Second Draft to Start Soon

Welcome back!

The first phase of my master plan is underway.  I spent some time actually writing a "bible" about Foxland, the fictional country that Hilda and Richie live in.  But what's going to happen next is what I really want to talk about.

I'm going to give the first draft an overhaul (that's the dummy that was posted here some years ago).  In January, that draft and dummy is going to go to a book doctor; if I'm going to put something quality up for crowdfunding on Kickstarter, it has to be of great quality.  Even good wouldn't be enough; I need to make sure it's exceptional.

Once my comic book Kickstarter is done with, I will throw myself 100% into working on Hilda & Richie.

Stay tuned for more news.

The Master Plan to Bring Hilda and Richie to Life in 2021

This was cross-posted to my Sunnyville Stories blog too.

Today, I have something major to talk about. As some of you know, I’ve talked about wanting to illustrate picture books for children. My background in comics makes me PERFECT for this. How so? I draw in a funny style and my style communicates instantly on the page. Those are must-have skills to draw any kind of books for children.

The creation I’ve devised are two red foxes, Hilda and Richie. The concept is that Hilda is a wealthy blue blood living in a far away country in a mansion with Richie, a fox pup and legally adopted by Hilda. I have notes for about three stories with them including a picture book “dummy” (that means a rough draft in picture book jargon). These two characters are a part of the Sunnyville Stories universe. (Eagle eyed readers may have seen them as background characters in a few of my comics.) In fact, I am already planning a comic where Hilda and Richie visit Sunnyville, meeting Rusty and friends. I’ll talk about that later.

What I am planning is something ambitious, something that will require every ounce of skill I have, every bit of effort and lots of careful preparation.

In early 2021, it is my goal to crowdfund a picture book written and illustrated by myself with the aforementioned characters; this would be used to print and publish said work.

I know what some of you are thinking, especially those of you out there critical of my work (you know who you are). You think it is difficult or even outright impossible. There is some risk involved. Even though I’ve had success crowdfunding comic books on Kickstarter, crowdfunding literature of any kind is a challenge. Self-published books of any kind are still looked down upon. The funds that would be required to print up a picture book would be significantly higher. If I were to do this by the seat of my pants in a week or two, failure is guaranteed.

But I’m not doing that. To increase my chance of successfully funding and producing my picture book(s), I have spent some time working out a “master plan”.

The first phase of my master plan is now underway. It was initiated on Thanksgiving Day on November 28, 2019 and will go through the end of January 2020. I have to prepare for the enormous task at hand. I will be refining the characters of Hilda & Richie, developing their setting and also compose story ideas. The publishing industry in general must be researched and understood. What’s more is that I have to understand the niche that is children’s picture books. To that end, I was able to get a book that covers picture books in depth: Writing Children’s Books For Dummies, Second Edition from Wiley Publishing. As the time of this writing, I am reading the book and increasing my chances of success by learning some things I didn’t previously know.

The second phase of my plan will launch in February 2020 and will run through the end of the year. Elements of that phase are building more connections and cultivating fans. Running Kickstarters then (I have at least two and perhaps a third planned) is part of this phase as well. To succeed with raising a bigger amount of funding will require me to understand Kickstarter and the method of getting successfully funded. I must understand this more; lucky for me, I have resources to help. During this phase, outside help is going to be consulted in helping my manuscript improve. You don’t work in comics like I do without meeting all kinds of important people; during this time, I’ve made connections with freelance writers and authors. These people know editors and book doctors. I will be enlisting the services of said individuals to make sure the picture book is of excellent quality.

The third phase of my plan will take place in June 2020 and runs through the end of the year. That will be when I publicly declare the Kickstarter to fund the Hilda & Richie picture book. In addition, the details such as the funding, rewards and timeframe will be developed. To help promote the characters and build up interest for the Kickstarter, I am plotting a crossover with Sunnyville. Sometime in the late spring or early summer, there will be a Kickstarter with a small funding goal; it will be to print a minicomic or produce a digital only comic where Hilda & Richie visit Sunnyville, meeting Rusty and friends. This would help to promote the upcoming Kickstarter for the picture book plus to establish Hilda & Richie as part of the Sunnyville canon.

The fourth and final phase of my master plan is set for January 2020. That will be…the actual Kickstarter itself for the Hilda & Richie picture book. If all goes according to plan, then the Kickstarter will succeed and I can enter the picture book market!

That is my master plan. It is already underway. It is a big challenge but one I am up to.

ATTENTION! BIG PLANS FOR 2020 AND 2021!

Attention!  It is my plan to make Hilda & Richie a reality for 2021!

More story ideas will be conceived.

More importantly, the dummy on this page?  It will get an overhaul!

Watch for more news!

Plans for 2019 and 2020

Greetings!  It's been awhile since this blog was updated.  My main focus is on my comics right now like Sunnyville Stories, Tiffany & Corey and the Sunnyville spin-off the Dominic & Claire Funnies.

However, I am still looking to get into picture books.  Besides the present work on this page, I am also developing two more picture book dummies starring Hilda & Richie.  The first is called Hilda & Richie's Genie and the second one is Hilda & Richie's New Friends.  There are two basic goals that have been set; goal number one is to finish these dummies and goal number two is to start shopping these around to various publishers and agents.

To this end, I have made some contacts who may be interested and will approach them soon.

So why do I believe I'm suited for creating children's picture books?  Well, I do have a background in comics, a cousin medium.  But there's more.  I have two natural talents that make me suited for picture book illustration.

First of all, I communicate an idea instantly.

Second, I draw in a humorous style.

The typical picture book for children requires that a drawing be understood quickly as well as holding the child's interest.  I can do both.

Anyway, once the drawings and script are done, I will slowly be sharing the dummies here on this blog.  Plus I will be making some slight revisions to the original Hilda & Richie text; I will be renaming the country and city they live in.  Stay tuned for more news and updates.

Incidentally, if you are a publisher or agent of picture books and this work interests you, please contact me at maxwestart(at)gmail(dot)com.