As I've said, there are a number of editions of The Gnomes of New Hope. Initially, I published the prototype editions of both the Big People's and the Gnome-sized books. These prototypes looked really good at the time, but as I moved closer to spending the big bucks required for a public release, it became clear that - once the layout goes to press (and by that I mean high production) the product is (more or less) "set in stone". Of course, it's paper, but nonetheless, the expenses involved across the board, require that all the elements be as correct as humanly possible. Otherwise it is wasted money and the potential of it's success would be impaired.
Now that the books, as a whole, have been thoroughly reviewed, proofed, and sampled out in all formats, one would think it is time to move into Production and Distribution. That is true. But what is also true is that; other minutiae which was only lightly considered has become increasingly important.
As it turns out, any attempt to initiate the market without deep saturation is inadvisable at this point. This series of stories is founded in the theatre. It was designed as a stage show and that remains at it's core.
The Illustrated Storybook has always been intended to support the stage production, even though the storybooks stand on their own. In fact, the storybooks provide more character information than the stage show does, well different information.
The Digital e-Storybook version will offer the best blending of the two, in fact, three markets; Publishing, Music, and Cinema.
The truth is that - Theatre rather stands independent in terms of the aesthetics of the art. The fact of it's three dimensional and live action nature does make it unique and separates the experience. It is much more transitory... and more difficult to produce. That also means that it is more difficult to sustain because the elements are always in a state of flux.
This would be the reason for approaching Publishing first. As you can imagine, music publication follows the printed books. By that I mean; the refinement of the music into it's final printed form. The music is in fact written, but it needs to be refined so as to be presentable to a Maestro and Orchestra. Once again there are countless minutiae in preparing the Score. Much of that work has been done, but not sufficiently for final publication. That's a discussion for another time.
So I have returned to the Gnome-sized Edition and determined to publish a limited run of that book first. The larger publication of all four basic editions (not to mention the Boxed set or Gnomes in a Gnutshell e-Storybook) involves a substantial outlay of capital. Production quantities need to be in the tens of thousands, at a minimum. Publishing two versions of Volume One in both soft & hard cover editions puts us into the hundreds of thousands of dollars range. Obviously, that outlay cannot happen without distribution channels in place and the support marketing aligned for simultaneous implementation.
So as you see, it is a very complex endeavor, whose success lies in impeccable timing. I do not say that lightly. The timing extends beyond the mere production & distribution of the published goods. The critical factor here is the span of attention of the target audience. Considering the scope of the markets for which this endeavor has been created, it is critical that the potential expansion of each of the markets be carefully considered. The most advantageous timing is to cause the collective markets to reach their Apex within a defined parallel. That means calculating the extent of the work involved in bringing each arena into a fully active state and assuring that by so doing, the resources for each of those arenas, most of which are proceeding simultaneously, be sufficient for continuing advancement. It is critical that the momentum be maintained and controlled in a calculated way. That is the real secret to producing a product that has such a wide latitude as;
The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure.
