As I mentioned in the comic post yesterday, the book is finally done after months of work. This morning I sent the cover and text file to the printer for proofs. I will have them back sometime early-mid next week. Barring any unforeseen problems with the proofs, I can then begin to take preorders.

Let me give you the lowdown on how it will all work.

Final Book Information

The book ended up being 110 pages, much longer than the 80 or so I originally planned. This includes the first 100 strips, all the guest art and the two short stories. You can look at the book page for more detailed information.

Edition Pricing and Shipping

There will be two editions available. First is just the Standard Edition. Remember that ALL orders, standard or otherwise will be individually numbered and signed for the first printing. The Standard Edition will be $16.99.

The Artist’s Edition will include a small inked sketch on page 2 of the ONE character of your choice. The cost for the Artist’s Edition will be $22.99.

I don’t quite have shipping figured out yet. Because the book is an odd size at 9″ x 9″ it doesn’t fit well in any standard Priority Mail box (well none that wouldn’t cost a fortune to ship.) So this week I’ll be looking at options on that. Most likely it will ship first class in a cardboard envelope of some sort. Shipping costs will be included on the preorder page next week.

I will ship internationally, but I will require insurance and maybe even a signature. I’ve been burned a couple times shipping things outside the US and I don’t want to risk it with the book.

I will keep reminding you of this, but I want to stress now that you will be PREORDERING you book. This means I am taking a period of like 2 weeks to promote the book and take orders. Only AFTER that will the order go to the printer. From there it’s 8 business days for the printing, it will get shipped to me and then I have to pack em up and ship em out. So once you order, you will need to wait a few weeks to get your book. I know you all probably know that, but it doesn’t hurt to be clear!

You Can Help!

In order to make this book a success, I need to sell a minimum of 25 copies. Obviously I’d like to sell lots more than that, but I really have little idea what to expect. Whether you are ordering or not, you can help by just telling friends and family about the book and sending them to the site. Tell them what a great present this would make for their son/daughter/niece/nephew/annoying neighbor etc!

You can even do what my buddy Matt Forcum of Robot Beach did (if you aren’t reading his comic, you should be!) and place an ad on your site. Look at his site and see my ad on the right side of the page. You can grab that image (or I can send you one of any size) to place on your site and link back to me. You can even post it to your favorite social network!

As soon as I have specific shipping costs, I will let you all know.