Saturday 9 February 2013

Exciting News Readers! No FutureQuake in March.


Unfortunately there is not going to be an issue of FutureQuake this March. Issue 23 would be due in the next couple of weeks but due to circumstances I'll go into below I do not have enough pages to make print.

Normally I would over commission each issue to the tune of three or four strips, with the proviso that some folks may drop out or not make deadline. There are a maximum of 48 pages in each issue and if they get filled then some strips need to be moved along in the schedule. Some of you may well have been told by me in the past that your strip was being passed over for the following issue, and the vast majority of creators are cool with this. 

Some however, can be a little snippy. Which I can see the point of. If you have worked hard to hit a deadline, only to be told that your strip is not going to be printed for an extra four months then it is understandable to be a little miffed.

So for this issue I took a good look at what I had outstanding, and what was commissioned and decided to try and be a little more 'just in time' with the strips. I even began to send out monthly countdowns to the artists to hopefully encourage them to keep me informed of progress and any issues. 

However, as of the end of January deadline I only have enough material to fill two thirds of an issue- not good.

So, a massive thanks to all of those who made the deadline for getting all your work in to me, and a massive I'm sorry as your strip is not going to see print till the summer in FutureQuake 23.

I've got quite a few strips commissioned for that issue already and with those that are rolling over as well the issue should fill up right smart and give me a good buffer for further issues. 

I guess the lesson for me is that over commissioning is good.

1 comment:

Cyrus Crashtest said...

Have you considered dedicating the "spare" pages to other related media such as reviews or simply an art showcase?
I'm sure there are plenty of non-comic artists who would love to get in print and already have work available - much the same with online magazines / small print magazines.
Just figured it was worth a thought.