WOW. A general update!
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Jun 09, 2020 at 06:32:08 AM

Hey folks. It's been approximately 35 years since I posted my last update, but I hope you're all doing well (or as well as you CAN be) these days. We're all going through a collective trauma, so I hope you're taking care of yourselves. Be safe when protesting, wear a mask, black lives matter, and down with fascism.

I'm going to try to keep it light from here on out!

The Kickstarter is almost 100% fulfilled, aside from 20-ish survey stragglers! Just looking at everything that's happened since August 2019, I'm kind of amazed I got this book out at all. The thing I've been struggling to start is the backer commissions. (Among them is a very patient repeat customer who emailed me LAST JULY like a week before I launched.) It's a handful of sketch cards and one digital piece, so maybe writing it out like this will help me muster the will.

I reopened my online store with TH3 up for general sale! Tell all your friends.

What's next for The Hues? It's back to completing the current chapter, Chapter 14. After that, everything changes, story-wise! I've always been privy to the idea that Every Comic is Autobiographical, deep down somewhere, and in my case, with my long-form comics? I've definitely used them to process what I was going through at the time whether I knew it or not, and I often don't know what my stories are "about" until well into making the work. Seven years into it, I'm figuring out that The Hues is no different. So you'll see what I've learned along the way. 

Me and mine are all whole, haven't been sick or anything, and my sister and bro-in-law are almost done with renovations to their house for my parents to live there. We've all been very lucky, and I will do what I can to keep it up. I was practically built for social distancing, and I have the good fortune to have a job where I CAN isolate and work from home. My state's (Ohio) response to the pandemic has been one of the success stories, and we've been able to flatten our curve.

A tiny plug for my Patreon before I wrap this up. I'm in a place with a support network to fall back on, and I don't need to crowd into the mass of creatives who need more help than I do during These Uncertain Times, so no pressure. I'm hoping to get into more video stuff this year, YouTubes and TikToks and whatnot, so even if you don't sign up, you can hit +FOLLOW on my Patreon page for notifications of my public/free posts.

Leave your questions and comments down below, if you have them! Thank you for making this book happen, against all odds. :)

Fulfillment is underway!
about 4 years ago – Thu, Mar 05, 2020 at 12:13:03 AM

Hi everyone! Popping in for an update! 

It's been just over six months since the KS ended and everything blew up! But everyone's doing well, the fam is good, and I'm starting to get my footing back as far as work and comics. :) Thank you all again for your patience while I've been going through this! We're near the home stretch!

OK, TIME TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING

Back in December, I did a goof! But it's not a big goof, just a medium goof. When my expedited books arrived, I found that I made a mistake with the cover. 

I LOST MY THREE.

 Embarrassing. But not the end of the world! It's one mistake, and was the only mistake. 

Books are expensive, but... stickers are cheap! So (after the 48 hours or so I took to be mad about it) I ordered a small run of rainbow holographic stickers that say BACKER EDITION (and the 3) for all the book covers! I looked into a few different ways to do the stickers, including hand-stamping the labels with an inspection pen-stamp, but I didn't like the results, so I went with the professionally made option. Lemons, meet lemonade.

They'll look like this:

 Those will get here tomorrow, so I'll be able to start actually sending packages! :D 

BUT THE STORY ISN'T OVER YET

A few weeks went by and in mid-February, I asked the printer for an update on the rest of my order, since the factory had closed for awhile due to COVID-19. By pure dumb luck, they hadn't finished binding the other books yet! They were able to stop and reprint the covers, so I got to slide in and fix the rest of the run. Phew. Those 800-ish books are still 2-3 months away from getting to me, since the revision added to the printer's timeline. I'm guesstimating I'll receive them around the end of May at the earliest. With the widespread delays in... everything right now, I wouldn't be surprised if it's longer. So I will soldier forth with the copies I have, stickers in hand. Lemonade, meet lemon meringue pie! That's how that saying goes, I'm pretty sure.

SOON, VERY SOON, you will have this book in your hands, and the long 3-year journey it took to get this book into existence will be complete! I AM FEELING A LOT OF THINGS. 

BackerKit surveys out
about 4 years ago – Tue, Jan 28, 2020 at 10:45:07 PM

Hey folks! Just a follow up post to let you know that the surveys from BackerKit are all out, so go check your email for those! 

If you haven't gotten it yet, head to https://thehuesvolume3.backerkit.com and enter your email address (associated with your KS account) to retrieve your survey at any time.

If anyone you know missed the Kickstarter, the preorder store is open, so they can still get in on the excitement!

BOOKS ON THE WAY! Surveys coming soon!
over 4 years ago – Fri, Jan 17, 2020 at 09:29:03 PM

IT'S HAPPENING! 🎉 The books are on their way to me! I'm getting the final setup check on the BackerKit stuff, but you can expect an email with your survey in the next few days.

Again, I want to thank everyone for the support, both during the Kickstarter and in the subsequent months as I dealt with my family situation. Now that the books are actually in existence, I'm ready to finish fulfilling this project and get back to, y'know, MY COMIC. :) 

Now for some important info: here's a copy of BackerKit's template letter for this occasion, with more detailed info on BackerKit and how the process works.

See you soon!

xoxo Alex

=====

Soon, you’ll receive an email from us with a special link to your  BackerKit survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as quickly as  you can since we need this information to fulfill your rewards.

You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your  survey. When you receive the email with the survey, click the survey  link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences,  provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like. You  don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available  soon via email!

After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change  your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final  counts.

If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can  return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or  requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit  project page at https://thehuesvolume3.backerkit.com.

If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your Kickstarter  account, the BackerKit survey is sent to the email address you use for  your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you prefer  to use, please contact support at https://thehuesvolume3.backerkit.com/faq.

WHOA BIG UPDATE
over 4 years ago – Fri, Dec 06, 2019 at 01:46:24 AM

HEY FOLKS! It's high time for an update! My life exploded right after the Kickstarter ended, and ever since I've been doing my best to keep on top of things and get this project fulfilled. Let’s go back to August for a minute.

So, August 22nd. Big day.

I don't think a lot of you know this, but right after the KS, my dad had a stroke. And I mean RIGHT after. It was later the same day. He's okay-- but he was in the hospital for 5 weeks. In the subsequent three months, my family and I have been going through some Stuff. And there will be more Stuff to go through, but I fully intend to fulfill my Kickstarter obligations to all you folks.

Soooo there was really no way that this event was NOT going to affect the book. For a while, I kind of held out hope that I could still do everything and keep on top of things (and I have been doing pretty well at that, in my opinion!) while my family adjusted to a significant, life-altering medical situation. And I didn't want to drag it all out to the public (i.e. you folks) just hours after the campaign ended that this really serious thing happened, so everything will be LATE and RUINED FOREVER, etc. I just wanted to try to get on with it as best I could. So I hope you will understand! The book will not be out in time for the holidays.

That last 10% of book content took me much longer than expected, see above, but everything is done and in the hands of my book designer, who is great. The print order is in process, and I'll still be expediting a portion of the print order so I can get them out to you in January or February. Look for an email about filling out your surveys in the next few weeks!

I thank you in advance for your patience and support! I’ll post another update soon.

To end on a happy note, the books are the only rewards I don't have in my hands yet! The stickers, postcards, and pins are all in and looking good.

 Surprise! The pins were always going to be rainbow-plated. :)