Hey guys, it's Scott.
It's Tuesday, December 6 and I'm back from California. First, I just wanted to say thank you so much to everybody across the whole Golden State that was so kind to me and my 11 year-old son, Emmett, on this short but amazing trip out there. I haven't taken him on a trip like this before. I've taken his brother, Jack, who's fifteen. I took him to England, I've taken him a couple times on father/son trips, sometimes to conventions and sometimes just the two of us. But I started right around the time when Jack was Emmett’s age. And so I figured with this one it'd be a good first trip for the two of us. And the funny thing is, the two of them are very, very different. Without getting too much into their personal lives, I always make the joke that Jack worries a little bit too little about things and Emmett worries too much. But Emmett is very similar to the way I was that age. He's a bit more shy, he's a bit nervous about stuff, just like I was a little anxious. And so I thought this would be a good way to test the waters. And we went out there and we spent the first day, Friday, at Disneyland, which was such a thrill. We bumped into quite a lot of fans or people that recognized me there with him. And were so nice to him. That was important to me above them making me look cool in front of him. But a couple of them worked there. They got us passes to rides, it was fantastic. Thank you to everybody who was so great.
And the fact is, Disneyland, I haven't been there. I've only been to Disney World, and with Disneyland the rides are slightly different. They had done up the Haunted Mansion in this incredible holiday style where it was all transformed so that the whole narrative of it was just Nightmare Before Christmas. And he was thrilled because he had an experience that nobody else in the family had had and it was a blast.
And we went to a couple baseball card stores and he was, like, again, the prodigal son who walks in and knows every statistic, knows exactly what cards he's looking for. And he wanted to gamble and spend all his money, like a hundred bucks, on getting one of these packs that's like three autograph cards where you don't know who you're gonna get. And I was like, “Are you sure you want to do this? Because sometimes you get upset when you don't get anything. Same way I do, you can get a little bit obsessive about stuff like that.” He was like, “No, I want to do it.” So we got one of these packs, he opens it, the first person’s an unknown. And the second person, who we assumed was the big person in the pack, was Fernando Tatís Jr., who if you don't follow baseball has been this great big star but was found to be using steroids recently and so the value of that card would have gone down quite a bit. And then Emmett turns, flips it, and the third card was Albert Pujols, who just hit his 700+ home run this last year, which was the biggest moment in all of baseball and is a fantastic card to have gotten with autograph and relic and all that. So he was over the moon.
We did the con on Saturday, which was incredibly fun. I got to catch up as friends and creative partners like brother Greg, and we talked about some really cool stuff we're going to do in the future. Then I got to reconnect with Dan Panosian of Canary and go hang out for his birthday over at his house and meet his beautiful family with Dave Johnson and Frank Tieri and Ben DeFeo, a whole bunch of fantastic people over there. And also, thank you so much to all the fans that came there. I'm sorry, I don't even know if we got to everybody. The lines were amazing. I appreciate it. Greg was like, “I think our lines are actually getting bigger!” I was just like, “Look, man, the fact that you guys still line up for us means the world.” So many Best Jackett people came up and said hello, too.
And then Sunday, I surprised Emmett, before we had to fly home, by taking him to Dodger Stadium and I got one of these tours that allows you to go down to the dugout and go out on the field. It was just the best. The guy running the tour, there was maybe ten people on it, and he would ask these questions that are like, “only these five people have ever hit a home run out of Dodger Stadium,” and Emmett would answer it right away. And he's like, “well, okay, and then we're in the Hall of Golden Gloves,” and he's like, “does anyone know who's won the mo…” and Emmett is like, “Greg Maddux won the most Golden Gloves!” And the guide’s like, “okay, you should be doing my job.” And everyone started laughing because every time he asks something, we all looked to Emmett. It was wonderful. It was a great time. He got very upset when we had to come home, but I told him it was the first of many trips. So thank you to everybody who was so wonderful to us all across California. It was really a fantastic time.
Now for some housekeeping stuff. I rarely have this many books out, but this week I have got Canary #4 with the great Dan Panosian, which is out today!
I love this series. It's one of the more experimental ones that I've tried and yet it's also, I think, one of the most pure and coherent stories in a strange way. It has an experimental, bold structure for a western and yet, at the same time, I think it's all about using the western formula to explore the dark heart of American psychology, and I'm really happy with it. So I hope you'll check it out. These issues are big stunners with Dan's art as well.
And on Wednesday, I have the return of Nocterra:
This is a big special—Val #1. It tells the secret origin of the Ferryman and it catches you up on the book if you haven't been reading it. It's a big issue with guest artist Francis Manapul, and then our series starts up again in earnest in February, our third arc called “No Breaks.” I can't wait for you guys to see it. So please check that one out. We're really proud of it.
Also on Wednesday, Night of the Ghoul #3, the conclusion.
Each of these issues are over double-sized. They're, like, 45 pages or something, so that's why. The whole series is like 130/140 pages. So this is the big stunner, it's my favorite issue of the three. I hope you'll check it out!
And then we also have Undiscovered Country #22 on Wednesday (with another awesome Spawn variant):
So there's just a ton of stuff, I hope you'll take a look. I'm really proud of all of it. And Comixology is having a sale also through Christmas. If you have Prime or Comixology Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited, you get all of our stuff already for free, but if you want to sign up, there's a good deal going on.
And now I want to talk about one more thing in the free part of this newsletter, and then jump over to the paid part where I'm gonna answer one of the two questions over there from people and also talk a little bit about drama versus horror. Because it's another thing that I realized hanging out with Emmett a bit, the different ways that we process stories and how drama and horror have this innate connection that I never I never really saw before. So that'll be in the paid part.
But also the class, we're starting our second semester now. I gave a kind of test class last month using my own stuff. But the first class using student work is on December 15th at 9:30pm ET, a week from this Thursday. I can't wait for you guys to be a part of it, I can almost guarantee I think it's going to be our best one. This is where I feel most comfortable, to be totally honest. I love doing the class, it's the highlight of my month. I love looking at published work that's inspired me and provides good examples of different craft techniques. But looking at work that's really strong and yet has a little bit of a way to go in a couple of places, that's where I feel most confident about my analytical and constructively critical abilities. I've taught many, many classes, looked at hundreds of stuff in workshops, and this is where I think I can really bring something special to the class.
So we already know which piece we're going to use. We're going to provide all the materials for the class in a post either Thursday or Friday, but everyone will have them, that’s part of the class in the paid subscribers’ part. And it's going to be a blast, I really hope you'll check it out. If you're in the free part of this newsletter, I really hope you'll give it a shot, it's only $7/month (or $75/year). If you do the $7, you can always cancel it the next month, you can give the class to people, you can gift annual memberships, you can gift it to whomever you want on a monthly schedule, whatever it is. But I'd really love to see what you guys think of this part because I'm so excited about it and think that it's going to be an elevation of the whole class itself.
So the other little bit of housekeeping, and then I'm going to switch over to the paid part, is the Black Jacket Club. This has been one of the best surprises of the past year for me, easily. When I created that tier, I thought what people would really want from it as the exclusive covers, the dinners where we offered more exclusive stuff. We have prints at the dinners that are signed, we have special guests, I’ve brought Tony Daniel, I brought Kyle Higgins, I brought Mark Doyle, I brought Hayden Sherman, just a bunch of people, to the different dinners. But what I realized is that the parts that you guys in that club seem most excited about are the meetups—I do these five minute meetups with whoever wants—and also the dinners as a place to meet each other, meet me, and the continued relationships, to talk to you about stuff you're working on questions you have about comics and that.
So it's been a joy to go to the dinners and realize you're not there for the extra stuff, even though I'm still happy to give it to that instead to really get to know each other and talk to you about the things going on in your creative lives, because almost everybody in that group seems to want to pursue comics or entertainment or creative projects in new ways. And it's inspiring to me to meet people that are interested in going into entertainment law instead of the branch that they're in, or want to be an editor, or want to be a letterer, or want to be an artist, or aspiring writers who don't know how to jump over from another field, have never written anything in their life but have a great idea and want to know what to do with the pitch.
So here’s what I'm going to do. The end of the first year of the Black Jackett Club is in February. We already have people renewing their memberships, which is exciting, but it's maxed out essentially right now. So I can't really open it in any kind of big way. So what I can do, though, is probably create about 20 spots in the assumption that some people will drop out. I'll do it either way, whether people drop it or not a single person drops it, but I can imagine creating about 20 more spots before I get maxed out with it. So if you want to be a part of the Black Jackett Club, we're going to open it next week, the 16th at 12:01am, right after the class, so that you can join just by going to the normal subscription page. For people that want to renew, the renewal will be there no matter what, if you want, up until the end of your first year.
Now the things that you get from it, just you guys know, I'm flying down to Florida in less than two weeks. I'm going down the day after the class, that weekend on the 18th. And I'm going down there to sign everything that was sent in that was oddly sized. So, like, statues that people sent. I didn't realize we could send statues, but it's fine. I'm happy to do it. Omnibuses, all kinds of stuff. So all ten free items that you get signed by me, all of that will be finished and sent back to you before Christmas. The covers that you've gotten so far, like:
Signed, exclusive We Have Demons #1
Signed, exclusive lenticular Blacktop Bill #1
Extra bonus Nocterra vol 2 trade that isn't available in stores anywhere that got this special cover that was just kind of an extra bonus thing
And then the covers coming are:
Exclusive Night of the Ghoul #1 signed by me and Francesco (coming in January)
Exclusive Val #1 signed by me and Tony (coming in January)
Exclusive Clear #1 signed by me and Francis (coming in May)
And by then, even if you don't renew, we'll still send it to you, So don't worry about it. You'll get all that. So it's the five covers plus bonuses. And then, we’ll be bringing back Wytches in about a year, whether or not we get this greenlight on the show, which we will find out any second. Every time my phone rings, I think maybe it's that. We have to find out before Christmas, so everybody cross your fingers. I will let you know how it goes. But whatever happens, we're going to bring the comic back next year. We're going to keep the record of everybody in the Black Jackett Club. And just as a kind of extra thing, we're going to send you Wytches: Cycle Two #1, whatever we name/number it. That'll be in 2023.
So if you join, though, the thing that I wanted to put out there is, and if you want to renew, I want it to be something that you love. So I'm gonna change the focus a little bit. I'm going to do three exclusive covers instead of five (but I'm going to probably send you five anyway). But there'll be three exclusives, all number ones of new series signed by me and the co-creators. You'll still get all the other things, like you get to skip the line at cons, and the class, and everything in the tier below is included, so you get all the class stuff.
But I want to change it a little bit. So if you’re a member of the Black Jackett Club now or you're interested in joining, we do these five minute meetups where I talk to you and set up office hours and then you guys come and talk, but I didn't know that people would want to do it more than once. So what I realized very quickly while doing the five minute one-on-ones was that people seem to want it to be an ongoing conversation, which is exciting to me, I love that. So you want to talk to me about something you're working on and then come back in a couple of weeks, tell me how it's going, show me something. And that kind of connection is exactly what I'm looking for from it. So I'm hoping you'll start to think about the Black Jackett Club the way I do. Most of you already do, it seems, but for people out there, it's a way of being part of a tier that allows you to have a greater connection with me if you're interested in that kind of dialogue about your work, about my work, about comics, about anything.
And what I'm going to do is instead of having it be, like, everybody gets their five minutes, I've already been doing this, but I'm officially going to change it over and say we're gonna do office hours. So you can sign up as many times as you want. I'll give priority to people that haven't done it yet. Some people don't seem to want to do it, which is totally fine, a small handful. But what I mean by that is that every week, I'll have the hour and we'll do the 5 to 10 minute meetings where if you want to check back in, you can check back in. So it'll be like you and I can continue to have a dialogue throughout the year about whatever it is you want—about your work, about my work, again, about comics. And I do try to give as much help as I can. Some people have asked me for referrals to editors, some people have asked me questions about a pitch, I enjoy getting my hands dirty that way. That's what I want. If you want that advice for me, or to get that different kind of one on one level, I'm there for it.
So Black Jackett members, I think it'll be a big elevation of the stuff that you seem to really respond to. We're going to do three to four annual dinners instead of two. The dinners are the thing that I pay for. We take you out, we serve you good food, we give you two alcoholic drinks if you want (if you're of age). So they’re are a lot of fun, but people have seemed to really love them. So we're going to do two more, probably, next year. So we'll do three to four. So it'll be a greater connection through the office hours, greater connection through the dinners, and we'll have a blast. So yeah, if you're interested in it, get ready, and please do it very quickly, because we really can't handle more people. Again, I assume that some people won't renew, but people are already renewing pretty quickly and I can't create more than another 20 spaces max before it overloads So anyway, thank you guys so much. And again, sign up for it if you want. It's a lot of fun!
I'm gonna do one question here and one for the paid. So one subscriber question is:
PButehorn asks, “What's the best way to increase engagement on the stories I'm sharing on my social media? I’ve built a decent portfolio, but my stories are not reaching new readers.”
To be totally honest, it's hard to reach new people on social media. But the best advice I can give, other than creating a nice place for them to find your work and to be enthusiastic about your work, is to promote other people. I know it sounds almost counterproductive, but it's actually the opposite. It’s all about pointing to things that you like, especially things that are by aspiring creators. If you start shining a light on other people's work that you enjoy that are coming up along the same path as you, like those that are just first getting published, that are in anthologies, that are self-publishing, that are getting their first gigs, you have stuff that you're reading and enjoying, they'll start doing it for you, and you create a network that really supports each other. That's really what helped me when I was starting on American Vampire. I know Twitter was very, very different back then, and social media as a whole was different, but that's really the way I see it now. It is primarily social networking. So it's about being honest and being enthusiastic about the stuff that you think really is worth taking a look at, and then people return the favor. So it’ll also help you just make connections. So anyway, that's my best advice for that.
I'll answer the other question in the paid part of the newsletter, which I'm gonna jump over to now. All right, talk soon!
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