrews McMeel Publishing partners for distribution of its books worldwide. For me to get a book outside the United States or Canada, it costs via my warehouse partner—which gets steep package delivery discounts—an unconscionable $30 to $50 to ship one 3-lb. (1.4 kg) book!
By contrast, people in other countries will be able to buy the retail edition as easily as walking into a local store in an English-speaking country, or by buying via an online bookseller in many more countries, most of which offer free or low intra-country shipping.
Fourth, due to the new edition’s print run and the publisher’s massive relationship with printers (relative to mine), the retail price of the new edition is just $40, making it more affordable to a larger audience.
I started assembling a list of stores (indie and huge) at the new How Comics Are Made website of where the book is already available for pre-order online across several countries. Email me if you have a favorite store that is “pre-stocking” it that I haven’t listed it!
I am scheduling a Seattle book launch event now for June 3 with details to come closer to the event if you’re in the area. I hope to have some local cartoonists on hand to talk about their work, too. (So far, I don’t have events planned in other cities, but I’m looking into it.)
Sale on the Kickstarter Edition!
The consequence of the above is that I will be sunsetting orders for the Kickstarter edition on March 3. That, coupled with the ongoing threat of tariffs—the book was printed and is warehoused in Canada—means I am offering a steep 40% discount off cover for the quickly dwindling remaining copies. That’s $39 plus shipping to the U.S. or Canada, a discount off the $65 original retail price. (Customers in other countries should wait on the retail edition since it’s so close.)
I still have copies left as I write this, but act soon if you’re still interested. Between tariffs and this March 3 deadline, time is limited.
Glenn Ebook Super-Pack!
After years of writing about type and printing intersecting with history, language, culture, preservation, comics, and more, I have four unique books of which three are sold out in print form.
I took these four titles and packaged them into one discounted bundle—instead of $50 for them separately, it’s $35 for all four in a single download. Those ebooks are:
How Comics Were Made, a visual account of newspaper comics production and reproduction (list price, $25)
Six Centuries of Type & Printing, examining the evolution of type and printing from the first known examples to the modern day (list price, $10)
Not To Put Too Fine a Point on It, a collection of ten researched and reported articles and essays about type, printing, and language (list price, $15)
London Kerning, covering London’s historical and contemporary relationship with the making of type (free to commemorate the passing of one of the institutions’ founders)
New Take Control Book: Sharing with Apple Devices
My latest Take Control Books title is out, a fresh look at screen sharing and file sharing for Apple devices, including compatibility with other hardware: Take Control of Apple Screen and File Sharing.
I realized in revising and testing my setup over the years that I had found a lot of new tricks for allowing access outside my LAN to my Macs, while Apple had recently (fall 2024) dramatically improved screen sharing over Messages and FaceTime for iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
In discussions with Take Control publisher Joe Kissell, we discovered no current book in the line-up covered screen sharing in any depth, or offered straightforward insight into Apple’s network file sharing or using cloud-based services from Apple devices. The result is this fresh book!
Keep Safe and Well
That is the update from these parts. I hope you are well and keeping your spirits up during trying times,
Glenn