[dc]I[/dc]f you follow me on Twitter and/or Instagram, you probably saw several posts about my newest project: a Clattertron coloring book.
Color It Hot
Coloring books, to borrow a line from Zoolander, are ‘so hot right now.’ Coloring books for adults, specifically—by which I mean complex drawings, not coloring books about adult situations (which exist too).
My coloring book features complex designs and funny cartoons. It is, like everything I do here, all ages—targeted at adults and kids.
Test Drive
Test printing my coloring book pages. Via my Instagram.
I performed one last test print of my final inked drawings over the weekend (see above photo), and they turned out great. Twelve drawings, each brand new for this coloring book.
Each page is 11” x 17” folded in half, making it my largest book to date (my mini-comics are an 8.5” x 11” page folded into quarters, and my Chocolate Quest comic books were roughly standard comic book size, about 6.63″ x 10.24″).
Starting Small
My original plan was for a smaller book, folding a 8.5” x 11” page in half (the size of most ‘mini’ books you see at shows).
A smaller coloring book mock up I made. Via my Instagram.
But, I decided to go all in and went for the larger size—which makes sense for a coloring book. Larger drawings are more fun to color, and they show off my illustrations better.
Cover It Up
Stephanie (aka Mrs. J. Hogan) is my self-appointed business manager and pushed me to make an eye-catching color cover. I hesitated at first, because this meant higher production costs, which means I need to charge more, which means I could have a harder time selling the final book.
But, Stephanie works in retail, and has for many years. She wants me to have higher quality items which look nice–not just stuff I sell for a dollar and look the part (like my mini-comics). I can’t argue with that, much (because I did at first for the reasons above).
I whipped up a color cover, and after seeing the final design, I knew she was right (well, she’s always right). As of this writing, I’m waiting on an estimate for printing the cover.
I have plan B cover if the full bleed color cover¹ is too much (also in color). It won’t be as fancy, but still nicer than just black and white.
Buy It Soon
My plan is to have my coloring books for sale at my Free Comic Book Day events. Everything is on track for my goal at the moment. If the coloring books end up being a hot item, I will probably have to get more before Appleseed and Cherry Capital Comic Con.
Stay tuned!
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¹ Printing jargon. The color goes right to the edge of the page.
