Hello, Dear Reader! Oh, how I've missed you. Have you grown? Did you get a haircut? Well, whatever it is, you look especially nice today.
Well, "Land and Sea" has officially been rejected by its first publisher. What a growing experience for a new and naive manuscript! Sometime in the next month, we should get the official rejection from the second (and final) publisher, and then the real fun begins!
Just think of it: fundraising, incentives, pictures of Andrew and I burning a snowman in effigy so that the almighty snowdemons might favor us with a productive winter - and eventually, the actually really real release of "Land and Sea," a book that you can hold in your meaty fists until you decided it's time to put it down!
Yeah, that's right. This is a thing that is happening. You're welcome, Earth.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Change of Tides
The artwork is indeed finished, and let me tell you - it's pretty dang cool. Andrew has done an amazing job of bringing Land and Sea to life, and I have done an amazing job of . . . well, staying out of his way, I guess. :-)
So, remember how in the first post I said that we were not going to "to a large faceless publishing company and wait an unspecified amount of time for any response," and instead go straight into self-publishing? Well, it turns out that's no longer the case. Yesterday, after several days worth of research, self-doubt and eventual epiphany, I sent out submission packets to two major publishing companies. Since Andrew and I are both working on projects other than Land & Sea, we thought it would be prudent to see if we could pawn off the heavy lifting of the publishing game to someone else (like, people whose job it is to do the heavy lifting of publishing - madness, I know!). Both publishers have a three-month turn-around, and so if at the end of that period of otherwise productive writing and arting, it turns out that neither publisher is interested, Andrew and I will revisit Land & Sea with an eye to getting it off of our hard drives and into your hands, Dear Readers.
But fear not! In either case, our journey is far from ended. I will continue to update as new information and happenings . . . happen. Thank you again for your continued support - our victories will be your victories as well.
So, remember how in the first post I said that we were not going to "to a large faceless publishing company and wait an unspecified amount of time for any response," and instead go straight into self-publishing? Well, it turns out that's no longer the case. Yesterday, after several days worth of research, self-doubt and eventual epiphany, I sent out submission packets to two major publishing companies. Since Andrew and I are both working on projects other than Land & Sea, we thought it would be prudent to see if we could pawn off the heavy lifting of the publishing game to someone else (like, people whose job it is to do the heavy lifting of publishing - madness, I know!). Both publishers have a three-month turn-around, and so if at the end of that period of otherwise productive writing and arting, it turns out that neither publisher is interested, Andrew and I will revisit Land & Sea with an eye to getting it off of our hard drives and into your hands, Dear Readers.
But fear not! In either case, our journey is far from ended. I will continue to update as new information and happenings . . . happen. Thank you again for your continued support - our victories will be your victories as well.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Good News, Everyone!
I just received word that Andrew has finished the art for the book! Here's an exclusive sneak peek:
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Meet The Artists - Drew
What a big week we've had here! Along with celebrating America's continued Independence, my brother-in-law got married and Andrew returned from his trip to the East Coast - and thus begins the next leg of our journey. We're still hashing out the numerous details of how to begin such an enterprise as creating a physical chunk of mythology, so before we get too far, I thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves. And of course, since I actually have the login information to this blog, I'm going first.
My name is Drew Dillon, and I am supplying the words to this endeavor. Being a native Nebraskan, I had no concept of infinity until the first time I saw the ocean. My training comes from southern California, but my stories come from some place I haven't found a name for. I sometimes like to pretend I'm mysterious.
The inspiration for Land & Sea comes from a fight I had with the girl I was dating at the time (and later married). We weren't fighting about our relationship, but instead about the difficulties and challenges of being in any relationship, or trying to seamlessly fit two lives together. Such discussions are ridiculous and unavoidable, and as I sat fuming about it in my bunk that night, I felt like my anger was powerful and ultimately useless as waves crashing on a beach. And, since I prefer to practice a healthy distance between myself and my problems, I began imagining a boy in the ocean, trying to drown an island with his waves. Seven years that image has stuck in my mind, like a bullet overgrown with scar tissue so it can't be removed. It's great to think that little Sea will finally see the end of his tantrum in my mind.
My name is Drew Dillon, and I am supplying the words to this endeavor. Being a native Nebraskan, I had no concept of infinity until the first time I saw the ocean. My training comes from southern California, but my stories come from some place I haven't found a name for. I sometimes like to pretend I'm mysterious.
The inspiration for Land & Sea comes from a fight I had with the girl I was dating at the time (and later married). We weren't fighting about our relationship, but instead about the difficulties and challenges of being in any relationship, or trying to seamlessly fit two lives together. Such discussions are ridiculous and unavoidable, and as I sat fuming about it in my bunk that night, I felt like my anger was powerful and ultimately useless as waves crashing on a beach. And, since I prefer to practice a healthy distance between myself and my problems, I began imagining a boy in the ocean, trying to drown an island with his waves. Seven years that image has stuck in my mind, like a bullet overgrown with scar tissue so it can't be removed. It's great to think that little Sea will finally see the end of his tantrum in my mind.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Dedication
Hello, citizens of the interweb!
My name is Drew, and I am one half of the creative team striving to make a children's book called "Land and Sea." I've written the story, and my good friend Andrew will be providing the pictures - I've decided that collectively, we should be called "Andrew and Drew," because it makes me giggle to myself a little, and anything that can make a grown man giggle can only be a good thing.
Andrew and I have decided not to go the "proper" route of publishing for our story - which is, to submit to a large faceless publishing company and wait an unspecified amount of time for any response - so we've decided to slap the whole thing together ourselves. Considering that neither of us has any experience in creating, publishing or marketing a children's book, I feel like this is going to be an adventure - and, in this day and age of handheld computers and bionic turtles, what better way to document our adventure than by posting a blog about it?
So, check back regularly for news, updates, history of the project and its creators, a sneak peek of Andrew's artwork, and what's sure to be a few surprises. You might not know what's happening, but neither do we, so that means we're all in this together!
Stay tuned as we get our feet wet!
My name is Drew, and I am one half of the creative team striving to make a children's book called "Land and Sea." I've written the story, and my good friend Andrew will be providing the pictures - I've decided that collectively, we should be called "Andrew and Drew," because it makes me giggle to myself a little, and anything that can make a grown man giggle can only be a good thing.
Andrew and I have decided not to go the "proper" route of publishing for our story - which is, to submit to a large faceless publishing company and wait an unspecified amount of time for any response - so we've decided to slap the whole thing together ourselves. Considering that neither of us has any experience in creating, publishing or marketing a children's book, I feel like this is going to be an adventure - and, in this day and age of handheld computers and bionic turtles, what better way to document our adventure than by posting a blog about it?
So, check back regularly for news, updates, history of the project and its creators, a sneak peek of Andrew's artwork, and what's sure to be a few surprises. You might not know what's happening, but neither do we, so that means we're all in this together!
Stay tuned as we get our feet wet!
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