An Important Decision before publishing But I’m A Cat Person volume 5

Aug23
by Erin Ptah on August 23, 2018 at 10:21 PM
Posted In: Blog

(There’s a poll in this post, and your vote is also Important, so read carefully!)

Now that the first four volumes of But I’m A Cat Person have been edited and released, I can finally…ah, give myself a pat on the back for getting halfway there, then roll up my sleeves and move on to the next chapter.

Volume 5 is going to include chapters 16-18, plus the short Interlude 4. (And an extra-large batch of bonus content to make up the pagecount.)

Volume 6 will have the more standard set of contents: chapters 19-22.

Which brings me to the decision — who goes on the covers?

See, in the first four volumes, the cover features the most prominent Being from the chapters within…

…and basically, I got lucky. The plots all lined up nicely, so that of the five core Beings on the main team — Patrick, Reseda, Poe, Kara Lynn, and Cybele — one of them was the obvious choice for each volume.

So it would be nice to get Reseda on volume 5, right? (The chapters where she got the most spotlight before that were unfortunately in volume 1, which was taken.)

But based on the contents…volume 5 is much more Blake-centric. Their big showdown with Kara Lynn is ongoing throughout chapters 16-17. Reseda only appears in chapter 18 (plus a few panels in chapter 17), and isn’t pivotal.

Looking forward to volume 6, this is where Reseda finally gets her most prominent sequences since her introduction. Chapter 20 is mostly her big experiment with Sparrow (plus Timothy’s big career change), and chapter 22 is where the two of them make their plot-turning-point road-trip to Chicago.

There’s no other obvious “main Being in the plot” for volume 6. Blake only appears in chapter 21, and it’s her turn to be non-pivotal.

So, readers — what do you think? (It’s a non-binding poll. Don’t hold back!)

Who should be on the cover of BICP volume 5?
  • Blake! Base it on the actual contents, save Reseda for volume 6. 90%, 26 votes
    26 votes 90%
    26 votes - 90% of all votes
  • I have absolutely no preference. 7%, 2 votes
    2 votes 7%
    2 votes - 7% of all votes
  • Reseda! Finish the main group of protagonists, put Blake on volume 6. 3%, 1 vote
    1 vote 3%
    1 vote - 3% of all votes
Total Votes: 29
August 23, 2018 - August 26, 2018
Voting is closed

The good news is, Volume 5 has all the pages edited. And once I know who’s on the cover, I can start color-coding the bonus features.

Chapter 16 was redrawn to the audiobook of The Fifth Season, then the newly-released season of Voltron, and finished off with Star Wars episode 8.

Chapter 17 was redrawn to the sequel audiobook, The Obelisk Gate (it was really good, okay, I had to see what happened next asap), then to a whole lot of the first season of Friends At The Table.

Interlude 4…okay, the third book of the trilogy was out, but the library copy was on hold. So I redid this art entirely to Friends At The Table.

Chapter 18, same thing — it’s a really long show, okay — interspersed with the second season of the Steven Universe podcast. Not because I finished FatT season 1, mind you. Just because I wanted a little variety to break things up.

Final note: There’s going to be a Kickstarter in September for the first volume of Leif & Thorn! A serious print run is more cost-effective over the long term than what I’m doing with BICP…but you do need the cash upfront.

So keep an eye out for that. I’m still tinkering with the specifics, but you can definitely look forward to something BICP-related in the stretch goals.

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