Hard Copy Books, a change of plans

As you may have seen, Volume One is published (in limited release) in both the Gnome-sized and Big People Books. Those books are available for purchase on-demand via an e-mail inquiry or directly from the studio in Southampton.

Volume One of  The Big-People has 109 pages and an MSRP of $29.95,
     it is the same as Book One of the Gnome-sized Book
Volumes Two & Three have approximately 275 pages each and will be more.

All of the Gnome-sized books have an MSRP of $8.95

 Book One is Published, but the remaining books in the series are being published differently than previously planned. Those changes are described below.

Current Status

The layout and mechanicals for Volumes Two and Three are now almost finished (sans a number of illustrations) and able to be published as prototype books. As I've mentioned elsewhere, there are still in excess of three hundred illustrations required to complete the series and those illustrations need to be funded. However, all the other work of writing, proof-reading, design, and layout for the entire Storybook series is completed and almost ready for press.

All that is needed for completion of the Illustrated Storybook Series is the insertion of missing illustrations, a still significant effort and cost, but a relatively minor amount of work, comparatively speaking when looking at what it has taken to get this far with the project and set it up publication.

The layout for the HDTV e-Storybook is still being completed, which also involves narrating the books. I've discussed that product elsewhere. Adding animations to the e-Storybook will take place after the remaining illustrations for the book series are complete. This, of course, also requires significant funding, so that will be the focus of attention after all layout work, including HDTV is completed.

I expect to shortly publish Volumes Two and Three as prototype hard copy books, as this is required to budget out the final release version of the books and determine the MSRP.

The plan was to release a seven book collection. Those seven books are based on the number of pages that can be contained in the smaller Gnome-sized books (100 pages +/-). But the Big People books are not limited in the same way. Each of the Gnome-sized books has an MSRP of $8.95 and  Book One can be purchased directly from IMS in any quantity at any time. The books are published on demand. There is a discount schedule, but to secure a full keystone requires a purchase of quantities in excess of 5k units. Inquire for details.

The Publishing changes are as follows;

The Gnome-sized Books
     are published as a seven book series;

Book One; 
(available for purchase)

An Introduction to 

The Gnomes of New Hope 

The remaining books consist of scenes from 

Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure

(pending release)

 Book Two; Act I, Scenes 1, 2, 3

Book Three; Act I, Scenes 4, 5, 6

  Book Four; Act I, Scenes 7, 8, 9

Book Five; Act II, Scenes 10,11,12

Book Six: Act II, Scenes 13, 14, 15, 16

Book Seven; Act II Scenes 17, 18, 19, 20

The Big People Books 

        are published in three Volumes; 

Volume One 

An Introduction 
to 
The Gnomes of New Hope 
MSRP = $29.95
(available for purchase) 

Volume Two 

Act One 
of 
Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure
MSRP = to be determined
(pending release)

Volume Three 

Act Two 
of  
Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure
MSRP = to be determined
(pending release)

I'll Continue this post later.

AG

IMS Management

Refer to IMS Management for discussions regarding Operating Expenses and other financial matters relative to managing The Gnomes of New Hope and other pertinent subjects of this nature.

HDTV e-Storybook

Well, you may have seen one of my posts somewhere, in which I have written about the HDTV format.

Some time ago I realized that if people were to have any interest in the e-Storybook, they would likely be happier if they could put it up on their HDTVs. So that has been my work for the last six months; to convert the previous e-Storybook design over to the 16:9 format. 

Well, that has brought with it some other design modifications. An example of my most recent effort is to replace the font I used for the lyric sections of the book. I had used a thin line font for the songs. As it turned out, that worked fine for a printed book, but not so good for an electronic book. What a drag! What a lot of work! So that's what I am doing now. 634 pages. Ugh.

Another design thing is this; I created a page background. Here's an example if that...

As you can see, the page has a mottled green texture. That texture works pretty good on the printed page. It's borderline, in terms of being distracting, but it creates an atmosphere of "earthiness" , so I like it. But when it comes to the electronic book, it remains borderline, only in this instance, it "sort of" creates a conflict between the background and the text. I created a new background file that allows me to control the depth of that mottled effect. The problem there is that I would need to redo the entire book if I change it. I may do that in the future, but for now, I just need to get this e-Storybook finished. The background will have to do for the time being.

That is an example if why a subscription page is the best approach to giving people access to the whole book series. There are so many changes happening on a regular basis, that joining the subscription page will always give you access to the most recent changes, additions, updates and expansions to the stories. The beauty there is that once "Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure" is finished (for release to everyone) then I can start to add some of the other "Gnomic Tales". So using the subscription page really does create a greater value. All the stories will also be available for purchase as hard copy books, it's just that those books will be published "on-demand".

So the first book is available. Send me an e-mail. I still need to examine the PayPal page to get it set up properly, so in the mean time, just e-mail me. If you explore this blog, you will find other posts about pricing and sales and stuff. There's an order form you can print out and mail in. You can try the PayPal. If it works great, but I'm not sure, it's been awhile since I tried to set it up. Here's a photo of the "Gnome-sized" book. 

If you can't find the flyer and order form below, e-mail me and I'll send it to you. AG

 

11/19 Update, HDTV

This post is copied from a Facebook post, for those of you not using Facebook.

So I just finished the HDTV layout for the e-Storybook. Finishing that layout means that the entire collection is also ready for publishing as well.

There is one caveat to that; there are still 348 more illustration panels needed, but all other work is finished. Inserting the illustrations, once they are finished, is easy by comparison. Many of the pages use more than one illustration, so it isn't as bad as it sounds.

There are 634 pages that

comprise the entire collection;

Volume One, Book One, "An Introduction to The Gnomes of New Hope" is 80 pages.

Volume Two, Books Two thru Four = Act One, Scenes One thru Nine of the Libretto "Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure"

Volume Three, Books Four thru Seven = Act Two, Scenes Ten thru Twenty of the Libretto, "Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure"

The files are .PSD, which need to be converted to .PDF, then to .PPT.  After that, the entire collection needs to be narrated. Then the entire collection, along with the Business Plan gets burned to multiple DVDs for presentation to Industry Professionals.

Once all this is finished, the e-Storybook will be made available to people via an online subscription and the collection will be posted there in increments as the artwork for the illustrations is finished. As it stands now, the portions of the e-Storybook where art is missing, contains description panels, which will be replaced with the finished artwork.

The exciting thing about presenting it this way is that I will be able to replace the illustrations with animations, gradually as we finish them. Animation work will not begin until after the Illustration are completed.

It is expected at the hard copy books will be released every six months. Details on the hard books will be posted after I complete the first prototype of the full collection.

 The collection will not be sold as "Gnomes in a Gnutshell" until certain issues are worked out with that and after we determine how to include the animations in that product line.

AG

Corvair Truck and other theatre thoughts

I'm still looking for a donor Corvair truck to use in the construction of the parade float. Constructing the show for parades is the first level of the stage show. I'm also anxious to get the sound stage together. Right now the area in the shop is filled with "stuff", but I'm emptying out one of my storage units and I realized that some of my supplies happens to be a lighting grid that I bought years ago from a little theatre and that grid is perfect for the sound/green screen stage. The plan includes doing puppetry on that stage for integration with the artwork in the e-Storybook, but, that stage is also the approximate size of both the parade and little theatre operations/ So that's the primary direction I am headed with studio operations.

My main objective, in terms of pre-production, is to fund the 100k required for the finishing artwork needed for the e-Storybook and the Hard Copy Books. I think I am going to restructure to book series to be aligned more with Acts One and Two, rather than the original seven book series.But in terms of release of the e-Storybook, the layout will be set-up (as a subscription service} in scenes. That is easier to do electronically than it is to do with printing. With the Hard Copy books the problem lies mostly in 1) the number of pages that can fit into a book and 2) the actual cost of production. The Storybook Series extends to around 638 Pages, now that is has been conformed to the HDTV format. If I release "Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure" in smaller series of seven books, the page numbers are reasonable, but inconsistent, as certain scenes are larger than others. The initial plan was to release three scenes at a time and keep the divisions of Acts One and Two. That's not working out as easily as I thought. So, I need to think that through. Clearly, I can release the e-Storybook online, but there's a fair amount of planning required for that too. It all poses a dilemma. Oh well, we'll get thru it.

If anyone reading this has a source for a reasonably priced truck, let me know. My plan is to use the drive-train, suspension, steering, and possibly the floors. If I do use the floors, I will likely keep the uni-body chassis as well, although my initial thought was to construct the stage platforms to receive only the suspension, so the chassis/body is not important. I do want to use some rear body panels to construct a dump trailer that matches my existing 61 Rampside, so I do want to repurpose the body panels in addition to utilizing the floor panels to create an optional level deck in the Rampside bed. I have gotten a few prices for available trucks, but so far the prices are too high for a truck I'm going to chop up. I'd rather acquire a complete truck that is too far gone for restoration. AG

HDTV Format

As I've said, I'm preparing the Core Creative Materials in HDTV Format. The e-Storybook is now conformed to run under PowerPoint as a subscription. I posted on that subject previously. It looks utterly fantastic. I'm up to Scene 18a out of 20. Some scenes are broken up into sections. Scene 18 has four sections. But anyway you look at it, it's almost done. I say that with the caveat that there is still many illustration panels required, but all the other layout work, for the e-Storybook and the hard copy books will be finished when the entire series has been confirmed to the HDTV aspect ratio. All that will be required is insertion of the finished artwork. That leaves me free to work closely with the artists to finish the illustrations. This time around I expect to hire Jency to craft the scenes as I have described them in the layout panels, but I will be looking to hire a line artist and a colorist, so we can expedite the process. The artwork that has already been inserted in the series took five years to create and we simply cannot afford for it to take even a fraction of that time to complete this.

But I do expect to direct the artwork in such a way as to set us deep into the path of animation. That being said, I will also be looking for people with experience in 3D rendering (which likewise will set us on the path of 3D printing for figurines and merchandizing). But I will also need a manager for the online subscriptions, someone with programming knowledge. It could be a service vendor, I have someone in mind but I'm open to setting that up with an in-house server, in which event, that person would work out of the Southampton studio location. The whole subject is a bit larger than my current understanding, so that needs to be developed in partnership.

So you can see why I have been working to get the entire series finished before we initiate into the marketplace. I fully expect that once we do, it will snowball and we need to be prepared for that.

That being said, I will also be looking for Agency Representation/Management, because I have so much to do already, that the larger potential will need a team that is already in place.

I'll post those terms on IMS Producing Partners, but I believe that you need to send me your email so I can give you access to that site.

"That's All Folks"
(thank you WB)

AG

Touching base

Work has been proceeding on finishing the e-Storybook. Sometime ago I decided that I needed to redesign the layout to work on HDTV. It became clear that the product needed to be presentable on people's televisions. So that has been the objective. There are other reasons why that needs to be done as well. It's a long process, but I'm up to scene 12 (out of 20). So I do believe things will pick up, in terms of production and distribution, once I finish this layout. The good thing is that, when the HDTV layout is finished, the entire series will be set up for publishing and I will be free to concentrate on finishing the artwork. That also means that books two and three are ready for press, giving us an advance on the release schedule. Book four is almost done, being short on about fifteen illustrations. As it turns out, scene ten is very much divergent from Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure, because it reveals the major portions of "Zachary the Great" (another Gnomic Tale).

It all looks great! But this is a real marathon trying to get this done.

Well that's all for now. AG

Slogging along

Scene One... Scene Two... Scene Three... Well, that's done. I should be saying Book One... Book Two... Book Three...

The Illustrated Storybook is considerably more extensive than the Libretto. Not so much in terms of the writing, but more in terms of the layout. The Libretto is more of a technical manual, while the Storybook is more artistic in it's layout, which means the design must fit into the page in a balanced fashion. With the Libretto, it was just a matter of shrinking the page to fit into the space provided by the overlay. With the Storybook, it is both a reduction and a readjustment of the page components. Resizing of the art and repositioning of the text. The reason for this is that I originally laid out the pages for 8.5"x11" and have since created a design for HDTV (16:9). So that ratio requires adjusting everything. 800 pages! No wonder this thing is taking so long. I'm closing in on page 200 and I can generally do around 35 pages a day, mostly because I have to do each page (essentially) twice, right and left gutters. Because the outer page design (created as an overlay) changes the shape of the perimeter from right to left, the inner content needs to be adjusted so it doesn't hit the edge of the page and is balanced in the space. You can see what I mean by searching down in this blog to see some page samples.

The really nice thing is that once this layout process is done, it's done... Done. The only changes that will occur after that are adding new elements, such as animations, music and other links. But those elements will only take place in the context of a subscription page.

Once this is done done, we can start setting it up to distribute the finished product to the public. Gadzooks!

I'm at the point where I just want to finish putting my cars back together, putz around the shop, and not worry about anything else. I can dream can't I?

AG

The Libretto

As I've been preparing The Industry Review Package, one of the elements in the PowerPoint aspects of it has been to include some of the music. I've inserted a few songs along with the sheet music. One if those songs is the recorded duet titled "Completely" It is a love song. I've included the video animation of "Never Been So Near", which you can find further down on this blog and a few other songs.

The instrumental version of "You're The One" is used as a backdrop for my narration of portions of the presentation. That is one of my favorites. I can't wait to hear it with vocals. It's a choral/dance number. But then I have also included "The Stone of Wisdom" and "The Gnomen of The Yard" (a homage to Gilbert & Sullivan)

Those songs, like "Completely" are presented along with the Lead Sheets, so one can follow along and see how the lyrics fit in with the music. All the songs presented are orchestrated, even though the sheet music is simply the Lead Sheet with a piano adaptation. I did piano adaptations of the orchestrations after the music was orchestrated, which is rather backwards. I'll explain that later. But that required that I reconstitute the melody lines out of the orchestrations and isolate the lyrics by assigning a vocal instrument predominance for the purpose of identifying the vocal line. This was a result of the way the music was arranged.

An example being the trumpet in "The Stone of Wisdom", which is the finale of Scene 9, leading into the intermission. That song is well orchestrated and stands up nicely as an instrumental.

So, in making the presentation, as a whole, I am inserting Scene 9 of both the Libretto and the Illustrated Storybook by way of providing a comparison of how the material is presented both literally and on the stage.

So, I realized that both the entire collection of the Storybooks and the Libretto need to be converted over to PowerPoint, for various reasons. I will go into that later, but this is my current effort. I do believe that once that is done, we will be in a very good position to advance into production on numerous advanced levels. The advantages of having that as a production tool are cause for hope... The Gnomes of New Hope ! AG

Current activities

Well, if you've read my last few posts, you might have sensed my frustration. I have to say, I think there are VERY FEW people who really have any idea of the sheer volume of work that goes into this. It's hard to keep looking forward with a positive attitude when you feel your resources are running very thin.

I'm continuing to refine the Industry Review Package. Everytime I think it is enough, I come up with another component that should be included. I have set some pretty solid, and not so sparse, goals that I need to achieve. I have found that the work needing to be done for this project must have a secure work environment. The rather tenuous nature of the studio environment was tolerable for the development work that has taken place up to now, but that condition is unacceptable for the next stages of operations. So now I need to secure the facilities for the long term and that is part of the buy-in to the project. All of this is contained in the Industry Review Package. From now on, the only participants I will be seeking, are those who can contribute to the $5M that I need to secure. If you are such a person or organization, do contact me.

At this point, although I still seek production funds that are assigned to assorted production activities (illustrations, animation, puppetry, parade, set construction, etc) those activities will not advance until the facilities are secured as I have defined. Any production funds so assigned, will be held in escrow until the facility operating funds are in place. If I do not secure those facility funds in time, then operations will shut down and I will take another direction, which may or may not be working on The Gnomes of New Hope, depending on demand.

That being said, my effort is focused on securing the facilities funds and any communication with other producing persons needs to take this into account. Still, I am looking to fill the Board Positions of The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture. Doing so will achieve the goals I have described. AG

Libretto and other Thoughts of Insanity

As I was finalizing the DVD Package, I realized that the Libretto needed to be included. I already built an e-book version of the Libretto, but it was not configured for the HDTV format, so I set forth to do that. In the PowerPoint presentations, I've included a few songs with the score. So it makes sense that I include at least those scenes from the Libretto and possibly the e-Storybook as well. I'm moving forward to do that, however, those items may not make it into the DVD, if I run out of time (as I mentioned in my last post).

On an unprofessional, more like venting note:

I have to say, I am getting very tire of busting my ass on this thing with seeing little forward momentum as a result of  other competent participants or investment from industry professionals. I have made this very available for review and presented so many components of this to public view, if find it amazing that some more competent professional have not stepped up to the plate along the way.  It is so clear how massive the potential of this project can be given the right circumstances. I'm starting to believe that the only projects that advance are the ones created by people without a clue and people who can easily be taken advantage of because of having stars in their eyes.  It's a sad perspective, but I see real garbage being produced, sick and perverted material making money and being glorified. While I have been striving to create something of real and lasting value that is founded in goodness. I have struggled beyond all conception to build a well conceived project, to bring together all the components that could possibly be involved, on a scale that represents the fullest possible manifestation of the project across allthe possible markets involved and to set the groundwork for all that to happen. I have moved forward at all times leaving a door open for other industry professional to become involved, moving step by step forward while expecting some degree of engagement from the Industry, not based on my pushing that to happen, but based on recognition to occur from making the material available in increments. I've been crafting this for thirty years! Enough already.

I have a very viable working plan for advancement of this project in all arenas. I have a grip on all the aspects of production. After 45 years of work in the Industry, I have experience in all aspect of this work, I have built a 10K sq ft well equipped studio to do service this work. All of this work has been done on the premise that if nobody else comes into the picture, if no opportunities come to me, then I must keep going and create them for myself. I have been doing so here in jibibisville for way too long. But now it's too late I may never get out and... I'm too old.

The project is refined beyond any that I have seen in my forty plus career, yet I am under extreme financial duress and about ready to break. I just smashed my phone against the wall after an important email that I crafted got discard when my pen accidentally  tapped the screen. This is only a symptom of how volatile I am becoming  as a result of the extreme complexity, stress, and deprivation involved in crafting and mounting this project. I  have few, if any, people around me that have even a scintilla of a clue, much less an idea of what it takes to do this. I constantly have to explain it to people who are stunned and utterly unable to help other than to wish me well.  This is, in part, the source of my duress and the pressure being put on me because of how long it is taking and how many resources it takes for this project to manifest.

I can no longer jerk around. I need a minimum of 5M to stabilize my studio environment, 12M to set up the Joint Venture with Vested Board Members who will then raise the production funds, and/or 30M (under terms) plus 10% of the Gross gross, for a complete buyout. I have been pussyfooting around this fundraising for too long, taking it gently because of SEC rules. Screw all that! I need to see some real coins happening real soon or I'm shifting into something more viable for my immediate needs. I have other business endeavors that I put on hold for this for years, business endeavors that have nothing to do with The Gnomes of New Hope and unless I see some serious action that funds my operations I'm shifting gears. The fact of the matter is that if I do that, this may very well die. I say this because I've seen it happen before, but I have other significant matters to attend to and they can no longer be put off.

So if you are a business person who has been watching this and considering involvement when this reached the right level of refinement, this is it. Shit or get off the pot. I'm about fed up. I don't need any more mamby pamby crap from people who don't know and haven't put in the time to know. I'm only going to deal with professionals who do know, are serious and are capable. The rest is a waste of my time.

 I'm probably saying all this because I'm pissed that I just smashed my phone.

AG

Shut down?

Well, as I've mentioned, capital influx is at a critical need level. Studio operations have been intentionally kept at a minimum but the situation has taken a turn for the worse. I have been urgently trying to prepare the Core Creative Materials for presentation in the appropriate arenas. The package looks really fantastic, bit it's not quite done. I think my best bet is to sell board positions, but I haven't worked to locate persons of sufficient resources or stature I've been too busy prepping the materials. I guess whatever I have will have to do. But I need players who play in the big league.

Let's Go People. We needs some serious coins... and quickly, ASAP!

Let me know.

Business Plan

I spent the day setting up a DVD burn that contains the "Gnomes in a Gnutshell" PowerPoint presentation along with some flyers, order forms, a file containing The Restrictive Covenant Agreement and the Front Money Agreement. Then there is a file containing sections of a thorough Business Plan.

The Business Plan is divided into eight sections. The first is an Introduction to the Creative Material, the second is the Modus Operandi, which I think contains the Production Approach Summary, the third is a bio outlining my 45 year Career History, the fifth begins the Production Management and outlines the basic terms related to The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture, the sixth continues with other management parameters, the seventh addresses The Approach to The Industry the eighth examines the Ancillary Markets. Then there is a file folder with A Work File and another file with Important Issues to Consider.

These are very extensive files, but since it is time to generate substantial investment, it is appropriate for submission to potential Board Members, Producing Partners, Production/Distribution Companies, Packaging Agencies, Service Vendors and appropriate crew members.

If you would like a copy of the DVD, you will need to submit a request on your company letterhead and open a dialogue with me via email.

AG

The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture

I'm moving more aggressively to locate individuals can and will buy into The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture.

As I said before, buy-in is one dollar per share for one million shares. Each Board Position holds one million shares.

I serve as the Chairman, over a seven member board. There is a plan to increase the board to twelve members.

I am looking for a CEO and a CFO for starters. The Elder Gnomes are not the Producers. The Producers are part of The Gnomes of New Hope Productions, the production company for the theatre, film, television and other products.

I can also secure funding by a buy-in to The Gnomes of New Hope Productions. So producers who are willing to provide funding can secure a position in the management or the board of that organization.

IMS Management, Incorporated is the logistical organization that will supervise the management logistics and we can also begin forming that organization, if funding comes in from that direction.

My point is that these three organizations share in the overall financing, production and management of The Gnomes of New Hope. I do not expect to be in control of these organizations. My arena of production control resides in Image of the Mind Studios, which is strictly engaged in development, limited edition product lines and non-union film and theatre activities.

I outline this briefly because the need to secure substantial funding has become urgent and I invite vested partners to participate in the first three organizations.

IMS a private development studio that will remain a proprietorship.

Funding can also be secured through Licensing and Options, if that is preferable.

Outright Sale of all rights to the material is an option, but that involves a 25% deposit on $30M  against 10% of the reported gross/gross, off the top on all markets.

This deposit is required to pay off the debts thus far incurred and to secure the existing facilities.

I will consider some degree of stock swap against the balance remaining after the 10% deposit of the 30M, so long as the quarterly income is significant. In that instance the Royalty will be deferred until the income reaches the 30M.

No royalties are to be based on any net income and there are no deferrals (other than what was just mentioned)

A 10% fee against the MSRP on each production run of products in every  market is required before production.

In the instance of film, theatre and television productions, there is s prepaid deposit of 10% is against the budget and required to be updated and paid if the budget increases and paid before production commenses. The 10% Royalty against the Gross remains as defined.

All Royalties are against the reported Grosses, not the net returned to the producers by distributors.

No fees are to be taken out of the monies paid to Arthur Greisiger/Image of the Mind Studios. Any commissions, fees, or taxes are added onto IMS income and not taken from it.

That's basically it. I tried to make that as simple as possible. These terms are not open to debate. I know what some of the Industry Terms are, but these are mine and I will not diverge from them.

I've worked too hard, too long, and invested too much over 30 years to create this project and it has a potential that reaches in to the hundreds of millions of dollars.

These terms are extremely fair, and give the producers the Lions Share of the amazing potential.

It also needs to be realized that The Gnomic Tales are also part of those rights and there are three to five more tales with the potential for more based on The Gnomes of New Hope Core Creative Materials.

Obviously, the contracts need to be implemented and they contain other terms, by necessity, but these are my basic terms.

Communicate via e-mail;

image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

AG

Urgent Funding Needs

As it stands now, I am under severe threat in terms of the studio space. I posted elsewhere on this subject.

But the financing requirements I have been discussing for some time, needs to come to fruition.

The basic need here is to secure the facility for a minimum of three years. Optimally, acquisition of the property, which was in the process of happening, is the best approach. The funding to implement that needs to be drawn from the equity inherent in The Gnomes of New Hope.

We were on a path that would not have required that degree of funding, but changes have been forced upon us by outside parties who, from my estimation, have no right to do so. By so doing, the cost and management of the property will be increased and impaired. It may not be worth it, because I will loose the grandfather clause in zoning and the taxes will go up. Yet here it is, thrust upon us by foolish people.

Refer to the post on The Elder Gnomes.

AG

IMS Producing Partners

This link should really be on the IMS Producing Partners page, but I'm testing the link to the cloud.

An Invitation to Become a   Producing Partner

This is one of the introductory letters to the Industry Review Package, which is still being constructed. The current effort is to assemble portions of that review package in PowerPoint, because by so doing, the e-Storybook and other promotional materials advance at the same time.

Contract materials need to be reviewed before they can be made available, but certain points will be included in the Industry Review Package.

Inquiries are welcomed.

AG

Navigating this blog

I have attempted to move some of the more relevant posts closer to the top without much success. So, I invite you to scan through the posts to look for those which provide you artwork or photos. When I post from my phone, I don't seem to be able to add images. A lot of my posts lately have been via my smartphone, which isn't smart enough to post pictures!

PowerPoint Update

I was delighted to find that PowerPoint works so well as a presentation medium for the e-Storybook. I redesigned the layout to work on the current HDTV format, so now the e-Storybook can be viewed on your television.

I may have posted some of these thoughts before, so excuse me for that.

But, not only does the e-Storybook look great on the HDTV, but I can add Narration and animated videos to that format, which I'm very excited about. As I was crafting this new format, I had a revelation. The e-Storybook needs to accessible via a subscription page. At first thought that seems like a ploy, but the truth of it is that, by having access solely via a subscription page it simplifies thing greatly and solves a number of problems

Firstly, a subscription page delivers the books electronically, eliminating a great deal of expense which comes with hard publishing the books. That's not to say that hard copy books are not also going to be available. For now all the hard copy books are published on demand, so you can still order them. You can read other posts about that. But for the most part, I am not going to inventory the books, until the demand to do so warrants it.

Secondly, by making the e-Storybook only available via a subscription, the expense of publishing can be reinvested in the project; creating the artwork needed for the entire collection, sculpting new Garden Gnomes, creating animations, and a whole plethura of other things that need to be done.

Thirdly, by providing it via subscription, I can make the material accessible to you without worrying that it has been released with some portions incomplete, because I can continue to update the material as it is completed, making corrections or adding things like gifs or other animations. Plus, I can add the music and update it as we add vocals, so you will be part of the production process, leading up to the stage show.

So for those three reasons alone it is a good idea. But...

Fourthly, there are issues of security and presentation format which I think will be solved by using an online service to deliver the material to you for your enjoyment.

As I am sure you are aware, this computer/television stuff is constantly changing. That leads me to believe that by keeping the delivery via the Internet, we will be able to adjust the material to the most current systems. If we we're to deliver it via DVD the technology would be outdated before we even got started. But then there are other issues with providing it as a download, issues that are difficult to solve. So, making it accessible via a subscription page solves a great deal of problems that thusfar, I have not been able to solve.

I am working to prepare some of the PowerPoint material so that it can be posted here. I have a few options, one is to post it as a PowerPoint, which would require you to have access to the program. I'm hoping that the subscription page may be able to provide that program, because it has navigational tools not available to a movie file. So I'm still working all that out.

I am setting up a series of videos, which I expect to post on YouTube. The size if the videos need to be adjusted, so the PowerPoint will need to be broken down into smaller videos. The current promotional presentation is around 45 minutes long (which took me by surprise). That doesn't even include the narrated version of Book One. That only explains some of the project. I can't imagine how long the narrated e-Storybook will end up being, after all it is around 800 pages.

Still looking for Vested Producing Partners. Let me know if you are interested.

Keep watch. AG

Festival Environments

I've posted on a number of important subjects relative to the advancement of The Gnomes of New Hope, on various forums including LinkedIn and Facebook. So check those forums as well.

But after reading the latest edition of The Bucks County Herald, I realize that the summer season of Festivals is a market that we need to be on top of. Yes, we have the developing GnomeFest, and maybe GnomeFest could be a traveling part of The Gnomes of New Hope? After all, we are developing the parade float aspect of this. So, as I write this, I'm thinking that the parade float/portable stage should be the way we present at numerous summer festivals. I guess the original concept was to be a presentation at The New Hope Arts Festival, so maybe returning to that idea, now with the ability to expand into other markets, is the best approach. Hey, a portable stage for puppetry eliminates renting a theatre. Not to say we won't also hit the bricks, when the time is right. The whole point of all these years of development was to prep the material to broach numerous markets thoroughly. We're almost there, it's only a matter of careful planning and implementation of production management. The Core Creative Materials are richly developed so we will never run into a dead end. So we have literally decades of open-ended possibilities before us, clearly there is more life in The Gnomes of New Hope than there is in me. So the trick is getting this up and on it's own feet.

I'm working out a commission structure for the sales department. I'd rather leave all that up to the Board of Directors, but I'm still setting that up. Look for some if the Business Plan getting posted on IMS Producing Partners.

AG

Final Cut Studio

I have a wide assortment of film , photography and video equipment and supplies, most of which is outdated, but we won't go into that!

But Final Cut Studio is one program that I haven't gotten around to using yet. I'm thinking that I need to integrate PowerPoint with Final Cut. In particular, I have been documenting the puppetry with video, so that too needs to be integrated into the editing bench. This is all leading toward the animated videos of each scene.

The other bit of activity that is moving forward is setting up the green screen/sound stage. Right now that space is junked up with assorted supplies, but I'm setting up shelving in the shop to recover floor space. The stage space is starting to seem more necessary. I have been thinking about setting up the scenes with models, or even with the puppets, for the sake of the illustrations. It's much more advantageous for the artists to have a 3D cyclorama to aid in drawing. But that has an array if other uses as well. So that is moving forward, in conjunction with setting up Final Cut Pro.

AG

Music Score

So, as I said, I've been working with PowerPoint. I created a publicity presentation which includes one of the songs, which is accompanied by the Lead Sheet.

The song is Zach & Ferny's love song, a duet  titled "Completely" featuring Nathan Odhner and Justine Buss singing. It was recorded some years ago and turned out really well. 

I n the PowerPoint, the sheet music is presented in such a way as the pages turn at the appropriate time for the reader to follow along. Well, this works out so well that I am going to do the entire score this way as a learning tool. It is so much easier to lay down a piano track against this sheet music for the singers to learn the music. I don't want to eliminate the rehearsal process with an accompanist, but to expedite the process, this method is a great tool.

That being said, I'm working on "The Stone of Wisdom", which you could say is the finale of Act One. It's an epic tale sung to Zach & Zebby by The Master Gnome. It's a very cool song.

I sing with the choir, so I sing an assortment of songs. My propensity is to remember the hook, but not much else, even on my own songs! That frustrates me. What I'm saying is that "The Stone of Wisdom has a great hook.

Well, I'm hoping to post something here, but since I'm going to make the e-Storybook a membership site, then the music will be available on that page. It's about time I start making some money with this project, so I think it's time to set up the membership site. On that site all the material will be available to our members and by so doing, they will be helping us to produce this show.

Well... More later. AG

Parade Float

I'm posting on this subject using a new devise, so this is really a test for me.

After writing the last post I started thinking about the size and shape of the parade float. It gets down to the mobile stage being put into application, for example, at the end of The Southampton Days Parade at the carnaval/fair taking place in Tamanend Park after the parade. So that parade float will also need to serve as a stage for the puppet show. I'm thinking that blending live performance with puppetry may be the best approach to presenting the show in the context of assorted festivals, including "Gnome Fest".

As I said before, the parade float dimensions will also need to be applicable in a Little Theatre environment. As I write this, i'm thinking that a show which starts out with puppets may transition into a live performance. That would be interesting.

So those are some recent thoughts. AG

Puppetry

  For about a month I was busy re-engineering the tail section of the Dragon Puppet we use for the Pageant on June 19th at the Bryn Athyn Cathedral. 

I'm not sure how many years it's been since we built the dragon, by now, over seven years, maybe over ten. A team from NYC was employed to design and supervise building a seven headed dragon puppet as represented in the Book of Revelations. It was intended to replace the hand puppet that was used for decades. It is also like twenty times bigger.

Well, when it was announced that the dragon would be built at MPAC (Mitchell Performing Arts Center) the community was invited to volunteer. I figured why not, after all, I am a theatre guy. 

So I ended up building the chassis to the body & tail, as specified and assembling the necks, while other people built the paper mache heads and made scales.

Well, after the one week build was done, Alex (the designer) christened me the Dragon Master. So I've been in charge of all repairs, modifications and instructing the puppeteers in operation.

Over the years, I've rebuilt and redesigned numerous aspects of the Dragon. The heads were reconstructed to accommodate a flow of water (silk) which involved modifying the structural and mechanical design of the mouths and the operation of the heads.

 The necks we're altered to accommodate the actual operating circumstances, regular annual repairs have been implemented, due to things like the sword fight resulting in damage, but also the original design was insufficient, in terms of durability and didn't really meet the needs of ongoing performance. It was designed as a parade puppet.

Most particularly, this year, I have had to redesign and implement a new spine structure in the tail. 

The tail is a very active part of the puppet, having a stinger like a scorpion, which flexes as part of the operation, to represent stinging and pulling down "the stars of heaven" as conveyed in Revelations. 

So, the tail has broken numerous times, not only because it was not designed for years of use, but because the puppeteers get excited and wack the tail around a lot.

I will post some photos of the dragon and the rebuilds that have taken place when I can do so.

I have to say that; this year's rebuild has me thinking a lot about the puppetry I want to implement on the parade float for the Gnomes. I'm thinking that the sets and such for the parade float may also be usable in Little Theatre, but I'll talk about that later.

I expect to post video of the tail rebuild and will post a link here.

That's all for now. AG

I've also performed as John for the last twenty plus years.

She represents The New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven, revealing the Dive. Good and True in the Word

PowerPoint

UPDATE

8/20

OK, I've decided to split up the PowerPoint presentations. The first one is a pitch for the project and book sales, with some samples of the e-Storybook, Audio Book, Libretto and Music. The second is a full Narration if the e-Storybook from which an Audio Book will be derived. The third is a comparison between the Storybook and the Libretto. The fourth is the Music Score with recordings. The fifth will be The Business Plan. PowerPoint is a very effective tool. I can clearly see how advantageous it is in numerous circumstances. I especially like the way it will advance the singers ability to learn the music. So I am continuing to build a collection of Powerpoint presentations for different applications. Expect to see one posted here in the future. AG

8/1

So I'm laying down a narration for an audio track to go with the e-Storybook. Why not go all the way?

I've put together an introductory presentation that uses the Preface, some sample materials (book pages, music, video), and the Appendix. I left the book pages out of that, because the e-Storybook, with the narration, music, and animated videos, will be accessible only via a subscription. I've concluded that is the best approach. Gnomes in a Gnutshell as a complete e-Storybook cannot be made available for outright purchase until all seven books are fully illustrated and therefore, complete. So, the only way to share the e-Storybook is to do so as it is being completed. That means making it a accessible for viewing only, on-line. So that is the direction we will need to go.

The promotional presentation, which exemplifies how the e-Storybook is laid out, can be posted here when it's finished, presuming I can make sure the size of the file is correct for an upload.

I guess I need to consider that too. I know that I'm about halfway finished with the narration and the file size is approaching 400 MB. I'll have to see what happens with compression.

To be continued...

ARCHIVE

Awesome! I took the HDTV layout and created a PowerPoint presentation. I'm utterly amazed at how cool it is. Besides looking great, the file sizes are small enough that it can be delivered on-line!

So now I'm trying to decided how to make that available... Direct, as "Gnomes in a Gnutshell", on-line as a download, or on-line as a subscription.

If it's a subscription, then the subscribers would have access to all the updates and changes, at any time, as I make upgrades to presentation. The advantage here is that the people who subscribe will be participating in the growth of the project.

Bear with me as I think this through.

If the e-Storybooks are posted on a subscription page, then I will have better control over providing the updates to that page. I have some very interesting ideas about integrating animations I to the e-Storybooks. The main difficulty here is that each book has about 150 illustrations in it. Basically, since there are almost 800 pages in "Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure", that means there are at least 800 illustrations, because there are illustrations on every page.

I'm beginning to think that I want to animate the illustrations, even the smallest of them. Initially, I wanted to create larger animations of the scenes, now I'm thinking of animating individual components of the illustrations. Small animations, gifs, if you will. Doing this will, collectively, lead into the larger animated film.

So I'll be looking into that.

One more point, a subscription approach will help pay for the work that needs to be done, a little at a time.

I'm believing that this approach may also offer better DRM across the board. I guess we'll see what happens after I get into discussions with distributors.

AG

HDTV

I have been preparing the entire collection for an assortment of submissions, which need to occur. One of the realities is that all the material needs to be included in one refined package. For certain submissions, I cannot present portions, it must be complete. That in itself poses a difficulty.

The first story is composed of a collection of seven books, which are represented in the e-Storybook "Gnomes in a Gnutshell". You can see the packaging of that product line below in a previous post.

But now that I discovered that the e-book must be filed along with the published edition of the hard-copy, at the same time, I find I'm faced with a dilemma. Once the material is filed, it all becomes public, which means that the classified material is accessible and revealed to the public.

I have been very careful not to reveal the Core Creative Materials to anyone other than our Producing Partners, which includes investors, contributors, and service vendors. Now that this first story from "The Gnomic Tales" is fully developed, it's time to begin releasing it. The first book is going out to Booksellers.

Well, the e-Storybook contains the entire seven book series. It has been my plan to release the books over a span of time (evenly spaced out) because we are still working on the art needed for some of the books and I need capital influx to pay my artists to come in and finish the work. It's going to cost me $90k to finish the work. (in case you want to invest).

Thinking about the e-Storybook, I realized (actually some time ago) that it needs to be accessible across all devises. That includes one's television, hence, HDTV. The e-Storybook is intended as a multi-media product, where the illustrations can come alive with gifs and/or short films. But I also intend to install the music from the stage show, so that the e-Storybook is the forum for a complete presentation of the entire product line (in terms of media product).

So I've redesigned the e-book for the HDTV aspect ratio. It looks great and it utilizes the e-book layout that has already been produced in the book format. So I'm very happy about that. I may submit both formats.

More later. AG

Sponsorship Program

There will be numerous opportunities for sponsorship in this production process. The one we are focusing on now is for the Storytelling sessions in the library. Our goal is to conduct the readings in any number of libraries in the immediate area. One aspect of those readings will be giving out The Gnome-sized books to the kids that attend the readings. The Big People books will be available for purchase, but the Gnome-sized Books (in this instance) are being used for promotion of the project as a whole. Therefore, we will be looking for sponsors, who will receive due credit, in exchange for funding a production run of books, as well as other expenses to conduct the readings. A budget is in process for those readings, but the items in the budget will include; 1) the books to give as gifts  2) the cost of labor to set-up, conduct the reading, tear-down, and return the supplies to the studio. 3) Per Diem for the participants for food and housing (if needed), 4) additional promotional materials (such as order forms, flyers, posters, and stand up cutouts of the characters)  5) funding to complete the puppets to be used in the readings (in addition to puppeteers)  6) paid Two-fers for the show (to add support for other work, such as continuing with illustrations and artwork needing to complete the series).

If you would like to discuss being a sponsor contact Arthur Greisiger at; image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

There will be other benefits offered to our sponsors

beyond the advertising value.

AG

More Thoughts on GnomeFest

Yesterday I went to the Summer Solstice Faerie Festival at Marshy Point Nature Center in Maryland. It was delightful, a lot of fun, and had so much going on. The setting was perfect! It was a rush to see so many people into Cosplay.

So on the way down there, I  was thinking about GnomeFest. I realized that it needs to take place in close proximity to New Hope and it needs to take place in conjunction with the Premiere of the stage show.

Nothing has been discussed yet regarding using The Bucks County Playhouse as the venue for the Premiere, so if that doesn't come into play, we will need to build our parade float as a mobile stage, from which we can present versions of the show in a festival environment.

The subject of presenting The Gnomes of New Hope at Faerie Festivals, of which there are a few, came up. I know there are other outdoor venues where a show can be presented as well.

Which leads me to think about the kind of show that needs to be presented in that fashion. Clearly the whole Musical Theatre piece cannot be presented at a fair. At most, the environment can tolerate a 20 minute show. Even if we broke the show into a few 20 minute segments and presented them over the course of the day, at best we could squeeze in four shows. The Full Musical runs 3 hours. Of course I have numerous versions, to fit different time slots and circumstances, including the parade. So I need to give that more thought. I need to finish with the publication work on the book series before we can really get down to it. I can say that building the mobile stage us going to be a priority, before we even begin planning presenting the show.

I can say that most of the forest folk at the Faerie Fest I spoke to about the Gnomes were, on the whole, very excited. A lot of excellent ideas and suggestions we're exchanged. A bunch of people said "you've got to talk to the Gnomes" well, we caught up with them and had a lengthy and excited conversation with a Gnome couple from Reading PA. After we left them we had an epiphany about presenting the Story-telling sessions. Maybe that should be combined with the stage presentation? In fact, in that context, we don't even need a stage!

Mostly, I suggested to folks that they keep watch here and follow what is going on and, of course, stay in touch via email.

So it seems that the GnomeFest scenario needs to be at least as important as the parade and the stage show. That's a lot of producing that needs to be done. It's a good thing I have many years of experience doing just that. It's amazing how little by little we end up in our destiny. AG

Book Two, preparing the remaining books for press.

Update 6/26/19

   I was working to conform the remaining books to the current (and final) layout, mostly to find out how long it would take to do so. I wanted to get a grip on this before making a concerted push to release the first book in the series. As it turned out, I have been able to conform the first five scenes of Act One, which represent at least half of Volume Two, Books Two thru Four, within two weeks. The Libretto consists of twenty scenes. I have divided the Storybook into seven books Book One is the Introduction to the Gnomes of New Hope. Books Two thru Four comprise Act One of the Musical Stage Play, while Books Five thru Seven comprise Act Two of the stage play.

I'm considering publishing the books in three volumes for the Big People Books and Seven books for the Gnome-sized Books. Clearly, I cannot publish the Gnome-sized books in three volumes. There are too many pages to fit into the smaller books, but I think that with the Big People Book we can publish all nine scene in one book. The big problem there lies in the fact that a fully illustrated book is costly to produce. Not only the cost of printing the full color pages, but the cost of the artwork. As it stands, there are 348 illustrations that are needed for the remaining books. Those illustrations cost me a minimum of 300 dollars a piece, probably.  more. So do the math and you and see what I have,  and will have, invested in this project. Add to that that a Portion of that money is Front Money, which involves a three hundred percent return to the investors. So you can see that it is no small investment to complete this project.

 As it stands now, I have begun distributing the books to bookstores. You may or may not be aware of this, but the MSRP of the Big People's Book has been set at the maximum I believe is tolerable, $29.95. Do you relaise that Booksellers expect me to sell them the books at a wholesale price of $11.95? There's no way that is going to happen!  All business endeavors in this capitalistic system expect a profit. How dare they demand such a degree of profit! There are at least four other participants that need to make a profit from their involvement. As far as I am concerned, the profit in the product needs to be evenly divided between the participants. I won't lay out the budget here for you, but for the booksellers to demand such a profit is insulting. Therefore I will most certainly be selling the books directly from this web site. You will be able to search this site for a link to purchasing the books. It is not entirely set-up yet, but I will attend to it in the near future and make sure it operates properly. If you want to talk about buying books, send me an email to image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com. That's all for now. AG

ARCHIVE

I started off looking for the lyrics to "The Gnomen of The Yard", because of my last post. That song is in Scene Twelve.  But as I was opening the files, I decided to see what was involved in conforming the remaining books to the final publishing layout. Well, how stupid would that be to start with Book Five! So I opened Book Two, being that Book One is now finished and represents the finished design.

Well, the entire collection was conformed to the layout that I used for the first prototype run. So for that layout, all the books have been finished. But that layout was rejected after I started serious proof-reading and making improvements to the design. Those aesthetic design changes, combined with technical logistic adjustments, resulted in a process that took literally more than five years to refine.

Now that I have started to address manufacturing and distribution of Book One, my real concern became "can I deliver the rest of the story if demand increases and how long would that take?" You know, once I initiate the books into the marketplace, if I can't deliver the story within a tolerable time frame, well, I'll loose my audience. People's span of attention is limited. If you have to wait too long to get satisfaction, after your interest has been perked, frankly, you loose interest, or it's taken away by something else.

So I needed to get a grip on how long each book would taken to be ready for press, before I push too hard on Book One.

It took a few tries to get the layout from Version 9.1 to conform to Revision A112, but after less than a week, Book Two is well over 50% finished!  I think I can safely conclude that I can prep a book in about a month. But that assumes I have all the artwork finished, which I don't.

Those revision numbers above are real, although in a few instances I had to jump up in blocks of ten after the numbers got too confusing. Sometimes I had Rev numbers like Rev 89a too.

But I do have Books One thru Four fully illustrated. Well, I'm short (about) fifteen panels on Book Four. The rest of the books are spattered with illustrations. As I've said before, I still need 348 illustrations for the remaining books.

I'm developing a plan for expediting the Illustration process. So that we can produce the art with the time frame that matches a release schedule. As it stands now, if the first three books are released, say three to six months apart, and create sufficient income to get the artists working on finishing the illustrations, then we'll be good.

I say artists, because I want to move into 3D CGI, but I also was thinking of hiring colorists and/or line artists.

Well... I'm moving forward to get the next two books ready for press, before I push too hard on Book One. Our publishing is almost all set up. We are finished with the Big People book and have confirmed pricing for on-demand with that book. We need to do another test run of the Gnome-sized Book to lock in manufacturing prices for that book on-demand. We are now confirming the pricing for off-set and that is almost ready to go.

That's all for now. AG

The Gnomes of The Yard

I had a fun conversation with another musician and I mentioned one of the songs from "Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure".

I wanted to do a homage to Gilbert and Sullivan, so I wrote the lyrics for a song titled "The Gnomes of The Yard" (a play on The Yeoman of The Guard). Shawn and I had fun writing the music for it. The song really has no relation to any specific G&S song, it only has a certain patter-song style and is intended to be reminiscent of G&S. I would not be so presumptuous as to believe that our abilities could even be in the same room. But it's fun and I can't wait to hear it actually implemented, blocked and performed in the context of the Libretto. There is a lot of action back and forth with the song, not as much as some, but it's cool.

These are not The Gnomen of the Yard, these are the Tinkers,
The Tinkers sing in a Barbershop style
 while,  The Tailors sing in a Gospel style.
The compete in a sing-off.

I need to fix this image for presentation here,
so I'll do that today and replace it.
(maybe I'll add the Lyrics to the song, what the heck, it is copyrighted)

Turns out The Gnomen of the Yard is a different illustration;

I guess maybe I'll start talking about the songs in the show. That will help to get the musician frame of mind back in gear. But I still have six more Storybooks to publish. (sigh)

Years ago I experimented with posting a few songs. They are early versions, but fair representations of the songs. I found out that once they are there, they're there. Maybe after we get up and going again on the music, I'll work on managing that better.

Here's a Link to SonicBids. where you will find"Never Been So Near" and "The Chase". 

 (not The Gnomen of the Yard) I don't really use it anymore.That site is more for bands. 

Here's a link to SoundCloud, where you will find 

"Never Been So Near" and "The Stone of Wisdom"

(we're working on recording the vocal version of 

The Stone of Wisdom, sung by The Master Gnome)

You know, I think I need to build a producing team for this. I need to free up my time to do the finishing work on the Core Creative Materials, while keeping the momentum up and advancing toward our ultimate goals. I need people who are more aligned with logistics. Frankly, however, the budget needs to be in place, along with HR, before that is likely. The only possibility at this point is active vested partners who can take that load off of me. Realistically, that a commodity that us few and far between. I guess if you don't dig for gold, you'll never find it. AG

A Note to Booksellers

Here's an edited copy of a post I made on the Gnomes of New Hope Facebook page.

TO BOOKSELLERS;

The pricing structure may change depending on what kind of relationship I develop with a Bookseller.

A recent experience simply inscensed me because of the lack of respect I received right out if the box by an insulting buyer. The bookstores for whom that person works are banned from any of my product for life.

Don't expect a full keystone that's not going to happen unless booksales exceed 250k and/or the Bookseller purchases a large quantity of books.

There are five parties who need to make a profit in this process. If the Bookseller gets a keystone that not fair.

The books are expensive to make because of the full color illustrations and the MSRP reflects a price that is tolerable to the buying public, not a doubling the costs all along the way.

My modus operandi is that all parties share in the profit equally after manufacturing costs and make a reasonable profit. A keystone is not reasonable, even if it is a retail standard.

Some profit is better than no profit. AG

Story-Telling Sessions

Here's a link to a post on Story-Telling Sessions on

  IMS Publishing

The Gnomes of New Hope was designed as a Read-Out-Loud Book and as we work to release the Book One of the Series "The Gnomes of New Hope; an Introduction" part of the plan includes reading sessions at local libraries and bookstores. This link discusses some of the work needed for that program and suggests us bringing sponsors into the process. I will be pursuing that by crafting a budget and Production Approach Summary (outline) for that aspect of the project. If you would like to be involved, as a sponsor, reader or manager, let me know; 

image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com 

If you have ideas about this program, I'm happy to discuss it via email, in person, or over the phone. AG

Just to make it interesting:

Some of the Collectible Trading Cards

Image of the Mind Studios: IMS Producing Partners

Image of the Mind Studios: IMS Producing Partners:

I just discovered a variation in the web address to IMS Producing Partners .  

 So here is the corrected link. (it is correct in the ...

Ok, so I've been investigating the settings on IMS Producing Partners. I've selected some people who are interested in what we are doing and who have proven trustworthy with the information that is posted there. If you are a Business Partner, Potential Business Partner, interested Industry Professional, Friend of the Project, or Investor you will have access to the page if you request it.

 I have eliminated the subscription aspect, since that has not worked out well. But if you are a Legitimate Producing Partner or participant you will automatically have access.  I will create a new blog for post financials, contracts or other sensitive information and restrict that blog to only vested individuals.

The current IMS Producing Partners is mostly for General Business Documents regarding producing, but not any specific or signed agreements or for investment reports. AG

Book Sales & Distribution

    I have determined that I will not deal directly with bookstores.  

     I am discussing book sales with one bookstore; Farley's Book Shop in New Hope. We have not finalized any arrangements to sell the books, but I am inclined to give them the exclusive right to sell the books, until such time as I have finished the entire collection of Illustrated Storybooks.

     I will of course be setting up my Sales Office at the Studio and moving forward with the online Shopping cart. I will service orders received via those outlets. Bookstores wishing to carry the books will need to come to me and the only terms I will accept are those outlined in my order form. I will NEVER consider consignment under any condition, so don't even suggest it, or I will ban sales to you. If that sounds harsh, you can thank the disrespect that certain bookstores have proffered.

    This is a result of numerous factors. Firstly, I need to finish the remaining books in the collection and I feel that I cannot get distracted, or spend resources, trying to convince booksellers to carry the books. Secondly, with the remaining books needing to be finished, I cannot be required to manufacture large quantities of books or tend to the idiosyncrasies involved.  If an order comes into my studio as a result of a buyer coming to the office and submitting a paid-in-advance order, and returning to pick up that order, then I will accept and fulfill that order. I am set-up to manufacture. Otherwise, I will be looking for another publisher to pick-up manufacturing and distribution on a large scale for the general market. I will also consider developing relationship with Sales Reps, if there is anyone wanting to do that. My taking on sales and distribution, on top of the other work I need to do, is too much for me.

   I very much need to stay in the areas of work that I have set up in the studio. You can see those areas in other discussions. In particular, working on the theatrics of the project and moving forward with illustration and animation.

    So are the facts I have now come to realize.

    If you are a potential investor in The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture and your specialty is Publishing, Marketing, or Distribution, there is a Board Position for that. Talk to me about that. AG

Thoughts about Producing

   For the last few days I was working on producing activities. Even though I always was very focused on and interested in producing, I find that today I have been working on some of the layout adjustments and design for the books. I find myself to be much more calm and happy doing that.

Producing is stressful... always thinking about money or trying to figure out where the resources are going to come from to do what needs to be done. It's a bit of a drag, really. Especially when the numbers start getting bigger and the forward momentum becomes increasingly dependent on those resources being in place. Although I have to say it's a rush getting things done when the resources are there and that's not a concern. It's only when you get close to running on empty that everything gets all jammed up.

   This whole thing is at the point where substantial resources are called for. Once you start to staff a production things start hopping. You just can't do that without the budget in place. It's like a Catch 22. You need the budget to raise the budget to make the budget. There's a certain amount of guess work involved.

I could use a hundred grand right about now. Hopefully that would buy enough gas to get to the next town.

AG

Investment Package

In response to investment discussions, the Press Packet and the Bookseller Packet are contributing to the Industry Review Package. I am reviewing the Business Plan and the Front Money Agreement to update them, taking into account the circumstances that have changed.

Since there are numerous arenas that are under development, the terms and conditions continue to address activity in those foundational areas of attention, at all times leaving the door open to go in a (possibly better) New direction.

If you are one of the people who have been talking to me (or an investor, producer, or other interested professional) let me know via email or text. I'm getting extremely busy (crazy) tending to all the details, so I need you to make the effort to stay in touch with me. Be certain to leave a message if you call. More often then not, I prefer to let the phone go to voice mail.

Many aspects of this are starting to fly. 🛩️

That's it for now. AG

The Artwork of Jency Latta

Updated 5/19

    It seems I attempted to set up a Gallery Page. I'm not sure about that, but I'll try to pay attention to it more, simply because I want to provide a way to view the images that have now been published in Book One.

Also, I will try to insert more character images in the sidebars, since the posts go on beyond what I have already posted.

An early sketch of Gnomeville and The Squirrel's Nest...

...which turned into the one below. There were numerous sketches in between, many of which found their way into other scenes or applications.  For a wonderful view of The Squirrel's Nest check out my Facebook home page. (this link takes you to the IMS page, but you can get to my Home page from there) I love that watercolor, but it cannot serve as the actual Squirrel's Nest because it is too close to the ground. It needed to be higher and easier to hide from view.

 The above image has been refined further and will be available as a puzzle.

(I'll replace this image with that one when I can)

ARCHIVE

10/13
A new page has been created specifically as a gallery of the artwork we are using for the Gnomes of New Hope and I am placing a link in the side bar.  It doesn't seem to want to add try this  The Artwork of Jency Latta

e-Storybook Notes

Revised update

   Here's the most recent flyer and cover letter regarding the e-Storybook

OOPS... I only have PDFs. I'll post them after I convert them to JPG.

Updated 5/19

   The e-Storybook was fully designed using the format shown here. As you can see the format shown here is the first generation of the layout. The published editions of the Gnome-sized and Big People Books are more refined than this design. It is likely that I will carry the newer design over to the revamped e-Storybook format. The e-Storybook will need to change from this view, a vertical or portrait view, to a horizontal or landscape view.

    The change to the landscape format is needed to match the current aspect ratio of the cinema & television screens. I want people to be able to send the Storybook up to their large viewing screen, so that kids will have an easier time of joining in together to see the material as a group.  But also, we plan on creating animations to be part of the Storybook and I most certainly think it is essential that the aspect ration match what has become the standard for films & television. As I have said before, it is my intention to produce the larger film by creating a composite of smaller films that link together. I'll discuss that elsewhere under the subject of Cinema.

   The animations are expected to start out as "music videos" of the songs in the show, but eventually become representations of the scenes. It occurs to me that as a storytelling book, we could have links to storytelling videos, but that might defeat the purpose of having adults participating with kids in a storytelling session. Maybe if we added that later that could be part of a television presentation.

All this means that the thoughts previously posted on this subject will contain outdated references. I will edit out the worst of it.

AG

I've placed the previous content of this post under the category Archive below. So in the future, I will maintain the subject headings of the posts and shift the edited content down under the heading of Archive. That way we can keep the viable thoughts within the post for reference purposes.

ARCHIVE

2014

      I have been preparing the e-storybook for release to selected individuals and organizations. What that means is that the entire layout needs to be correct and functional as a PDF based e-book.

DELETED CONTENT ...

    So, preparing the e-storybook has been a matter of changing the page background on all the files. This is because, while publishing the Gnome-sized Book, I made small changes to the layout that helped to make the smaller books to have a bit more punch and clarity. Of course, those changes were made only on the Gnome-sized Book, which had different specifications than the other editions.

   After finishing the Business Plan, which really needs more attention, but is sufficient for present requirements, I moved to working further on the Score. That aspect of this project requires quite a bit more work, but a great deal has already been done in that regard. Because of the intensity of that type of work, but also because of the demands of other work that is progressing, I shifted off of the score in lieu of finishing the e-Storybook.

    Even though the Illustrations for the Storybook are not yet complete, a large part of the entire set of books is illustrated. So, I decided to advance all other aspects of the publishing work, setting up, both the published books and the e-Storybook to be ready for production and release, with only placement of the illustration panels needed to be done. The space has already been allotted for the illustrations, by defining the panels within the page layout.

   I think this is a good approach to finishing the publishing, hard copy and digital, because moving forward with the illustrations is also moving forward with the animations, and having the publishing mechanicals out of the way is a good thing.

   Now, addressing release of the e-storybook; I need to be able to implement DRM and lock the files so that they cannot be copied, printed or disseminated in any unauthorized fashion. The last thing we want is to have the materials distributed on the internet for free. It has cost a small fortune to develop this material and we need to recoup those expenditures and then some. Producing the show will not be inexpensive and we need to assure the value of the project and create income. So that is an issue in releasing the e-storybook. But I have to say that it looks really great, both on a smartphone and an e-pad.

 
 As it stands now, I doubt that we will be able to distribute the product by way of a download. You would think that wouldn't be a problem, but the files have become extremely large because they are heavily laden with artwork. I've tried compressed files, but they don't look nearly as good as the larger files and that is unacceptable.

   I believe that the digital product will be primarily distributed as "Gnomes in a Gnutshell"  because the Micro SD is a good medium for delivery. It works really well with most phone & pads, with the exception of the Apple i-Phone and i-Pad, because they don't us a Micro SD. If you ask me that is a serious flaw in the Apple products.

Added Note: The ultimate delivery medium will be determined after the new edition of the e-Storybook has been completed. It is likely that by the time that happens, new technology will be in place. So it is best to delay conclusion on that matter until the finished product has been confirmed. I have found that the improvements in the design have also brought difficulties with formats and presentation. So...

      I am reformatting some of the components and trying to develop a methods where multiple files will work continuously in synchronization, without difficulty for the end user, while allowing for upgrades. It's not easy.

 AG