New Book by ‘Hippo’ Author Helps You Become an "Authorpreneurs"

A new book by renowned children’s author Hazel Edwards (and supporter of all things comics on the Australian scene!), has just been published to help writers, illustrators and comics creators build sustainable careers in a rapidly changing industry. Best known for her book There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake, Edwards’ latest title Authorpreneurship: The business of creativity shows authors how they can invest in their creativity to increase their professional opportunities.

Today’s creator needs to be an ‘authorpreneur’—an originator and an entrepreneur. Apart from crafting words or images for specific audiences, this means learning the marketing, publicity, technological, legal and entrepreneurial skills to establish and maintain. Authors have become small businesses, so they need new tools to maximise their business opportunities. They also need support to adapt to a fast-changing, digital, global industry.  

This practical book offers strategies for beginner, mid-list and highly experienced creators to help sell work for longer, in varied new formats and to larger audiences by: 

• Building an author brand
• Networking in person and online
• Becoming a strategic thinker
• Writing effective proposals
• Costing your time
• Delegating or collaborating
• Developing effective business systems.

It includes checklists, hints, case studies and hypothetical scenarios to help authors explore the situations they might encounter as an authorpreneur.

Published by Keesing Press, the print book is available for $24.95 through the Australian Society of Authors’ website.

The e-book will be available from Hazel Edwards' website in a month. 

A Recommended Not-So-Christmasy Politically Incorrect Graphic Novel Christmas Present – The Sixsmiths

Black Mermaid has been very very bad this year ... in the reading department that is. One of the things both Jozef and I like to do is buy new Aussie comic books and graphic novels offerings every time we hit the Supanova circuit. Alas, I got far behind in my reading this year. The result is a thigh-high pile of books by my bedside that I desperately wanted to read but couldn't through lack of time and fatigue. During those nights where I would actually start reading, I would often fall asleep mid-sentence or page only to wake up with a start when the book slipped from my hand and clattered onto the floor.


Now that the major workload is over, I picked up Jason Franks' and J Marc Schmidt's The Sixsmiths published by SLG Publishing (USA), which I had bought back in February / March of this year.


All I can say is I'm glad I did. What a great find.


Now the purpose of this blog is not to review books or comics, and indeed we're not in the business of reviews. However, occasionally we like to share a positive reading experience with our readers so that you may be inclined to try them out...


And I certainly had a positive reading experience with this Aussie graphic novel.


The Sixsmiths is the story about a loving family that goes through many of the same life challenges that we do – unemployment, first day at a new job and a new school, lost dogs in the park, church on Sunday ... it sounds mundane but it's not. The important detail I haven't mentioned yet, is that this is a family that worships at the altar of the Dark Lord. No, not Voldemort... but Lucifer. This is, in fact, a story about a family of Satanists.


Strange as it may sound because I am personally adverse to having anything to do with dark supernatural forces, this is actually a charming story that gently unfolds with a natural rhythm through sixteen digestible and some emotionally charged chapters. If I had to summarise it in a sentence I would say it's like " The Simpsons meeting the Osbournes!"


I started off with trepidation and there were some moments of rising tension where I felt afraid to turn the page – unsure of what I would discover but also aware that I could potentially be projecting my own prejudices on the story. I certainly did not want to be greeted by some unpalatable or traumatising idea or image. In the end I placed my trust in the intention and skill of the comics creators, as well as the black comedy genre. And indeed I was correct. The pay-offs were exceptionally funny – the Virgin Sacrifice (amongst others) for one thing. 


Indeed, I laughed in many places at Franks' gentle rollicking humour – his perceptive observations on life and humanity, as well as his intelligent play on words and ideas. For example, the joke in the first names of the children (Cain and Lillith – Biblically significant to both ends of the religious spectrum), as well as the family name where the devil's number ("6") meets the common name ("Smith") that could also be read as the "sicksmiths", made me chuckle.


But is this a sick family? No. It is a family that could worship at any altar.  Being Satanists is not the point. Being human is the point.


They are loving and affectionate with a robust sexuality who are also fierce about protecting their children and exposing them to the rights sorts of influences – I love the chapter about the way Mum deals with a missionary message about the corruption of children who play evil video games.


And what is is a Satanistic family to do when one of their children wants to become a Budhist nun?


Schmidt's art is a delight. The artwork is naive but there there is a great deal of sophistication in its visual humour. The tuckshop lady arms on the teacher, the fat vicar's expressive eyebrows, the satanic iconography (seek the pentacles and you will find!)


There are a few dangling plotlines at the end but it's my understanding that they will be answered in the sequel.


This is a great book and the creators should be proud of themselves. I believe it is one of the breakthrough graphic novels coming from a new age of Australian comics.


Thematically it may not be the ideal Christmas fare for obvious religious reasons, but we ask you just to have a little faith... 

Check out The Sixsmiths website for more info and a taste-test of the web comic strip.

I Dream of Jeannie Dreams of Mermaids

"Whenever I hear the blare of a foghorn or see a picture of a mermaid or a young couple madly in love, I feel as if I've been Jeannie-blinked back into my childhood, happy and secure.

The foghorn, you see, reminds me of San Francisco, where I grew up. The mermaid reminds me of Dolfina, the famous "Girl in the Fishbowl" always on display at the Bal Tabarin restaurant in North Beach, where my parents often used to bring me when I was very young ..."

This is the opening to Barbara Eden's autobiography Jeannie Out of the Bottle which we recently picked up and read. It so happens, that after mermaids, genies are our next favourite magical beings. And so, IDoJ became a favourite show of ours while we were growing up. We were enamoured with Jeannie's pony tail, her harem outfit, her gorgeous face and, of course, her spunky "take no prisoners" attitude. And Jeannie had the magical powers we all coveted. Jozef even has a Jeannie Barbie doll and Julie has a Jeannie cookie jar and a television show lunch box in her office.

We're also delighted to say that at a recent Supanova in Sydney and Perth, we were honoured and privileged to have given a copy of the Elf~Fin Preview to the beautiful Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman (who is quite tall and gave Jozef a playful punch in the arm after the latter declared that he loved Larry in several recent episodes of Desperate Housewives!) and the ever funny Bill Daily. It seemed only natural to read Ms Eden's bio because we are such big fans of the show and also of many of her movies – most notably The Seven Faces of Dr Lao with Tony Randall, as well as The Brass Bottle, also with Tony Randall and featuring Burl Ives as the genie.

So it was a surprise when mermaids got a mention in her book, which tells the story of her show business life and delicately lifts the lids on some behind the scenes gossip.

Here are two nice little ABC interviews with Barbara.

Anyway, check if out ....

Recommended Books for Comics Creators

We have it on good authority – Australian comics creator Marcelo Baez's authority – that these two how-to books on comics and graphic novels are brilliant. We've put them on our Amazon wishlist and will buy them once we pay off our Mastercard for the month, but we thought you might want the heads up on them too. Let us know what you think.

Mermaid Books 4 - Magical Mermaids and Dolphins Oracle Cards

Okay, this is not strictly a book, but a 44-oracle card set and a guidebook inside a lovely box. The prolific Doreen Virtue is the creator of the set, and I (Julie) have pretty much every card set she has every released. (Others in the series include: Archangel Oracle Cards, Magical Unicorns Oracle Cards, Healing with the Fairies Oracle Cards and many more). The reason I'm connected to this one is pretty obvious ... There are two genuine "Black Mermaids" in the pack (as in African American inspired mermaids –the "Have Faith" and "Dream Big" cards), and there are 25 artists whose art appears on the card set. The guidebook also provides ordering information if you're interested in getting prints of the pieces. I think my favourite two cards are "Self-Forgiveness" which features a mermaid sitting on a rock in a cave (love her sensuousness, long hair and the gleam and colour of her tail), as well as the "Synchronicity" card with features two leaping dolphins above a set of crystals emanating rainbow light. Let us know which ones are your favourites ...

Mermaid Books 3 – The Magical Mermaids

More mermaid Christmas presents to share with you all. This one was unexpected – a lovely little mermaid jigsaw puzzle book with a story in it taboot called The Magical Mermaids: A Sparkling Jigsaw Book by James Hogg (author) and Alison Atkins (illustrator). Every double page contains a one page, splash page (to borrow a comics term for a full page piece of artwork) puzzle. So just drop the pieces out and then reassemble. Great for kids and mermaid-loving adults such as myself. Too cute!

Mermaid Books 2 – A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids

Jozef bought this book by artist/writer Margot Datz a few months ago when he placed a large order for mermaid material from Amazon. He gave it to me to see what I thought. I read it and promptly went onto Amazon myself to buy a copy for me, as well as two other copies for Christmas presents which the recipients are going to receive early when we fittingly catch up next week for ... yep, you guessed it ... fish and chips.

This is a book you get for the girls – from one woman to another or from father or mother sending their beloved daughter our into the world. The dust jacket tells us that "The landlocked mermaid is a symbol of the contemporary woman trapped in a paradoxical dilemma of being part worldly and domesticated, part untamable and intuitive."

It really is quite delightful. The paintings are whimsical and fun, and the artistic embellishments such as the spot illustrations to the sumptuous paintings on every page illustrating themes such as: "Dare to be Bare" (authenticity), "Never Lose Sight of the Sea" (trusting our instincts), and "Allure to Be Sure" (celebrating your sexiness) are absolute lovely. This is the kind of book you keep at your bedside and read in your pyjamas over and over again to remind yourself of its gentle life lessons and to also discover elements in the images you may have missed on previous readings. It's also a book that has a strangely calming effect – it made me relaxed and happy to read it and to revisit it.

So mermaids and mermen out there, just CLICK on the image below to order it for yourself or for your loved ones.

And at the end of the day, we mustn't forget the last adage on its pages– "To Thine Own Mermaid Be True".

Scarygirl Art

We've been absolutely enthralled with Scarygirl art (see previous post) and obtained permission from publisher Allen & Unwin to bring you a couple of pages. Here they are – gorgeous! The writer/artist is Nathan Jurevicius and our guess is that he's going to be around for a very long time.

Stunning Scarygirl

Jozef and I went to a signing last night at Kinokuniya in the city for Nathan Jurevicius's delicious looking wordless graphic novel Scarygirl. What's interesting about this creative property is that it circumvented the usual publishing process by coming out as a line of designer toys, an online comic and a game prior to being released as a book. Published by Allen & Unwin , the story is about a young girl with an identity problem – abandoned on a remote beach in the middle of the night by a malevolent looking machine, she has no idea who she is or where she came from.

The artwork is absolutely sumptuous. The production values on the actual book are gorgeous as well – even the inside of the dust cover is emblazoned with rich artwork. This is an absolute delight and Nathan is to be congratulated. There are several more books on the agenda so collectors – start collecting. It's targeted at 14 to 18 year olds but quite frankly bridges all ages. We're predicting it will win major prizes. The RRP is AUS$35.00 and it's worth every cent. It comes sealed in plastic so wear your white gloves when you open it at home. Whip out your credit card and put this book in your shopping basket at Allen & Unwin or order it from your bookstore or comics store. I'm reading (or should I say viewing) mine tonight.

eBookpro Updates

We've just asked some more questions of Chris Reynolds, the Business Development Manager behind the eBookPro software product we promoted recently on our blog. I have subsequently added additional FAQ to the post: Protecting Your Digital Comic or eBook. I am also going to ask some questions about watermarking and about using the software in relationship with a comics press blog or website that is not administered by  individual creator. More to come so keep watching that particular post for further updates.

Protecting Your Digital Comic or eBook [UPDATES ADDED Q6, Q7, Q8)

Recently Jozef and I had been considering our Elf~Fin publishing options as the big 'pitching to publishers' phase is about to begin in 2009. We were speculating that we could bring it to market quicker if we were to digitally publish it page by page on a weekly basis rather than to wait until the entire first and second issues were ready (they run at 44 pages per issue). This is usually what a comic book publisher and a distributor such as Diamond would demand prior to going to solicitation and print. The downside to electronic publishing, however, is that we had no idea how to go about protecting our finished work or indeed what tools there were to accomplish this, as we did not want finished art pages to indiscriminately go out into cyperspace. Then, about two weeks ago, we got our answer when we stumbled across a software package that, in the first instance, is specifically geared to helping people create eBooks and make money by selling them online, but more importantly to us, offered the security protocols needed to give us some mental and emotional security about how to control our digital product. 

At this point in the blog post, we're going to be completely transparent and mention that we want to promote this product to you on a commercial basis as well as a practical basis, as we think it is particularly relevant to our readership – many of whom are comics creators, authors and illustrators. If you decide that this software suits your needs after reading about it, we're going to ask that you click through this site to get to the nitty gritty information on how it works and then to go onward to buy it so that we can get a percentage of the sale, which will in turn help us get our comic book series out to you faster. Having said that, we are also asking you to trust us – we will ONLY promote books and products such as this one that we are convinced will help you market and/or protect your IP in the various comics, ebooks or information products you choose to launch now or in the future.

The software package is called eBookpro. As mentioned before, it is geared to people who want to create and release electronic books. We were convinced about its authenticity after reading all the promotional material and asking a whole bunch of questions to the Director of Business Development of the company that developed and now distribute the software whom I met recently in Sydney and who I've emailed several times over the last fortnight. What is important in all of this is that this product can be adapted for use in comics. 

Here are the questions I posed to him from some of our professional colleagues in order to make sure the product was right for us at Black Mermaid™ as well as you.

1. I heard that the eBook Pro software has inbuilt protection so that if the ebook was distributed by a customer to a third-party in defiance of the purchasing agreeing and therefore be in breach of copyright then the originator of the ebook would be able to shut down that illegal copied file. Did I hear correctly and can you explain more?

Yes, you have the ability to choose how many times somebody can register your eBook. We default to two registrations in case somebody wants to put it on their laptop and computer. So then, let's say the customer sends it to a friend. The friend cannot register the book, therefore is unable to see it.

2. Can this software be applied to protect webcomics and/or comic book pages that are released digitally prior to print publication?

If you release them digitally through eBookpro then you are fine. Anything outside of eBook pro will not be secure. Even sending stuff to your publisher should be sent through eBookpro. You basically have complete control over who sees it.

3. Can your software apply to fiction product as well as non-fiction and information product?

Absolutely – any information that needs to be secure can be used with eBookpro.

4. Most creatives I know (including ourselves) use Macs. At the moment your promotional literature says that the "System Requirements are Windows 98SE, 2K, ME or XP" as well as Internet access. Will this software ever be available for Mac users?

Our Mac eBook Viewer is compatible on the following hardware: Intel or PowerPC processors. 

Operating System Requirements: OSX 10.4x or newer.

Keep in mind it will be your customer [who will be reading/viewing the eBook] ... you will need to understand if they have Macs or not.

5. You say that the finished ebook product can be viewed on Macs provided they are as you said "Intel or PowerPC processors with an OSX 10.4x or newer operating system". But can I, for example, load your eBook Pro software onto my MacBook which has a Max OSX operating system 10.4.11 and actually use it to create my eBook or eComic?

Curently eBook Pro Business edition is Windows compatible software, although eBook Pro does have the ability to create both Windows and Mac compatible ebooks. Since you are a Mac User, the best solution if you have a newer Intel CPU based Mac is to either use Bootcamp on OSX Leopard or Parallel or VMWare Fusion to run your Windows applications.

You can read more about Bootcamp here: http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bootcamp.html

To read more information about Parallels Virtual Desktop software: http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/?from=button

To read more information about VMWare Fusion software: http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/.

6. I won't be posting my graphic novel as an ebook, but as individual pages. Would this software protect that?

Absolutely. We have had engineers use the tool to send their work to other engineers or for proposals. They simply want to protect their intellectual property.  It can be one page or hundreds.

There is also a viral system in eBookpro; you can prompt all the people that download the page to send it to their network and when a new person wants to see the work (opens eBookpro), they have to give their name and email address to see anything. So you would be building your list through viral networking using the software. And at the bottom of every page you can prompt people to buy your print comic or series.

7. So can you load the finished artwork (it could be in Photoshop or it could be handpainted and scanned in) onto eBookpro and then upload it via eBookpro so that people all over the world can read it but not download and potentially steal it?

Absolutely, AND they can send it to their friends/network to build the list of potential customers!

8. I would be posting the page to a comics press blog. Is it like some kind of watermark?

The product will not watermark the image; this will have to be done separately [OUR NOTES: this can apparently be achieved with PhotoShop].

To summarise, if you are selling your comic, you use eBookpro. If you want someone to download it and then in turn send it to their friends and so on, you use eBookpro. If you are sending the comic or intellectual property to another colleague or editor or whomever and you do not want anyone else seeing the comic except them, you use eBookpro.

For those [comic press blog] sites you could offer an option for them to download the whole series to date or the compilation of comics; and use eBookpro. Or on the authors website have a download using eBookpro. On the author page, you can write "You can see a variety of my work on my website, click here now and download some of my latest comics".

So if you are a publisher and are afraid that your customers will send your PDF product to all their friends and your future customers you have to get a copy of eBookpro. You do not have to spend your valuable time creating amazing works of art and literature for sale, only to have your works sent freely across the Internet robbing you of your living. Avoid this situation by getting a copy of eBookpro, Click here now!