I have this same poll running on the Leif & Thorn site, but if you read both comics, feel free to vote in both! I’d love to know if the answers are different between the two audiences.
(Also, if you can’t afford to support the comic right now, feel free to answer “if I could, here are the rewards I would like to get.”)
What kind of Patreon rewards do you find most appealing? (Pick as many as you want, and/or add your own!)
This is the first book where I’ve had to print any really high-stakes two-page spreads. (The Patrick flashback in chapter 19, and the new cover art for chapter 20.)
In the print-ready file, I arranged it so part of each 2-page image is duplicated on either side of the fold. Hopefully the duplicate art is what gets swallowed up by the center margins, and we’re left with a passable image where all the text is readable. Cross your fingers!
Updated to WordPress 5, and so far the new Gutenberg editor is more annoying than useful.
There isn’t just one main window in which you edit the content of your post. Instead you fill that window with drag-n-drop blocks. They’re all supposed to be optimized for different content, but in practice they’re…really not. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Closed the Volume 5 cover poll from the previous post, because the winner, by a landslide, is…Blake!
Now I just have to figure out how to draw them for the cover art. Their buff/manly/spiky-haired form is the default one they take when it’s just them and Walker, but it doesn’t actually show up in the book, so I’ve gotta work out a pose that captures the vibe of their femme/Desi form. (Featured image: some draft possibilities.)
Reseda pretty much keeps her standard form no matter what, but putting her and Timothy/Camellia on volume 6 does mean I get to draw Camellia with the softer, less-clean-cut aesthetic she settles into once she’s no longer closeted on the job. Which is nice!
…anyway, all this doubles as penance art because today’s page will be late. Check back in a few hours – it’s on the way.
(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 votes90%
26 votes - 90% of all votes
I have absolutely no preference. 7%, 2 votes
2 votes7%
2 votes - 7% of all votes
Reseda! Finish the main group of protagonists, put Blake on volume 6. 3%, 1 vote
1 vote3%
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.
