FCBD 2007

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This page is the soon-to-be official resource for the upcoming Free Comic Book Day comic book being put together on Comic Genesis. It'll be official once Cortland gets off his rear and cleans this all up. If you have any comments, questions, suggestions, corrections, by all means contact Cortland on the forums and let him know or via e-mail. Yes, we know it's long, but it'll do you good to read through the whole thing thoroughly, as well as check back for updates and revisions.

Complete information on advertising in the book is available here. Deadline for payment and artwork for the book is now February 10, 2007. Space and rates are as follows:

  • Full-page advertisement $350 (6.125" wide by 9.75" tall)
  • Half-page advertisement $175 (6.125" wide by 4.75" tall)
  • Quarter-page advertisement $90 (3" wide by 4.75" tall)

Contents

Introduction

The Comic Genesis Book is an annual book (that means yearly) showcasing art and comics from online artists, promoting webcomic talent in general. The name of the book itself varies amongst its many iterations, changing each year; but the way the book is put together remains the same: participants are any Comic Genesis or independent comic artists who are willing to donate their original work to be included in this nationally distributed comic anthology. This year there will be ten thousand of these books printed and distributed to comic book stores across North America.

The main comic editorial staff consists of Matt "Cortland" Johnson who has volunteered to help put together the book, along with other volunters such as Aimee "Humbug" Chow who has been drafted to create the cover. Our big brother, Keenspot is also here to help promote and distribute the book.

Changes For This Year (2007)

Of the most significant changes to this year's comic book is that we are no longer requiting members to donate their own money to be part of the book. Instead, the book is made entirely of volunteer artists who donate their artwork for the book. The remaining money for the book will be raised through volunteer donations and selling advertising space in the book.

The extra material in this book is TBD, though Joel Fagin has been drafted to create a short "how-to" for web comics. We will also want an introduction page for Comic Genesis and the comic book, as well as a table of contents page. Other pages in the book will be reserved to name sponsors for the book and feature advertisements to help pay for the printing.

Editorial Personnel and Contact Info

  • Executive Editors: Chris Crosby and Teri Crosby
  • Editor In Chief / Front Cover Editor: Aimee "Humbug" Chow
  • Editor in Chief: Matt "Cortland" Johnson
  • Treasurer (who will not be going anywhere near Las Vegas): Ryan Kolter

Deadlines and important Dates/Events

  • Cover art deadline: 12-1-06
  • Keenspot newsbox completion: 1-5-07 (tentative)
  • Final page submissions due: 1-31-07

Page Technical/Content Specs

The size our printer CURRENTLY recommends is 6.875 x 10.5" for FULL BLEED with 6.625 x 10.25" for IMAGE AREA aka TRIM SIZE.

The Format

  • The final "trim" size of the book will be 6.625" x 10.25" with "full bleeds", therefore the artwork you submit needs to measure 6.875 x 10.5" image files at 600dpi (meaning 4125 pixels by 6300 pixels), grayscale or bitmap saved in TIFF format.
  • NOTE ON BLEEDS: A "bleed" in printing terms means that your artwork can extend out to the very edge of the paper, with no need for a "margin." This allows you to create more artistically interesting designs with your page layout, but please BEAR IN MIND that when drawing you should not have any critical text or copy within a 1/4" margin of the paper. Traditional presses do shift and sometimes may be a little bit off on the very edge of the paper.
  • Please use LZW compression or ZIP your final image files, since a full-sized greyscale TIFF page will be about 25MB uncompressed. If for some reason, you can't save your work in TIFF format, please let the editor know and we will work something out.

The Contributors

Contributors to the book were selected from volunteers in this thread. Some members were also encouraged to volunteer via Private Message on the forums.

Finished pages: FAUB, Ataraxia, IV Studios

Comic Page Layout

The following is the current (1-24-07) tentative layout for the comic book.

  • Front cover: artwork by Humbug
  • Back cover: Description of Comic Genesis and the book
  • Inside front cover: description of Comic Genesis, featuring Gen Chan
  • Back inside cover: TBD
  1. Table of Contents

  2. Tales of the Traveling Gnome by Michelle Mayo and Matt Summers
  3. Tales of the Traveling Gnome by Michelle Mayo and Matt Summers

  4. Eight to One by YeahDuff
  5. Fallen Angels Used Books by FAUB

  6. Aldus Maycombe by Keffria
  7. Aldus Maycombe by Keffria

  8. Head Doctor by StinkyWigFiddle
  9. Ugly Girl by Nanda

  10. End of things by PeppermintAfterlife
  11. End of things by PeppermintAfterlife

  12. Astorauth by Robin Pierce
  13. Imo by Cookie

  14. Doppies by Cookie & Robin
  15. Doppies by Cookie & Robin

  16. Phil Likes Tacos by Lord Andy
  17. Treading Ground by Nick Wright

  18. Reckless Youth, Hellroy by RYClaude
  19. Reckless Youth, Hellroy by RYClaude

  20. Ataraxia by Ataraxia
  21. Darken by Komiyan

  22. Edible Dirt by katmaidog
  23. Shenanigan by Legostar and Pimpette

  24. Cortland by Matt Johnson
  25. Cortland by Matt Johnson

  26. Emergency Exit by NJ Huff
  27. Superfreaks by 834n, NJ Huff, and Matt Summers

  28. Knights of Vesteria by Tom Fraser and Matt Summers
  29. Knights of Vesteria by Tom Fraser and Matt Summers

  30. Foxfire Chronicles by Turnsky
  31. Man who hates fun by Glambourine

  32. Distant Eras by Kat North
  33. Role of the Die by Jim North

  34. Inhumation by IVStudios
  35. Inhumation by IVStudios

  36. SPQR Blues by Klio
  37. Reasoned Cognition by Ryan Kolter

  38. Green Avenger by Ryuko
  39. Green Avenger by Ryuko

  40. Tales of Pylea by Aimee Chow and Matt Summers
  41. Sponsor Page and thank-you

  42. Guide to Comic Genesis
  43. Guide to Comic Genesis

  44. Advertising
  45. Advertising

  46. Advertising
  47. Advertising

  48. Keenspot ad page

The Content

Go hog wild. The sky's the limit here.. (well actually, read the next section). People have done ads, included snippets of their comics, have drawn epic sequential specials, crossovers, etc. Of course, this is a book to promote your online comic, so you are encouraged to focus your talents with that in mind. (e.g. we don't really want to see your mom's grocery list as a submission...unless you have a reason for it, better than just being a wise-ass).

  • Naturally, we invite artists of any genre or style. As long as your stuff fits in the rating, feel free to let your unique groove shine.
  • Since you're promoting a comic or some site like that, you'd want to have your url labeled somewhere in your section.
  • Proofread your work for typos or formatting errors, before submission. This helps you as well as the editorial staff.
  • Understand your audience. Most likely they haven't heard of your comic, so ease them in without assuming they know what you're talking about.

The "Rating"

We're keeping the book at PG-13 or less. Lots of kids show up at the Con and for Free Comic Book day, and we don't want to warp their minds. Yet. This means:

  • If your comic or comic site is somewhat mature, you can still participate as long as your work in the book follows our guidelines, and you label your ad with appropriate discretion advisories, e.g. "Visit blahblah.Comic Genesis.com! (For Mature Readers)"
  • no harsh swearing (sh--, f---, b--ch, a--, do I need to keep going?)
  • no full nudity (bikinis, however, are a-okay with us)
  • nothing that is nasty or highly offensive in general. Use your best judgment. You're all clever little monkeys.
  • The editorial staff has final say on what can or can't be added into the Comic Genesisbook. We're fairly lenient so you are more

than welcome to try us. But don't bother to put in things that are blatantly over the top.

Donation Information

We are currently taking donations to raise $2000 to complete the book. Contributors will get their names featured in a few special "sponsor" pages of the book. Other pages will be used to sell for advertising. Contributors to the book and anybody who wishes to help gather donations for the book are asked to put the following PayPal donation code on their websites: 

<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">
<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick">
<input type="hidden" name="business" value="fcbd0001@yahoo.com">
<input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="FCBD 2007">
<input type="hidden" name="no_shipping" value="1">
<input type="hidden" name="return" value="http://www.cortlandcomic.com/fcbd-thanks.html">
<input type="hidden" name="cancel_return" value="http://www.cortlandcomic.com/fcbd-nothanks.html">
<input type="hidden" name="cn" value="Name to use for Donator">
<input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD">
<input type="hidden" name="tax" value="0">
<input type="hidden" name="lc" value="US">
<input type="hidden" name="bn" value="PP-DonationsBF">
<input type="image" src="http://www.cornstalker.com/cartoons/fcbd-progressbar.png" border="0" name="submit" alt="Make payments with PayPal - it's fast, free and secure!">
<img alt="" border="0" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1">
</form>

Submission Information

  • All submissions to the book must be sent by the end of January, 2007. Cortland is going to start bugging members for their artwork well before then, however.
  • The final file format will need to be either "bitmap" or "grayscale" in Photoshop. TIFF would be the preferred file format, using LZW compression to make it easier to squeeze through the tubes online.
  • Before final submission, we will have a draft submission deadline in which you will create a 72dpi (as opposed to 600dpi) version of your pages (or what you've got so far). We'll let you know how you can upload them or get them to us. We will provide feedback once we see them.
  • If everything is fine, we'll give you the go-ahead to upload your massive 600dpi pages to the Comic Genesis Spotlight FTP (we'll provide the username and password right here in a moment) by the final submission deadline. Once you have successfully uploaded them, e-mail us again and let us know they're in there, so we can grab them and make sure that they are indeed final.
  • We understand that many of you may have slow connections, and perhaps final submissions by snail-mail or in person may be in order. Let us know in advance and we will make arrangements to get that done smoothly. Since it will take longer, you should give yourself an earlier deadline to finish your work.

Unexpected Changes

Every year we have participants who encounter unexpected problems midway, and have to revise their original registration requests. This is perfectly normal as we all can't predict the future. If such a thing occurs to you, remember this rule of thumb: TELL US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Sometimes people find themselves in unexpected ruts with regards to money, time, or personal issues. They typically cut down their number of pages or cancel their participation altogether. Sometimes we're flexible and if you know that you can make the payment, but only after the deadline, we can sometimes accommodate and make arrangements to receive late payments. But whatever you may choose, all of this requires special attention from the Staff, so pleeeeeeeze notify us immediately when you realize you have a problem. The earlier this is in the production, the easier it is for us to recover from it.

The Aftermath

What We Do

While you're waiting, we are working hard to put everything together and send them to the printers. We try our best to arrange the comic pages in such a way that would be satisfactory to the artists' preferences as well as to the reader's enjoyment. We will let you know where your page will be in relation to the book shortly. We also create a table of contents, and will have it for you to proofread as well (we don't want to get your name wrong or anything).

Distribution

Around ten thousand copies of the book are going to be printed and sent to comic book shops across the United States for distribution on Free Comic Book Day. If you know local comic shops in your area, we highly encourage you to meet with them and encourage them to carry the book. Comic store owners are usually very receptive to local artists and the more people we can get to carry our book, the better. If you need help finding a local comic book shop, contact Cortland. We can work with Keenspot to find someone in your area.

Receiving copies

Every participant will get a couple of free copies. But you are more than welcome to get your local comic store to order some for you (and other people) for Free Comic Book Day, or pick a couple up from the Keenspot booth if you are attending this year's San Diego Comic Con. If you can't do any of these, let us know, and we'll send you the copies direct to your mailing address; typically we will pay the postage so you don't have to pay to get them sent to you..but don't hold me to that promise.

Distributing them personally:

In the last two years' San Diego Comic Conventions, Keenspot had graciously allowed us participants to pay for time to sign autographs at their booth, while distributing our very own Comic Genesis Books. Cross your fingers and hope that they do the same thing for us this year. We'll let you know how you can sign up, if it does materialize.

Extras Section

The Extras Section is a section, typically at the end of the book, which our wonderful artists volunteer to putting together. What's the content? Basically, it is anything that isn't a promotion of one's own comic, and approved by the extras editor<: typically we have tutorials about how to run a comic, art and story pointers, comic and website management, and general inspiration to comic newcomers; this year we have a couple of tutorials written by participants and some veterans; in addition, we're adding some other things that are not necessarily tutorial; therefore, the section is officially the "Extras Section" and not the "Tutorial Section."

What else? Oh, the artists working on the Extras Section do not have to pay for the pages they're making. Their work is considered as "community service" to the Comic Genesisbook.

Links to Drafted Art and Resources

This page is currently maintained by Matt Johnson (Cortland).

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