Hey everyone.

It has been a while. And I get that. I respect that. If you are seeing this then it means you are one of the few that really dig the comic and keep coming around and checking it out.

As I sit here and tediously work out the kinks of Issue # 3 which should be available to purchase by late summer 2012 (August for those paying attention) the lack of comic updates or noise from the site further questions the validity of the future of the comic.

Brad Guigar once noted using real life as an excuse is just an excuse and it isn’t a valid one. And I agree with that 100%. Other people with less time than me still give 100% and more to their comic and still get it done. But that’s all I really have as an excuse is the whole “with my normal 9 to 5 gig, plus the constant lack of time, the comic sort of shifted from focus but never from my eyesight”. And it is true. I could also throw out there the whole I didn’t want to lose energy in the comic itself, which was to admit I was burnt out on the comic and that wasn’t the case. At all. Farthest from that. I just had to sacrifice something doing everything I do, and in the end, the comic Tales of the 8th Grade Nothing is what had to suffer by being sacrificed to the creative lack of time gods.

But again, EGN is never far from my mind.

I am still slowly working on Issue # 3 and slowly trying to work on Issue # 4, and how it will be compiled together. Issue # 4 creates an interesting idea that it may or may not be the last issue of Tales of the 8th Grade Nothing in comic strip format, which is something I’ve wrestled with a great deal. Fact is EGN was something that was done to be done in comic strip format and I wanted to end it in comic strip format but truth-be-told, the story itself from start to finish, does it deserve a full comic book page? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

In my previous entries about a year or two ago, I mentioned that the future of the comic was once that I caught up publishing the strips in comic book form, the comic would be published straight in comic book format with the hint of being done online. And the more I think about that, the idea of leaving the first ‘issue’ online to read and the rest being done as a comic book is all the more exciting to me for some reason but let’s be honest about that reason: as it is less work to deal with. Also it gets into the hands of people who really want it. I’m sure at that point there are not a large amount of you left.

The comic in ‘its prime’ in terms of the actual book was 50 pre-orders and over ten or so more sold since. For a webcomic that has what see less visitors than that per month during that ‘prime’ it sure as heck felt like a win. Issue 2 has had less then 10 orders but it wasn’t hyped up, it wasn’t ‘anything’ really. It wasn’t even a blip on the radar. And that’s fine. I don’t do this for sales, I do this because I have a story to tell and I want to tell it. And if you are wanting to come along for the ride then even better. For those who are starting to feel like this is more like waiting in line for Space Mountain at Walt Disney World then I greatly apologize. I hope as the story continues that you feel that I’ve earned your patience.

The same general plan is still at the ready: Once Issue # 4 is done, the future of EGN as a webcomic will definitely change for better or worse. The website will change a bit too. It might not change slowly or it may, that is to be determined but for those who don’t know, Jason Dobbins is a pseudonym. My ‘studio’ D4K Studios will be more likely taking the EGN website under its’ banner. It’s silly to be paying for all the extra webspace when I could be just paying for the URL to point to spot X instead of paying for the whole chalupa. It is really coming down to basic numbers and common sense: http://d4kstudios.net/ which is just a place holder for now and is a really crappy one at that, is probably where www.8thgradenothing.com will probably point to eventually.

Again the comic will continue more likely in comic book form but how it showcases itself on the web is still to be determined. Until then… perhaps it is best you subscribe to the mailing list. Or follow the facebook page. Or follow D4K Studios owner Nick Arganbright on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/goodbadgeeky as that will have updates on what is going on with EGN. Until then…

For those who’d like to buy Issue # 1 click here.

For Those who’d like to buy Issue # 2 click here.

Issue Two of Tales of the 8th Grade Nothing is Now Available to Buy! For those on twitter or those via Facebook got the update long ago when it was published but for those of you who still check out the website, well there you go.

There will be some changes here pretty soon to the site, so stay tuned. But if you’d like to buy Issue Two… click here or the image below!

So the comic hasn’t updated since April 1rst. In that time, I’ve gone through more than one health scare. I won’t bore you with too many details but, luckily I’m on the mend. Before I go forward though, I want to take a moment to thank some people who still twitter me, e-mail me, and my friends and family who have been here for me. So the nitty-gritty is this: the comic is not dead. Far from it.

Just in hibernation. Sorta.

The status of the comic strip ‘as a webcomic’ is in flux. It is still a webcomic, but I’m approaching a different style to releasing the ‘webcomic’. And it prolly won’t be successful as I’d like it to be, but it’s a matter of having for sure,consistent updates, ones that I feel confident with.

Right now, I’m deep at work on completing Issue #2 of Tales of the Eighth Grade Nothing and it’s coming along. And once I’m done with that, I’ll begin work on Issue #3. Once we are currently caught up with the current comic-strip, the one that was last published on April 1st, 2011, I will then release the strips in comic book form first. And then release it on the website a month or two later. Subsequent updates; Planned. All ready to go. But they’re just released in comic book form first for those who want them. At the surprise of selling a good deal of strips in comic book form the first time, it’s one of the reasons why I’m going ahead with this. In theory, hopefully it will be two-three issues a year.
So expect September, Issue #2 will be out and ready to go.

Thanks for understanding.

Wowie.

Well, it’s done. March 1rst was the deadline for orders to end, and on-line wise, they are done. I just removed the link.

I’d be remiss to say that sales weren’t strong at first. I was expecting to sell honestly, via pre-orders, about five or six. I’ve sold about forty-five of them.

Let me repeat that. We sold about forty-five pre-orders. Yeah, I’m kind of shocked too. Rule number 1 of fight club is to not really publish anything until you have a huge fan base, and I know my fanbase, while extremely loyal, is not big. You also figure that honestly, in the times that we all face, the market for this Pre-Orders, maybe 1 out of 20 fans will buy something and it will probably be the normal issue. So again, this was something that I wasn’t expecting to be a huge thing.

BUT…

I was initially going to MegaCon in Orlando this March. I was going to have something to take with me. I was excited. Every time I’ve ever gone there, the last two times especially, I’ve sold out of any ashcans, etc I’ve taken with. So I was planning to unveil Issue #1 of EGN there at MegaCon. It was merely a formality I’d offer this as a Pre-Order for online fans. Again, I was expecting the comic books to be something more for conventions, something they can buy, hold, read, and what have you. Word of mouth from the book at conventions, at least for the ashcans has been invaluable. Doing the EGN comic book was simple math: it’s inexpensive for them and me to buy/have made. Brad Guigar would politely shame me for doing something like that as it’s against common business sense, and he’s right, but I’m crazy.

Even more crazy, the Pre-Order was offered during my holiday break I take every year. People come more sporadically to the site until my return. It wasn’t the most genius plan. I again only had four or five pre-orders. Man if this was ancient japan, I would have just shamed my family with this nonsense. I felt like a real shmo, that I underappreciated the cut of my own jib.

Until the second week of Feburary, that is.

Not only did I see like three or four orders, I sent out a preview/press version, (i.e. the poor man’s press version) to Gary over at fleen. The dude has been all class to my little webcomic here, so, I thought I’d a) butter him up a bit and b)pander to him some more to see if he could help me whore the book.

The dude came through in spades.

Or at least, it feels that way. That week I had a small uptick (which in my case means HUGE) to around twenty peeps pre-ordering. I’m not sure if it was him, or just the normal readers beginning to play catch up. Still, a few more were trickling in, some of these being the ones who submitted and had their ‘letters’ that were published in the book at the end of the issue.

Queue today. I completely forgot about the link until I got an e-mail from the fellow helping me produce the book, showing that I got 5 more orders this morning and reminded me about the link. So it’s down. But wow. Color me shocked.

So to Gary who helped out, to all you fans who helped out by either spreading the word, or who just bought the damned thing, my god, I thank you. You guys are awesome.

And because I’m still a whore: for everyone who missed the Pre-Order, but wants the book, you can directly order it now from Indy Planet. Granted it’s a wee bit more expensive, but hey, it’s EGN. Right? Right?

I sort of wish the Team America song was fit to you fans. “EGN fans, ***k yeah!”

–Jason

Okay, so we’ve been back for a while. At least two weeks. And I didn’t do the traditional ‘we’re back from break’ rigamaroll, so here it is. :)

I’d be amiss to not point your attention to the ISSUE ONE PRE-ORDER link.

Pretty much, I got some press/early final copies of the book and it’s fantastic:

If you’re still not sure what link I am talking about, it is THIS ONE HERE.

For those who don’t do the paypal thing, but prefer mail-order with check or money order: click here.

The Pre-Order has been pushed up to March 1rst, not the 24th of February, so you (and some retailers) get a bit more time to place your orders.

Well sort of.

January 31rst. It’s only two weeks pushed back, but some emergencies have occured that I have no control of. So apologies.

Tales of the 8th Grade Nothing will be back in full swing. Be ready!

Wow.

I thought I could make it to the end of the week, but things are getting busier and busier by the moment. As such, I apologize for that. It looks like Monday’s update is tossed out of the water, literally too much time running around, blah blah stuff that doesn’t really matter to you guys, except for the fact that I’m late. But I hate to lie to you guys and frankly, well, I just need to focus on the other stuff in my life right now during the holidays. Nothing personal, and again, my goal is to get ahead during my break but until the week of Christmas itself, things indefinitely seem lacking with the time. As such, Christmas break begins now. I’ll try to get one more update in, which is this Friday (the 10th) with a double row comic or something but, if not, I will see you guys January 10th, 2011. Remember to stay in tune with what’s going on with the webcomic by the following during the break:

Check out our facebook fan page

My Twitter Page

or Our mailing list

While we don’t send much via the mailing list, we will prolly be having something during the break go out, with little updates here and there. I know not everyone has twitter or facebook, so the mailing list is possibly the best bet, but then again, we do post a lot of behind the scenes stuff on the facebook fan page. So just an FYI. :)

Last but not least, thank you guys so much for supporting me this year. And remember that we still are taking letters for the first issue of the EGN comic book. More likely at this point, we recieved one letter and it will be published and a few more would be great to go with it. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year until then….

–Jason

Hey gang. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I got to spend mine with family and friends, and then the day after, I got back to work and finished the rough copy of the first issue of Tales of the 8th Grade Nothing, which if you follow twitter or facebook, you’ve heard me discuss a lot, off and on for a while.

Well, the time has come, and I now need YOUR e-mails, letters, comments, concerns, etc for the “Study Sessions” fan-letter and Q&A page for the comic book. You can do so by CLICKING HERE.

EDIT: Just like to add to state what you would and would not want published as well, in terms of name, city, and e-mail address, etc. If you don’t feel comfortable, let me know in a PS that you’d prefer to not have that published.

We’ll be taking any e-mails up until The week of Christmas (that’s December 20th, 2010, people.) So get those e-mail letters or questions in, and it’ll be published. (unless there is some extreme influx of letters, rest assured, they may be saved for other issues, etc.)

Hey gang.

my service provider had an update that was to go through over the weekend but it got hit in the process, they weren’t expecting anything near this so ANYONE who tried desperately to view the site, I know a few of you from twitter and FB messaged me privately to give me the heads up and I appreciate it. Sorry for the problems. :)

–Jason

BUT… Friday’s comic will be posted this next week. At some point, there will be three updates. Just FYI. Sorry for missing Friday’s updates. With some scheduling being moved around and the like, some stuff came up that I literally could not work around drawing wise.

Thanks for understanding, guys!

**UPDATED**

Okay here’s the skinny. Again apologies for not having the third update last week. I could say things haven’t worked out but there is no excuse for it no matter how much I try to say ‘hey, i’m sorry’. Point is, THIS WEDNESDAY (November 10th) is when I update the missing update. So three updates this week! :D Yay!

PS:
you can guess to see why I don’t normally do three updates a week anymore, do you? :D