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Monday, November 12, 2012

A Letter to Readers


Dear Readers,

As you may have noticed, 7.6 Lbs of Awesome has been on an extended hiatus.  In truth, this leave of absence has gone on much longer than I ever intended.  I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know that Beaker, Mojo, Murphie Bunn, and Bella the Fail Dove are all alive and well.

Why haven't I posted anything in ages?  Well, the short, simple answer is that I got discouraged.  My last few posts weren't really that well received.  Maybe the format had gotten stale.  Maybe I was the only one who actually found them amusing.  I'm not sure what happened there, but either way, I decided to step away for a month or two.

I never intended for the break to last 8 months, but as John Lennon once said, life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

At any rate, things seem to have settled down a bit and 7.6 Lbs of Awesome is coming back!  I have several new ideas and even a new character to introduce.  ;)  For the first little bit, I'll probably experiment with a few new concepts, and I would love to have your feedback regarding what you like...and what you don't.

Here are some of the things I'm considering:

  • Posting actual photos of the characters to give people who visit the blog without looking at the Facebook page, Twitter, the About Us tab, or the Meet the Critters posts a way to know that the characters and events are real.  The truth element is, in my opinion, part of what makes 7.6 Lbs of Awesome special and unique.
  • Creating shorter, more concise stories (as opposed to the 16-17 frame behemoths I was churning out for a while there) to help keep things fun and fresh.  
  • Giving the animals 'voices' to make it easier to follow the stories and relate to the characters.  
  • Creating an eBook series for children.  I think the overall artistic style of 7.6 Lbs of Awesome lends itself well to that medium.  
  • Adding a store and donating proceeds to an animal rescue organization at the end of every year. Products would include things like mugs, t-shirts, calendars, etc., that feature the characters of 7.6 Lbs of Awesome.

What are your thoughts on some of these ideas?  Thumbs up?  Thumbs down?  Let me know what you think!  What would YOU like to see?


Sincerely,

Kristin
aka 'Mama'




5 comments:

  1. YAAAAAAYYY!!! I'm so glad you're coming back! :-D

    1. I like the photo line at the bottom of the post here. It's a nice quick reference.

    2. But I LOOOOVE your behemoth posts!

    3. I like the critters without voices or with their own little noises, but voices would be cool too. :-)

    4. Yes to the e-book! In fact, I think you need to make lots of e-books, and print books too!

    5. Yes to the store!!!

    Yes, to 7.6 Lbs of Awesome! :-D

    ~Noelle

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  2. Yes, what Mom said! And she said to add that we are going to share 7.6 Lbs of Awesome on all our Facebark pages and stuff so lots of people will know about you all! Don't be discouraged, your work is pawesome!!

    Luvs,
    Jackie (Noelle is my mom!)

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  3. Aw, thanks, Noelle and Jackie! We will share your page as well! :)

    I don't think the behemoth posts will ever fully go away. Brevity's never been my forte! :) I'll still post the longer stories occasionally, especially if I go the eBook route. I would just like to post a little more often, and those behemoth posts take a looooong time to create!

    I'm on the fence about the whole voice thing, honestly. I'll give it a shot and see how it goes. There's one post idea I have about Mojo in particular that won't work without it. Not to worry, though, their little noises aren't going anywhere! :)

    Dadda actually suggested the eBooks--a series of children's books has always been the ultimate goal of 7.6 Lbs of Awesome. The first thing most people say when they see the drawings is that they look like children's book illustrations. The eBooks might be a nice segue into a print series.

    The store is already underway! I've got several products designed already, but I'd like to have a few more to offer before the 'grand opening'. I originally planned to open it in May 2012 as a 1-year anniversary thing, but...life happens. I wanted to do a 2013 calendar, too, but there's always next year!

    Thank you so much for your encouraging words. You're awesome!!! :D

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  4. Your refreshed focus will pay off! (sounds like a fortune cookie).
    I second Noelle's sentiments!
    Though the jury is still out, I envision the precious ones with printed thoughts embellishing their theatrics in lieu of spoken words, or a mix of both. What a challenge/feat it'd be to tweak more non-verbal or body language communication! (side-ward glances, eye contact with the reader (chuckles) or Beaker's folded wing on her hip, in defiance...you already do this pretty well! Lol...by behemoth I assume you mean, like mammoth or gargantuan, in jest, right? I never noticed 'lengthy'...tho't them just right. If that's a concern you can create an illusion of 'shorter' with frequent change in angles and lefts and rights without morphing the style, right... Yes, don't be discouraged, we'll love you sweet and quaint menagerie whatever you decide and thanks for asking our input. You go girl...and long live anthropomorphism!

    Linda☮

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  5. Thanks, Linda! I'll most likely go the printed thoughts route. They won't have conversations with Mama and Dadda, but they might have conversations with each other--I'll have to play with it a bit and see if it works.

    'Behemoth' was an exaggeration, perhaps--I was referring mostly to some of the longer posts that are 16-17 frames. I'll still post some longer stories every now and again, but I'm trying to keep them a little shorter just for time's sake. Some of those longer ones can take upwards of 70-80 hours to complete, and between my career, taking care of the critters, and everyday life in general, there's just no way I can create those on a regular basis. I'd like to be able to post a couple of times a month instead of a couple of times a year. ;) It just depends on the idea I have at the time, though. Some ideas will take more images to convey, and if that's the case, they'll be longer--I'm not planning to compromise the quality of the posts in any way. I think that's part of what gives this site its charm. :)

    My first comic, Adventures in Housebreaking, was 7 frames. Holiday Havoc was 16 frames! I think the longer format worked for that one, though, because there was a lot happening in that comic. There will be longer ones in the future, too, especially if I go the eBook route. As for some of my ideas for upcoming comics, I've got ideas for 2 in particular that will be between 3-5 frames each, and I think they'll make you smile. :)

    Thanks so much for your feedback and encouragement!!!

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