This is our 19th Thanksgiving since creating Schlock Mercenary, and our 15th since it was our primary source of income. This is a great time of year to sit back and contemplate ways in which to counter that old saw about familiarity breeding contempt. Just because it’s gotten difficult to remember NOT being supported by the kindness of friends, fans, and strangers on the internet doesn’t mean it’s any less magical.
Thank you! If you’re reading this, you’re one of the reasons this exists. Maybe you’ve shopped with us. Perhaps an advertiser has sent us some money in exchange for the opportunity to pester you. It’s possible you’ve contributed to our Patreon, signal-boosted a Kickstarter, or simply PayPal’d us some change. For any of that, we’re grateful.
But our gratitude needn’t be for transactional stuff. The fact that you read this is itself a reward. Telling stories for other people is incredibly fulfilling, and we’re super-fulfilled for having been able to do this for nigh on two decades.
I just finished streaming BIG DUMB COVER ART SIX over at twitch.tv/howardtayler, and had a great time right at the end discovering that halleleujah the cover is done!
The stream ran for about two hours, and is available for re-watching on my Twitch channel for the next couple of weeks. I’ll get it up onto YouTube eventually.
We’re in the final two days of the BIG DUMB OBJECTS Kickstarter project. I’m not as far along on my deliverables as I want to be (the cover is still a few hours from being finished), but we’re on track to get the books, slipcases and add-ons delivered on time.
Click through NOW if you want to get a sketch edition. And if you need a slipcase for your Schlock Mercenary books, now is a good time to reserve yours. Those things take up a lot of warehouse space, and the margins on them are really slim, so we don’t overprint by much.
We’re excited to put this book in your hands, and very happy to have overfunded enough to make some other very cool things.
I’ve been making slow, steady progress on the Big Dumb Objects cover image. The entire process is available on YouTube, and the most recent video is available on my Twitch stream.
As it stands right now, the heavy shading has been been finished in the lower left, but the top of the the giant space-tree, which goes in the upper left, hasn’t even really been started. You can see the trunk of the tree winding behind Tagon, but the inks stop somewhere behind the only-partially-rendered Chisulo.
Follow me on Twitch for “Big Dumb Cover Art 5,” when I’ll tackle that tree, and begin the final shading passes.
