Princeton Comic Makers Weekly Roundup #42
Summary of the Last Meeting (1/22/2025)
Quick reminder, here are our dates for this upcoming session: January 22, 29, February 5, 12, 26, March 4, 12, 19, 16, April 2, 9, 16 (outdoors), 23, 30
We’ll be producing a Princeton Comic Makers anthology!
This will be a black-and-white, staple-bound, comics-focused zine/anthology, and any participants are encouraged to produce a comic between 1-10 pages.
Beyond comic submissions, we are also looking for Layout Designers. A layout artist is responsible for the arrangement of visual elements in formatting. In our case, that would mean arranging the text, images, etc. so that they look good for print. Basically, if you are an opinionated individual, we would love to hear those thoughts.
We’re are also going to make this a themed anthology. We are still collecting ideas for themes, and we will keep collecting up to the in-person vote at a future meeting (dates below), but here are some to get your engines going: Creation; Soup/Mirepoix; Tea vs Coffee; Antiques/Thrift Stores/Flea Market Finds.
As for our rough schedule (flexible, tentative):
Feb 5 - Theme announcement and contributor sign-ups open Feb 19 - (no meeting) Confirm with Cover Artist and Layout Designer(s) Mar 5 - Contributor sign-ups close Apr 9 - 1st check-in (scripts, thumbnails) May 14 - 2nd check-in (lines) Jun 11 - 3rd check-in (SOFT DEADLINE, tones/shading/lettering) Jun 25 - All final artwork due (HARD DEADLINE) Jul 23 - Layout 1st check-in Aug 13 - Final layout due Aug 20 - Start of promos and pre-orders
From sign-ups opening to the hard deadline, contributors will have about 4 months to work.
The final note about the anthology: once it is published, you are free to acquire and sell copies for yourselves. However, copies sold this way will be set at the same price for everyone to prevent people from undercutting each other.
Taking over the Princeton Art Council’s Instagram Account
The Arts Council of Princeton has invited us to film some meeting activities for them to post to their Instagram account. There is no (imminent) deadline, so we will start recording snippets starting next week. We will announce when the recording starts, so if you do not want yourself or your work to be captured, you will have ample time to let us know. Additionally, if anyone is interested in doing the filming, feel free to speak up! This is a nice, low-stakes way of trying out videography.
Some upcoming opportunities
Brooklyn Independent Comics Showcase applications have opened
What: A “small press event designed to highlight the vast array of talented, and perhaps underrepresented, creators in the NY metro area” (taken from their website). Participants get a 2’x4’ table and 2 chairs. Tables can be shared, but both participants must apply.
When: Sat/Sun, April 26-27, 11:00-7:00 both days
Where: St. Mark's Comics, 51 35th St, Industry City, Event Spaces 5-2-A and 6-6-A, Brooklyn 11232.
Application deadlines: There is no hard deadline to apply by, but try to apply as soon as possible for best chances. The deadline for the early-bird discount is Feb 1 (both the form and payment).
Cost: $175, or $125 for the early-bird discount.
Contact info: (212) 598-9439; bicsbrooklyn@gmail.com
Click here for application form.
Also check the FAQ for info about parking, accessibility, etc.
Grounds For Sculpture Spring Artisan Market applications have also opened
What: Indoor market focusing on artisinal or hand-made things. Participants get a 6’ table and 10’ install space. Do note that Grounds For Sculpture is a museum, and so attendees tend to be older folks or families.
When: Sat/Sun, March 22-23; 9:00-5:00 on Sat, 9:00-4:00 on Sun
Where: Grounds For Sculpture, 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton Township, NJ 08619
Application deadline: Again, no hard date has been clearly stated, but try for early February, as acceptance notifications will be sent around Feb 12.
Cost: $125
Click here for the application form.
Your projects!
Chellam and Meghna are doing a pop-up event at Rutgers for trans healthcare.
If you’re interested in having a table there and selling your stuff, reach out to them! As Chellam said in the Discord:
The RU Transitioning - Trans Joy event is a three-day long event taking place from February 5th through 7th! The first event on the 5th is an art/health fair, you can sign up to sell art or even just run a small thrift booth with trinkets and clothes alongside healthcare presenters! There is no table fee, but 20% of your profit will be going toward Trans Lifeline- which is a trans healthcare charity.
February 6th is a day of panels and information sessions from healthcare practitioners near and around Rutgers, and the 7th is a coffeehouse performance event for trans led or inspired performances! This is the link to sign up.
Projects for This Year
Don’t forget about JetLAG Festival (Downsville, NY)!
It’s an outdoor music festival/camping excursion in late June that also provides the opportunity to do outdoor installations! If this combination of activities appeals to you, please let us know your interest as soon as possible.
Old links and reminders
Applications
If any of you are interested in flea markets generally, check out this website! It has listings for upcoming shows and fairs across New Jersey. Just double check that the theme of the show matches what you want to buy or sell.
Tomato pins
We also still have tomato enamel pins, which are $10 for members. The proceeds from these pins go directly to our rent. If you want to help with rent but don’t necessarily want a pin, you can also just give Chris the same amount of money. No pressure, of course, and thank you to everyone who already contributed!
Email and Discord links
For the new folks and anyone who was not receiving emails until recently, please click here to access the backlog of all our email blasts.
And as always, here is the Discord invite link. At first, you'll only see the "about-rules" channel; just enter the command written at the bottom of the guidelines to access to the rest of the server. If the link doesn't work, let us know and we'll send you another.
See you next week!