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Ellis Amdur
24th December 2014, 03:11
Here's a small YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS6iadiZtrQ) describing a joint project I'm part of - a graphic novel entitled Cimarronin: A Samurai in New Spain (http://www.amazon.com/Cimarronin-Samurai-Spain-Graphic-Novel-ebook/dp/B00MPTAG26/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419381086&sr=8-1&keywords=Cimarronin).

What's made the project worthwhile is the wonderful collaborators - I find it amazing that we, four writers and one artist - have been able to work together so well, with so little ego. Aside from my writing part of the story, I've been primarily responsible for the combat scenes, either through my own work, or availing myself of consultant experts. We film or photo various moves which the artist converts into action.

Two things: We are currently working on a 2nd story arc (another three episodes) due out in spring of 2015. Each story arc is Kindle only (should be seen either on a Kindle fire or on a tablet/computer with a Kindle reader--with paperwhite, you miss a lot, especially the colors). When all six are released, Jet City Comics will release a bound version. .....and hopefully, we'll get contracted for more episodes as well.

Ellis Amdur

Kendoguy9
24th December 2014, 14:45
Best of luck on your first graphic novel. I am an old school comic collector so I will wait until it is out in the print edition. Please keep us posted on when that will be ready!

P Goldsbury
24th December 2014, 23:56
Yes, I was somewhat surprised when you chose to publish it on Kindle, which I personally do not like and would never buy. Do they make Kindle readers for Macs? Of course, I am curious about some of the characters,

Best wishes,

Ellis Amdur
25th December 2014, 16:39
On publishing and where:
1. There is a downloadable "app" for one's computer, where you can purchase a Kindle book and read it directly. The Kindle Paperwhite is no good for the graphic novel, obviously, but the Fire, like any tablet is lovely.
2. I'm one of four authors on the book. It is part of a much larger project, called the The Foreworld Saga, spearheaded by Mark Teppo, and Neal Stephenson, two of the other authors, in which there must be 15 or 20 other novels, all in the historical fiction vein. I originally met Neal and Mark while consulting with them for the Mongoliad.
3. Amazon recently developed a new publishing arm, Jet City Comics, which had been developing graphic novels from already extant works. The Cimarronin is their first production that is original material.
4. I'll be publishing a novel through Kindle in the next month. The novel was largely completed about two years ago, and I have a very prestigious agent--but because it crosses several genre, no publishing company was willing to pick it up. What Amazon can offer is an eBook self-publishing. What makes this different from vanity publishing is that one's financial risk is nil, and one can receive quite large royalties. Also, by retaining print rights, one has an option, if the book sells well on Amazon, of selling the print rights to an interested publishing company. One of the most remarkable examples of this is the novel series Wool. Another is the wonderful novel, The Martian originally published for free on a blog, then sold through kindle at 99 cents. It's going to be a major motion picture, and is now a best seller in bound version.
5. Amazon is, no doubt a mixed blessing - particularly if one loves small, bricks-and-mortar book stores. For writers, however, it offers a lot of opportunities.
6. All of that said, I'm looking forward to holding the bound version of The Cimarronin in my hands.

NOTE: I tried to link to Wikipedia re the books and projects, but still unable to do this. So, if interested in getting more info on them, you'll have to look up on Wikipedia without the hyperlinks.

Ellis


Ellis

StephenBaker
25th December 2014, 20:52
Mr. Amdur,

I have followed your writing in both Budo and Edgework for several years. I am quite excited to see your new project. Best of luck for success and a great new year.

Stephen