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
