FIRST SECOND READS (BLOG)
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New Book: Primates, by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks
I loved Jim Ottaviani's last book with us (Feynman, illustrated by Leland Myrick, who is also awesome), so I was super-excited to find that Jim was doing yet another non-fiction book for First Second, this time illustrated by Maris Wicks, whose art I love. This new non-fiction book is called Primates, and it's about (you [...]
When to Give Up
test heading Edited 1/23/2013 There's been some discussion about this article, and it seems like it could use a little clarification and context. This post is specifically about the question of comics as a financially viable career, and how heavily to weight the opinion of publishers or other industry pros in your decision to pursue [...]
Choosing a Publisher
test heading (photo from the National Library of Wales. Perhaps neaten up your manuscript a bit more than this man has before submitting it to anyone.) Ten Questions to Ask Yourself Before Submitting A Book to a Publisher  Do they publish the kind of book that you've written? Pro Tip: Not all publishers publish the [...]
The Printing Press Zone
test headingYou are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of IMAGINATION (and also ink mixing, a whole lot of ink mixing). Next stop, the PRINTING PRESS ZONE! A wondrous land where huge piles of James Patterson's face lay in [...]
Publishers Are Only Human
test heading (from the Library of Congress; O. Barlow Willmarth was not a publisher, but presumably radium miners are also only human) I was just reading Faith Erin Hicks' recent post about how when she was just starting out making comics, people in the industry frequently actively discouraged her from pursuing this career. Obviously we [...]
Peeking in the studio
test headingI always relish the glimpses into an artist's process. Like these shots of Vera Brosgol's arsenal of tools for Anya's Ghost: or her tiny Moleskine thumbnails and character studies: Or how about this little piece of Art magic from Emmanuel Guibert, on Alan's War:  Would you like to see more of these "peeks from [...]
New Book: Jerusalem, by Boaz Yakin and Nick Bertozzi
We just got in finished copies of Jerusalem, by Boaz Yakin and Nick Bertozzi. It looks super! Are you feeling burnt out on graphic novels about Jerusalem? No fear! While this is indeed a graphic novel about that same physical location, it covers a very different period -- from 1940 - 1948. This is a [...]
In Praise of Fan Art
test headingStanding up in defense of fanworks and remix culture at this point is sort of like saying, "OMG, I actually think geeky boys are kinda cute!" -- yes, we know, we all know, we've all known for some time. Geeks are cool, and media fandom is, if not exactly cool, then at least socially [...]
Publishing: It’s Not About the Money
test heading (picture from the Cornell University Library. The money represented in this image has very little to do with the money discussed in this post -- First Second does not have anything whatsoever to do with bimetallism, thank you very much!) Over the winter holiday break, I watched the beginning of Murder, She Wrote, [...]
New Book: Odd Duck, by Cecil Castellucci and Sara Varon
New book new book! We spend some time being excited every time we get a new book in, because they're all so attractive and captivating (and we spent so much time working to make sure that happens!). This week, we just got in Cecil Castellucci and Sara Varon's Odd Duck, which is a story about [...]
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