Attic update

on November 7, 2015

Hi everyone, my deep apologies for the radio silence these last few weeks. I’m writing to you from the attic of the Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio, where my wife has a three week residency (and I’m tagging along).

I never expected that getting the materials for the first Margo book together would take so long! Just drawing the cover was a weeks-long process of submitting dozens of thumbnails, different color schemes, different logos, you name it. I’m really happy with how it came out though, and can’t wait for everyone to see it.

Between all the book work and some family stuff up in Virginia, I’m running way behind. I’ve been getting some emails from folks wondering when the next chapter is going to start. Not yet, but soon. I’m going to be spending the next three weeks up in this attic, working as hard on it as I can.

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Chapter 1 Title Card (finally)

on September 28, 2015

So a few weeks ago, we briefly crept over the $300 mark on the Patreon campaign, and then immediately dipped back under. But – whatever, we hit the goal! So I went ahead and made the title card for Chapter 1 that I’d promised! After a couple days, I’ll move it back to the Chapter 1 where it belongs. It’s there now!

margocolor-chapter-1

I really wanted to do a Periscope live-draw of this, but Eleanor and I are currently lodged in my mom’s house in rural Virginia, which still has the most antiquated dial-up internet still in service. I swear you can almost hear email rattling down the pipe for a few minutes before they reach your inbox. So video streaming is definitely out. Maybe I can live-draw something else later.

I had another motivation to go ahead and make this – In terms of book production, this is the last page that I needed to draw for the interior of the book. Next step is doing about a million sketches for possible covers.

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The Big News

on September 24, 2015

I wish I could have gotten this up earlier, but I’m still on the road, and writing to you from Our Nation’s Capital. So, you might have heard: First Second Books has picked up Margo for publication! The official announcement was here, with a little interview and everything!

I was always hoping to see Margo as a book eventually, and I really couldn’t think of a better fit for a publisher. First Second makes really beautiful books, and does an awesome job of not only getting them into the hands of comics fans, but into bookstores, schools, and libraries. I’ve been a fan of them since they brought all those beautiful European comics in America when they first launched.

Alright, you got questions, I got answers:

When’s it coming out?
Book 1 will be hitting shelves in September, 2016. It takes a while to get these things together when you’re dealing with the book trade!

What’ll the book be like?
Book 1 will cover chapters 1-3, and it’ll be full-color. It’ll be formatted in a horizontal way, wider than normal graphic novel size.

What about the webcomic?
Don’t worry, the webcomic will continue to update. This is kinda new and unprecedented (everything is in publishing these days), but both First Second and I are betting that more of Margo’s online readers will want to support the book, than feel like they’ve already got what they wanted for free. I will eventually be taking down some of the already-posted pages, when the book they appear in hits the shelves, though. That seemed like a good compromise. And the Patreon deal will continue as always – early updates, and bonus content (much of which will not appear in the book).

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SPX 2015

on September 16, 2015

Hey y’all! If you’re in the DC area, Eleanor and I will be at the Small Press Expo this weekend (September 19-20).

Come by table M12! We’ll have copies of our new kids book Flop to the Top, my previous book Set to Sea, original art, and more. (Still no Margo merch, tho! Eventually, eventually.)

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