Well, here it is folks. Sidekicks is out in stores and now you can all go out and read it and judge for yourselves if all the chatting up and promotion that I did was all worth the effort. There are a few things that need to be taken care of before I head off to my family vacation in Hawaii tomorrow.
THANKS
While we're all here reading this post I wanted to take the time to thank a few folks who played a significant part in the completion of this book.
Thanks to Cameron Petty, Mike Boldt, John Gibson, Tony Etienne, Vince Dorse, and Oskar Van Velden for assisting me with coloring Sidekicks. Without their help I would have drowned in an endless sea of half completed sketches. I sent out a call for help on my blog last year and these guys all came knocking at my virtual doorstep. We completed the work by exchanging files through my FTP account and I paid them through Paypal. Oskar is from the Netherlands. Paypal converted the currency easily. You guys all get copies of the books, and there is a special thanks to each of you in the dedication.
Thanks to Phil Falco, the excellent art director at Scholastic, who helped me with pacing and allowed me to stretch my legs and run with it.
Thanks to Arthur Levine, for taking the chance on a one sentence submission and being so patient with me throughout this project. (FYI, It was an unusual circumstance I don't recommend you all do that to Arthur, BTW)
Thanks to Rachel Griffiths, my editor throughout the project and the one person who really kicked my pants towards the end of the stretch. She kept coming back at me and asking to polish the art over and over again. I literally wanted to stop and quit but Rachel kept kicking me in the pants telling me this can be better. And it did. It was better than anything I could ever imagine. Even at the end she kept telling me certain parts could be better, and now that I see it in print I realize that. Oh well, next time.
Thanks to my wife who had the patience to never see or hear from me while working on this book. I guess I'll wash the dishes FOREVER.
Thanks to Kazu Kibuishi, Jenni Holm, and Doug Tennapel, for the wonderful press blurbs and support.
Thanks to all the marketing and publicity folks at Scholastic who planned and prepped me for ALA, SF, Comic Con, and future events. As you can see I've been scatterbrained lately and I wouldn't find my hotel key if it was in my own pocket.
Lastly, a thank you to all of you librarians, comic lovers, parents, and kids who read the book, enjoy it, and pass it on to your friends and family to share.
THE SOCIAL EXPERIMENT
As you know I've been collecting presales for my book so that I can use that money to buy my own graphic novel at a local independent bookstore. Because of your support I managed to muster up 85 books sold for Mrs. Nelsons Toy and Book Shop in La Verne, CA. All day today I've been linking and tweeting where you can purchase Sidekicks at local bookstores. The point I'm making is that shopping local doesn't just mean you have to go to the store. Almost every independent bookstore out there exists in some form on the web and the first place everyone thinks to buy is at Amazon. Now, I'm not DISCOURAGING anyone from buying from any major retail store or even Amazon books, but as the sales of eBooks begin picking up steam (and they most certainly will gain more momentum as time goes on) it's these independents that will be the first to go. The importance of independent bookstores isn't just in the existence of small bookstores themselves, it also plays an integral part in the symbiosis of the entire community. Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, CA, for example, gathers a lot of business from people who are waiting for their movie to start at the Laemmle indie movie house next door. They'll grab a coffee, maybe browse or buy a few books. Afterwards they'll find dinner at any of the great nearby restaurants. I feel small businesses are necessary for a town to exist. The Border's Books just a mile away closed down and in just a few months we have seen five nearby businesses close up shop as well. It's slowly turning into a ghost town and as long as that old Borders is sitting there empty I fear that part of town will be dead for a long time.
Now, for all my PRE ORDER peeps..... here's the bad news.
Hachette accidentally sent the worng book to the store and the copies had to be sent back for reshipping. On top of that, I'm heading out to Hawaii for a family vacation all next week starting tomorrow. The bad news is that this means you all have to wait about two more weeks until you can get your books. The good news is that on top of all the cool exclusive stuff you get I'll throw in some T-Shirt Iron Ons.
I take care of my peeps.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE
There's something I have to confess to you all. Seven years, of course, is a long time to do a graphic novel, and as much as i say I've been busy with other projects (which is mostly true) that is not the entire story.
When my first book, The Guild of Geniuses, was released it was met with mixed reviews. Not overly bad, not overly good, but as a human being, you tend to fixate on the little negatives.
Every. Little. Negative.
Then when The Replacements was on Disney Channel there were TV fanatics who were feircely loyal to their old shows who had felt that this new show bumped their old favorite off the air (which is not true) and all you would then read about on the internet was a miasma of hatred for the "new thing". It stung a little less because the show really was a product of Disney rather than a product solely of Dan Santat.
Unfortunately, as a result of all that, I ended up in a place where I didn't want to create anymore. I was content illustrating other people's books and letting others bare their soul while I sugar coat it in a nice sweet candy wrapper. Why bare your soul to the world when all you get back is negative? I think I was the only person in the world who felt sorry for Rebecca Black when her song, "Friday" ruled the universe for five seconds. She handled the criticism better than I could ever have and so I tip my hat to her.
But here I am, out with a new book. I know what you're going to ask and the answer is quite simple, really.
I'd rather die than not be able to create anything, and I'll face the jeers and praises head on. It was watching other author friends of mine head off into the world and releasing a book they themselves spent years working on, and then repeat the process. They all inspired me to get back on my horse and finish this book, and for that I should also give a shout out to my friends for inspiring me.
I, along with any other author or artist you meet on the street, can become a helpless victim to criticism. Though I can't please everyone who reads my book it's that innate desire in almost every artist to want to be able to touch someones heart when you are wearing your heart on your sleeve in the form of literature. For any artwork, actually, be it music, or dancing, or writing. It's a far tougher thing to be willing to bare your soul spending years putting a graphic novel together than to take a few seconds to trash someone's work. The art of mocking others has become a form of entertainment in itself. We've even devoted entire TV shows to mocking celebrities. I'm not going to stand on my soap box and tell everyone to not do it. I've been just as guilty as everyone else of doing the same thing, but I've noticed myself doing it a lot less. I also realized something....
In a world where the arts seems to always be the first thing that gets cut or closed down due to financial strain I think it's more important than ever that there are people out there trying to create some form of art whether it may seem good or bad. The important thing is that it simply exists.
