After nearly 4 years of working on The Bog Road the printers received the final proof from me today and I can say my work is now complete. I guess it’s time for a different type of work, the promotion. First stop for the book is Celtic Con which is kicking off in Portlaoise on the 23rd of June. I’m a little nervous that the prints will not be ready for the date but the printers sound very confident. For me I definitely want to launch the book in Portlaoise considering the origins of The Bog Road. It’s a book about Laois and its beautiful land so if the Comic Book Gods are shining down then the midlands will get first look! Hopefully they enjoy it…
The last part of getting the book to print was definitely the most challenging. From learning about ISBN barcodes and the correct format that printers want their PDF was challenging but a great learning experience. Making multiple changes and re-reading was tough and I was definitely happy to have a patient and professional Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou on board doing an amazing job on the letters. He brought so much to that area of the comicbook medium that I never considered. I think everyone will get a kick out of what Hass has done, some very creative stuff happening!
During the production I lost the talents of Chris O’Halloran. When it came down to completing the book we simply hadn’t got the budget to pay a man who is a rising star and working at the top of the industry. However after some stressful searching I found George Patrick Gama online who really saved me. His work is amazing and he moved on from where Chris had started and done an incredible job. Without Georges speed and punctuality the book would not be appearing at Celtic Con. I couldn’t be happier with the work, truly excellent stuff. Thank you George!
For the book there are many plans, the midlands launch at Celtic Con should only be the start. I will be at Dublin Comic Con with Atomic Diner and there will be a launch in a Dublin store, where exactly is yet to be confirmed. There are many events happening around Ireland these days so I’ll have to start getting proactive and attend as many events as possible.
So if anyone interested in The Bog Road or my work is reading this then I hope to see you out there in the real world soon!