Friday, October 23, 2009

THANKS FOR GIVING DEAD DUCK WINGS TO FLY...

I want to thank all of you, my friends, family, fans and followers, for coming to my aid when I most needed it. After my last blog posting, asking for people to order Dead Duck like crazy, that's exactly what you did, and more. Those of you who spread the word about Dead Duck on your websites and blogs have provided just as significant an impact.

And my publisher has taken notice. Of course, Dead Duck isn't completely out of the woods yet, and I'm hoping pre-orders won't seize up anytime soon. But you guys have made a difference and continue to do so. Those who sent me addresses can count on Dead Duck sketches in their mail in the coming weeks. And I hope to repay the rest of you by releasing Dead Duck on November 25th, the most significant and beloved undertaking I've ever embarked upon since my marriage. If you've enjoyed the stories, gags and artwork in the handful of sneak peeks I've given you in the past year, let me tell you friends, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

And not to completely bore you with all this schmaltzy emotional stuff, I also come bearing some very cool news!

I was recently interviewed on the Comic Geek Speak podcast, which is one of the premiere comics discussion spots online. These guys are used to interviewing the likes of Stan Lee (co-creator of the entire silver age Marvel Universe) and David Petersen (creator of Mouseguard, which if you're a comics fan and aren't already reading it, then you're like the dorky, out of touch kid on the playground in 1989 without a Batman t-shirt). But thanks to a couple e-mails I sent and a very kind endorsement from my friend and fellow cartoonist Katie Cook (those Comic Geek Speak fellas ADORE her!), I was interviewed last Monday and that episode was put online just yesterday! I've done one other audio interview in my life, and it goes without saying that CGS surpassed it. You can listen to the episode in its entirety by clicking HERE (my segment is at the end of the episode). Thanks to Peter and Jamie for having me on their show and for being such fun, thorough and gracious hosts. And thanks to Katie for her continued support of my work. Us cartoony comic creators gotta stick together!

The online Dead Duck comic is still rolling along. I would like to keep it going right up 'til the day the book comes out, and there should be enough material to post without having to show the slew of stories I've kept ear marked exclusively for the graphic novel. You can see it HERE for now, and hopefully it'll whet your appetite for the graphic novel to come.

And lastly, I've started a Facebook group for friends and fans of Dead Duck, which you can view HERE. As far as I know, you need to be a Facebook member to participate, but honestly, anything I post on that page will most likely get posted here as well. I want Dead Duck news and updates available to everyone, and I'll always make sure there's such an outlet available to you guys.

Thank you again, friends. I'm genuinely touched that you've all been there for me. After college passes, you forget what it's like to have a community of friends at your disposal, to rely up and to be there for as well. But you've all proven to me the strength of such relationships doesn't have to disappear, and if anything, can be made stronger than ever. I promise to be there for you as you have for me, and to help you reach the dreams you've all held so dearly. One good turn deserves another…

Endless affection,

--Jay

Thursday, October 15, 2009

I NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE DEAD DUCK FLY!

This is a call for help, folks. I need to get sales up on pre-orders for Dead Duck, and fast.

I know many of you have already ordered Dead Duck for yourselves through your area comic shops. And I know many of you plan to buy Dead Duck at the signings I've been mentioning. That's still great, and I can ask no more of you.

But there are many, many more of you who are waiting for the day that Dead Duck is intended for release to buy your copies. Here's the problem with that: Dead Duck is an independently published comic book. Unlike Spider-Man or Batman--mainstream, audience-proven comics which bookstores keep in stock because of their guaranteed salability--Dead Duck does not have an assured audience, since it's relatively unknown to the public. That means that most book stores will NOT immediately stock Dead Duck unless YOU contact them in advance and pre-order your copy.

Now here's the figures: I need to pull in at least 400 more pre-orders to make this all work out. So here's what I'm asking….

I need people to start ordering Dead Duck from either your local bookstore, on Amazon.com or directly from Ape Entertainment. Each order will increase my sales, and will assure Dead Duck's success come November 25th. If you order now from the above-mentioned venues, and encourage anyone you can think of to order one as well, here's what I'm prepared to offer:

For each new order I get as of this blog posting, I will send a personalized Dead Duck or Zombie Chick sketch on a postcard to every person who notifies me of their purchase. You can e-mail me at: fourpanelhero@hotmail.com with notification of your order (if I don't know your personally, please include some proof of purchase), as well as a mailing address for you. In the meantime, here's how you can order Dead Duck:

TO ORDER DEAD DUCK THROUGH A BOOKSTORE:


This is Dead Duck's ISBN number: ISBN-13: 9781934944721
Any bookstore (Barnes and Noble, Borders, Waldenbooks, Etc…) should be able to order Dead Duck for you with this number. If they need additional information, just tell them Dead Duck is by Jay P. Fosgitt and published by Ape Entertainment. That should do it.

TO ORDER DEAD DUCK THROUGH AMAZON.COM


Just click HERE.

TO ORDER DEAD DUCK DIRECTLY FROM APE ENTERTAINMENT

Just click HERE.

No pun intended, but I'm dead serious here, people. I've spent my entire life trying to get to this point in my cartooning career, and your help can push me to the top of the summit. So please, if you can, order now, encourage others to order now, and I'll do my damnedest to show my appreciation to each and every one of you. I hope to hear from you soon with news of your purchases.

Much love and appreciation, friends.

--Jay

Monday, October 12, 2009

Cheers and tears from a Dead Duck's bill....

Well, it's now October 12th, and I'm five days worth of being a year older. Thirty-five might not look so good on paper, but I feel young as ever, and it was a very happy occasion. I received loads of nice messages and phone calls from my friends and family, and had a wonderful time with Laura eating dinner and walking around downtown Ann Arbor. Aside from the sad discovery that our favorite video store, Liberty Street Video, is closing its doors soon (click here for their website, and I encourage you to buy some of their inventory: $2.00 for hard to find videos, $5.00 for DVD's), I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my birthday. And the handful of news I have to share with you now is just the icing on the cake!
____________________________________

SIGNING DATES:

NOVEMBER 27TH, 2009:
Dead Duck book signing at Coy's Comics
301 S. Hamilton
Saginaw, MI 48602
12-2 pm
Call Coy's at (989) 790-1810 for more info
Click HERE for directions

NOVEMBER 30TH, 2009:
Dead Duck book signing at Delta College
1961 Delta Road
University Center, MI 48710
11-1 pm
Call The Delta Collegiate at (989) 686-9337 for more info
Click HERE for directions

DECEMBER 2ND, 2009:
Dead Duck presentation and book signing at Vault of Midnight
219 S. Main St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
5-8 pm
Call Vault of Midnight at 734-998-1413 for more info
Click HERE for directions

You can also get the most up to date listing of my appearances by clicking HERE. In the coming months it will be updated frequently, so bookmark it for future reference!
___________________________________

DEAD DUCK NEWS STORIES:

These are the latest articles written on Dead Duck that I've come across. If anyone finds any that I haven't mentioned, please let me know and I'll post them here!

THE DELTA COLLEGIATE: My old college newspaper recently wrote a very nice article on me and Dead Duck, including a column by their current staff cartoonist whom I taught in my cartooning classes over ten years ago! Read it below!

360 MAIN STREET ARTICLE: One of my oldest Delta College friends (and fellow Collegiate staffer) Gina Myers has written a wonderful article on me and Dead Duck for 301 Main Street, an art-centric news website. You can read it all HERE.

THE FURRY COMMUNITY: I saw this coming a mile away. There is a community of people known as "Furries". At their tamest, they have a voracious appreciation for anthropomorphic characters (i.e. cartoon animals with human attributes, like Donald Duck or Miss Piggy). At their most extreme, their appreciation turns sexual, with Furries dressing up in cartoony animal costumes and, well, fornicating like the beasts of the forest. Someone from the furry community recently took note of Dead Duck and Zombie Chick, and mentioned them favorably in a list of upcoming comics that might appeal to the Furry community. They seemed a wee disappointed that Dead Duck deals very little with anthropomorphism beyond Dead Duck and Zombie Chick themselves, and were even more let down that Zombie Chick is (in their assessment) basically just a cute yellow girl with an orange bill--not quite anthro enough by their standards. But the book's content won them over, and their brief write-up is positive. You can read it all HERE (Scroll down a bit to find it).
___________________________________

And last but not even least, one of the cutest gifts I received for my birthday, heck, for any occasion in recent days, was this handmade Dead Duck finger puppet from my friend and fellow cartoonist, Katie Cook.

It's a rare treat to have someone create something for ME rather than the other way around, and Katie gets high points for originality. Thanks again, Katie!

So that's it for now. Obviously I'll be popping back in the coming weeks to alert you guys to book signings and other appearances, but again, you can click on my signings and appearances section of my blog or in the Dead Duck section of my website anytime you want. I promise it'll be up to date and thorough as can be.

Take care, much, much thanks for all the warm birthday wishes, and I look forward to bringing Dead Duck to you as November 25th slowly approaches!

Much love,

--Jay