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For anyone who regularly runs crowdfunding (Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc) campaigns, or just who regularly sends parcels around the globe, I thought I’d let you know how Blue Fox go about it.
Of course, there may be better ways of doing it, but we’ve been running Kickstarter’s and fulfilling backers for five years now. One of our recent campaigns had 1700+ separate backers!
We are not at the stage of using a fulfillment company yet, though that may be on the cards for larger campaigns in the future. At the moment, I’m just talking about the creator sticking the comics in envelopes and sending them out.
The Post Office Click & Drop service also means you do not have to stand in queues at the Post Office for hours on end annoying people – you just put the parcels in the nearest Click & Drop bin and away you go.
Find out the nearest one to you here.
The TL:DR is this:
- Buy a Dymo Labelwriter 4XL – we used Amazon – they’re not cheap, but they don’t need ink, which will save you money in the long run
- Buy the labels for the printer
- Sign up to the Royal Mail Click & Drop
- Format the name & address information for the backers/shop customers in a simple spreadsheet – template is here
- Add the weight, the parcel type and shipping type code to the spreadsheet
- Import it into the Click & Drop system
- Match the spreadsheet headings to the required fields
- Generate the postage cost information (all you do is hit a button)
- Pay for the postage (it then downloads the labels for you)
- Print the labels on the label printer
Buy a Dymo Labelwriter 4XL
We print our labels, which, if you’ve ever had the misfortune to see my handwriting, you’ll know is essential if you want the parcel to actually reach you.
It uses a USB connection into your PC. It says on Amazon it works with a Mac, too.
Buy the labels for the printer
Yes, this is another expense, but they make everything so much easier and more professional. If you need to factor the cost of the labels into your products, then that’s fine.
Sign up to the Royal Mail Click & Drop
The interface is really easy to the system, which surprised me. Once you have an account, go to Settings in the top right-hand corner. The screen below should appear:
There is also a Desktop version of the software, though I don’t use that. Things to set up in settings are:
- Company Address
- User Management (I only have me showing in here)
- Trading Names
- Label Format (we use Separate Label & Despatch Note, 6×4, Do Not Generate Despatch Notes, Generate Customs Declarations with Orders)
- Default Customs Information (we use Other, Automatically Sign and Date Customs Declaration Documents, Apply the Following Default Package Contents to International Orders – see image below)
- Miscellaneous – Hide Postage Price on Your Postage Labels (this seems to be the norm for all the packages we receive)
Format the name & address information
Using the postage spreadsheet template, fill out the information (or, more likely, export the information from the Kickstarter, Backerkit, etc) and format the column titles appropriately.
Add the weight, the parcel type and shipping type
- The Weight column is in kilograms, so format 499 grams as 0.499
- The Size is generally going to be Large Letter or Small Parcel
- The Services are shown in the Settings section mentioned above, but the common ones are:
- OLP1 – First Class
- OLP2 – Second Class
- IEOLP – International Economy (only makes a real difference outside of Europe)
- ISOLP – International Standard Class
- ITROLP – International Tracked
- ITSOLP – International Tracked and Signed
Import it into the Click & Drop system
Then in Click & Drop, go to the Orders menu, and select Import.
The first thing you’ll need to do is select your file, then you’ll need to say the Name Format is ‘First and Last Names Are Combined‘, select the date format, and select the check boxes as shown below.
Match the spreadsheet headings to the required fields
You will also need to map your fields. The first seven are shown above, and the last three are shown below. You can see the mandatory fields are shown in green.
Then you need to click the Import Orders button shown above.
If the import is successful, you should see a green banner appear as below.
If it has errors, I usually Undo the Import (on the screen after) and then fix the errors in the spreadsheet and re-import. The errors are fairly self-explanatory, I think.
Generate the postage cost information
Click on the Pay & Generate Labels button shown below.
You can receive errors here, mainly to do with the address containing characters that need replacing. I try and find the most similar letter and use that.
Pay for the postage
Personally, I use PayPal, I think it might be the only option. When you come back to the Click & Drop screen (after successful payment) it will automatically download your labels. I find these really useful for interrogating when I’ve sent the rewards out.
Print the labels on the label printer
Open the PDF, and select your Dymo printer. The label name is as shown below when you come to print them out.
Stick the labels on the parcels, and it’s off to the parcel bin with them! Amazingly simple, and no waiting in queues at the post office ever again!
Let me know if this helps and if you spot anything which needs fixing/elaborating on.
1st January 2021
In January 2021, we’ll be running a special Make100 Kickstarter for The Herebey Dragons #2! Why is it special? Because, as well as the regular edition, we’ll be making 100 copies with a limited edition cover by Lyndon White.
The copies will be numbered and signed, so, if you’re a fan of limited editions, now is your chance to grab a piece of history!
The Herebey Dragons is written by Simon Birks and drawn by Eda Çağıl Çağlarırmak. It follows the story of Bobby, a boy who discovers his ancestors were responsible to banishing the first intelligent species to walk the Earth to another dimension.
Exciting news at Blue Fox Comics! Robyn Volume One has arrived. Here’s a video of me tell you this!
It won’t be too long before everything else arrives and I can start sending the books out to the backers. If you haven’t purchased one yet, the book is available to pre-order on this site.
Portsmouth Comic Con held its inaugural event over the bank holiday weekend at the Portsmouth Guildhall, and Blue Fox Comics had a table there.
There’s always a reason to be slightly wary for a first con, but Portsmouth Comic Con have been great at getting the marketing far and wide, and I’d heard a rumour they’d sold 4000+ tickets prior to it opening.
Another great plus point in its favour (for us, anyway!) was the location. Portsmouth is 30 mins away by train or car, so there was no need to travel up the night before, or at some terrible hour of the morning. We just arrived around 8.30am with our cases, got our wristbands and were shown to our table.
In fact, the whole set-up process was very smooth.
As for any show in a similar style building, there were several rooms, which made it feel a little fragmented. We were housed in Comic City 2, which felt like a good room to be in for comic creators. Most of the tables were creators, so people knew what to expect when they walked in.
Some of the other rooms seemed more random, with one of them not housing any comic creators at all, which was a shame.
The guests artists alley was in the main hall, on the stage. I wasn’t there in rush hours, but the times I did visit it, it was very accessible, with a good range of comic guests for the size of con. I also got to chat with Alison Sampson, which is always fun.
Saturday was the busiest day. The weather was blisteringly hot, but it didn’t put people off coming inside (and perhaps it helped). We had a good trading day, with Gone and Hexes graphic novels being our best sellers.
Sunday was slightly slower, as it always is, but we still had good sales.
The Guildhall was in a good location, with easy access to cafes and smaller supermarkets for reasonably priced food.
As first cons go, Portsmouth Comic Con went very well. There was a lot going on, and it felt well organised. Hopefully they’ll snag a few more independent comic creators for next year.
As for Blue Fox Comics, we’ll definitely be after a table in 2019!
Name:
Eda Çağıl Çağlarırmak
In a sentence, who are you and what do you do?
I am a freelance graphic designer and illustrator.
What got you started? Was there a specific moment or time when you released “this is what I want to do”?
I can’t remember such a memory because I have been drawing ever since I could remember. But for my mom, there is a such a memory. When I was a little girl, mom saw that I was painting the walls of our home with crayons. So mom could tell I was going to spend my life drawing. She says that when I was 4-5 years old I was telling everyone that I want to be an art teacher.
What was your favourite comic growing up?
In fact, I did not have many comic books while I was growing up. I had a Tex, left from my mom. There was a cartoon show called ‘The Witch’ when I was little and I loved watching it. And in one of the magazines I have been buying regularly, there was a few page comic story of that show and I loved reading it.
What was the first piece of work or project that you were really proud of?
I can say that the illustrations for a children’s book about the pioneering woman of Turkey are the work I’m most proud of so far. I have illustrated fifteen successful Turkish women for the book. It was an honour to draw Selda Bağcan musician who composed many great songs, Semiha Es who went to Korea war as a war photographer and many great women like them.
What is your preferred material to work with?
I love crayons and colour pencils. After working long hours on the computer and drawing tablets, it makes me really happy and chill to get my hands dirty and paint with crayons.
What is your least liked material to work with?
I really don’t like to use gouache. Haven’t used them since high school years.
What’s your dream project? Forget about money, time, popular demand or any other variable. If that was all covered and you would work on whatever you wanted. What would it be?
I am very interested in history and mythology. I want to create a book about these topics which have a graphic and illustration potential.
If you had a spirit animal, what would it be?
I think that would be a cat. I think I can be soulmate with my cat.
What are you currently working on and what’s coming up in the future?
I’m working with Blue Fox Comics on a title named ‘Herebey Dragons’. I’m working with different companies as freelance an illustrator and also I’m working on my finishing project. I can not predict what will future bring.
Which artist(s) would you like to see interviewed? Why?
That would be Sabiha Rüştü Bozcalı. She was the first woman illustrator in Turkey. When she was born here Ottoman Empire was still on reign. Two years ago there was an exhibition about her and many old works of hers from archives was exhibited. And there was where I get to know about her. Unfortunately, she is not among us now but I would like to make an interview with her.
What questions (apart from these ones!) would you like to ask them?
I would like to ask her how does it feel to live in Turkey of those times and doing this job.
Tell us something about yourself that people wouldn’t normally know!
I can never sit on a desk and work. After a half an hour I go and sit in an armchair. When I’m home alone I always sleep with a few lights on.
Your Links (Facebook/Twitter/Website/Instagram/etc.)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edacagill/
Behance: https://www.behance.net/ceee
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1662613410
Name:
Edward Bentley
In a sentence, who are you and what do you do?
Independent Comic book artist and writer
What got you started? Was there a specific moment or time when you released “this is what I want to do”?
Matt Hardy of Mad Robot bullied me into it. He started off asking me to do a small couple of page comics and then one day we just decided to keep going. After a while the comics got bigger and then one day we were like shall we publish this?
What was your favourite comic growing up?
Tintin was defiantly the comic of my childhood. It was a proper adventure every time I sat down to read it.
What was the first piece of work or project that you were really proud of?
Madhouse No.1 from Mad Robot. It was the first comic I held in print and it was a real accomplishment. It’s not our finest work but it holds a special place. Every time you hold a fresh printed comic you have been working on in your hands there is an amazing feeling.
What is your preferred material to work with?
Currently digital but I also love a good technical pencil.
What is your least liked material to work with?
I enjoy most mediums although I really dislike photo comics.
What’s your dream project? Forget about money, time, popular demand or any other variable. If that was all covered and you would work on whatever you wanted. What would it be?
Probably Tank girl because it’s an awesome comic and it’s pretty fun.its a comic I have enjoyed a lot over the years and I think I could bring something too it.
If you were hired to create a book cover based on a classic story, what would the story be and how would you tackle creating it?
Maybe a really creepy Pinocchio or Peter Pan. I really enjoy a good twisted fairytale.
If you had a spirit animal, what would it be?
Squirrel?
What are you currently working on and what’s coming up in the future?
I’m working on a few bits at the moment inc… Dan Earey and myself are twisted gay horror Darkboy & Adler, Mad Robots ongoing Cadavers and the sci-fi Morrigan with Doug Ross & Richard Johnston. Currently, the future holds more of the same with these three being ongoing but I do have a couple of secret projects on the go that I can’t disclose at the moment.
Which artist(s) would you like to see interviewed? Why?
Warwick Johnson Cadwell
What questions (apart from these ones!) would you like to ask them?
I’d like to ask him how he makes squiggly uneven lines look amazing and perfect. It’s an art form that I’m insanely jealous of.
Tell us something about yourself that people wouldn’t normally know!
I trained as a stop-motion animator but I wasn’t very good.
Your Links (Facebook/Twitter/Website/Instagram/etc.)
Instagram: www.instagram.com/edward-bentley-comics
Website: www.madrobotcomics.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/darkboyandadler
Name:
Antea a.k.a. “Aisling”
In a sentence, who are you and what do you do?
I am a person who wants to put on paper (by drawings or words) whatever is walking through her mind at that specific moment.
What got you started? Was there a specific moment or time when you released “this is what I want to do”?
I’ve always loved cartoons and illustrated books since I was very little; and I’ve always loved reading and the idea of creating anything thrills me, even just in my mind. So, I believe, I’m always thinking of some new challenges because I really can’t think of my life without creativity in it.
What was your favourite comic growing up?
I really can’t say I have a favourite one. I’ve always loved superheroes but I’m not really enthused about drawing them. I prefer drawing grotesque characters and fantastic creatures from ancient stories. I really love fantasy books and art in general though.
What was the first piece of work or project that you were really proud of?
A CD cover I realized for my cousin’s band where I had to portrait him and his friends in a grotesque but still resembling way. Still really proud of the portrait of my cousin, it makes me laugh so much, it’s just him!
What is your preferred material to work with?
I must say I both love digital and non-digital art. I like the quickness of the first one but I also love the touch of a 2B on the paper and the lines I get from the pencil represent better than when I use a Cintiq what I’m feeling when I’m drawing in that specific moment.
What is your least liked material to work with?
I’m not that good with painting. So I’d say I really prefer black and white stuff.
What’s your dream project? Forget about money, time, popular demand or any other variable. If that was all covered and you would work on whatever you wanted. What would it be?
I would like both to create an illustrated fantasy book and other projects that include just my true love for writing.
If you were hired to create a book cover based on a classic story, what would the story be and how would you tackle creating it?
I would probably use some of my wit (people often say you can see my drawings are witty) and I’d also like to put in the drawing a lot of hidden hints about the story. I surely would start by reading carefully the story, to be sure I have made the characters in it mine and then I would start studying the best identity for them and, just in the end, I’d add what would make them mine and unique in my own opinion. At least, that is what I would like trying to achieve.
If you had a spirit animal, what would it be?
I would like to think of a wolf. I’m a bit of a loner but I also like being in the company of the few ones I love so I would fit in in a pack, I believe, but I also like to have my own spaces. Even though once I’ve done one of those silly tests on “what’s your totemic animal?” – or something like that – and it looks like I’m fit for A DOVE. That was quite disappointing, I must say! Though they’re a symbol of peace and stuff like that, and I must admit that I’m a kind person so, I believe, I should appreciate it anyway… but still! Wolfs are fluffy and kind of mighty and fierce…
What are you currently working on and what’s coming up in the future?
At the moment, even though I admit it with a bit of disappointment, I’m concentrating on other matters and I draw in my free time. Though I try to find the time to write my own stories and create my own characters, even though they’re all still hidden in a drawer.
Which artist(s) would you like to see interviewed? Why?
I love many artists, even though many of them are so different in many ways, I really can’t name one. I surely love Glen Keane, I think his art is perfection and true love for the matter. But I also respect one of my S.I.C.’s (Scuola Internazionale di Comics – International School of Comics) teachers very much. He works for the French BD: his name is Paolo Grella. I believe he is a great artist and teacher on so many levels. I’ll always cherish what he taught me.
What questions (apart from these ones!) would you like to ask them?
I’ve asked him lots of questions about technique, execution etc. in my school years, but I’ve always admired how he encouraged us to exceed our limits and what little we already knew to became so much more. I’ve always asked myself how was he able to believe that much in us to make us really reach new levels and improve so much. How was he able to do that? It still looks amazing to me after six years. The point is that he taught me that you can do whatever you want to do just by trying and wanting it. It’s amazing.
Tell us something about yourself that people wouldn’t normally know!
I’m quite an open book! But probably many people don’t know that I’m a huge nerd and I love PC games: I’m a Blizzard and Riot fan and I painfully admit that I spend way too much time on games.
Your Links (Facebook/Twitter/Website/Instagram/etc.)
Instagram: @ladyofshalott89
Name:
Lyndon White
In a sentence, who are you and what do you do?
I’m an illustrator, comic artist, designer and sometimes writer.
What got you started? Was there a specific moment or time when you released “this is what I want to do”?
I’ve always been interested in art and animation. I knew I was going to do something art related, most likely illustration. While I was in college someone handed me a copy of Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth and that is when it “clicked”. I’d already made a few short comics at that point but I didn’t release what the comics medium was or meant. I read comics but didn’t want to draw superheroes. Despite Arkham being a Batman story, it opened up what comics were to me, both from a writing and art perspective.
What was your favourite comic growing up?
I loved Spider-man. I’m from a small town so I had limited access to them growing up. The only things I could get hold of were what I could find in a WHSmith and that was only if I got there first, before the few copies were sold out. I once managed to buy a collection of someones comics on a car boot sale, that was like a gold mine.
What was the first piece of work or project that you were really proud of?
That would be Pinnacle, my second fully printed 24 page comic. It’s a silent comic and drawn completely with pencil. It follows an old man trying to reach the top of the mountain with a monster chasing him through the blizzard. Since the artwork was really stripped back, everything had to work. The emotions, body language, pacing etc.
I usually dislike a lot of my work. Especially once its a few months old. But Pinnacle is one of the favourite one-shots that I’ve done. Its now out of print but people who bought my early work still bring it up, which is a sign that people liked it and the silent storytelling worked.
What is your preferred material to work with?
I mix a lot of different media but if I had to narrow it down to a single one, that would be a Staedtler Mars pencil. If you can’t tell, I love sketchy line work and I feel my illustrations hold up with just pencils (if they need too). Adding the inks, paint and colour is extra.
What is your least liked material to work with?
Watercolour. I despise using the stuff. How it mixes and even moves across the page is grim. People tend to look at my work and thing I use watercolour a lot, but it is in fact ink.
What’s your dream project. Forget about money, time, popular demand or any other variable. If that was all covered and you would work on whatever you wanted. What would it be?
Generally it would be one of my own stories. If I could sit and write my stuff and then create it into comics, that would be the dream projects. I do enjoy working with other people and writers but getting to every aspect of making a comic is fun but also really rewarding. Working by yourself means you can see it all coming together from the initial stages. Thankfully I do get to write and illustrate my own stories, but not all the time. I’d go into more details about said stories, but I aim to pitch them so your out of luck.
To name something that people might know, I’d love to take a stab at Dorian Grey in graphic novel format or a Shakespeare story. Drawing The Dark Tower would also be amazing to do, but alas, its already been done.
If you were hired to create a book cover based on a classic story. What would the story be and how would you tackle creating it?
I’ve already done this and it was Bram Stroker’s Dracula. Which came from sketch out the idea when I was waiting for a painting to try. The cover showcased Castle Dracula with candles in the foreground and a vampire-esk skull floating above the castle. It had a lot of purples and orange glows. It was one of my favourite single illustrations.
If you had a spirit animal, what would it be?
An otter or a platypus. Depends on the season.
What are you currently working on and what’s coming up in the future?
I’ve just finished working on a new concertina book based on H. P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu which will be out in May. I’m currently working on a 4 part mini series for Hellbound Media, Mandy the Monster Hunter with each issue being released every few months this year. There also a bunch of stuff from Blue Fox Comics, including a new Hexes story.
Other than that, I’m developing a few different pitches at the moment. We will see what happens in the coming months.
Which artist(s) would you like to see interviewed? Why?
Alexis Deacon. He is fairly new to the world of graphic novels but his work on Geis is utterly amazing. You can tell he has a long history in illustration and children’s books. Hearing him talk about his approach and what else he plans to do after he finished the final Geis book would be interesting.
What questions (apart from these ones!) would you like to ask them?
I think I supplied a number of these questions to Blue Fox (you have now been publicly outed). So a good chuck of the questions above.
Tell us something about yourself that people wouldn’t normally know!
I’m partly colourblind, detest wearing socks and don’t drink milk.
Your Links (Facebook/Twitter/Website/Instagram/etc.)
Twitter: @lyndondraws
Instagram: @lyndondraws
Website: www.lyndonwhite.com
I’m Simon Birks, co-founder and chief writer of Blue Fox Comics, a small indie comic book publisher based in the UK. I wanted to take a few moments to talk about our latest comic book, Robyn, which is a gender-flipped Robin Hood comic for all ages.
Robyn is the story of an intelligent, skilful and capable girl, who lives on her own as an outlaw in Sherwood Forest, struggling to survive. To make ends meet, she runs errands for a monk named Tuck, a shady character, who knows more than he’s letting on. The comic follows Robyn as she decides to investigate the rumours of a monster in the crags nearby.
The reviews for Robyn have been fantastic. I’ve felt extremely proud, reading about their love of the art, of the characters, of the comic as a whole. It’s a real affirmation of everything we wanted to do with the story.
One of my favourite comments, however, was from Starburst Magazine, who wrote:
“the gender of the lead protagonist isn’t a gimmick. The character isn’t overly sexualised, there’s no cheesy ‘woman doing a man’s job’ approach or any of that nonsense. What we have is a young person who lives in a medieval world trying to be the best by their own conscience.”
We took a risk by taking a well-known male character, and making them female. It’s a pitfall many haven’t survived. We didn’t want Robyn to be a poor imitation of Robin.
How did we avoid it?
My wife and co-founder, Marielle, sums it up well. “We captured the Robyn character at a completely different stage in their life, which has never really been explored, boy or girl. Robyn, because of her age, has the opportunity to grow and develop, and that’s the key; she is going to develop her own character, and through our own unique story, will face completely different characters and challenges. All of this, will shape Robyn into the person she becomes.”
Robyn isn’t simply re-treading old ground, it’s creating a new legend, with a character whose core values and skills we know something about. It’s a chance to see how some of these values came to be, a chance to understand who she is.
As the series progresses, we’ll meet other recognisable characters, too, both from the Robin Hood mythos, and from other legends. Each will be familiar, yet unique; people you know, yet don’t know.
If creators aren’t offering anything new to a gender-flipped character (whether it be boy to girl, or girl to boy), they must ask themselves why they are doing it, at all. Consumers want to be surprised, and entertained. I know I do. Creating Robyn has been one of the most gratifying projects to date, and I look forward to many more adventures with her.
I’ll leave you with another quote from Starburst Magazine:
“[Robyn] takes an old idea and makes it new. It subverts our expectations and demands that we re-think our assumptions.”
Robyn is currently raising funds on Kickstarter for printing. The campaign is fully funded, and is now into stretch goals.
So, how did Hexes: Waking Nightmare come to be?
Well, as with many of my comics, it started life as a short film I wrote as part of a competition I enter annually. It’s called NYC Midnight Screenwriters Challenge, and one of the things I like about it is that it gives you two limitations; time and circumstances.
Held over three rounds, the time you must write the short screenplay diminishes until you have just twenty-four hours for the final round. What I really like is that they give you three parameters you must include: Genre, Character and Object.
For Waking Nightmare, I was given the horror, a child and a ferry to contend with. Working within parameters really helps me focus and concentrate on the story. It reminds me of being at school and getting the first line of a story that you have to complete!
Anyway, the Waking Nightmare script got me through the first round, which I was pleased about. That was mid-2012.
Fast forward to mid-2015, and I decided I’d turn it into a full-length movie script. That took a few months to complete it to a standard I was happy with.
Then, in 2016, after Hexes: The Boy Who Came Closer (another comic that started as a short film script) had been drawn, I sent it to Lyndon White for lettering. I’d been trying to find a project to work with Lyndon on for a while, and he mentioned how much he liked ‘The Boy Who Came Closer’, and if there was another one-off I was planning to send it through to him.
Well, I dusted off my Google drive folder, and found the Waking Nightmare short film screenplay. Over a few weeks, I turned that into the comic script, and sent it to Lyndon, who loved it.
After the normal iterations, the finished comic was ready in time for the Hexes Kickstarter campaign in July/August 2016, and the rest is history.
