So I think I’ve figured out how I’m going to proceed with BPD.
First off, Book 4 I’ve decided will conclude at the end of April instead of the end of May. It’s going to be thicker than the previous books anyway, being that I’ve been going 3-a-week since about two thirds the way into Book 3, so in the end length wise it will still be a bit longer but not freakishly thicker than the others. This will also (hopefully) be the end of the current website layout design. I’ve been meaning to redo it for a long time, and switching up the format & schedule for the comic is a perfect time to do so.
Future updates to the BPD site will be as follows: Two days a week, there will be a comic as usual. Comic formats will vary; some days, they will be newspaper-stype strips. Some will be landscape pages as they are now. Some will be tall comicbook-format pages. For the most part they will be short, one-comic gags. Most will be back to black and white line-art, though grayscale and possibly even color will pop up from time to time. A 3rd day each week will be dedicated to sketches. They’ll range from silly doodles to sketch previews of up-and-coming purchase exclusive comics (more on those later). A 4th day will be dedicated to blog posts. Things like reviews, how-tos, recommendations, highlights of cool stuff i found, and other things I’ve been musing over doing but don’t want to give too much away in case they don’t happen. And a 5th day will be sort of a wild-card day: it could be more sketches, a 2nd weekly blog post, or even a 3rd comic, sponsor willing (again, more on this later)
So 5 days a week, you guys will have stuff to check out and enjoy, 100% for free.
On top of the free comics posted on the site, I will also be doing full-color long form comics which will be available to purchase one-at-a-time in PDF form (readable on your computer, iPad, or other color e-Reader). My goal is to have 1 a month, though longer stories may take longer to complete. Prices will range from $0.99 to $4.99, with most in the $1.99-$2.99 range.
I’ll also be experimenting with doing a “sponsor” program. For $4 a month, you’ll get every bonus PDF comic that comes out, a discount code for any other product you may want to purchase in the future from the BPD store, first dibs on one-of-a-kind or limited run stuff, and a bunch of members-only previews and bonus content. The main reason for this however is community driven; if enough people sponsor the comic, I’ll start doing extra free stuff for the site as a whole; an extra comic in the week, for example. If you sponsor the comic for a year in advance, there will be an extra reward in it for you as well (it’s a surprise for now!)
In the realm of products, I’ll still be looking to do a book a year. However, the book format will be changing up since I won’t be doing just landscape pages. The books will include all previous PDF comics as well as all the comics & sketches posted online. I’ll be looking for a new book printer since Lulu sort of rapes you on color printing. But all that means for you guys is Yay, color books! I’m also looking to debut a new non-book piece of merch once a month. It could be a t-shirt, stickers, buttons, keychains, posters, or whatever. I’ll probably do a few smaller items at first and work my way up to bigger stuff (plushes anyone?).
So in summary: New website at the beginning of May with 5 days of free updates with a mixture of comics, sketches, and blog posts, purchasable long storys in PDF form, and a monthly sponsorship program with additional extras and rewards.
I understand there may be some resistance to this, since some people may feel slighted they aren’t able to see everything I produce for free anymore. Any comic content I do “hide behind a paywall” will never be more expensive than your average Starbucks coffee. If you still feel that’s too expensive, all I can say is I hope that the stuff I do post for free is fun and entertaining for you. I appreciate your interest in my work, and hope you can understand and appreciate why I’m making these changes.
For everyone else, I look forward to your feedback and support, and hope I can make the transition over to the new format as smooth as possible. ^_^
