Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sexy Tuesday #18!
So the end of February is here and my plan of phasing myself off of Facebook is almost complete. It's almost like NOT showing up to a party where even loves you, though.
Here is the other stuff you expect from SEXY TUESDAY!
Been a busy week trying to find free stuff for you guys, be sure to check out the site for the stuff, okay?
https://sites.google.com/site/ravenheisenberg/
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Check out the new page. . .
I put up NAPOLEON IN EXILE on the page today. It is a spoken word performance with a specific creative commons license for musicians to use, in part or in pieces, for any non-commercial usages they want.
https://sites.google.com/site/ravenheisenberg
https://sites.google.com/site/ravenheisenberg
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Sexy Tuesday #17
I think SEXY TUESDAY gets the most traffic out of all the blogs and webpages, so I'll post all the recent news and updates here.
There is a blog that features all the books I have for sale as well as a bunch of free material. Check it out and let me know what you think.
CLICK HERE
I also have a site that promotes my favorite independent comics. If you are interested in checking out books outside the mainstream Marvel and DC schlock you can take a look at some of my recommendations HERE.
I also have a few great pages for the superhero stuff I've been doing, including a packed blog featuring material from the Canadian Legion book, LEGION UNLEASHED. There is a ton of back-up material listed on this blog to supplement the comic series. CLICK HERE.
Anthony Hary, whose words I reposted for Sexy Tuesday last week, is my associate and the manager of ANA Comics, a small Indy studio of awesome collaborators. Definitely take a moment to check out the stuff. I wouldn't work with just anyone you know, these guys are passionate and more importantly, honest. Never underestimate how important it is to protect your back in this business, a lot of stabbers out there. Even worse, there are a ton of successful and famous studios and creators who don't care at all about comics, they just want movie deals and money and I can count a dozen of them on any given day. ANA COMICS is the real deal, they actually want to tell stories and make comics.
ANA COMICS
I've got two previews for you to read this week which you can find on the googlesite, or you can click them directly here and read them online.
CAT PRINCE PREVIEW
The Cat Prince is a children's book and comic I've been working on for a while and is for all ages.
The second preview is for mature readers only and is called WITCHHUNT. An ancient curse brings women back from the dead to get violent revenge on the men who killed her. Read the preview for free HERE.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Sexy Tuesday 16
Instead of posting some lame Valentine's Day inspired pictures, I am going to post a great article by my partner and friend Anthony Hary. It focuses on passion and why we do what we do. Enjoy!
I'm a Creator, a Storyteller. As much as I do hope you like my work, in truth I do what I do because I like it. If I didn't I wouldn't do it. I only work on projects I like. I don’t go out and take any project just for the pay check, and I know that choice limits my financial success as an artist. I view my work as a whole, and as a brand. Its important to me that when someone picks up a book with my name on it that they can have confidence in the consistency and quality of the product they will enjoy inside. Perhaps it’s the jaded child of 90’s comic books that did it to me. Regardless of the reason, there are certain ‘rules’ you could say, or ‘terms’ that I will do my best to always stick to in my creative career. These things are as important now as they will ever be, because now is the time I set my foundation, and its only on limited time. Something I hope to change.
I work 40+ hours a week at my day job; I put in easy 20+ hours into A.N.A Comics per week. I hope to reverse that by end of 2012. In August of 2011 I gave myself a 12 month goal to be at a point by August 2012 that working full time is not something I HAVE to do. Meaning I want to be making enough money from creative projects so that I could consider reducing my schedule down to a part time position or even now day job at all. It’s a goal, it may or may not happen. That reality has zero impact on the level of effort I am putting into reaching this goal.
My goals will be reached, not on the shoulders of others, but due to the hard work, sacrifice and sweat that I put in to it. I make this statement because of recent current events. Accusations of publishers stiffing their creators, or even other creators not sharing the wealth as it were with their fellow creators on a project. I won’t ever be that guy, not as a co-creator, or as the head of a company. It’s for that exact reason that I say so often that with me, and especially at A.N.A Comics, people don’t work FOR us, people work WITH us. I won’t carry someone to the finish line, but I will help them as much as I can, provided they put in all they have to at least meet me half way. I believe the farmers mentality works best. You put in the hard work, you reap the best crops.
A.N.A Comics is designed to foster opportunity, everyone has an equal shot at success, me, you, anyone. It is about who works for it. My effort is to make A.N.A Comics run and operate on as little funds as possible. Why? So that the profits that are made have a greater potential to be distributed back towards the creators who make the products we sell. Costs have to be covered. Printing books, and producing other products has to be paid for, and on a logistics side someone has to be paid to help make that happen, so those things are taken from profits first and 95% of whatever is remaining goes to the creator. The industry is always changing and growing, and as that happens A.N.A Comics will need to change and grow also. No matter how that plays out, the strongest effort will be maintained at keeping things designed to give creators who work with us the best benefit we can.
These aren't pretty words, & fluffy statements. You want success, you earn success. No one is funding my work. I do it. Since 2004 I have brought new work & new products to every show I do, WHY? Because the fans deserve it, & I deserve it. A.N.A Comics only started in 2009, and even since co-founding the company, it hasn’t paid for my projects. In fact the money I make at shows or from direct sales is what pays for A.N.A Comics. That is how the website is paid for, the charity books, and other efforts we have done. For myself, Adrian, Nicholas, and Rod, A.N.A Comics hasn’t paid for our projects, but we invest in A.N.A Comics to keep it going and make it grow because we believe in what we’re doing!
Even more than that, over the last 10 years, I've helped PROFESSIONALS to print sketchbooks, & maximize their Con experience. These are guys who make a living doing what I hope to make a living doing. I helped them out, shared my knowledge and time FOR FREE. I didn’t ask for compensation, credit, or special consideration. Heck, I have helped guys who after I help them, they have gone on to do other things and we lost touch with each other. So it wasn’t even done for some lasting friendship. I do it because I love this business.
I've watched people more talented than me make excuses & get burned out on this business. Why? Stick together, stay united. There is so much competition, when really we could have greater success if we joined together and worked together. It would not be an easy thing to do. Not all creators can wear multiple hats. Some cannot think from a business stand point, others can’t stand to not be in full control of their project every step of the way. For those who can work as a team, work together, embrace that, and foster it so that we can build the industry of comic books and graphic novels to a level never before enjoyed.
What I say isn't designed to sound nice, its what I believe. I believe in independent creator owned comics, I believe in stories first. I believe story comes before art, before writing, before coloring or lettering. Story is the full concept, the scope, it is what makes us love the property. From there you match up the best writing style, art style, color style and lettering. Story always comes first, and if we make a choice that is not in service to the story, then it is by definition a disservice to the story and to ourselves as creators and our fans.
If you are an Indy Creator & can’t grasp the concept of people having to like YOU as much as your product, learn it. Be genuine & kind. This really shouldn’t need any greater explanation but here it goes. When it comes to opinions, I have a lot of them, all at the ready to share with you. I’m opinionated, and from experience I have learned that, especially in this world of typed and text based conversations, opinions can more often than not cause harm and upset others. So I had to learn the hard way to govern the sharing of those opinions and to keep my statements productive, and positive. But why? Because as an independent creator, my name is synonymous with my work, and as much as I can avoid it I would like both to have a positive opinion connected to it. After all the hours we put into our projects it would suck of people didn’t’ even give it a chance because of something I said. If people think of me as “That angry prick who complains and insults people all the time”, why would they support my projects? They would have no reason to. Even more than that, it only takes ONE incident to create that reputation, and it could be completely false. But it won’t matter. So keep your head up, your mouth in check and focus on the work. By all means have opinions, I do, but think a bit before saying them to others or publically like this on the internet… oh boy.
If your goal is to just get paid, submit to DC/Marvel. If your goal is to create & be rewarded for your hard work, please stay Independent. – Why do I say that? Let’s use Image comics as an example. When you make a book for Image comics, THEY DON’T PAY YOU TO DO THE WORK. You will however get paid based on the success of your book. It’s a great set up that has been working good for them for 20 years now. Most people don’t like it. They think “Hey, I put in 8+ hours on this page, I should be paid for it NOW.” And that is great, but if you want to be paid for your work and not on whether your book sells, you need to be hired by a corporation, a publisher. Don’t get me wrong on this one. Go get hired by DC, Marvel, IDW, Dark Horse, Aspen, Top Cow, whoever because it would be awesome. I would like to do some work for those guys down the line. Absolutely! My point is there are two primary sides to making comic books. Know which one you are on, and put in your 100% while you’re there. If you don’t really want to be there, be honest about that. Reassess your position and don’t screw it up for those who are happy where they are.
Maybe it’s just pointless to say this stuff. Facts are facts. I want to succeed. I want you to succeed. We can do it together. I'm a Creator, a Storyteller, I don’t settle for anything less than my best work. I push myself, believe in myself, I will succeed. I post what I do, my thoughts, what I have learned in this industry for one simple reason; I want you to succeed also. And if what I know can help you get what you want faster, do it!
MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!
http://anmph.blogspot.com/2012/02/thoughts-for-monday.html
I'm a Creator, a Storyteller. As much as I do hope you like my work, in truth I do what I do because I like it. If I didn't I wouldn't do it. I only work on projects I like. I don’t go out and take any project just for the pay check, and I know that choice limits my financial success as an artist. I view my work as a whole, and as a brand. Its important to me that when someone picks up a book with my name on it that they can have confidence in the consistency and quality of the product they will enjoy inside. Perhaps it’s the jaded child of 90’s comic books that did it to me. Regardless of the reason, there are certain ‘rules’ you could say, or ‘terms’ that I will do my best to always stick to in my creative career. These things are as important now as they will ever be, because now is the time I set my foundation, and its only on limited time. Something I hope to change.
I work 40+ hours a week at my day job; I put in easy 20+ hours into A.N.A Comics per week. I hope to reverse that by end of 2012. In August of 2011 I gave myself a 12 month goal to be at a point by August 2012 that working full time is not something I HAVE to do. Meaning I want to be making enough money from creative projects so that I could consider reducing my schedule down to a part time position or even now day job at all. It’s a goal, it may or may not happen. That reality has zero impact on the level of effort I am putting into reaching this goal.
My goals will be reached, not on the shoulders of others, but due to the hard work, sacrifice and sweat that I put in to it. I make this statement because of recent current events. Accusations of publishers stiffing their creators, or even other creators not sharing the wealth as it were with their fellow creators on a project. I won’t ever be that guy, not as a co-creator, or as the head of a company. It’s for that exact reason that I say so often that with me, and especially at A.N.A Comics, people don’t work FOR us, people work WITH us. I won’t carry someone to the finish line, but I will help them as much as I can, provided they put in all they have to at least meet me half way. I believe the farmers mentality works best. You put in the hard work, you reap the best crops.
A.N.A Comics is designed to foster opportunity, everyone has an equal shot at success, me, you, anyone. It is about who works for it. My effort is to make A.N.A Comics run and operate on as little funds as possible. Why? So that the profits that are made have a greater potential to be distributed back towards the creators who make the products we sell. Costs have to be covered. Printing books, and producing other products has to be paid for, and on a logistics side someone has to be paid to help make that happen, so those things are taken from profits first and 95% of whatever is remaining goes to the creator. The industry is always changing and growing, and as that happens A.N.A Comics will need to change and grow also. No matter how that plays out, the strongest effort will be maintained at keeping things designed to give creators who work with us the best benefit we can.
These aren't pretty words, & fluffy statements. You want success, you earn success. No one is funding my work. I do it. Since 2004 I have brought new work & new products to every show I do, WHY? Because the fans deserve it, & I deserve it. A.N.A Comics only started in 2009, and even since co-founding the company, it hasn’t paid for my projects. In fact the money I make at shows or from direct sales is what pays for A.N.A Comics. That is how the website is paid for, the charity books, and other efforts we have done. For myself, Adrian, Nicholas, and Rod, A.N.A Comics hasn’t paid for our projects, but we invest in A.N.A Comics to keep it going and make it grow because we believe in what we’re doing!
Even more than that, over the last 10 years, I've helped PROFESSIONALS to print sketchbooks, & maximize their Con experience. These are guys who make a living doing what I hope to make a living doing. I helped them out, shared my knowledge and time FOR FREE. I didn’t ask for compensation, credit, or special consideration. Heck, I have helped guys who after I help them, they have gone on to do other things and we lost touch with each other. So it wasn’t even done for some lasting friendship. I do it because I love this business.
I've watched people more talented than me make excuses & get burned out on this business. Why? Stick together, stay united. There is so much competition, when really we could have greater success if we joined together and worked together. It would not be an easy thing to do. Not all creators can wear multiple hats. Some cannot think from a business stand point, others can’t stand to not be in full control of their project every step of the way. For those who can work as a team, work together, embrace that, and foster it so that we can build the industry of comic books and graphic novels to a level never before enjoyed.
What I say isn't designed to sound nice, its what I believe. I believe in independent creator owned comics, I believe in stories first. I believe story comes before art, before writing, before coloring or lettering. Story is the full concept, the scope, it is what makes us love the property. From there you match up the best writing style, art style, color style and lettering. Story always comes first, and if we make a choice that is not in service to the story, then it is by definition a disservice to the story and to ourselves as creators and our fans.
If you are an Indy Creator & can’t grasp the concept of people having to like YOU as much as your product, learn it. Be genuine & kind. This really shouldn’t need any greater explanation but here it goes. When it comes to opinions, I have a lot of them, all at the ready to share with you. I’m opinionated, and from experience I have learned that, especially in this world of typed and text based conversations, opinions can more often than not cause harm and upset others. So I had to learn the hard way to govern the sharing of those opinions and to keep my statements productive, and positive. But why? Because as an independent creator, my name is synonymous with my work, and as much as I can avoid it I would like both to have a positive opinion connected to it. After all the hours we put into our projects it would suck of people didn’t’ even give it a chance because of something I said. If people think of me as “That angry prick who complains and insults people all the time”, why would they support my projects? They would have no reason to. Even more than that, it only takes ONE incident to create that reputation, and it could be completely false. But it won’t matter. So keep your head up, your mouth in check and focus on the work. By all means have opinions, I do, but think a bit before saying them to others or publically like this on the internet… oh boy.
If your goal is to just get paid, submit to DC/Marvel. If your goal is to create & be rewarded for your hard work, please stay Independent. – Why do I say that? Let’s use Image comics as an example. When you make a book for Image comics, THEY DON’T PAY YOU TO DO THE WORK. You will however get paid based on the success of your book. It’s a great set up that has been working good for them for 20 years now. Most people don’t like it. They think “Hey, I put in 8+ hours on this page, I should be paid for it NOW.” And that is great, but if you want to be paid for your work and not on whether your book sells, you need to be hired by a corporation, a publisher. Don’t get me wrong on this one. Go get hired by DC, Marvel, IDW, Dark Horse, Aspen, Top Cow, whoever because it would be awesome. I would like to do some work for those guys down the line. Absolutely! My point is there are two primary sides to making comic books. Know which one you are on, and put in your 100% while you’re there. If you don’t really want to be there, be honest about that. Reassess your position and don’t screw it up for those who are happy where they are.
Maybe it’s just pointless to say this stuff. Facts are facts. I want to succeed. I want you to succeed. We can do it together. I'm a Creator, a Storyteller, I don’t settle for anything less than my best work. I push myself, believe in myself, I will succeed. I post what I do, my thoughts, what I have learned in this industry for one simple reason; I want you to succeed also. And if what I know can help you get what you want faster, do it!
MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!
http://anmph.blogspot.com/2012/02/thoughts-for-monday.html
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