2024 Naughty and Nice List
What worked and what didn't
Is that time of year when I look back and reflect on the last 12 months, the wins and what lessons have been learned for 2025. Overall it was a pretty good year , my second working exclusively on comics and books. Here is my rundown of my hits and misses for 2024.
Wins…
Scab
This book I created with Steve Niles during the early 1990s is back in print and reworked for a newer audience. This is my favorite of the many collaborations I did with Steve, and it also gave me the opportunity to update my Kickstarter chops and coordinate getting the book into comic shops.
Eve of War
It has been a long time since I did a short collaboration with another writer, and adapting Noel K. Hannan’s short story was a nice break from doing longer stories. I have worked with Noel over the years, as a graphic designer, but this was the first time as an artist, colorist, and letterer. Something I have had on my bucket list for a while.
OXYMORON: Killing Time
I did this short story several years ago with Tyler James and the Comix Tribe crew, and had forgotten all about it. When Tyler announced the book was going into production, I was happy to see it finally come out. Tyler’s Comix Launch classes and podcasts are great way for creators to get their projects rolling on Kickstarter and has been instrumental in getting my own books out.
Cons
I didn’t do any large mega-cons this year, choosing to stay close to home. My hometown show, the Albany Comic Con, was a great opportunity to reconnect with friends, local readers, and to debut my newest books.
Upgrading my system
I haven’t done a major upgrade on my computer system since 2016, and things have started to get creaky, and my backups are overflowing. So I spent most of the year planning out a major upgrade. I installed a Mac Studio with an M2 chip. I know next year they will upgrade to the M4, but how long can I keep holding out for the latest chip before I pull the trigger? I also upgraded to a 27-inch Mac Studio display and a 40TB backup LAN network. Many of the books I have done over the last 5 years are going back into print, so I need a reliable backup system in place.
What NOT to do next year…
Not hiring an editor. I cannot tell you how many times, while working on a book, I think, “Should I hire an outside editor? I don’t have the budget. What should I do?” Suffice it to say, after taking the cheap way out by having family and friends make corrections, still, mistakes were made. This is one question that the answer should always be: yes.
Throwing money at Meta. Meta’s advertising on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Threads feels like throwing money into a black hole. My initial optimism has been crushed as I keep spending and getting nothing in return. My tracking numbers have been plummeting for ages. I still have a bunch of friends on Facebook, and I still share current comic Kickstarter links on my Indie Wire page. But it seems like a lot of creatives have moved to Bluesky and Substack, and it feels like the bubble has burst.
Backerkit shipping. Many creators use Backerkit for Kickstarter fulfillment, some selecting to let it also collect the shipping. As a backer, I gotta tell ya, I miss the old personal note of thanks, that special something that made me feel connected to you and your project. This relationship becomes more disconnected when Backerkit collects a separate shipping fee for a book I thought I had already paid for. One thing I hate is having to pay again. What once was a great impulse buy, I now have to think twice about. Nothing personal, but if I didn’t finish your Backerkit survey, I probably am not going to.
Paying for QR codes and shortened URL’s. Adobe makes QR codes if you are there already and Google has several free Chrome browser extensions to make shortened URLs.
Keep creating in 2025,
Happy New Year Jim!
Happy New Year Jim! Keep fighting the good fight👍🏻 Keith