Last weekend I did a livestream where we walked through the first half of MythFall Issue #2 and build Price Kavan in Palworld. I did a deep dive on some of the easter eggs and worldbuilding lore behind the page. Check out the video on Twitch if you’re interested in planetology details like why a day on Tyrn is 36 hours long with an eclipse in the middle.

We discovered that Kavan’s ideal starting pal is a Lamball, and we went on a quest to get him some pants.

Watch the Stream

Watch it soon! It will only be up until next Saturday.

Our Printopia Partner: Unicorn Vampire Hunter

In the video, we introduce our event partner. We’re thrilled to be partnered with for Printopia 2026. He’s launching the thrilling conclusion of Unicorn Vampire Hunter.

The story of the unicorn who hunts vampires (with his horn, duh), concludes with a massive 50-page special issue! The unicorn and his friends battle their way out of hell before they are trapped forever. Give it a follow to get this cool “Unicorn in Hell” trading card added to your pledge after launch.

I’m a fan of this series and show off some of my issues on the livestream. We’re planning some cool crossover rewards with Caleb that we’ll reveal soon.

Follow Unicorn Vampire Hunter

Dog Tax

Sometimes Luke tries to communicate, but he doesn’t have the words. This is how he lets me know he wants something.

This time, it was cuddles.

Today I have the final cover reveal for MythFall, which features Rika.

Rika is a take on a femme fatale archetype and she’s the viewpoint character for this issue, so we thought it would be fitting to make a pin up style cover for her.

Interior artist Allie Preswick hit it out of the park with this one:

We based it on her scene from issue 1 where she’s getting ready for work, so it takes place right before the start of Issue 2.

Demystifying the femme fatale trope has always been interesting to me. Beauty — or any face we present to the world — is constructed, not an accident. It’s part performance, part expression, and part armor. That’s why I wanted to introduce Rika by having her apply her makeup. It’s a peek behind the curtain into how she achieves her poise. As a bodyguard, she’s a physically powerful character but she doesn’t sacrifice her femininity or her heart because those are also sources of strength.

MythFall launches on September 10th on Backerkit as part of Printopia 2026. You can follow it here to get notified on launch:

Follow MythFall #2

Dog Tax

Leia and Luke both like sleeping in cozy places with their feet pointed at the sky. It’s the best way to get belly rubs.

We’re finalizing the project tiers for MythFall Issue #2 this week. This is the part of the process that involves the most math. We dust off our spreadsheets, get quotes from the manufacturers, and figure out what it’s going to cost to pull this thing off.

But we’ve also been getting the rewards finalized and seeing them come in has been a treat. We reached out to Deborah Hauber, the interior artist on Bound By Words, to do an homage cover for MythFall 2. We knew we wanted to do a classic sci-fi homage for MythFall 2, and we cycled through half a dozen different options before realizing that (duh!) the answer is Star Wars.

The iconic movie poster for A New Hope is what we wanted to re-create. Deborah really delivered on the illustration with eye catching colors. I doubled down on the cover treatment with a movie poster design that I hope is worthy. I even picked up the Serif Gothic font used on the original poster.

So how did we do?

I knew right away that I wanted Prince Kavan in Princess Leia’s pose. He occupies the traditional princess role in the story, more so than Leia herself, who could easily eat him for lunch. Rika is driving this issue, so she get’s the Luke Skywalker pose. Coming up in the background are Seth and Jimmy. They’re introduced for the first time in this issue, but will quickly become regulars. Kira looms over this story, their absence felt by everyone in it.

Follow MythFall #2 on Backerkit

We have a shiny new prelaunch graphic based on Allie Preswick’s glorious standard cover. Follow the campaign here, and you’ll get a chibi sticker sheet added to your pledge for free!

Dog Tax

In keeping with the Star Wars theme, here’s a throwback video of Luke and Leia choosing their lightsabers.

Luke, alas, has fallen to the dark side. Leia seems to prefer a blaster.

It’s common at conventions for people to come up to our table and ask for advice on how to get started writing a comic script. Or they have a script, but they’re not sure how to finish it. If that’s you, you’ll want to read this week’s newsletter!

It’s a long one this week, so before we get into the meat of it, MythFall Issue 2 is launching in September, and you can follow the campaign here:

If you follow before launch you’ll get a free sticker sheet added to your pledge!

Follow MythFall Issue #2

Learning to Write Comic Book Scripts Is Challenging

When I was writing a novel, there were a lot of resources I used to learn how to get better at writing prose. I wanted to learn the craft, so I took courses in school, read books on writing, and watched tutorials on YouTube. I also read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi books, which helped me learn what good prose could look like.

When I switched to writing comics, it was much harder to learn the conventions of script writing. Comic scripts are different than movie or TV scripts, and unlike those formats, there’s no strict layout to follow. We read books like Words For Pictures by Brian Michael Bendis and The Art of Comic Book Writing by Mark Kneece.

These books were great for helping us get started, but what we learned is that there’s no right way to write for comic books. The script is a set of instructions, or even a letter you write to the artist (or artists), and you can decide with your illustrator what form it should take. This is beautiful and true, but doesn’t provide a person with a lot of guidance. Besides, while there’s no right way to write comics, surely there’s a wrong way? (And surely it must be the way I’m doing it.)

Compounding this, while reading comics is a great way to learn how to tell stories in the medium, it’s rare to get ahold of a comic book script—especially a full one.

So how do you tell if your script is any good?

Is it getting the heart of your story across? Will the artist be able to follow it?

Mark took a comic book writing course with Comics Experience, and this is a great option if you have the time to devote to the course work. I’ve relied on my editors, Barbara Perez Marquez, Claire Napier, and , all of whom have been instrumental in elevating my script writing.

One ongoing problem I’ve had, though, is that the scripts are still in a pretty rough state when I deliver them to the editor. And I’m often rewriting them from scratch after the first round of edits. This can drag the process out for months.

What would be really great is if I had a better, more reliable way to evaluate and improve the script on my own before bringing an editor in.

If only there was a practical guide to self-editing for comic book writers.

Self-Editing for Comic Book Writers

I had the opportunity to work with last year on the script for MythFall Interludes. I was too close to the story, and I needed an impartial pair of eyes to help me understand which direction the book should go in. It was a terrific experience that greatly improved the quality of the story we wanted to tell in this book.

James is a fantastic editor, and he’s written a book full of useful and practical advice for comic book writers. He goes over common mistakes and pitfalls he sees in indie comic scripts and how to correct them. It’s the book I wish I had when I first started writing scripts.

It’s live on Kickstarter now, and you can back it here:

Back Self-Editing for Comic Book Writers

I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of the book, and I learned so much that will level up my writing.

Here are some of the things I found especially useful:

• A timeline of the basic editing process: Editing has stages! I knew this intuitively (e.g. do big structure changes before dialogue edits), but it was valuable to see the process broken down into steps and explained. This is going to help me communicate better about where I am in a draft, which will improve our ability to plan our publishing schedule. There were also several steps I was missing that had me delivering scripts rougher than they should have been, and causing delays at the lettering stage.

• The Beat Sheet: We’ve done a fair amount of outlining before writing stories, but I’ve never gone back and re-outlined it after drafting to see if the major beats of the story still come through. This is a step I plan to do on all my full-length scripts going forward.

• Some guidelines for how to choose a professional editor: Specifically, an explanation of different types of editing services and when to bring an editor into your project. When I was first getting started, it was hard to figure out how to find and choose an editor. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I mostly got lucky with my picks. I can now be more strategic about the kind of help I’m looking for.

• When to use sound effects: This has been a big pain point for me. I’m fortunate to work with illustrator Allie Preswick, who has generously provided guidance in her pencils for where I need to add sound effects. I’m excited to have some direction on how sound effects work in the script and when they’re needed.

• Panel description editing: Panel descriptions are another pain point. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what information needs to be there vs what’s overkill. This is covered by courses like comics experience, but I find the succinct list of problems to look out for very helpful.

• Checklists after each chapter, and a checklist glossary at the end: This was one of the things I liked about The Snowflake Method book and I’m happy to see it here. The format is designed to be a practical guide. Once you read the book, you can put a bookmark in at the checklists section for a quick reference.

If that sounds promising, you can back the Kickstarter here:

Back Self Editing for Comic Book Writers

32 Writing Resources (AKA Did we really read all those books on writing?)

Out of the 24 books pictured, we’ve read 16 of them—about 60%. (It’s not a bad ratio, but having calculated it, I now want to improve.) I also found 3 more very helpful books not included in the picture and a few non-book resources we liked.

So which ones are the most useful for learning to write comic book scripts? And which ones are still on our TBR list?

Substack doesn’t handle tables well, so I put together a spreadsheet of all 321 of the resources— books and non books — along with whether I had read them and if they were helpful.

You can check it out here.

• Have you read or used any of them? If so, I would love to know what you thought. Especially if I haven’t read them yet!

• Are any on your To Be Read list?

• Are there any writing books not on my radar that you’d recommend? Please let me know. Clearly, I am collecting them.

Dog Tax

Luke has not read any books on writing, but sometimes he likes to nap on my hand while I’m doing a Murdle and, really, what more can you ask of him?

As we’re gearing up for the MythFall 2 launch in September, I get to share some of the beautiful art we produced for this book!

Today will be a sneak peak at the variant cover by Marguerite Sauvage. I’m a fan Marguerite’s gorgeous and distinct style. I love the way all the characters pop with bright, saturated colors, but the cover still feels inviting and soft.

Prince Kavan is in the background and Rika is flanked by her two besties, Jimmy and Seth. They are the only surviving bodyguards from when the princess was kidnapped, and they’re trying to prevent another tragedy.

Rika is the star of this issue, but she’s grounded by the relationships that matter to her. That’s why I wanted a cover featuring her with her friends!

You can follow the campaign on Backerkit here: MythFall Issue #1-2

Followers get a free metal bookmark added to their pledge and you can also reserve a sticker sheet with chibis, both illustrated by Allie Preswick.

Follow MythFall Issue #1-2

Feral: The Colour of Blood

Our pal from Mad Quill Comics is launching Issue #2 of his horror comic. It’s about werewolves in the Canadian fur trade in the 1700s, and the monsters men can become in the pursuit of power.

This is an expertly written, hauntingly illustrated 30+ page full-color historical fantasy comic. I love the specificity of the setting. Issue #1 was strong and I’m eager to see where Issue #2 will bring us. The project is live on Kickstarter now in it’s final week. So if the premise sounds cool, check out here:

Back Feral on Kickstarter

Dog Tax

This weekend we packed and shipped a good chunk of the orders for the Phoenix Planetarium. Leia didn’t help with that part. But she did help by inspecting the pins for quality.

It’s been a while since my last email. Megacon was fun, but we find conventions take a lot out of me so we’re scaling back on them this year.

I’m going to try shorter formats of this newsletter in the future to help me be more consistent. So lets get into it!

MythFall Issue 2 Cover Reveal

We have a gorgeous new standard cover from Allie Preswick for Issue 2 of MythFall. Fans of Kavan can rejoice over his pouty face. A theme for many of the rewards is going to be selfies, thanks to one of my favorite pages from Issue #2.

Allie is such a pro at drawing expressions. The page is even better with Haley Rose-Lyon’s letters if you can believe it!

You can follow the campaign on Backerkit here: MythFall Issue #1-2

Followers get a free metal bookmark added to their pledge and you can also reserve a sticker sheet with chibis, both illustrated by Allie Preswick.

Follow MythFall Issue #1-2

Dog Tax

This is Leia feeling absolutely no regret after stealing chicken bones from the trash and running away when I tried to get them out of her mouth.

That little paw in the corner is from her lawyer, Luke who claims she did nothing wrong:

Crimes are hard work, so it’s important to get a solid nap in.

We’ve been quiet the last few months in the attic and I wanted to take some time to update you on what’s happening. There’s a lot of updates, so strap in.

I Quit my Job.

Yep. That’s it. That’s the update! (Not the WHOLE update. Definitely keep reading.)

This wasn’t something I expected to do this year, but all good things must come to an end. I could go into details as to why, but the result is the same. I’ll be spending the next month (maybe two) focusing my energies on the Attic. There’s a lot of things that we’ve always wanted to do, but have never had the time or bandwidth for.

I expect there to be a learning curve, but I’m excited to dive in and just enjoy doing my own thing for a while. It’s a privilege that not a lot of people get, so I’m going to make the most of it.

Speaking of diving in…

Mythfall #2 - Coming September 10th

Mythfall #2 has a campaign date! We will be launching on September 10th along with Printopia on Backerkit.

By simply following the campaign, you can get a free sticker sheet when you place your pledge.

Allie designed these chibi’s for the first campaign, but we didn’t quite make the stretch goal, so we’ll be leading off with them for Issue #2.

Follow Now

New Website & Pride Month

We’ve done a big overhaul of our website. We hope you like the new design and to kick the new site off with a bang, we’re offering a 20% discount on all pride items for the month of June.

Enter discount code PRIDEMONTH at check-out for 20% off anything in our pride collection.

Step Into the Attic

Chance Encounters Miniature Campaign

We’re making tabletop miniatures (They’re also enamel pins)! Our next crowdfunding campaign is Chance Encounters: Animal Companion Enamel Pin Miniatures. We launch June 16th and we’re closing in on 300 followers before launch so this could be our biggest campaign ever.

They’re pretty damn cool and there are a lot of free pins up for grabs. If you follow the campaign, you’ll get a free sticker of all eight of our companions and maximize your potential for free pins.

Follow the Campaign

Crowdfunding Status Page

At the beginning of this year, we had three campaigns pending fulfillment and it was extremely stressful. Not because we had a lot of work to do, but because I didn’t want to be one of those crowdfunding companies that never fulfills anything. I’m glad that we’ve caught up, but I want to make sure that we’re always super transparent about our campaigns. For that reason, I made a quick Google Doc so that you can see the status of our campaigns and our future lineup.

Crowdfunding Status Report

Dog Tax

The part of the update you’ve all been waiting for!

I recently moved all of the furniture around in my office and so now the dogs spend half the day sleeping on the bed which has easy access to the front window. Their typical rotation is Sleep —> Bark —> Sleep —> Repeat.

It was a long post, so congratulate yourself for making it to the very end. If you just skipped to the end for the dog tax, don’t worry. I forgive you. They’re cute and know the true value of a good nap. If you appreciate a good nap, leave a like and let us know in the comments.

Thanks for reading today. Stay Super!

Quick announcement before we get into things: We’re down to the final hours on the Phoenix Planetarium campaign. We’ve unlocked our first Stretch Goal and we’re working on the second. If you want to pick up one of these planet themed birds, get it now, before it’s too late!

Get a Planetary Phoenix Pin

On to the main event: I’ve been teasing updates on MythFall Interludes for a few weeks now. It’s finally time to share and I’ve got A LOT to say. It’s a thick update this week and though you may need to click to open the email in a new page to view the dog tax, I think you’ll find it worth the effort.

MythFall Interludes - Behind the Scenes Peek

We’re working with a fabulous collective of artists to produce MythFall Interludes anthology style. Two members of this collective are here on Substack and I’m excited to announce them this week. They both have projects active now on Kickstarter, so if you like what you see, you should check those out as well.

Interludes Part 3 Illustrated by Nathan Lueth

I’ve been a fan of ’s work since reading reading Impure Blood, a complex and interesting steam-punk fantasy series that combines themes of lost history and acceptance with action and adventure. also got to work with Nathan last year on Concrete Arcanum, a modern dark fantasy anthology that pairs nicely with Nathan’s latest series, The Canon of Vangel.

I’m really excited to work with Nathan on MythFall Interludes, since MythFall shares some overlapping themes with Impure Blood. He’s generously allowed me to share his roughs with you here and they’re really fantastic.

We’ve paired up on perhaps the darkest section of Interludes — a young king learns the truth about his nations past and is burned alive for heresy when he tries to warn his people.

It’s been exciting to see the way each artist interprets the reoccurring characters, especially Naeva, who is the main protagonist of this book.

Watch Nathan Draw Page 16 on Patreon

Nathan recently live-streamed himself drawing Page 16. You can watch the replay in two parts over on his Patreon while he discusses:

• Script to sketch: Words coming to life!

• Page layout and panel flow

• Creating frames and emphasis

• Repeating composition in panels and how to cheat.

• Burning people alive!

It was both cool and instructive to see him break down his process for roughing out a page. He reads the script page aloud in full, discusses some short cuts he uses in photoshop and also shares the reference board we’re using for the project. He’s happy to answer questions as well. If you’re interested in making comics as a writer, as an artist, or just as a curious person who likes to learn, I really recommend giving it a look. Here’s a link to Part 1 of the livestream:

Watch Nathan Draw MythFall on Patreon

Mind Astray Sketch Collection by Nathan Lueth

One of the most impressive things about Nathan is that he does it all: writing, illustration, and even lettering. He’s latest artbook is live now on Kickstarter. You can pick it up along with copies of The Canon of Vangel and Impure Blood. He’s also got a sick-ass dragon print available as a reward, and the option to commission a drawing of your D&D character. Check out his project here:

Back Mind Astray

Interludes Part 5 Illustrated by Gerald Von Stoddard

I got a chance to see ’s work when he teamed up with writer Frank Martin on Immortal Coil, a re-imagining of Norse mythology told through the lens of Eldritch horror and set in a modern world on the brink of annihilation. Immortal Coil exposes Ragnarök as a hoax to protect Odin’s family.

I loved the way Gerald illustrated these gods at war and I was thrilled to get a chance to work with him on Part 5 of MythFall Interludes. In Part 5, Naeva works with the trickster goddess, Madira, to sow discord between the other gods, causing them to fight each other for power. This section takes place fully on the God Plane — a realm separate from the material world and shaped by the gods’ will and whims. I thought it would be a great fit for Gerald’s dynamic style. We’ve gotten our first look at Gerald’s pages for MythFall Interludes and they’re gorgeous.

Here is an in-progress image of Page 25.

Immortal Coil #1-3

Immortal Coil Issues #1-3 are live on Kickstarter now. You can catch up on this richly illustrated story of Loki’s quest to reveal the truth about Ragnarök and punish Odin’s family for their lies.

Back Immortal Coil

I have even more art to share for MythFall Interludes (and MythFall Issue 2) but there is only so much awesomeness I can pack into a single email. Keep an eye out for the next one, but in the meantime don’t miss:

Cool Projects About to Wrap Up on Kickstarter

There is an abundance of worthwhile and interesting indie projects live on Kickstarter right now. I’m both proud of and excited about some of the projects that are active, so if you’ll indulge me here are a few more that I recommend. These projects are ending soon, so check them out today if they sound fun.

Tatsumi The Serpent Mistress #1-2

After being left for dead and floating adrift in the Serpent’s Sea, TATSUMI NAKIHANA teamed up with the most unexpected individuals: The pirate crew of THE SIDESTALKER. Together, they’ll get revenge on the undead hoards of the DARK KONQUESTORS, who menace the seas leaving a trail of embers, ash, and corpses in their wake. Check out this swashbuckling sequel from , with some dragon themed merch.

Back Tatsumi The Serpent Mistress

[Edit: Can’t believe I forgot to mention that if you haven’t read MythFall yet, you can get a free digital copy by backing Tatsumi. Leave it to me to get distracted by dragons.]

Growing Up on the Spectrum

This 190-page graphic novel by autistic creator Tess Langston is part educational comic and part memoir. Tess was diagnosed autistic and nonspeaking at a very young age and worked hard to learn how to navigate the strange, neurotypical world we live in. Now, as an adult with a love for sequential storytelling, she has created Growing Up on the Spectrum to share all that she’s learned. This project, published by , showcases the power of comics not just to entertain, but to share the unique things that make us human. You can check it out here:

Back Growing Up On The Spectrum

Dog Tax

Luke has been a key member of the fulfillment crew for Bound By Words as we’ve been working to ship out the first wave of orders. His primary responsibilities are to lick the arms and legs of the packing team, boost morale, and make sure each package contains the appropriate amount of dog hair. (This is his free gift to all our backers.)

After our first evening of shipping, we shared this pupdate to our Discord:

A short time later, we received this message from concerned citizen Gogololo.

The team at ADM took this feedback very seriously, and prepared Luke for an emergency appointment with the Human Hairy Resources department that very night.

We are happy to report this complaint has been resolved successfully and with treats for all parties. In addition to his duties as Director of Barketing, Luke will be involved in all shipping operations moving forward and will be cuddled on his favorite chair at regular intervals. Thank you all for your attention in this matter.

Hello everyone who made it down here to the end of the update. Thanks so much for reading! If there was a part of the post you particularly liked, please leave a comment and let me know.

I hopped over to the Gainesville Renfaire this weekend with some friends. It’s a great place to try on some hats.

Legolas and all 4 hobbits are going to be at Megacon this year, so I’m working on a hobbit cosplay.

We’re gearing up to restart our Discord book club in February. If you want to take part or just say hi, you can join us here:

Join the ADM Discord

Bound By Words - Fulfillment Update

Want an update on Bound By Words? Well here’s the tea:

That’s right! The tea from D&Tea has arrived. I did a taste test on Siora’s Potion and it was as delicious as it looked. D&Tea really knocked it out of the park with this one.

ALSO, the books have arrived from Comic Impressions. The treatments on the variants really add a special touch to these covers. This gives us everything we need to start fulfilling orders.

The sailor moon variant came out especially nice.

Owlbear Ranch - Fulfillment Update

The main elemental owlbear pins are here, but we’re still waiting to receive the special add on pins with glitter and glow-in-the-dark enamel. I’m very happy with how these pins came out. The print is crisp and the art is super cute!

CFCC Hall of Fame

We were grateful to be at Central Florida Comic Con again meeting new people and seeing familiar faces. Here are some of the cool people we met this year!

Comics on Kickstarter

Here are a few indie projects you might like that are live on Kickstarter now.

Pillars of Creation #1: A Science-Fiction Horror

Pillars of Creation is a 32 Page thrill ride into science-fiction horror. In the distant future, mankind has conquered the stars. Hana Gibson works for the Tybus Corporation as a planetary survey specialist, visiting barren lifeless worlds for cracking and mining. Her team are woken early from their long trip home. Sent to investigate missing survey team, Hana is shocked to learn her partner Nakala is among those missing.

On the surface they find only blood and more questions. Where is the team? But the planet holds old terrifying secrets... Something is watching them. They have to leave! They have to leave, now!

Back Pillars Of Creation

The Long Dark Winter #1-3

Long Dark Winter is a 24 page moody, gritty, black and white horror comic. Ted Fallon began a new life as the town sheriff of Hope Falls so he could be closer to his sister. All was tranquil until the day the tranquil little town became swallowed by a winter that never ends. Now People disappear. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Ted investigates a string of grisly murders, but the deeper he digs, the more he realizes the killer may not be human…

Stranger Things fans looking for their next fix should check this out!

Back Long Dark Winter

Night Wolf #1-11: Urban Fantasy Werewolf Coming-of-Age Drama

Born into the outcast breed of werewolves known as the Monoki, eighteen-year-old Rodney Marcelli is reluctantly pulled into an ancient war between good and evil, during a modern time where the line has blurred.

With the help of Snow Paw, the Pureblood Monoki, and the supernatural evil slayer, Night Hunter, Rod must learn to master his newly found lycanthropy and mysterious kinetic energy power that only he possesses. Rod must fight the Dark Covenant in order to avenge his friends and family, and to save the girl he loves from the master vampire, Lord Malice.

Back Night Wolf

Dog Tax

The weather is chilly for Florida so Leia has been trying to cuddle. She likes it best when she has a pillow and a human to cuddle with.

We’ve just come back from CFCC and we have some exciting new updates in the pipeline for MythFall, but the main thing I want to announce today is that our Phoenix Planetarium project has just gone live!

You can back it here!

Back the Phoenix Planetarium

This project is for Pintopia 2026. Pintopia is organized this year into different Banner Themes to help sort the dozens of beautiful, weird, or spooky projects participating in the event. We are part of the Spaced Out banner, which is a collection of celestial and space themed projects.

has designed an adorable astronaut version of Cecil the Wizard that will be available as a keychain. Plus, we have phoenix pins designed by Rahlee Draws and Maru Davalos for all eight planets AND PLUTO (#justiceforpluto).

If you back in the first 48 hours, you can get this cute little pin of the Mars Perseverance Rover added to your pledge for free.

Back the Phoenix Planetarium

Dog Tax

We’ll return next time with our regularly scheduled programming, but for now, here’s Luke getting hype about launch day!

I hope the rest of your week is filled with zoomies.

Before we jump into the look back I wanted to give a quick shout out to the Phoenix Planetarium project we have up on Backerkit. It goes live at the end of the month for Pintopia 2026. Pluto stans, if you think Pluto should still be a planet, you can reserve your Pluto Phoenix pin early.

Follow & Reserve Your Pluto PIn

ADM 2025 Wrap Up

If you’re following us on social media, you might have seen the wrap up post that made for 2025. This was our busiest year yet with 5 launches and 13 (THIRTEEN!) conventions, including our first out-of-state convention.

In 2026 we’re planning to be more strategic with the conventions we do to leave more time for writing and hopefully get books out faster. There are a few project we made great progress on last year, but that haven’t launched yet, and I’ll have updates on those next time!

Cici’s 2025 Shelfie

I read 11 books this year, mostly for our book club in the ADM Discord server, which was great because it kept me reading when I might have stopped all together. Though we still haven’t had our discussion about Guards! Guards! yet, I think we’ll try the book club again next year.

You can join us here:

Join the ADM Discord

• Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

  • I loved this book. It’s hard to describe without spoiling it, but basically a sassy crow narrates the zombie apocalypse. You kind of just have to crack it open to understand why that’s so fantastic. Every character has a unique voice that is grounded in how they see the world — and they can see things pretty differently, being different species. The take of having zombies be obsessed with phones feels fresh and relevant. And despite all the guts and swearing, the book has a lot of heart.

• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

  • This was a really cool story that I enjoyed a lot. The mystery of January’s parents and the mystery of the doors take turns driving the plot forward as January discovers the truth about her world and about herself. The ending was poignant. I love the way her journey begins with a magic book that expands her world, the same way that mundane books can do in the real world.

• The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin

  • I’m gonna be real: this was fine. I’m glad I read it, but it really didn’t hit for me. I finished it, but I probably won’t read the sequels. I liked the game theory elements of the story, and, weirdly, I enjoyed the math. But I didn’t connect to the characters and the nihilism was too strong for me. And I say that after having enjoyed Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep.

• Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson

  • I have spent my life reading huge doorstopper fantasy books and I enjoyed this one, which was a suitably epic capstone to arc 1 of the Stormlight Archive. To sum it up at this point would be difficult, but mainly, I appreciate how this book can deliver sweeping epic fantasy, but still zero in on small human moments. A lot has been written about the worldbuilding and magic system in this book and those are both great, but I haven’t read 2 million words of this series because of the cool arial spear fights (although there are cool arial spear fights). The series is about finding the last shred of hope in the darkest times and how to move forward through despair. Also, crab people.

• Red Shirts by John Scalzi

  • I was expecting this book to be a fun parody of a Star Trek style space opera. I was not expecting this book to smash through the 4th wall like Miley Cyrus on a wrecking ball and then set fire to the debris. There’s an inventive “magic system” in this book around Rule of Cool as physics gets suspended while characters are in the grip of “The Narrative.” Just when you think the book is out of tricks it pulls a fast one on you in the addendums. This was a fun ride. I especially the parts where the author punked me.

• Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

  • This book is a light and cozy read. I really enjoyed all the descriptions of food. It might seem silly but there’s something really soothing about the way this book can transport you into the memory of biting into a warm, chocolate croissant. The world is overwhelming and scary, but this book is there for you with a comforting latte and a warm pastry. I also enjoyed getting to know Viv and rooting for her to open a successful cafe. The book was a little light on tension. It felt at times that conflicts were resolved too easily. But I still found it fun and would recommend it. It did make me crave dessert, though, so be warned.

• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

  • I read The Hunger Games, and I liked The Hunger Games. It’s a fantastic series that explores how propaganda is used as social control to push us to accept horrific acts and how to break through that messaging. It also touches on income inequality, parasocial relationships, the beauty industry, and half a dozen other worthwhile themes. It does a lot for a YA series about teenagers killing each other for sport. But I felt like I had gotten the message from the first series and wasn’t planning to dip into the prequels until Sunrise on the Reaping won the discord vote for monthly book club. That would have been a mistake. Suzanne Collins is using the prequels to explore how Panam developed and refined the hunger games from public execution into prime time entertainment. It has some weaknesses. Hamish’s obsession with Lenore dove grows old quickly, and the pacing is strange: they don’t enter the games until late in the book. But in general I would say it’s still an interesting and worth reading if you liked The Hunger Games.

• Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree

  • I picked up this book after learning that Legends and Lattes was written for Nanowrimo. After all, if Legends and Lattes was what Travis could bash out in 30 days, then Bookshops and Bonedust could only go up from there. That assessment turned out to be correct. I found this book even more delightful than the first one. This is a real love letter to books of all kinds as Viv discovers her love of reading thanks to her new friends. The stakes are a little higher than in Legends and Lattes, which makes the conclusion more satisfying. There are still many delicious pastries to imagine. I’m looking forward to reading book 3 in this series.

• Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

  • I enjoyed this book about a girl and her ghost dog companion investigating her cousin’s murder. The many twists and turns kept me interested through the story and it gave me a little tap right in the feels at the end. I also enjoyed the setting and the way the magic was woven into it, through stories about Elatsoe’s 6th great grandmother.

• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

  • This was my favorite book that I read this year. It’s like a warm hug in a book format. We have a secret project in the works in the cozy fantasy genre and this book was close to what I hope we can evoke from that story. The characters were all very loveable and the cozy setting of the book didn’t

• Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

  • I read Guards! Guards! last year, but didn’t realize it was the abridged version. I re-read the abridged version for book club this year and then read the unabridged version as well. The abridged version gets across the funny and clever story that subverts typical fantasy tropes, but the unabridged version adds more meat to the characters and explores some interesting and weirdly relevant themes. I have to say I really enjoyed it, and I’m glad I added the story to book club because otherwise I never would have realized the version I read was abridged.

Cici’s 2025 Wrapped

We had a fun time in the Discord sharing our Spotify wrapped results. Mine were heavily influenced by my MythFall Interludes playlist, which I ran on loop while I was writing the script. Jorge Rivera-Herrans is the writer of the EPIC: The Musical soundtrack. I went deep on that album this year. It’s about 2 hours long and great background music for setting up our con table. I’ve even met a few people who came over just because it was playing.

Pop into the discord to share your top 5 for the year and talk about your favorite bands.

Join the ADM Discord

Dog Tax

You made it to the end of the year, and you made it to the end of the email! There’s only one thing left to do and that’s to wish you Happy New Year from Luke & Leia.

It’s been a while since I got to do a nice staged photos with them so I went all out.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. I’ve taken my sweaters out and fired up the Michael Bublé.

We had a blast at Cajon Con and managed not to get the flu, which was my biggest worry. We had so much fun at this convention meeting new people in Baton Rouge and swinging down into New Orleans for the day to see the sights.

CajunCon Hall of Fame

Here are some cool people we met at CajunCon and some of the fun times we had

!

Fulfillment Updates: Owlbear Ranch and Bound By Words

But it hasn’t all been fun and games here at Attic Door Media! We’ve also made progress on fulfilling our open projects.

Bound By Words

• We’ve ordered the books from Comic Impressions. They have all the files. We’re waiting on an ETA for when they will print and ship.

• We’ve place orders for the tea and candle rewards.

• Bound By Words pins and sticker sheets have arrived!

Owlbear Ranch

• We’ve placed the order for the Owlbear pins. The factory is manufacturing them now and we’re waiting on proofs.

• The sticker sheets have arrived! We also got in the cute sticker of Rancher Jane.

We’ll keep you looped in on the progress of these projects and they march towards completion and let you know when we start to ship.

MythFall Updates

MythFall Issue #2 Inks!

Yes, we have more MythFall inks to share from the incredible Allie Preswick!

MYTHFALL LORE DROP 🌌

In this scene, Rika is escorting wayward prince Kavan back through the underground city of Radih.

After the cataclysm, Zymerans survived by retreating into caves for a few hundred years. They subsisted on a diet of mushrooms, algae, and whatever they could find. Radih is a much higher tech underground city then the ones Zymerans survived in thousands of years ago, but they are still comfortable being underground. Their architecture reflects the mushrooms that kept them alive through the cataclysm decorated with the layered patterns you can see in their designs and textiles. I love how Allie has illustrated these pages and can’t wait to see her colors!

Mythfall Interludes

Now that the script is complete, we are putting together the art team for MythFall Interludes. We’re doing it anthology style and we have reached out to some artists we’re excited to collaborate with. Keep an eye out for future updates as we reveal the team. 👀

You can see more MythFall updates in the Discord, where we sometimes announce things too secret to share on the internet.

Join the Discord

Dog Tax

The hardest part about CajunCon was leaving Luke and Leia behind for the trip. They were ready to cuddle as soon as we got back home.

I’m preparing for Turkey Time this week and on year 2 of figuring out what it means to have a seasonal wardrobe. We have some happenings in our Discord:

• Book Club Discussion: We are finishing up Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett this month for our book club, and we’ll be chatting about it soon.

• Read the MythFall Interludes Script: MythFall fans, the full script for Interludes is available to read in the Discord. You can read it early while we produce the book.

You can join us here:

Join the Discord

If you missed our creator spotlight with , you can catch it on the Comixlaunch podcast. You can find it on Spotify or listen here:

Listen to Our Interview on ComixLaunch

InfinityCon Hall of Fame

We had a great time at InfinityCon hanging out with friends from the indie comics scene and making new friends. Gainesville has a fun larper community that came out to this con, and we saw some pretty epic cosplays, too! Here are some of the cool people we met at Infinitycon!

Indie Comics Unboxings

What’s the best part of backing Kickstarters? Getting packages in the mail! Here are some awesome projects I got this week.

Atlantis Wasn’t Built For Tourists

I love stories about monsters who fight other monsters. That (plus the gator imagery) is what drew me to Atlantis Wasn’t Built for Tourists, written by and hauntingly illustrated and colored by Wendell Cavalcanti and Mark Dale. I can’t wait to dig into this volume with a beautiful soft-touch cover by Steven Russell Black and learn the secrets Atlantis, Oregon had rather kept hidden. Here’s the synopsis!

Lucas Lewis drifts into Atlantis County, Oregon wanting nothing more than a hot meal and a soft bed for the night. What he finds instead is a town in the thrall to eldritch creatures lurking in the surrounding wilderness, possibly guided by an even more sinester force. Lucas becomes determined to eradicate all Atlantis’ demons, but these monsters are not what they seem. Unfortunately for the monsters, neither is Lucas.

Immortal Coil Vol. 1: The End Of All Things Unboxing

I’m so hype to get Immortal Coil by . The graphics in this book are stunning and the premise is blends epic fantasy and horror in a really fun way.

Here’s the synopsis:

A reimagining of Norse Mythology told through the lens of Eldritch horror set in a modern world on the brink of cosmic annihilation. Immortal coil explores the hidden truths of Ragnarok exposing it as a carefully orchestrated hoax to protect Odin’s family while dooming the other realms. Now, with Loki’s return and his alliance with the eldritch god, Nyarlanthotep, this Saga becomes a battle between divine legacies and unspeakable horrors, where the stakes are nothing less than the survival of existence itself. This series offers a unique blend of mythological and cosmic horror, layered with themes of family, redemption, and the lingering consequences of ancient betrayals.

Gerald Von Stoddard has teamed up with Frank Martin for their latest Kickstarter, which I also can’t wait to read: Love And Death on the Dark Side of the Moon.

Check Out Love & Death on Kickstarter

Vampires On Mars Unboxing

Vampires on Mars by is been a favorite of mine in the horror/comedy genre and includes one of my favorite set pieces: Space Vampires. George worked with The Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait, to bring as much accuracy as he could to this madcap concept. The vibrant colors and stylized character designs bring a lot of fun to the book. Here’s the synopsis:

Humans can’t make it to Mars, but Vampires can. A vampire manipulates a tech billionaire into letting her take over the space program, contending with volatile astronauts and chaotic humans to complete her 300-year-old quest to set foot on Mars.

Dog Tax

We didn’t have fall weather when I lived in South Florida, so I had to simulate it. Here’s one of my favorite videos of Luke and Leia.

I’ve been hibernating lately, but working hard on the script for MythFall Interludes. The final task left on the script is to give it a proofreading pass. Then we can start putting together the art team. I’m planning to produce it as an anthology with a different artist for each of the 6 parts.

MythFall Interludes takes place in the time skip between pages 6 and 7 of MythFall issue #1. It follows Naeva for the first 3,000 years of her imprisonment.

Want a Sneek Peek of the script? Here’s Page 1!

Mythfall Interludes Pg 1

53.2KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

MythFall Issue #2 More Inks!

It never rains, but it pours! I have more gorgeous inks to share from Allie Preswick. In this section, Rika finally meets Kavan and has to take him back home to his uncle.

Seth and Jimmy will have to investigate the Hailstorm Guard without her. 🤔 Check them out!

MythFall Lore Drop: Deep Space Relay Network

Zymera uses a network of wormholes to connect the far-flung planets in the republic. Each wormhole permits travel in one direction, and only one exit wormhole can be active in each star system.

The wormholes are not just for passenger travel. They are also the only way the planets can communicate with each other over long distances.

The Relay Station generates the wormhole and switches between locations every 16 hours or so. When the wormhole between two planets is closed, travel and communication between those planets stops.

So Rika will be stranded on the homeworld away from her friends while they attempt a dangerous mission with no way of knowing whether they’re ok until the wormhole opens again.

Comixlaunch Creator Spotlight!

We were so excited to join this week on the Comixlaunch creator spotlight to discuss what we learned from running our Bound By Words campaign. We had a great discussion! Here are some highlights:

• Why you have to risk being annoying in order to succeed

• How launching a Kickstarter is like being Indiana Jones

• The differences between launching on Backerkit and Kickstarter

• Plus: Why you should look around while running from that boulder, Indy!

Watch The Creator Spotlight

Fulfillment Updates

Owlbear Ranch

The Owlbear Ranch pin campaign has ended. We’re waiting for backerkit to release funds, and then we can send out surveys.

Bound By Words

Surveys are out for Bound By Words! All but 30 surveys have been returned and we have started production on the rewards. Preorders are open until we start fulfillment, so if you missed the campaign, you can check it out here.

Cool Comics On Kickstarter

Jonesing for your next comic fix? There are some pretty rad projects live now.

Love & Death on The Dark Side of the Moon

Fans of MythFall may appreciate this gorgeously illustrated sci-fi graphic novel from Third Contact Comics about a goth boy from the dark side of the moon who is humanity’s last hope for salvation from hostile cosmic forces. It’s live now on Kickstarter, and you can back it here:

Back Love & Death

An Anthological Archive of Great Ghastly Horror!

An Anthological Archive of Great Ghastly Horror! (or AAAGGH!) is an anthology of classic horror short stories adapted for comics by . The collection is hosted by “The Curator” and features 48 full color page with a comic story by H.P.Lovecraft, an illustrated short story by Edgar Allan Poe, and a comic short by Robert E Howard. But wait — there’s more! You’ll also get a short comic Cryptid segment, a comic True Hauntings segment, and host segments featuring The Curator! There’s only a few hours left on AAAGGH! So don’t wait to check it out.

Back AAAGGH!

Blood of the Grunch #1

Blood of the Grunch is a surreal modern horror for mature readers that’s The White Lotus meets Midsommar. Part One of Three by .

Welcome to Luxuria. A secret island getaway for husbands and wives. An exclusive paradise where women can experience true sisterhood…and men meet a grisly fate. At this tropical oasis, true happiness lurks around every corner—but so does the Grunch. Renew your spirit and find rebirth at our female-friendly resort. The cost is all-inclusive, but the payment is eternal. Back it — if you dare!

Back Blood of the Grunch

Dog Tax

Today has been a long week, but it’s nice to be able to curl up at the end with a couple of furry friends.

Our October book for our Discord book club is The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. I just finished it and wow, was it fantastic! It’s a sweet, cozy fantasy story, but the lovable characters give the conflict high stakes. It was fun to imagine the soundtrack behind the different scenes as I got to test my knowledge of some old classic songs. I also found the ending to be satisfying, which is one of the things that sets great stories apart.

I can’t wait to talk about it at the end of the month. If you want to join in, meet us in the Discord!

Join the ADM Discord

New MythFall Issue #2 Inks

More MythFall inks. YEAH! I’m so hype to share more of Allie Preswick’s gorgeous inks. These next pages are a flashback to the scene where Princess Kira is kidnapped! This event touches so many characters in the story, so it was important to get it right. We went through some late state script tweaks on this scene to really lock it in, but I’m so pleased with how they’ve come out.

Fulfillment Updates

Fly With Pride Pins: Fulfilled!

Fly With Pride is now fully shipped, including some of our largest orders to date. 🎉

Bound By Words

We’re setting up Bound By Words in Backerkit and preparing to send out surveys to all backers. If you missed the campaign, the preorder store is live until we print the books. We have a few things up there that we don’t usually stock in our online store, including the Murder Mystery game and the MythFall art prints. You can check it out here.

Owlbear Ranch: Open Voting for Pin Designs

We are voting on owlbears like crazy down at the Owlbear Ranch. If you want to choose what designs we produce, give the campaign a follow and vote in one of the 4 (FOUR!) active polls.

Vote on the Owlbears

Comics on Kickstarter

October is the busiest month for indie comics on Kickstarter. Here are some cool indie projects live now!

Battle Panda Issues #1-4

In this fun, action-adventure, all-ages book, Kai the panda fights to defend his home against the scary wolves who are waging war against Panda City. Farhan Qureshi is back with another exciting installment in Kai and his friends’ quest to overthrow the wolf pack threatening their home. The digital deluxe reward comes with extra behind-the-scenes content and coloring pages. This campaign is in its final 72 hours, so check it out here before it’s done!

Back Battle Panda

The Sentinels #1-12

An homage to the era of 10¢ floppies, The Sentinels features a combination of original characters and updated public domain heroes from the 1940s. They’re an alternative to groups like the Justice League or the Avengers. In issue #12, the series reaches its action-packed climax. There’s a cool add-on where the Standard Comics team will draw a custom superhero based on your original sketch design. Check it out here:

Back The Sentinels

HEIRS OF ISILDUR: The Perilous Prospects 1-5 THE FINALE

Misled by a shadowy guild, Professor Mykal Isuldor opens a portal in a hidden underground laboratory unleashing an apocalypse over the town of Shadow’s Haven. Now, three factions compete to put the town to rights again each driven by their own questionable motives. is offering of cool rewards including a metal album inspired by the comic, a Back to the Future homage cover, and a wood cover with a steampunk clock design. Check it out here:

Back Heirs of Isildur

Dog Tax

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Time to dress my dogs up in ridiculous costumes. Leia is dressed as a jack-o'-lantern and Luke is a hot dog.

They had to work very hard to sit still becuase it’s trash day and the truck noises were distracting. After all, if they don’t bark at the garbage truck, then who will? However, they were very accommodating and handsomely rewarded with snacks.

We’ve developed a strategy for pitching at conventions, especially pitching multiple series, without overwhelming people. In fact, we’ve even had con-goers compliment our strategy after buying our books. (Seriously. Multiple times. People really love stickers.)

First, though, the boilerplate. This article is part of a series, and once all five parts are complete, they’ll live on our Substack. If you missed the first article—which also has links to the rest of the series as they come out—you can find it here: We Can Convention and So Can You!

So, how do we at ADM approach pitching our IP at conventions?

This article will be in 2 parts: guiding principles that help make our pitching more successful, and the pitch itself.

But to get you started, here’s a tl;dr:

1. Stay positive. Don’t take rejection personally.

2. Be proactive about talking to people who pass by. Don’t wait for them to come to the booth.

3. Don’t pull people out of your neighbors’ booths. Pitch to an individual. Don’t shout at a crowd — or worse, at an empty row.

4. Offer something small, interesting, and free to get their attention. We turned our business card into a sticker with art from our book.

5. Break your pitch into stages. Keep your initial pitch extremely brief. Then, if they stick around, add detail.

6. If you make it through a full pitch, end it by explicitly mentioning the price.

7. If they don’t buy, offer them your email signup list.

8. If they do buy, offer them your email signup list — and take their picture.

Guiding Principles

The attitude we bring to our pitches is important to our success. People feed off your energy, so if you’re flagging, stressed, or preoccupied. So how do you keep your head in the game?

Straight Up Gratitude

Gratitude is how we stay positive hour after hour at conventions. But it can be hard to maintain it. After all, part of pitching is getting rejected. A lot. Sometimes, a bunch of times in a row. It’s easy to get discouraged and feel bad, which can make your future pitches less successful. Attention is a precious and limited resource in a loud and overwhelming world. Nobody on the convention floor owes us their time. If someone takes the sticker and walks off before we can give them a pitch, or even says “No, thank you” to the sticker before continuing on with their day, we’re sincerely grateful for that interaction. And if they stop to hear our pitch? Wow. That’s awesome! We’re total strangers, and this person was willing to give us their time so we could tell them about a cool thing that we made. Each stage of the interaction is a tiny success–a gift from a stranger. Not every pitch will result in a sale, but each engagement that someone has with us is a win.

“Read Me”

This isn’t a programmer’s README file. This is our free-to-peruse copy of comic issues, right on the table for any con-goer to flip through. If you’re like us, you’ve spent too many hours sitting on the floor at Barnes & Noble reading through a stack of manga or novels you never bought. Con-goers aren’t any different. Some want to browse, some want to stand and skim. That’s fine by us.

Turnabout is fair play. We’re carrying books for others to consume, and we’d rather encourage reading than discourage it. If someone blocks traffic, we politely guide them to the side, but never ask them to stop. Avid readers often become avid supporters.

Passivity Means Anonymity

When you’re an indie comic creator, you’re at a disadvantage right out of the gate. People don’t know your label the way they know Marvel. They don’t know your IP the way they know Spider-Man or Batman. That means you’ve got to put your work forward.

This can be tough. Many creators are introverted, preferring to communicate through their work. But conventions demand that you get past that. You have to pitch your heart out. So don’t just sit back and hope people notice you as they stroll past. They need to know why they need your work in their life.

Be Engaging, Not Overbearing

Yes, you need to grab attention. But don’t be obnoxious about it. Con etiquette is important. You want to be remembered as someone fun to share a row with, not someone who soured the vibe.

The con scene is a community. There’s a lot of camaraderie among vendors. We’ve had conversations with other creators that gave us tips on product design and convention strategy. We even played D&D by passing notes. You don’t want to be that person everyone avoids in Artist Alley.

Don’t drag people away from a neighbor’s table. It’s worth saying twice: Don’t pull people out of a neighbor’s booth. Especially in artist alley, indie creators have the potential to be disruptive to our neighbors. Focus on attendees who are walking past or who make eye contact. If they’re eying another vendor’s booth let them shop. Target your attacks: Pitch to specific people. Don’t shout into the void like a carnival barker.

The Pitch Process

Alright, so you’ve caught someone’s attention. They’re slowing down near your table. You’re ready to engage. What do you do? This is where our pitch workflow comes in.

The Loss Leader

Stickers. Everyone loves them. They’re inexpensive, they’re fun, and they’re your hook. A simple “Would you like a free sticker?” is an easy way to get people to pause. For us, it costs about $0.06 per sticker. Even if someone takes one and leaves, our website is on it, which means our website is now in their hands. And they come out of your pitch feeling happy, since you’ve just paid them for their time.

Think of it as spending pennies for pitches.

Also, the stickers are awesome: we use art from the book. If people like the stickers and think they’re cool, they’ll probably like the art in the book.

Accept or Refuse

Some people won’t take the sticker. Maybe they’re late for a cosplay contest or just not in the mood. That’s fine. Let them keep walking. Maybe they hate joy (kidding!). We always prefer for someone to refuse the sticker than to take it if they don’t really want it. Because there are people who *love* stickers and would be excited to get it.

Sometimes, even without taking the sticker, people pause long enough to peek at your books. That’s when you invite them to read through your “Read Me” copies.

And if they do take the sticker? Great. Some might leave right after, but many will stick around long enough for you to give them a quick pitch. Offering a freebie buys you that sliver of attention.

The Pitch Itself

Here’s where the fun begins. We offer different stickers featuring characters from our IPs. Maybe they pick Mr. Sunshine, the fire-powered local who we lovingly refer to as the fabled Florida Man™. Maybe they pick Prince Kavan, a royal runaway searching for his kidnapped sister. Once they choose, we flip to the page in the comic where that character appears, give a short description, and let them browse through the comic on their own.

It’s a choose-your-own-adventure moment. You tailor the pitch to what *they* picked. And yes, you are basically a dungeon master for their five-minute con quest. And you don’t give them the sticker until you’ve gotten started on who that character is! Consider it an equivalent exchange for the sticker.

Time to Converse

Now they’re flipping through your book. This is where you shift gears into conversation. Pay attention to their cues. If they’re wearing a Marvel shirt, we highlight some of the superpowers. If they’ve got a lightsaber prop, we lean into our sci-fi/fantasy characters. This is also where being a geek yourself pays off. We’re trekkies. Someone mentions Trek, we could talk for hours. But the goal is to loop it back to your own comic. Connect the dots between their fandoms and your stories.

At this point, you also want to:

• Offer a longer pitch if they ask for more details.

• Remind them you’re a local creator (if it’s true)

• Pivot if they clearly show interest in another title on your table.

Closing the Pitch

If they’ve stuck around for a longer pitch and conversation, make sure you mention the price of the book. Even if the price is clearly marked on the table. Cons are visually overwhelming, and it’s easy to miss things. If a person is confused, they won’t buy. It’s okay if they’re not ready to purchase today, but make sure they know how much it would cost.

When They Don’t Buy

Not everyone will buy, and that’s okay. But that doesn’t mean the interaction is wasted. This is your chance to collect data—specifically, their email.

We always keep a digital sign-up form open on one of our phones. The pitch is light: “You’ll get free samples of our ongoing work and yes, photos of our dogs.” People love the dog angle. And yes, the dogs get plenty of treats for their service.

When They Do Buy

If you land the sale, congrats! But don’t let the interaction stop there. Offer to sign the book. Many people don’t know they can ask you for this, or think it might be an extra charge. Let them know it’s an option.

While signing, hand them a device where they can put in their email and invite them to subscribe. Mention that you’ll keep them updated on new issues.

Once they’re paid up, ask them if they’ll let you take their picture with your comic. This is your social proof for future campaigns: all the cool people who already like and read your books! Celebrate this on social media and tag people if you know their handles.

Practice Makes Progress

“Fail Fast” is a common saying in startups. For the last two years, we’ve been trying to do as many conventions as we can (honestly, probably too many conventions), sometimes on back-to-back weekends. Why? To learn as much as we can. We made a lot of mistakes. That’s okay. The key is practice. The main thing we learned: books don’t sell themselves sitting on a table. You’ve got to work the crowd.

Here’s how our last Con shook out for us:

• Table Cost: $540 for two Artist Alley tables and four exhibitor passes.

• Hotel Cost: $0 (it was local, so no travel expenses)

• Results: Over 100 new email sign-ups, $1,100 in revenue, and a margin above 50%

That’s a win. But the bigger victory is the list of potential fans we now have for future campaigns. The larger our following grows, the easier it will hopefully be to fund projects.

Wrapping Up

How do you pitch at conventions? Are there any tips and tricks that work for you?

Have you had any especially good neighbors at a con?

Did you ever get stuck in a rut at conventions? How did you get out of it?

What was your all-time favorite interaction with a person who stopped at your booth?

What’s your strategy for email signups?

Our Bound by Words campaign ended with a dramatic finish! We went into 40 minutes of overtime after the campaign ended thanks to backers keeping the backer train going. We’re so excited to produce the book. Haley Rose-Lyon is doing letters for the final pages. Next steps will be laying out the interior of the book and doing backer surveys, followed by ordering and fulfillment, so we can get it into people’s hands.

In the break between projects, I’ve been painting a dragon turtle minifig.

We fought a dragon turtle in the sewers of Hellport Velport towards the end of our last D&D campaign, so I wanted to give this miniature a swampy feel. I’m feeling neutral on the pink corals, so I’m asking your opinion! Is the pink working?

Vote on it!

If you think I should change it, what color should I use?

New Pin Campaign: The Owlbear Ranch

Our next project is a super cute pin campaign featuring elemental owlbear designs. We’re also planning a Daggerheart Campaign Frame to go along with them. We launch on October 21st as part of Pintober 2025. Follow the project here for updates and to vote on new owlbear designs.

Follow The Owlbear Ranch

Check Out Some Indie Comics Live Now

Looking for something to read? There are some cool projects live on Kickstarter that you should definitely check out:

The Alchemist of Aurillia Vol 1 - Turkish Fantasy Adventure

There are less than 60 hours left to back this 180-page graphic novel in a unique high-fantasy Turkish setting. Once upon a time, there was an alchemist who created magic: the Alchemist of Aurillia. When a witch steals that magic, it starts a rivalry that lasts to this very day, even after magic has spread across the whole world. Now, a wizard and her familiar must join a sword-fighting princess, a faceless spellcaster, and a cursed djinn to thwart a witch’s revenge!

never disappoints, so be sure to give this one a look. Calicfer fans will love the enamel pin of fire familiar, Shale. Check it out here:

Back The Alchemist of Aurillia

Undead Kungfu Ghost Killer - #1

It’s spooky season, and the horror projects are out in force, but make sure you don’t miss Undead Kungfu Ghost Killer.

When all Hell breaks loose, not even the mightiest warriors alive can withstand the undead hordes. But one warrior in the afterlife has been training for this moment: the Undead Kungfu Ghost Killer! It’s based on the legend of Chinese folkhero/deity Zhong Kui (Zhōng Kuí 鍾馗;) with dynamic action scenes brought to life by illustrator Patrick Lugo (), who spent decades illustrating Kung Fu magazine.

Rewards include a hand-drawn Yokai illustration or a custom Wuxia portrait. Check it out here:

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Before I Go To Hell #1: A Horror Comedy Graphic Novel

Before I Go to Hell is a supernatural horror-comedy about friendship, managing guilt, and fighting forces beyond your control. The countdown to the apocalypse has begun. A group of priests in Tampa uncover the Holy Grail, and with it, instructions to trigger the biblical Final Judgment. Now, they’re planning to perform the ritual on live TV...

Perfect for fans of Supernatural, Hellboy, or Dogma. I would suggest Hazbin fans also give this project a look. Horror Comedy might be my favorite horror genre, and has nailed the perfect vibes for this project, smashing through their funding goal of $666. Check it out here:

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Dog Tax!

Luke and Leia are sporting some spooky season bandanas, but the truly frightening thing was how much fur they left in the yard after I groomed them. 😱

I have some new costumes to try on them for this year’s Halloween. I couldn’t find a cheese sandwich for Luke but I have plans to dress him up as a hot dog. 🤩

Ocala con was a great con for us. It really helps to be on our hometown turf. I got to be part of my first panel about comic books with , hosted by.

Unfortunately, I’ve once again got the con crud, and I’m feeling crummy. But I have a few quick updates for you!

• Our book of the month is Elatsoe. We’ll be discussing it this Friday at 7:30 in our Discord. You can join us in the Discord here for book club or just to hang out and chat.

Join Our Discord

• MythFall Interludes will go back to editing this week. I’ve got a draft finished and I’m doing the final proofreading. 🌠

• Inks are in progress for MythFall Issue #2. I’ll have more to share in our next update. 🌌

• There are only 6 days left on Bound By Words. The next time you hear from me, this campaign will be ended! It has become our most backed project ever and we unlocked a few stretch goals. So check it out while you can and come see what’s new.

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OcalaCon Hall of Fame

Here are some cool people we met at Ocalacon!

Dog Tax

One thing we noticed about our pal Oscar the Griffin is that he seemed a bit Orange (if you know what I mean).

Teddy (Theodore when he misbehaves) is Mary’s Orange cat, and he’s teamed up with Luke this week to do the best Oscar impressions they can.

What do you think? How close did they get?

Now, with any luck, Leia and I will sleep off this cold.

Thanks for reading!

We wrapped up Ancient City Con last weekend, and I have some highlights below.

We’ll be at Ocala Con this weekend. It’s our hometown con, so we booked a double booth in Artists Alley. That should make us pretty hard to miss! We haven’t figured out how to price the “I will not eat the dice” stickers yet, so for now we’ve been handing them out to people who stop by the booth to say hello. If you’ll be there, come say hi!

You can mostly find me here on Substack, but I’ve been making sporadic attempts to be active on Bluesky. It’s my first time on a short text platform, and I had a bit of a learning curve.

Speaking of how it’s going…

We hit our second Stretch Goal for Bound By Words!

This unlocks the paper upgrade. I’m happy that we’ll be improving the print quality of the books because the art and story are top-notch.

BackerKit has a lot of interesting features to support creators in building community engagement. It’s something I hope we get to talk about soon in more depth.

Thanks to these features, we have a few limited edition rewards we have been giving away to backers who comment on the updates there. The latest one is for a one-of-a-kind, laser-engraved notebook — and it’s still open. Check it out on the updates page.

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Tatsumi: The Serpent Mistress

I got my delivery from of the pretty sweet wood cover for Tatsumi. Really excited about how it turned out. Can’t wait to talk to Matt about it this weekend at Ocalacon!

Ancient City Con

Ancient City con is fun because it’s part comic convention and part Ren Faire. Founded by the Spanish in 1565, the city of St. Augustine likes to lean into its pirate roots. The con takes place in a hotel, and at times it feels like a big sleepover, with cosplayers posing in the lobby after hours and voice actors rubbing elbows with vendors in the hotel bar.

It’s a decent con for us financially, but it’s probably my favorite con to attend as a guest, with lots of fun things to see and do. I dropped in on a great panel hosted by Cam Lopez and James Greene about the Jacksonville Zine scene, local events, and resources available at the library for those looking to print their own comics.

We had great booth neighbors, and we’re now wondering if we should up our booth game?! 😮🙀

Here’s my con haul from the event!

• Vitalerium 1 and 2 by Nicholas Keating Casbarro (as epic as the booth implies 😉)

• Sparkly clay dragon egg and Derpy Tiger sticker from Willow Wisp Forest

• Squishy dice and edible dice (black cherry) from Roll With Adventure Dice

• Fury Fire comic by Tatali_Tat

• Formation (bookmark and Kindle book) by James Crawford

• Windlords of Io-Wah by James Greene (with a rad dedication inside 😊)

Ancient City Hall of Fame

Say hello to some cool people we met at Ancient City Con!

We also got to see our friend @suga.rcrystalempire, who we met at Collectivecon!

Fans of MythFall who stopped by the booth, I did not forget you! We’re working hard on getting new issues out. 🌌🌟

Dog Tax

Luke and Leia have beds they could sleep in, but they’re choosing to sleep like this.

Leia likes to smoosh her face up against the wall and snore.

We’re heading to Ancient City Con in St. Augustine this weekend! If you’ll be around Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, you can find us in Artist Alley at Booth #S1.

Bound By Words is Live!

Printopia has launched and our latest comic, Bound By Words is not only live, but funded in 6 hours! We’re so thankful to everyone who has backed so far.

I’m delighted with how this project came together from ’s script to Bee’s illustrations. Personally, I think the graphic design on the page is some of my best work. 😄 Come back it here to see what all the fuss is about:

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For special rewards, Rahlee Draws has made some lovely pin designs for us.

Early Bird backers can get a free pin of Siora and Madeline’s first kiss until 4pm tomorrow.

Returning backers can get a free pin of Oscar the Griffin in a classic heraldry pose.

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I also want to give a shout out to our collab partners for this campaign!

Official Collab Partner: Lesbians in Space 2: The Sapphics Strike Back

Lesbians in Space 2 is a short story anthology produced by queer science fiction and fantasy indie publisher, Space Wizard Science Fantasy.

Backers who support both projects at any level will get a new short story by William C. Tracy called “Destroy All System Lords.” We worked with Rahlee Draws to provide an art print for this story, and the vibes are immaculate. 🤌

Unofficial Collab Partner: Collectors Guild Cafe

Collectors Guild Cafe is an adorable, all-ages graphic novel about 5 mythical creatures who play D&D in their friend’s Cafe. Backers who support both projects with a physical pledge will get a free 1.5” enamel pin and a chocolate soufflé recipe featuring a crossover art print by Rahlee Draws. In the print, Siora and Madeline help Hatch the Owlbear make soufflés while Oscar the Griffin does his best.

Dog Tax

Here’s Luke doing a stretch so big, he had to stick his tongue out a little. 🐶

It’s important to be stretched any hydrated before doing any serious barking!