I know what you are thinking, “Who is this Wesley Craig Green guy? And what is Ambrosia Publishing? Do they publish books for teenage girls or something?”

Yes, my name is Wesley Craig Green (but you can call me Wesley, if you like), and I started Ambrosia Publishing in March of this year. And no, I don’t publish books for the teenage girl market but they are more than welcome to read the graphic novels I publish. And that is what I do: I publish graphic novels- but with a 21st century twist, of sorts. All of the graphic novels put out by my company are first serialized online as a web comic then collected and published. Not only that, they are also made available for digital distribution for a variety of portable devices (such as the PSP, eBook readers, iPod, Nintendo DS, and computers) which are sold through the company’s online store.

This is a relatively new and innovative business model for comic book publishing and one I believe will be the norm within five to ten years. For example, some comic book publishers like Slave Labor are already starting to incorporate digital distribution into their business model with their Eye Melt online store. Another example would be Gary Reed’s recently announced Transfuzion Publishing, Mr. Reed’s new publishing company which will focus almost exclusively on direct ordering instead of relying on the direct market. Both Mr. Reed and Dan Vado (owner of Slave Labor) have a lot of experience in dealing with the direct market. For them to use these new distribution avenues speaks volumes.

This is part of the reason why started this blog. I will be giving a first-hand account of my experience of being a new independent graphic novel publisher who will be trying new business practices and models instead of those commonly used by most publishers. I’ll be covering the gamut of running the business, from marketing to distribution to dealing with retailers & distributors to everything in-between from a new perspective: one which looks to the future instead of the past. You will see which risks pay off and which don’t. And you will see if my business is successful or not.

So without further ado, let’s get the show on the road…

Bookmark This Post:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

This past week, I received an order I placed with Amazon. One of the books which I’ve been reading whenever I can is this book on running a publishing business. F**king great book on the nuts-and-bolts of publishing. I have already picked up some pointers which I’m going to be incorporating into the business.

One of my biggest concerns has been the number of titles to publish. Being a one-man show, I don’t want to get overwhelmed by everything involved with marketing, publishing, and such. So I intended to start out small by publishing no more than five titles a year. Already, I’m pushing that number. But I’ve picked up some information from the book which will help me keep myself in check in regards to which projects I go with from here on out. Not that I’m getting swamped with proposals but I imagine that will increase once the books start getting more press and into people’s hands.

I just received an email from the printer that a proof was sent out of CLOCKWORK CREATURE to Kyle. For those who don’t know what a “proof” is, it is a copy of a book which you want to have printed. The proof is supposed to give you a good idea of what the book will look like when it is printed. This way, if you screwed up anything, you can change it before the book is actually published. So now I have to wait till Kyle goes over it before anything else. He’s supposed to receive it over the weekend so hopefully I’ll get the order in to the printer early next week.

Technorati Tags: Ambrosia Publishing Store, CLOCKWORK CREATURE, publishing

Bookmark This Post:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Been a busy morning already: mailed out a submission to Diamond and a signed contract for a new project starting its online serialization this November, and I just finished posting news on the main AP site regarding two new reviews for SMUGGLING SPIRITS.

The rest of this morning was spent doing some work on the Ambrosia Publishing Store site. I plan on incorporating a new theme here in the next couple of weeks. But I wanted to make some cosmetic changes to it till then. Plus, I wanted to make the text easier to follow and shorter.

Technorati Tags: Ambrosia Publishing, Ambrosia Publishing Store, SMUGGLING SPIRITS

Bookmark This Post:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Today marks the end of Ben and Mike’s SMUGGLING SPIRITS online serialization. So it is kind of ironic that a review of the online serial went up on the mega-popular Ain’t It Cool News.

So far, the story has received favorable reviews which is great but also kind of frustrating. It is frustrating in the fact that the first book won’t be released till freaking March. If it was coming out next month, then these reviews would probably lead to people looking for the book. So the trick now is to keep SPIRITS in the “public eye”, so to speak.

I’ll be printing up some copies to send reviewers, bloggers, magazines, and such for publicity. But doing that will only do so much. Plus, there is no guarantee sending the book out will result in anything. It could end up in the trash or in a growing pile of things to be reviewed. So I have to put together some marketing ideas which will not only keep SPIRITS alive in people’s mind but also create a demand for the book.

Technorati Tags: SMUGGLING SPIRITS, publishing, reviews

Bookmark This Post:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Been busy all morning . After posting bulletins on MySpace, ComicSpace, and Online Comics, I dove into replacing some pages in SMUGGLING SPIRITS: BOOK 2 with the corrected pages. Nothing major just a very time consuming job.

Started the process of getting the pages finalized for CLOCKWORK CREATURE: CHAPTER ONE. With it being the first book and my first dealing with the printer I am using, there’s some trepidation and paranoia on my part: “What if the dimensions are wrong?” “What if I didn’t use the right settings?” I figure this is normal with your first book with a new printer. I’ll find out in the next couple of days if I fucked anything up when Kyle (the creator of CLOCKWORK) receives the proof for the book via overnight delivery.

Technorati Tags: SMUGGLING SPIRITS, CLOCKWORK CRATURE, Kyle Strahm

Bookmark This Post:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Got a lot to do today and a short amount of time to do it. But it always seems like that is the case most days.

One job I have today is to switch out a Google AdSense banner I have displaying on the THEY DO NOT DIE! online serial with a banner from Project Wonderful. I wasn’t having much luck with the AdSense banners showing. Maybe I am wrong but I think a lot of people are “blind” to those AdSense ads now. So I thought I would try one from Project Wonderful.

I have banners from Project Wonderful running on both SMUGGLING SPIRITS and CLOCKWORK CREATURE online serials which is making me a little (and I mean little) money. But I started offering banner space on both about two weeks ago at the starting price of zero cents. I figure I’ll wait a month or so before I raise the price on both.

Bookmark This Post:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

As with most Fridays, today is when I catch-up or finish some projects I’ve been working on throughout the week. Today is no different.

First on the agenda is laying out some banner ideas for a marketing campaign I’m putting together for PLASTIC FARM.

Bookmark This Post:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Today has been focused on marketing. I bought banner ad space on Tom Spurgeon’s excellent The Comics Reporter which started today. There has been some click throughs to the site as a result of the banner. Right now, establishing Ambrosia Publishing as a legitimate publisher is important. Independent publishers have an unfortunate track record in regards to longevity. As a result, it’s tough for a new independent publisher to be taken seriously.

So part of my reasoning for buying banner space on Mr. Spurgeon’s site was the level of respectability it has amongst the majority of the comics field. That is not even taking into account the other banner ads currently running there, such as a couple from Top Shelf, a BONE banner ad, and a couple of other respectable publisher ads. I’m hoping by having a banner there, people who see the banner will subconsciously associate respectability (and therefore, stability) to Ambrosia Publishing as well. Far fetched, I know, but it makes sense in my head.

Besides that, I put together a marketing plan for the upcoming PLASTIC FARM online serialization. I had the intention of doing some elaborate marketing campaign but I simply couldn’t find the time to put it together unfortunately. But I like the one I came up with so now I just need to get Rafer’s opinion on it.

Bookmark This Post:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Part of being a business is dealing with administrative duties. No matter what you do or where you go or how long you keep putting it off- it’ll be there, waiting for you. So the best thing to do is to stay on top of it and not put it off till you have a mountain of paperwork, teetering back and forth, threatening to topple at anytime.

Bookmark This Post:

Powered by Bookmarkify™

Still not feeling 100% so I’m just going to focus on some “catch-up” work today.

I’ve been neglecting the Ambrosia Publishing social networking site I have set up on Ning for Ambrosia Publishing. So I went in and changed some things to make it look better along with making it easier to navigate and use.

There’s a lot of marketing potential with using these free social networking sites like Ning. It is very similar to having a forum but with more bells and whistles. Plus, you don’t have to worry so much about f**king bots and spammers. Plus, it is a good way to make the people involved in the network feel like they are part of the company to a certain extent. It is a very easy way of getting feedback and/or opinions in regards to your company’s products and such. To me, the people who are part of the network are your customers. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to get their input on some ideas you may have to see if they are worth pursuing or complete bullshit?

Bookmark This Post:

Powered by Bookmarkify™