Good Afternoon TransCat Fans!
SO! The first official TransCat B-sides event has come and gone!
How did it go? And what's coming up next???
First, let us simply address all the elephants that somehow got shoved into this impossibly small room and say this event was DIFFICULT to plan. I don't want to get too into it for the sake of not spreading drama, but I will say simply that I had to seek out a different venue VERY last minute, and I am SO LUCKY that 7 Stars Bar and Grill in Campell was so incredibly willing to step up and take me in when it looked like I was gonna have to cancel entirely.
7 Stars is by far not an environment I am used to for promotional events. I'm used to comic conventions, comic shops, book stores, LGBTQ community centers or events, etc. This is a bar and grill, which is a little out of my element. The angle, however, is that it is a STAR WARS themed bar and grill, so this is definitely a nerd positive environment.
I am worried that events I do in the future will somewhat fail to measure up to this, because the one thing 7 Stars has that will be very difficult to guarantee anywhere else I go is a nice lil menu of vegan food. They actually have ALL kindsa food, AND drinks, in fact. If you are in the Campbell, CA area any time soon and you're looking for some badass vegan nachos, or banh mi, or meatball subs, THIS is the place!
Plus, the whole place is lined up and down with Star Wars memorabilia of all kinds. Action figures, comics, statues, art prints, as well as some cool props which I can only assume are hand-made. They got a life sized Han in Carbonite sculpture out front with the face cut out, so you can get behind it and get your picture taken. They also got a not QUITE life sized Jabba the Hutt all the way in the back towards the end of the bar. It looks mostly paper mache.
I am worried that events I do in the future will somewhat fail to measure up to this, because the one thing 7 Stars has that will be very difficult to guarantee anywhere else I go is a nice lil menu of vegan food. They actually have ALL kindsa food, AND drinks, in fact. If you are in the Campbell, CA area any time soon and you're looking for some badass vegan nachos, or banh mi, or meatball subs, THIS is the place!
Plus, the whole place is lined up and down with Star Wars memorabilia of all kinds. Action figures, comics, statues, art prints, as well as some cool props which I can only assume are hand-made. They got a life sized Han in Carbonite sculpture out front with the face cut out, so you can get behind it and get your picture taken. They also got a not QUITE life sized Jabba the Hutt all the way in the back towards the end of the bar. It looks mostly paper mache.
it's pretty skillfully done.
Unfortunately, along with the venue change came a time change as well. The comic shop had a tighter schedule that I was allowed to be there in. 12pm to 4pm. Not sure why it had to be so tight for the but I work with what they give me.
Weirdly enough, this odd timing actually seemed to work out for a lot of my friends and fans, who I guess were free in the early part of the day, but had shit to do in the evening. 7 Stars, however, opened at 4pm, so that was our start time. The good news was we had a LOT more time to schmooze and promote, cuz the bar owners were happy to have us there until closing. Sadly, it meant that a lotta folk who had shit to do in the evening just plain couldn't make it.
It's okay though, because there WILL be more events! And also, the people who COULD make it had a GREAT time and I'm SO grateful for that. I was surrounded by family and loved ones and comic fans and even strangers who had no idea who I was, but were interested in what I was doing anyway.
At the end of the day it was a wonderful event. I sold a LOTTA the new book, plus some of my old books as well! I actually wound up selling out of my original graphic novel, as well as, really randomly, Issue #8. I guess I just ain't re-ordered that one in awhile.
And at the end of the time, we got karaoke!
Seriously, that's ALL my favourite shit right there.
Comics, vegan food, Star Wars and karaoke!
Could there possibly be an event MORE tailor made towards my specific interests? In the immortal words of Marge Simpsons, I guess we're just going to have to wait and see!
So that was my weekend LAST weekend.
The weekend BEFORE! Hooboy! THAT'S Fanime!
So this was not my first Fanime OUT as a trans woman. It wasn't even my first Fanime outwardly and specifically presenting as a trans woman. But I WILL say the Fanimes prior, I have gone with predominantly straight men. THIS year I went with girls, gay girls, trans girls and non-binary peeps. Before, Fanime was always a 10/10 experience. No complaints. Loved it every year. This year? Hard 11/10. Best ever! More of this, please!
I have not been to Fanime as an artist in awhile. I do miss it, though, cuz I always did so well every year, but the Artist Alley has gotten harder and harder to get into as the focus of the alley itself has shifted hard into fan art of existing properties and away from original, anime inspired art or stories.
I never understood the selling of fanart, myself. Very seldom have i desired to have a print of someone else's rendition of Goku on my wall. I get why it appeals to people in general, but for me, that's just not WHY I go to the Artist Alley, and it's not the kinda thing I want to have to make to get INTO Artist Alley. I will however say that I DID see more original art than usual this year. I even found a book that seems to be VERY much in the vein of TransCat called Scarlet Star by Da Vin Kim.
The way the author pitched it to me was "A delinquent boy transforms into a magical girl". And you know me, it does NOT take much to sell me with ANY kinda queer content, but this is VERY laser focused at ME and MY interests, so it was an INSTANT buy. It was a LITTLE pricey, not gonna lie, he charged me $45 at the con. LOOKS like I could bought it for $30 on the website, but whatever, I am happy to help this artist pay for their table a lil' faster than usual. Plus, this is 172 pages of content so you're getting your money' worth on this one.
Feels like maybe I should be raising MY prices a lil bit! My first TransCat graphic novel is 192 pages, and B-Sides is 218, and I sell those for $25 each.
I dunno times are tough and maybe raising prices is a natural reaction to that.
but on the other hand, I kinda ALSO want people to hear a number lower than they were expecting, and feel like giving ME that money is not even an action they gotta think too hard about.
These books cost a lil over 10 bucks each to print, so a $15 profit ain't that bad, tbh.
Makes me wonder where Da is getting his books done. They're damn fine quality!
Anyway, long story short, Fanime was rad.
what ELSE is going on in the world of Knave?
Oh!
Remember that come Out And Play anthology I was part of last year?
We've been nominated for an Eisner award!
Feels like maybe I should be raising MY prices a lil bit! My first TransCat graphic novel is 192 pages, and B-Sides is 218, and I sell those for $25 each.
I dunno times are tough and maybe raising prices is a natural reaction to that.
but on the other hand, I kinda ALSO want people to hear a number lower than they were expecting, and feel like giving ME that money is not even an action they gotta think too hard about.
These books cost a lil over 10 bucks each to print, so a $15 profit ain't that bad, tbh.
Makes me wonder where Da is getting his books done. They're damn fine quality!
Anyway, long story short, Fanime was rad.
what ELSE is going on in the world of Knave?
Oh!
Remember that come Out And Play anthology I was part of last year?
We've been nominated for an Eisner award!
Outrageous! I know! I have been in this biz for like, 18 years. I've been doing TransCat for 12 of those years! I never in my life imaged I'd be up for such a prestigious award. Granted, it is not SPECIFICALLY TransCat that is nominated, it's TransCat and like, 50 other amazing talented artists as well. Or, if you choose to read it as such, I am riding 50 other artists' FAR more talented coat tails with my silly little cat girl comic. Whatever! This is AMERICA! Benefiting from the hard work of others is practically baked into our culture.
SPEAKING of which!
When I first got the news, it was somewhat bittersweet, cuz while it is an honour to be nominated alongside the likes of DC Comics and Judge Dredd, there was... well... ANOTHER book on that list that really really sank my spirits. You mighta heard of this. "Stardust the Super Wizard". The first book the Eisners have EVER nominated made with AI.
Like I said, I been scrapin' by and payin my dues in this biz for nearly two decades, and there was a part of me that was very hurt to know that I'd finally made it HERE... alongside a fucking BOT!
I had plans to bum rush the stage Kanye West style if the robut won, snatch the mic and make shit REAL WEIRD for EVERYONE in attendance. Yes I more than likely would have been kicked out, MAYBE arrested. But if people are gonna be clappin' for a clanker, their boo's mean nothing at all to me.
But there is good news as well, which you'll notice by observing that Stardust is NOT on the list I just provided. Looks like the backlash against allowing an AI book to even be nominated was enough to make the judges rescind their decision. See? Bullying WORKS! we are safe from AI for at least another year.
So! I'll find out at the end of July if we won or not.
And you know, even if we don't bring it home, I'm STILL throwing a great big party when I get home, because as much of a cliche as it is, it IS an IMMENSE honour to be nominated! That's a badge I can wear with pride for the rest of my days. And even if we DO win, the goal of being nominated for a standalone TransCat book is still on my bucket list. and since AI seems to not being going anywhere no matter WHAT we do, I gotta long road ahead, as an artist who creates using their actual hands.
I'll be keeping you updated, of course.
In the mean time, I still have Q-Con in Hollywood coming up this month.
THAT'S gonna be a big to-do for sure!
Thanks for wading through this wall of text with me!
Just as a reminder, i STILL update my Patreon every week with new WIP art from the upcomming TtansCat issue #13.
https://www.patreon.com/c/TransCat
I've hemorrhaged a lotta patrons this past couple years since the books been on hiatus.
But I am back, the book is back, and I want YOU back!
$1 per month gets you access to ALL of the WIP pages I upload every week.
$5 per month gets you that, plus .PDF's of all of my past issues, PLUS... new issues when they are finished :D
I've also been tinkering with a new free comic I wanna start drawing and uploading every week.
Stay tuned for that too! :3
SPEAKING of which!
When I first got the news, it was somewhat bittersweet, cuz while it is an honour to be nominated alongside the likes of DC Comics and Judge Dredd, there was... well... ANOTHER book on that list that really really sank my spirits. You mighta heard of this. "Stardust the Super Wizard". The first book the Eisners have EVER nominated made with AI.
Like I said, I been scrapin' by and payin my dues in this biz for nearly two decades, and there was a part of me that was very hurt to know that I'd finally made it HERE... alongside a fucking BOT!
I had plans to bum rush the stage Kanye West style if the robut won, snatch the mic and make shit REAL WEIRD for EVERYONE in attendance. Yes I more than likely would have been kicked out, MAYBE arrested. But if people are gonna be clappin' for a clanker, their boo's mean nothing at all to me.
But there is good news as well, which you'll notice by observing that Stardust is NOT on the list I just provided. Looks like the backlash against allowing an AI book to even be nominated was enough to make the judges rescind their decision. See? Bullying WORKS! we are safe from AI for at least another year.
So! I'll find out at the end of July if we won or not.
And you know, even if we don't bring it home, I'm STILL throwing a great big party when I get home, because as much of a cliche as it is, it IS an IMMENSE honour to be nominated! That's a badge I can wear with pride for the rest of my days. And even if we DO win, the goal of being nominated for a standalone TransCat book is still on my bucket list. and since AI seems to not being going anywhere no matter WHAT we do, I gotta long road ahead, as an artist who creates using their actual hands.
I'll be keeping you updated, of course.
In the mean time, I still have Q-Con in Hollywood coming up this month.
THAT'S gonna be a big to-do for sure!
Thanks for wading through this wall of text with me!
Just as a reminder, i STILL update my Patreon every week with new WIP art from the upcomming TtansCat issue #13.
https://www.patreon.com/c/TransCat
I've hemorrhaged a lotta patrons this past couple years since the books been on hiatus.
But I am back, the book is back, and I want YOU back!
$1 per month gets you access to ALL of the WIP pages I upload every week.
$5 per month gets you that, plus .PDF's of all of my past issues, PLUS... new issues when they are finished :D
I've also been tinkering with a new free comic I wanna start drawing and uploading every week.
Stay tuned for that too! :3
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