June Book Double-Header
Hello! Last month was remarkable as Six Centuries of Type & Printing’s Kickstarter campaign blazed to a finish, doubling my goal for the project on the final day. However, June will mark the first time I’ve ever had two books come out in the same month, with How Comics Are Made showing up in bookstores on June 3.
I have some more news about where to find my writing and other work at the end of this update.
Six Centuries Heads to Press: Last Chance for Bundle
Funding at such a high level for the second edition offset-printed version of Six Centuries allowed me to reach stretch goals for the following:
Audiobook edition (for all reward tiers, $10 value)
A free copy of my 116-page ebook, Not To Put Too Fine a Point on It (for all reward tiers, $15 value)
Limited-run letterpress-printed bookmark made by yours truly (for print book reward tiers, one per copy, $5 value)
This package of special extras is still available until I shut down Late Pledges for the book via Kickstarter sometime in June. After that, the letterpress bookmark will not be sold, and the audiobook will be sold separately.
The additional funding also let me opt to hire an illustrator (Chris Philpot, who worked on How Comics Were Made) to improve two figures; add an index, which will appear in the ebook but cover both the print and ebook editions (created by Jan Wright, a long-time collaborator); and add end notes for better further reading and context (in the ebook).
The book is now in preparation at the printer and will be printed in a few days. Binding takes a few weeks and then copies will ship as early as the end of June.
How Comics Are Made Heads to Bookstores
On June 3, How Comics Are Made, the second printing of this book and first edition by Andrews McMeel Publishing, hits bookstores worldwide! (In a few countries distant from North America, the date is noted on my pre-order page as July.)
This new edition contains nearly identical text as the Kickstarter-funded How Comics Were Made, which shipped last October. However, due to the economy of scale and printer relationships that Andrews McMeel has, this new printing has a dust jacket, printed hardcover “case“ binding, and glorious endpapers. The interior is printed with the level of quality I expected.
You can ask your local bookstore to order a copy or purchase one online from indie bookstores and chains alike. The list price is US$40, and the same or lower price is available in your local currency almost everywhere in the world!
Six Colors and Take Control
As if I don’t have enough sixes in my life, I started another “six” in May: early this month, I began to write a weekly column for Six Colors, the Apple news and analysis editorial operation run by friends and colleagues Jason Snell and Dan Moren. Macworld has sunsetted the Mac 911 column I penned for 10 years, and my “Help Me, Glenn!” column at Six Colors will similarly answer questions.
I expect to write in a more personal style. The focus is on developing a relationship with Six Colors readers, particularly subscribers who underwrite the operation, as opposed to praying that the gods of search engine optimization find my words and lead people to the site. (Become a member of Six Colors and you can use the Discord server to send me questions directly!)
At the same time, I also deepened an existing relationship with Take Control Books, a publisher I’ve written for since its founding back in 2003. Joe Kissell bought the business from Adam and Tonya Engst in 2017, and I’ve provided some consulting and programming help to Joe since.
We agreed to have me take a larger role as Executive Editor, in which I’ll continue to write several books as before but also update books whose authors have “retired” from continuing them to move on to other projects, take over more book editing duties, provide business and technical consulting, and work on expanding our readership.
May and June were a lot! Looking forward for once to a summer of building work instead of frenzy, which often characterize my project timing.
All the best to you,
Glenn