Other Forums

I manage a number of blog and social media sites that deal with an assortment of aspects regarding The Gnomes of New Hope. 

Here is a link to a recent Facebook post, which you can follow if you like.

The Gnomes of New Hope, 

Facebook Page

In addition to eBlogger, I also post on LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr and I'm beginning to post on Gettr 

So what's going on ?

Ok, as I said in the last post, ISBN#s. I'm working to properly order the Barcodes on the ISBNs so they be serve both the Shopping Cart (when it gets built) and the Sales Office, Manufacturing and Inventory, not to mention the numerous registrations and book categories. 

As it stands now, there are thirty products which have numbers assigned to them and there are still another six or so needing to be included. For now, we will be concentrating on the Gnome-sized books. I'm trying to balance the budget and determine the margins, but it looks like it will be very difficult to offer a full margin, unless a buyer wants to purchase and entire press run of 25k or more books. We'll see how it goes after all the covers are locked in with the new barcodes. I'm guessing at the cost elements, based on previous quotes.

Although I have some of the production line set up, there's more to do. I'm building tooling for the Hand-stitched binding, but I have come to the conclusion that the cost of the hand-stitched will just have to be added on, no matter what that is. So the hand-stitched edition is being defined as the Custom Edition, while the machine bound books are referred to as the Standard Edition. As I said before, the Custom Edition is only being offered direct from IMS Publishing. If a retailer is willing to pay the higher price, the Custom Edition may be available to them for resale, but I rather doubt that they will pay the extra money for hand-stitched binding. The Custom Editions are limited, mostly because of how long it takes to make them. So, one at a time, or 25-50 is no problem as to turn-around within a week or so, but larger quantities have a longer wait time for delivery. If you are a buyer, keep that in mind. I will take orders for the first book via email at any time, however, there are still registrations that need to take place before the items can be shipped. I can begin making books as soon as I get a prepaid order. So a larger order of Custom Books will need lead time to complete manufacturing.

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

That's all for now.

AG

p.s. we are working on more art and have been discussing work on the music.

Barcodes

Here's a funny graphic I came up with to imply what the show might look like onstage.

 Regarding publishing the Companion Editions of the Storybooks

     It didn't occur to me that the numbering of the ISBNs would throw me off with my book covers. So now that I have created new barcodes for the books, using the IBSNs in their numerical order, I need to replace the barcodes on the books. Well, this has caused me to rethink how it is that I update the pages. I have concluded that it is easier to do it using the final flattened graphic files, as opposed to upgrading the original layered working files. Mostly the reason for this is the absolute massive number of files doing this layout has generated and the variations between those files.  The reason is that I save new work (most of the time) under a new Revision. That way I have the last file as a backup. It really is just incredibly difficult to find the most recent set of files which do not always contain the elements I am looking for.  I say this because, if I walk away from the layout for even a week, I have to spend the better part of a day acclimating myself to the files again. You wouldn't think that to be the case, after all I was the one who ordered the files, but none-the-less I still have trouble finding the correct files. In the past, I have moved forward with a Revision that I thought to be the most recent, only to find I was working with an old file, thus negating the work done on the previous work session. Don't get me wrong, I have methods of working around this, but I am very cautious. Because strangely enough the "last modified" data does not alway record properly, thus giving me a date that sometimes reflects when the file was created, not when it was last worked on. You would think that the file data would be updated every time you save, but that's not always the case. I don't know why that is, I've only observed it to be true. And my search function is practically useless, because it doesn't follow the criteria that you set for it. Mainly because it searches the entire computer and all the hard discs connected to it and no matter what you tell, it to search for, it searches the content not just the filename. That seems to be the case, I have no real good explanation. I only know that for the most part,  45 minutes later it give me squat and a thousand files. it's easier to just do it manually.  I guess I just need to move all the files that I know are outdated to another disc. Except, sometimes I need that old revision to recover a design element that I am looking for. By that I mean a design element that will allow me to work with it for my purposes. I've even taken to modifying the graphic to give me a working document, more often than not that is quicker and easier than trying to locate the file I want. It' crazy.

    Anyway, that's what I'm up to. Still jerking around with this stuff. Well... you gotta do, what you gotta do.  It's almost done. ( I keep saying that, one of these days it will be true.) Thanks for reading my posts.

AG

Music Thoughts

  I recently bought a CD/DVD publisher. I know that CD's are somewhat passe', but for the price it was worth it. When I figure out how to run it, I'll be able to produce CD/DVDs more efficently and in bulk. (I should be so lucky!) This is good, because, at the least, I can distribute production materials to the crew and others via this method. You know, script, libretto, music score, etc.

  Well, I'm still playing around with the publishing layout. A few days ago I bought another batch of ISBN's because I didn't have enough. So now I have 30, but I still need more. By the time I'm done, I'll have a couple of grand tied up in ISBN's. So as it turns out, right now the published product line amounts to 29 products. I still need to add in the boxed sets, the libretto, and anything else that ends up being published, which can happen later. 

   So, in getting more numbers, I now need to replace all the barcodes on the books. As I was coordinating the numbers and creating a spreadsheet for inventory and sales, I discovered that the numbers I had assigned to the books were somewhat arbitrary. Well, that won't due. So letting Excel put the ISBN's in order, and making a new batch of barcodes, I needed to reorder the books so that they are easy to manage for inventory and identify for sales. I'm assigning an inventory IMS number to each ISBN. That results in needing to replace the barcodes on all the covers. Ugh. 

Better to do it now, than run into problem after things start moving. Well, it does get down to the fact that when the books become listed in the categories, the ISBN's will be a significant factor there. So, being that the collection is a set, it's best that they are in order. I guess now I need a scanner.

. These discs were my way to present the materials. I'm not sure that will work because the size of my file exceeds the capacity of the DVDs. I made these sample discs, only to discover that the graphics covered over an area in the center hole that was needed to write the discs. So I need to rethink that. I know that the entire music score is pretty large. It might fit on a disc if they were all PDFs. So there are a lot of issues with all of this and preparing it properly for it's ultimate use... and people ask me "when will it be done" (which means to say; Why is it taking so long? ) I can't imagine why they would say that. It's only been 23 years. Ha!

  The cover letter above is part of the Industry Review Package, which I some ways is out of date. Those materials still apply, but need review. I expect to post that package on IMS Producing Partners, which is a closed blog, requiring a request to view. If you are an Industry professional or investor, you are welcome to contact me in that regard. I expect that I will refine that package on the blog and address the business structure, so it is pertinent.

  I am looking to develop relationships that pertain to Licensing, Options, Marketing and Sales. Once these product lines have moved into Inventory, I will need a Sales Manager and I need to develop the Online Shopping Cart scenario. I have tools available to me, but frankly the volume of work involved needs a team. It's a reality that is becoming ever more poignant. You can see that if you've been reading this blog.  So if anyone is interested, talk to me. 

   Beyond that, as I've mentioned before, I'm looking for a Registered Literary Agent to pitch this. There are contractual limitations that cannot be surmounted without that, in order to reach another level of operations. We can do it at IMS, if we have to, but I'd rather not.

   The Business Plan accommodates internal operations, but to be honest about it, I'm rather tired and need a break. But I don't want the momentum to be interupted. So... I need to pitch it to external operations.  

Onward and upward.

AG

Release of the Storybooks

 I know, I've been talking about this for years. Well I needs to be happening soon, for various reasons. We have begun working on the remaining art and although we are starting out slow, things will pick up there. The fact that we are moving forward with more artwork gives us a clearer picture of what is possible with releasing the books.

A very early shot of the puppet shop being set-up. 

More recent puppet activity is focused the Parade Float requirements

and constructing Stop-Action Puppets for some old-world filmmaking.

The skin to fit over the skull on the three foot chassis.
I think this is Zebby.

Our Constable Warren Garden Gnome

We inventory about a half a dozen or so of these concrete Garden Gnomes.

Well, release of the books has taken a new turn. The Hand-Stitched Books will initially only be available through IMS and in the Boxed Set Collections. The reason is primarily due to the quantity limitations placed on distributing the Hand-Stitched Books. I love the hand-stitching, everybody loves the hand-stitching, but they take a lot more time and cost quite a bit more to implement.  So I've decided that the Hand-Stitched Books will be Limited Editions, by special order. This may change if I can get production quantities up to speed. If we have booksellers who request the Hand-Stitched Books, we will meet those orders, but delivery times will not be committed to, unless we are pulling those Hand-Stitched Books from inventory.  I have been setting up the production line, but the tooling is not yet finished, so I cannot determine an absolute minimum assembly time yet. I do expect to inventory about 500 of each book with the Hand-Stitched Covers, depending upon the demand. The cost of the hand-stitched books is about one third higher than the machine bound books.

The Initial Flyer that was developed to market the product line.
A new plan for manufacturing and distribution is being developed
with the machine bound books being widely distributed, while
 the Hand-Stitched Book will remain Limited Editions and custom orders.

The Pricing on this order form is for the Hand-Stitched Limited Edition Books
These prices are subject to change.
 A new pricing schedule is under development for the Machine Bound Books
although the MSRP will remain the same for the Hand-Stitched Books.

So, as the Printer's Layout is locked in for the entire collection, we will begin to inventory the books. The previous discussions regarding the publication of Book One, gave a good overview of the process, but after Book One was completed, it became necessary to conform the entire collection of Seven Books and Three Volumes, in both Hand-Stitched and Machine Bound Books. This was far more complicated than I ever imagined. But it is literally days away from completion and once that it absolutely finished then production line details can be confirmed, giving us accurate delivery times and other details. I say all this to inform those who have been "watching and waiting". I won't go into the design alterations that have taken place in this effort to conform all the books one to another, but I will say that they are significant.

I'm looking forward to getting the new artwork finished and installed.

That's all for now.  AG

Access via a new Hot Spot

 Zach Finds himself in a real pickle.

 I'm experimenting with a new method of accessing this blog, so here is a shot from Book Two, We have begun working on the remaining illustrations, since the publishing layouts are very nearly finished.

I do hope we open up new channels for distributing these books and I invite business people involved in marketing and distribution to touch base in that regard. For my part, I hope to be moving more actively into constructing the Parade Float and the Little Theatre Puppetry components, as I need a break from the work that I have been doing for many years in regard to publishing. I have many other Studio items that need tending to, so I am most interested in handing the ball off to some degree. I will, however, be building inventory of the book products, for obvious reasons.

AG

Gnome-Sized Books

 

an earlier Prototype Version of the books

   I've posted this image numerous times elsewhere, but I am using it here to show the two sizes of the books.  As you can see from the other posts, I have been conforming all seven books and three volumes in the collection to the same standards, which although I thought I had done that, turned out to be sufficiently different as to have interfered with the printing process. Now that all of the collection has been matched (in terms of the book covers)  I am reviewing the inner pages and making a few typographical corrections. Luckily I found a new way to do that which is WAY easier  than the methods I was using.

So why this post?  Well, one reason is to announce that I will be giving away a certain number of Gnome-Sized books of Volume One, as a promotional item. If you want one, you are welcome to send me a request. The other thing that has occurred to me is that I will be looking for a sponsor to publish a quantity of these Gnome-Sized books to give away to kids when we have readings at local libraries. I see that as a good publicity opportunity for an organization or company who wants to project good will to the families who may attend those readings.  

Years ago we has a reading at Barnes & Noble in Willow Grove. It was done to raise money for the Southampton library. I was flabbergasted at how excited people were by the project. Unfortunately it was no where near ready to be released. It still is not ready, but we have three books completely finished. The forth Book is only missing maybe ten panels of artwork, before that will be ready to release as well.

 I have discussed the release in other posts, but I can say that until we are well on our way to completing all of the illustration work, a release schedule just isn't practical. But releasing Book one can occur at any time, since Book One stands on its own as an Introduction to The Gnomes of New Hope. 

Books Two, Three and Four are companion books to Act One of the Stage Play, while Books Five, Six, and Seven are companions to Act Two of the Stage Play. Truthfully, Books Six & Seven are almost complete, with only a relatively few panels needed. Book Five is the hangup, having no illustrations, because it contains The Gnomic Tales. Not the complete Gnomic Tales, but only brief synopsis of the five stories that are currently a portion of the Gnomic Tales, which are presented in "Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure" (the sub-title of the Stage Musical).

I expect to be printing the next (and final) prototype run of the Seven book and Three Volume Collection, after which I can register the IBSN numbers. Now in that regard; 

I am producing two version of the books; the Hand-Stitched Collection and the Machine-Bound Edition. Without going into details about that here, let me just say that the Hand-Stitched Collections a Limited Edition (with variations) and the Machine Bound Edition is for high quantities and mass distribution. I am registering the Hand-Stitched Collection to IMS Publishing as a product of Image of the Mind Studios, but I am leaving the Machine-Bound Editions open to be distributed by another publisher. Therefore, as it stands now, the machine-bound editions do not currently have any IBSNs attached to them. That means; if another published wants to license distribution of these books, you will need to contact me. If I do not develop a relationship with another publisher within a reasonable time frame, then I will be registering the machine-bound editions with IMS Publishing and moving forward to manage those books internally. Frankly, it would be much easier for me if another publisher took care of marketing and distribution, because I need to focus on producing the music and the details pertaining to the stage production.

That also means that I will be looking to Option the film rights as well as locating a Literary Agent.

So there is a lot to do and things are moving forward very nicely.  I met with Jenny Latta (the artist) about starting up again on creating the remaining illustrations and I am building an Animation/Illustration workstation to achieve that.  I also have other artists possibly on line, if we need to expedite matters.  Let me just say that I am also looking for a sculptor to create an assortment of figurines and Garden Gnomes.  I have been discussing 3D rendering of the characters with a number of people, but really, I would prefer working  with someone who is within a reasonably close proximity to the current Studio in Southampton PA. I'm looking into 3D printing as part of that process.

One more thing; I have been setting up to manufacture the boxes for the Boxed set of Books & Volumes. Although I prefer to only produce prototypes and leave production to job shops, I can manufacture if we need to do that. The Boxes for the Hand-Stitched Collection will be Hand-made wooden boxes, while the boxes for the Machine Bound Editions will be a cardboard version of that box.

Work has not yet begun on the Parade Float, but I am tooling up to start doing that, meaning I need to acquire a Plasma Cutter, before I start cutting the body off the Corvair Greenbrier. I am planning on shifting over to Facilities and Equipment work that needs to be done and when that happens, not much will be done by me on The Gnomes. Hence the need for others to step up to the plate to keep up the momentum. We'll see what happens.

That's all for now.  AG

10/21 Update

    a photo taken around 2015

Ok, here is the latest with IMS Publishing; 

For the past two weeks I've been working on aligning the Gnome-Sized book cover artwork, particularly the spines. The spines of the books need to match exactly. Even though they are not the same, they need to align with each other so that then boxed set looks right, when the books are in the box. Believe me, that is easier said then done. Part of what makes it laborious is merging the files after making adjustments, checking the alignments, then doing it over again if it is wrong. It's not really just alignments, there are a lot of other factors. The covers involve three print files for each book and there are at least twenty-one book files to cross-reference, being that there are both Gnome-Sized and Big People Books. The Big People Books are also offered in a boxed set, but there is also a Three Volume Set. Now that I'm writing this, I think I will offer the Libretto as an additional set, attached to the Three Volume Set. Eventually, the Score will be bound as another component of that collection. My morning coffee buddy just ask me "Who's going to want the Libretto ?" Well, besides the fact that the material has to be presentable, I see it as a tool for collectors, investors, and production personnel. 

I'm also at the point where I'm very ready to pass the baton, presuming the correct party steps up to the plate. After this cycle of publishing work is done, I need to shift over to other studio work that has no immediate connection to The Gnomes of New Hope. I'd hate to loose momentum, but there are just too many things I have pushed aside to get the creative work on The Gnomes done. I'm literally moments away from finishing he Core Creative Materials, as it pertains to the book layouts and I need a break. But the truth is, I'm past retirement age and I can't be sure I'll be able to regain the momentum if it's all on me to do so. So it's about time to bring in some new energy. Certainly, book manufacturing & distribution is one arena in need of expansion. I am well on my way to having the studio set up for manufacturing, but really, I need to focus on theatre production. So, I'm open to an arrangement with another publisher, since IMS is really only engaged in development. Those other business activities are discussed elsewhere. Check on the IMS Virtual Studio at imagemindag.blogspot.com (I'll put a link in later)

As always, I welcome your thoughts via email at; image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

AG

p.s. You will find a link to an older Resume/Bio at the top of the page for Image of the Mind Studios. I hope to place that with an updated version sometime soon,

Other Posts, new thoughts on Animatronics, and another Significant Business Opportunity

 An early workstation for constructing prototype animatronic / puppetry Gnome-skulls

I post here, on Facebook, and on LinkedIn. So sometimes the most recent thoughts end up elsewhere. With that in mind, here is a link to a Facebook post, which came from LinkedIn;

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10219573320144317&id=1254627788

  I am moving forward closer toward production, but the current focus is building an Illustration/Animation Workstation. I'm tying that into my Main Workstation, which has all the GFX/Audio/Video capabilities. All this is taking place in my Production Office and the Scene Shop, located in the back buildings. I expect to gain access to my Front Office/Art Department/Editing Suite again, which for reasons I cannot discuss was closed down with our CNC Machine Shop, located in the Front Buildings.

I am looking to establish a Vested Board of Directors to run the shop and restructure the management under the name RCK TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED, specializing in robotics and animatronics.

In this regard, the time is now to step up to the plate and make inquiry, as this opportunity is fleeting at this point. Establishing an operation of this sort will still remain, but the time frame for converting the existing operation is limited, as the equipment, supplies  and facilities are now in place. That is expected to change in the very near future. In that regard, we have another GROUND-BREAKING PLATFORM MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY that would be a great advantage to such an operation, which does involve numerous patents that are already in place and nearly $6M already invested by the shareholders.  So this is an excellent opportunity that is ripe for the picking, especially if we advance it with a reorganized RCK Operation. 

 If anyone has interest in discussing this, let me know. We need to act.  AG

Archived Files

As you may have seen in previous posts, I have had some very catastrophic hard drive failures, which resulted in having to repeat my work on designing and preparing the publishing files, numerous times. The consequence of that was that doing these books took me three times longer than it should have. Strangely though, another result has been that the design is far better and I developed a significant degree of knowledge about the variations possible in the process. 

An early version of Volume Three Cover. I intend upon posting the Book Covers. As I was Archiving the material, I came to the Volume Covers and I discovered that I had used the Book Cover for the Volume Cover. Volume Three begins with Book Five, and, being a volume of three books, it's cover needed to reflect it's contents. So using a book cover for a volume cover wasn't correct. This is an example of the delays that have occurred. For all the covers there are two versions, the hand-stitched edition and the machine bound edition. You see, when the volume of sales exceeds five thousand, hand-stitching simply is not possible, not without long delays in delivery due to the extra time required to hand-stich books. Even so, hand-stitching five thousand books is a lot of work. I can't imagine doing that for large quantities. Maybe it could happen. I guess we'll see.

Getting back to hard drive crashes, another consequence of that is a great fear and loathing of the undependibility of these computers that we depend so heavily upon. With that in mind I have archived and duplicated extensively. It is interesting to note that; now that the final printing layouts are finished ( sans additional artwork) all the methodology to get to this point is now moot. With the exception of making corrections, there is no need for any of those backup files. Assuming the layout compositions are locked in, the future work has transitioned into new methodology that eliminates a great deal of the layout difficulties that came about because of the design process. It is very strange to look at the design and know that, for anyone other than myself, it is incomprehensible just how much effort it took to create this work. It is true that I started seriously working on this in 1997, but it goes back as far as 1990. That's 31 years! Does that sound as insane to you as it does to me?

And it's not done yet. I'm only into the prototype stage, with some degree of marketing and manufacturing being done. I hate to even utter these words, but, I still need 345 illustrations for the entire collection to be complete.

    Regarding those illustrations; I am beginning to move into 3D rendering of CGI. As you can see below, animation is in the future, but it's starting to look like the future is now, because I am setting up the work-stations for advancing the illustration and animation work. It's not that the art department has not functioned in the past, after all, we have hundreds of panels already developed, which gave us the existing work. But the future artwork needs to be developed five times as fast as the previous work, so I am going to introduce Poser into the drawing process and that will result in advancing animation at the same time.

I guess that's enough for now.

AG

Facebook posts

I also post on Facebook from time to time. Here is a link to a post on a subject which I intend on continuing here.

Animation and Poser

I'm getting close to having all the Print files completed, so I am now thinking about the remaining illustrations for the books. With the print files locked in, all that will be required, in that regard, is to drag and drop the finished artwork. 

So that brings to question; how to best complete the work in a timely manner? The fact that animation is in the cards, brings the merging of those two goals.

I'm inclined to get the 3D rendering setup before we begin creating the 2D illustrations. In fact, I'm thinking that merging the two operations is the best approach. 

That being said, I am looking for someone who can create the skins for Poser, using our existing art.  I know there are other programs, but for now I am using Poser and setting up a workstation for animation.

So drop me a line if this is something you can do and we can discuss it. AG

Arthur Greisiger

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

Marketing & Distribution

I'm adding some older pages from the second prototype preface to Book One, just to highlight this post. The actual print layout is greatly improved and sized differently than these pages, which are over five years old.

 An "Industry Review Package" is available, published as a Three Volume Set of the Illustrated Storybook, plus the Two Volume Libretto.

The publishing layouts are nearing completion, I mean, really this time. I suspect, based on past experience, that I might discover a few corrections that will need to be made, but overall, I honestly believe that the books are truly finished.

 I say this knowing that there are missing illustrations in Books Four through Seven, with Book Five needing the most. Book Five contains portions of The Gnomic Tales, which was not illustrated at all, because they were added after we stopped working on the artwork.

Now in that regard; the illustrations that have been done were originally intended for the Libretto, which gradually became an Illustrated Storybook. That Illustrated Storybook gradually became a collection of Seven Books, primarily because the number of pages in each Gnome-Sized book needed to be around 100, for the sake of binding. So the Storybook became a collection.

Now since the title of this post is Marketing & Distribution, let me address that issue. Even though I have a plan for implementing the next stage of operations, Manufacturing and Inventory, I'd like to make it known that I seek to "job out" Marketing & Distribution. 

When I say that the materials are nearing completion, I mean that the publishing layouts are in the fourth prototype run. The essential objective is to be certain that, not only are there no mistakes, but that all the layouts are up to the printing specs, without error. In addition, the working layouts are now setup so that adding the remaining artwork and illustration panels is "drag and drop". 

As is stands now, Books One through Three are finished. Book Four needs fifteen illustration panels. Book Five needs approximately 150 panels, basically having no panels, and Books Six and Seven are mostly illustrated, but all told the collection needs 345 illustration panels. If that sounds like a lot, it is a fraction of what has already been done.

I expect to move into animation and I believe that I will use that process to complete the remaining illustrations. I have been setting up a new workstation for illustrating, albeit in the context of finishing the publishing layouts. But now that the tech specs for the layouts is days away from being complete, I will be focusing more on getting the illustration work station(s) properly set up and working.

 One aspect of that is tying my main workstation to a copy board that I can send digital images to, so that the artist can access my animated layout for use in conventional watercolor panels. The illustations in the Storybooks have all been watercolors and the remaining work needs to remain consistent with that. So, even though I will use Poser to create a scenario for an illustration panel (or animation) that digital sketch will only be used as a guide for the artists to follow in creating the watercolor illustrations. I believe that this method will expedite completion of the artwork required. You might find an older discussion on our method of creating the illustrations somewhere in this blog. Moving into the future though, animation needs to come into play, so that's going to create a new methodology.

All this being said, you can see why I want the Marketing and Distribution of the books to be jobbed out. I have a great deal of other work to do, especially if we are going to move forward with the theatrical aspect of this project. I still need to switch back to working on the music and completing the score. It would be best if these books could be making us the money we need to advance. So I say this in case there may be a future Producing Partner reading this blog. I'll address this subject at another time and on another blog.

That's all for now. AG

Print Files

Constable Warren Garden Gnome in terracotta, before the molds were made for casting him in concrete.

Publishing update:

The print files are almost done. I've been conforming all the materials to match both design and size specifications. I know I've done all this multiple times, but if one change occurs, it negates all the other work, particularly if that change has to be implemented in all the adjacent files, across the entire collection (ie; 900 pages) So what this means is; all the possible changes have taken place... hopefully. 

As I mentioned before, there is a substantial amount of artwork for illustration panels that still needs to be done for the entire collection to be finished. But what I have done, is to complete all the other layout work, and to set up the files so that inserting the finished panels is as easy as dropping them in, without that effecting the publishing layout beyond updating that particular page. I'll post a sample page to exemplify what I am saying.

So now I am building the Gnome-Sized Book Files. Initially, I just reduced the size at the printers, but now I realize that I need the Master Files to be properly sized, so the printers do not have to do any of that. This will eniminate any mistakes, something that has cropped up numerous times in printing previous prototypes. I've made a concerted effort to solve all those problems on the front end, making the printing, practically a plug and play operation. Well, we'll see. AG

Gnome-Sized Books

Here is the artwork that appears on the back cover from Book One, titled ; "The Gnomes of New Hope; an Introduction". This image was one used on an early prototype. The actual cover layout is different than this one.

The Big People Book Covers are out being printed. Printing the prototypes is the current effort, which includes all of the editions. I have a few printers lined up, for production, but for the prototypes, I am working with a very talented technician one on one at a small printer which is well suited for the development process. Once I have the finished books, then we will look to the larger houses. The issue with the larger printing houses is that I need to secure sufficient orders to engage in large quantities. So that is a different stage of operations.

But, getting back to the Gnome-Sized Books; because these books will also be presented in a boxed set, the spines of the books (in particular) need to match, pretty much perfectly. As simple as that sounds, it has not been simple to achieve. I have resorted to building each file on the basis of the previous file, all of which are based on the alignment specs of a Master file. You might believe that that goes without saying, but shockingly, slight shifts have seemed to been a problem. I have managed to get past that, so I won't be redundant.

The Gnome-Sized Book Covers are almost done and about ready to be printed, which means I will be returning to the inner pages. I have another upgrade to the inner pages and I need to size them correctly. Everything was created in one size layout, which was used for the sake of ease of the layout. Now the sizes need to be adjusted for the new book sizes. In that regard, I found that at one point, a number of revisions ago, the text did not read well when it was published in the Gnome-Sized Book. So I went through the entire layout and changed certain text choices for a better font that was easier to read when published in a smaller size. There were many other alterations that needed to take place as the books became refined. So now we are almost ready to publish the Gnome-Sized Books.

One thing that was suggested was to find a sponsor willing to foot the bill for the Gnome-Sized Books. The reason for this is that we plan on having readings at a number of libraries and at those readings, we will give the kids who attend a Gnome-Sized Book for attending. I think that is a good idea. I wanted to pass off the readings to other people, but I keep being told that I need to read to the kids. Well, ok. But I also want to have some puppetry going on. So that needs further development to make that happen.

If I get enough pre-sales of the Big People Books, well, that can pay for the Gnome-Sized Books that we want to give away. But even so, sponsoring the giveaway books might be a good publicity opportunity for someone. So I am open to duliscussing that with anyone. Just send me an email; image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com.  Sometimes an email will get lost in spam, so don't take offence if I'm not right on top of it. I try to be, but it doesn't always happen.

I will be looking for a sales manager and possibly a production manager. There is a degree of operations that will be taking place in-house, but even with the larger production quantities, inspection and order fulfillment with be taking place at IMS, so we will need personnel for that. It's a contingent on quantities and  pre-sales. There will be no retail from IMS, only wholesale and Limited Editions issued to investors.

More on this later.  AG

Chugg, chugg...

At one time I thought I'd be delivering a Review Package via DVD. I can still do that, because I do have a Business Plan, which includes "The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture" to fund and manage operations, but for now I'm focused on Publishing.

I just keep chugging along. As I said, I'm focused on the covers. What I realized, after I thought I was done, was that the spines on all the individual Books and the Three Volume Set must align properly when the books are sitting together on the shelf. You would think that was simple, but it's not as easy as it sounds, particularly when the discovery occurred AFTER the lion's share of the layout work was done using a different criteria. I have to say, I have made some modifications to the GFX on the spine, which I think and hope will greatly improve the clarity and vibrance of the book covers as a whole.

It's somewhat frustrating to realize how many different versions of the layout there is. It's all because of different printers and methods of assembly. My priority has been to assure that I can publish and bind the books in-house, not because I want to spend my time making books, but because I don't want to be trapped by not being able to provide product. So I have, not only, been setting up a full production line,  but also concentrating on inventorying at least 250 units of each book. 250 x 7 = 1,750, plus if you include the Three Volume and Boxed Sets, so there's still some investment on my part, beyond the facilities, etc. That's not to say I cannot still provide inventory to a distributor, at any time, so long as it's paid for in advance. The more the merrier. 

There will be a scheduled release plan spacing out the release of each book, depending on how much working capital each book provides. It's a delicate balance. AG

So what's going on already?

Ok, so this layout is killing me. What now? As I said in the last post; I'm finalizing the book covers. It's critical that the elements of the different covers align properly with each other. Being seven books in the set, or three volumes, as both Gnome-Sized and Big People Books, and in both Hand-stitched and Machine-bound editions, each of those variations requires a separate file. In addition, the spine width varies, depending on the number of pages. All told, that means there are forty separate products. 

Well, the real difficulties in preparing those covers has been that; working on each book layout presents the problem of slight alignment variations occurring. Some of those variations have been a result of my own adjustments, but also, I have found that, although I generate the files from the same components, the files are not always duplicates that match. I know that sounds strange, because we all expect digital files to be exact duplicates, but when it comes to alignment issues; they are not exact duplicates. I'm not sure why that is, but if I were to guess, the alignment elements are not resident in the file, rather they are generated by the program. In any event, I have had to create a new component of the file system to deal with these alignment issues. The mistake I made was basing my GFX files on CL (centerlines) and starting on that basis with each file I generated. You see CLs are added to each file and do not copy over when duplicating a file. That means there is the distinct reality that they are not all the same, even though you base them on file components that are the same. So the answer to that problem is to base the canvas on a grid from the start and once that is consistent lay down your centerlines on that grid, not the borders of the canvas. Once the background and canvas are set, then build your layers and guidelines on that grid. I made the mistake of not using the grid and that cost my untold hours of grief.

So that's what's going on. I'm now rebuilding the files into the foundation of a grid based layout. I expect that it will be easy to transfer the critical individual book layers over to the foundational background layers that are locked to that grid. Doing that also changes the size of all the layouts, covers and interior pages, to match the parameters of the grid. So that means once the covers are set to the new grid based foundation, I will need to go back and adjust the inner pages to match. I need to go back anyway because I have changed the density of a background layer to give the inner page more dimension.

All of this leads to the fact that; once it is absolutely correct, the collection can be released to the world, allegedly without mistakes. Once that is done, I will be shifting back over to music composition and getting the score printed out. It never ends. AG

Preparing the Book Covers

As I've said, I'm preparing the books for press. Well, part of this is getting the book covers properly set up. The inner pages are pretty much set, as to the printing specs, they don't change between Books and Volumes. Even the Gnome-Sized and Big People Books use the same pages. At one point the two types of books did require different layouts, but I adjusted the Big People Books on the basis of how well the layout printed as Gnome-Sized Books. That was just a matter of clarity in the smaller size. 

Here's an older version of the Volume Three book cover.

So now, work is proceeding with the covers. You might wonder why that becomes complex. Well, on one end alone (producing the hand-stitched collection) I have twenty products. Double that when you add the machine bound editions. All those products, except the boxed sets, require a different cover. Different, not just because of the graphic design, but because of the alignment required for the number of pages, which varies between each book. That variation requires each cover to have different specifications and that is the case for both the Gnome-Sized and Big People Books. 

Now, the aforementioned layout variations are required for both editions; the Hand-stitched and the Machine-bound editions. The difference in those editions is primarily a matter of cost. I will be implementing the Hand-stitched Editions from Image of the Mind Studios as signed and numbered editions, but also Unlimited Editions may sold by retailers who are willing to pay the extra cost for Hand-stitched Editions. For those retailers (distributors) wanting to purchase wholesale in accordance with the Keystone pricing schedule, the machine bound editions will be available. Those Machine-bound editions will require significant minimum orders and must pay for the entire production run in order to get that price. IMS will only be producing On-demand Hand-stitched Editions in-house. It is possible that IMS may inventory other products, but for now all products produced will be On-demand and they will be priced accordingly, meaning a full keystone is not possible.

In addition, the Signed and Numbered Editions are not sold at the MSRP.  Rather, they are to be used for funding the ongoing illustration and animation work. The pricing on those editions has not yet been determined, but I can say that they will also be given to investors who help us pay for this ongoing work. Such investment is under The Front Money Agreement, which has VERY generous terms. Inquire via email if you may be interested in either investing or distribution books. 

IMS will not be selling books at retail, only the Limited and Unlimited Hand-stitched Editions that are above the MSRP for funding purposes.

That's all for now. AG

Individual Books (updated)

As I said in my last post, the cost of the books concerns me. The fact that The Gnomes of New Hope is a graphic novel increases the cost significantly over a regular book without illustrations and even an illustrated book with artwork every so often. This collection has illustrations on every one of the nearly 900 pages. When I decided to put an illustration on every page, I was somewhat concerned about the cost and effort to do that, but it felt very much like if I didn't it would come off as a rather half-assed effort, falling short of really being complete. I had no idea of how much work it would take to complete that task. Forgetting about the fact that I still need artwork, the layout, proof-reading and corrections have been a monumental task!  

As it stands now, the three volume set is being printed and I have purchased all the ISBN"s for the entire product line. That amounts to twenty products; the Gnome-Sized Books and The Big People Books in hard copy, both individual and Boxed Set, the Three Volume Hard Copies of The Big People Books (not yet a boxed set) and the e-Storybook. You can read details about those different products in this blog.

I have changed the pricing since my last post, mainly because the price needs to be set once the ISBN's are properly registered to the titles and go into the international catalogues. So, these prices are the most that I dare set as the MSRP. I figure the distributor and retailers can discount the books if they want to, but my wholesale price is set, primarily by the cost of printing. I am assuming a keystone and I am assuming that IMS Publishing will implement fulfillment.

So the revised MSRP is as such; 

Individual Gnome-Sized Books - @$8.95 (Boxed Set: TBD)

 Individual Big People Books - @$29.95 (Boxed Set: TBD)

Gnomes in a Gnutshell E-Storybook - $49.95  

1 year subscription  (Gnomes in a Gnutshell retail package will be released after it is infused with animations and which will lead to an animated feature film).

The books will also be available in a Three Volume Set, sold by volumes. 

Volume One, Book One; An Introduction to The Gnomes of New Hope 100 pages ($29.95 MSRP)

Volume Two, Books Two thru Four; Act One Scenes One thru Nine of Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure, 286+ pages ($39.95 MSRP)

Volume Three, Books Five thru Seven; Act Two of Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure, 402+ pages ($49.95 MSRP)

The books will have a scheduled release, determined by the distributor. 

image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com will perform fulfillment to distributors who will then provide product to retailers. IMS will provide signed and numbered hand stitched limited editions. The MSRP does not apply to Limited Editions.

TBD= to be determined

Further Notes;

In the instance of the Boxed Sets, they will not be available until after the books are finished with all the artwork. That has been discussed elsewhere, but the first four books are done, with Book Five being incomplete because The Gnomic Tales was never illustrated, having not been intended as part of the collection. Book Five is Scene Ten plus The Gnomic Tales. Those Tales in Book Five are summaries of the larger stories.

It seems like the books will be released in intervals so that the first books to be released will create the income necessary to finish the artwork and further develop the animations for the e-Storybook. A few versions of the narrated e-Storybook are done, but the details of delivering it on line still need to be worked out.

Well, that's all for now. AG

March 2021

The full Three Volume Set is out to the printers for the prototype. I have multiple printers, who each perform different roles in the process; one for digital prototype & Limited Editions, one for offset and one for web printing. So, the final layout is out for printing. I'm afraid I may have to increase the MRSP of the books. I have tried to price them at a reasonable level, but they are pretty big and have a lot of artwork. So they may be pricey to publish. The only alternative is to publish them as seven books rather than the three volume set. We'll see what happens. If I get decent sized pre-paid orders from distributors so that the production run is high enough, we will be able to keep the price down. Let's hope for that.

I have said before that there has been a lengthy proof-reading process and because of the way the artwork is integrated into the layout (and other components) the pages have needed to be assembled using multiple smaller files. File size was a big issue and the layout went through numerous stages to keep the ability to work with higher resolution in doing the layout. I wanted to avoid destructive editing. In some cases that was not possible, so there are a few illustrations that will eventually get replaced, but for now, they are fine for printing. I imagine that the majority of the illustrations will be turned into animations anyway.

It is when the e-Storybook is viewed on a very large high resolution HDTV that some of the imagery worries me. Not so much the quality of the images, although that is a concern, but the color balance, as that tends to change from screen to screen. I have done that layout (the e-Storybook) on a high definition 32" screen, but kicking the image up to the newer 4k and larger screens, is a concern. Well, it is what it is and it is great on an e-pad and a reasonably sized HDTV.

So, now that the entire 900 pages of the hard copy collection has been fully proof-read (for the thousandth time) and adjusted (again) to perfectly match the e-Storybook, I am moving in to the Music. I already did the e-Storybook and narrated it up to a point. It was when I was narrating it that I discovered the mistakes. Typos and sentence structure errors, plus a few GFX mistakes, mostly alignment issues. The alignment shifts when converting the pages to say, PDF or JPG. So I will be leaving the Publishing layout in lieu of working on music. We may kick up again with illustrations, but not until I refurbish the coffers with enough funds to pay for the artwork. In the meanwhile I am concentration on the studio space and getting a number of workstations properly set up for production.

The workstation used to compose the music had numerous failures, both hardware and software. I have been collecting what we need to redress the music with new programming and improved processing capabilities. We were using a Mac Quicksilver to write the music. I built that machine up and it worked great, but it died. So I bought a G4 Mirror Door to replace the Quicksilver. I am setting that workstation up again. Even though is is an older machine, it will serve well for certain functions and the hardware from the Quicksilver will transfer over. When we started, we were using ADAT, but then it became obvious that we didn't need that and the hard drive was sufficient. When last we worked on the music, Shawn was running the Quicksilver and I was running a single processor G5. Now I run three Macs at my workstation and numerous other workstations of various types, performing various functions. My workstation consists of a G4, a G5 Quad, and a Mac Pro, plus two xServe units and a number of other storage options. I am setting up the Digital Performer 9 with Mach Five 3 on the Mac Pro, with DP5 and Reason in the G4. The G4 setup is what we used, the DP9/Mach 5 is what we need to transition to. All this is also leading to setting up the sound stage, so we can bring in the pit orchestra and singers to rehearse and record both the instrumental and vocal numbers. That needs to take place before we can consider mounting the show on the stage.

Further than that, my concentration is also on building the Parade Float/Mobile Stage. It may be that the design of the parade float will turn out to include a staging scenario for remote performances. I do not want to be wholly dependent on theatre rentals for a performance space. I'm keen on doing performances outdoors in assorted locations. I think that gives us a better chance of survival, overall. I do not want the longevity of the show to be contingent upon it's "legs" in a theatre. That also involves the increased cost of Union personnel. I am inclined to seek to license the Union level out to another Producer, as well as the film rights for a live performance, and even an animated feature film.

Oh, and by the way, I have changed my perspective on this show. Rather than referring to it as a musical, I am not thinking of it as an Operetta, because that surely is what it is.

That's all for now. AG

Entering into Animation

 For some time I have intended to integrate animation into the e-Storybook. There are a number of options for doing this. Some years ago, I experimented with video, filming (so-to-speak) a sequence of me doing some dance movements in order to capture the frames to use for drawing the artwork. That process worked quite well and so I have intended on getting the green-screen stage set up. So I have the supplies to do that, including the video equipment, et al, but the publishing work has had to take precedence. Using live actors is one method, but I have also intended on using marionettes in the same fashion. Now that I am setting up an animation workstation, using Poser as one of the tools, digital animation is also an option. I have found that the artwork we already have (and more we intend on creating) can be integrated into the Poser software to create endless scenes from the storyline(s). The trick now is adapting the figures to the size and shape of the various gnomes and learning how to create the skins for those figures. It would be preferable to create the skins from the existing artwork, but we may have to approach it in another fashion. All of this is yet to be seen, as we are just beginning to approach the digital animation arena with the figures. Now that the whole collection is postured for publishing, with the extensive cross-referencing finished, we will be able to move into creating an animated e-Storybook. Even though developing animations that are based on the illustrations is moving forward, the results of that will not be seen by the general public, truth be told, for years to come. It is all very extensive and complicated to manifest these concepts, it depends on many factors, funding and personnel are part of that scenario, which brings with it all the other complexities of producing and dealing with regulations, taxation, insurance and a whole litany of other factors that come into play. 

All I can say is: Onward and Upward. AG

The Three Volume Illustrated Storybook

I have been preparing to print the entire collection, as a prototype in order to price out the end product. I set the pricing at what I thought would be the most anyone might be willing to pay, taking into account the different number of pages in each volume. I expect that I will need to achieve​ a certain level of sales in order to publish a production quantity that is sufficient to bring the end cost into line with the budget. Basically, that means I will need distributors to issue purchase orders in the tens of thousands or more. It's​ really at the point where I cannot deal with small quantity sales at all. IMS Publishing is strictly wholesale. I have built a pricing schedule that works for smaller retail quantities, but the expectation of a full keystone cannot happen without a minimum of 25k units. Obviously, on a distributor can issue a purchase order for that number of books. But I'm not even certain that the books can be produced, even with that quantity, to meet the budget. It's very possible that the printing will need to go to web in order to bring the wholesale price in line for a fully keystone. MSRP Pricing is; $29.95 for Volume One, $34.95 for Volume Two and $39.95 for Volume Three. The whole collection is between 800 & 900 fully illustrated full color pages. So as you can imagine, it is an expensive collection of books to publish.

More later. AG

2/21 Update RE: Publishing

 The more recent posts landed on Image of the Mind Studios, so check that out.

An earlier photo of one of my puppet workstations.

     I'm experimenting with the mechanics and programming of Animatronics. There are a number programs that I am considering, one of which is Conductor, which will serve to control all those aspects, while also addressing the lighting and the stage controls needed for the stage show and the parade. So the control programs need to be established before the puppets are constructed. I thought I might use Digital Perfomer, but I don't think that does DMX. It may, I haven't had the chance to explore the newest version, or really even consider the formats yet, since we used that program to write the music. Beyond the programming, I need to acquire another lathe & milling machine and finish getting the metal working shop set-up, before I advance with the larger part of the puppetry work. Sculpting needs to take place in the summer, when I can put the clay out in the hot sun. Right now the shop is too cold for sculpting.

    Now, in regard to publishing; As you may have read here, this process has been an laborious (never-ending) process. I have gone through so many changes, it is impossible to comprehend, even for me. A great deal of time has been "wasted" because of disc failure and loosing the work product. I have had to rebuild the files (literally) countless times. that has been the most frustrating and angering aspect of this project. The other aspect of delay that has been, well, challenging, is that changes to the layout and design have progressed on the basis of long term practicality. An example would be that - some design element that worked for the immediate prototype layout, ultimately would require changes in order to work for the long term (ie: HDTV version) plans. As I developed this e-Storybook for delivery in numerous digital media arenas, it became clear that the elements involved in those specialities needed to be adjusted accordingly. So my approach has been to develop smaller test run layouts for each of the medias that are/were to be expected. The result has been that specialities of the design, which are addressed in each of those medias, revealed themselves to be different, sometimes only slightly, and sometimes in major ways. So, I discovered the hard way, that going through the entire collection with the expectation that it would be completed by doing so, was a big mistake. Of course I did that about ten times before I woke up to the fact that that was not a good approach. 

    After a while, I realized that certain elements needed to be fully confirmed across the board, before they could be practically applied to the finished product. The proof-reading process was like a trip into insanity. The end product, meaning the Three Volume Illustrated Storybook, amounts to 766 pages of the introduction and the story. There are additional pages, represented in the Covers, Preface, and Appendixes which take the entire collection closer to 900 pages, give or take. The number of corrections that were continually being discovered after, quite literally, thousands of read throughs was astounding.  Along those lines, I determined to read the narration for the e-Storybook and proceeded to do so. What I discovered surprised me. Even though, while writing this, I had structured the language for the narration, I found that, even then, the sentence structure was not correct for the spoken word. So I proceeded to make those corrections. 

    Now, making corrections sounds easier than it really is. The layout, being graphic in nature is designed in such a way as to make the end working product essentially a picture, meaning that the text on the page is a flattened image. There are a whole lot of reasons for this, which I won't go into now, but that means that in order to make corrections, I need to go back to the original word processing document which was used to write the story. Otherwise the corrections would not be resident in the foundational documents. That means that I also have to go back through the process of creating the alternating gutter flattened documents that were used in the graphic layout. Suffice it to say- that is a long process, although I managed to pair it down quite a bit by changing the overall working layout design. Fortunately, the text layouts are now completely locked in and all layout elements are likewise finished and set up for easy modification when new artwork is created for the remaining pages. 

    Beyond having th layout finished for ease of inserting the new illustrations, it is also now accommodated for insertion of numerous other kinds of media. In fact, the long process of refinement has resulted in the Core creative Materials, represented in the Illustrated Storybook, being accommodated for numerous mediums and having been designed for consistency across those platforms. This will allow us to introduce new forms of exploitation without needing to go back to make major changes.

   I am particularly excited to see animations or GIFs inserted into the e-Storybook, not only because it will move us forward toward a full animated feature, but because by delivering the Illustrated e-Storybook via a subscription, the people subscribing can watch the progress and travel the path toward a full cinema and theatrical presentation of this musical. Under normal production standard practices, a show like this is developed within the studio environment and released to the public when it is ready. With the scenario we are working with, each step along the way represents an advancement of the original product and by so doing, the general public can take that journey with us. Essentially, the subscription e-Storybook will be updated as we progress and our fans of the project can watch as this happens. There are so many aspects of this project that are vey interesting to watch, most especially the construction of the Parade Float, the building of the sets and puppets that will be used for parades, and the preparations of a mini-show, that i think it will be very interesting for people watch.

    All of this is contingent upon sufficient books being sold to fund the operations. My position is that I will only move forward using funds that are available to me without needing to pay those funds back. That's not to say that investors are not welcome, that's only to say that thus far, I have conducted my development activities mostly on the aforementioned terms. Yes I do have investors, and yes that money must be repaid, with profit. But I have avoided becoming overly indebted to achieve this project. Now, at least, we have a product that can generate capital influx. Properly installed in the marketplace, we at least have something that will help us pay back any investor's money that might come in.

  As it stands now, the remaining artwork for the entire collection, will cost another 100k to complete. I may be able to swing it for less, but calculating the effort that went into the artwork that has been used thus far, that is really the actual cost. My effort on the existing artwork was five to ten times as much as the effort to create the artwork. preparation for publication and matching the elements for the layout are complex and quite time consuming. Hopefully, the work I did on the existing artwork will expedite that process, since the work done up until now has, in large part, been trial and error. It is really the settings in processing the graphics that makes the difference.

   I am also going to reevaluate the color balance for the HDTV version. all the work thus far has been oriented toward the printing press. Yes the layout ratios where matched to the HDTV, and yes I used a large HDTV as my monitor, but I recently put the layout upon a different screen (via Apple's Preview) and the color balance was terrible. Now I believe that is a result of Preview. Every time I use Preview I doo not get the result I am seeking. So I have to be certain that the delivery medium is correct, not only for the e-Storybook, but also consistent across numerous HDTV screens and presenting the correct color balance over all. I think that will occur once the e-Storybook is formatted as a .MOV file, which is the method of presenting the narrated version of the book. Other possible formats may be presented as well, because I would like the viewer to have control over how they proceed in viewing the material. Even if it is presented as a ,MOV file, one can stop and start in-between pages, so that may be sufficient.

   Well, that's all for now  AG