AIPman1
January 13th, 2005, 10:56 AM
Some things to get excited about:
SMALL PRESS IDOL 2005
For the second year, Dimestore will be hosting the SPI contest, and this year we are going to be upping the ante just a bit. Last year’s contest was a solid learning experience for all involved, and this year, we’re going to have a bit more focus on Story and Characters, as well as a larger prize. We’re going to have as grand prize a 4-issue commitment to sponsor and print a series based on the winning concept. We’re planning on having all finalists (the top 5-6 depending) do a 4-page strip for a special issue of Mysterious Visions as part of the contest. Final set-up and deadline schedule is still in the works, but we wanted to get the word out for artist/writer individuals and teams to start getting their ideas together…the contest will officially begin the week after the Super Bowl, as it did last year.
The SPA has moved since last year, Dimestore is now on a dedicated server, and we have a completely different forum system in place now. Testing confirms that it’s much faster-loading and cross-browser and operating system friendly. We also have the section that the contest is in set up so that guests can vote in the polls, so that we can have a slightly different voting situation than last year. To post and comment, however, you’ll need to sign up on the new forum. Here’s the section to bookmark for following this year’s competition: http://www.dimestoreproductions.com/Community/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=19
Feel free to start asking some questions about things – we want to make this contest as much what the fans want to see as possible.
MYSTERIOUS VISIONS ANTHOLOGY
2004 winners Michael Hutchison and Phil Meadows will be the lead feature in this new series, being printed soon! Their Metro Med strip leads a solid cast, including Philip Clark with a Quantum 4-pager, a strip by Dan Sehn, and a 6-pager by Kevin Gleason. Watch for this soon, everywhere we can get it into! #2 will follow with last year’s runner up (who lost in the last seconds by just a few votes!) Fly Guy as the lead story.
NEW LISTING/REVIEW SYSTEM
Those that have been following the development of The Guide and it’s distribution system, will be pleased to hear that we’ve completely revamped and changed policy on how and when you get listed. Previously, you had to wait till we printed your review in the magazine before it would appear online. But what this did as more and more publishers came in, was create a backlog of things to get in that we’ve been unable to do in a timely fashion. So, here at the start of this new year, we’re reversing that policy, and have set up a whole new listing/review system. Books will appear in the online pages the minute they are approved, and reviews will follow just as soon as one of our reviewers complete a review. The whole system has been automated, and is ready to roll. So if you have books for sale and that you want reviewed, here’s your new spot to go to get them available in our shopping system: http://www.dimestoreproductions.com/Guide/Submitting.asp
DIMESTORE’S EBAY INITIATIVE
This item is for the publishers out there who are looking for an online distribution system that can really drive sales of their books. We took great pains over the fall season to get our advanced shopping cart system working. The cart’s great, we can offer members a discount casual browsers don’t get, and we can offer retailers the discount they need to sell books in their stores. The cart tracks the inventory that we have in stock, and allows for back ordering so we can go to the publisher to get the books needed. Not being satisfied with just that, there’s an ADD-ON to the shopping cart which automates the population of an e-bay store with all of the products of your database and inventory, making – in our set up, a hugely visible avenue for bringing in new readers to small press/indy comics. Basically, all we have to do is figure out how to afford the add –on, and the SPA is having discussions on that subject here: http://www.dimestoreproductions.com/Community/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=89&PN=1
So, that’s a glimpse into what’s coming up from the SPA, hope to see lots of new faces participating in the Idol contest, and I’m around to answer any questions/follow up on anything.
Ian Shires
Dimestore Productions
P.O. Box 214
Madison, OH 44057
www.dimestoreproductions.com
SMALL PRESS IDOL 2005
For the second year, Dimestore will be hosting the SPI contest, and this year we are going to be upping the ante just a bit. Last year’s contest was a solid learning experience for all involved, and this year, we’re going to have a bit more focus on Story and Characters, as well as a larger prize. We’re going to have as grand prize a 4-issue commitment to sponsor and print a series based on the winning concept. We’re planning on having all finalists (the top 5-6 depending) do a 4-page strip for a special issue of Mysterious Visions as part of the contest. Final set-up and deadline schedule is still in the works, but we wanted to get the word out for artist/writer individuals and teams to start getting their ideas together…the contest will officially begin the week after the Super Bowl, as it did last year.
The SPA has moved since last year, Dimestore is now on a dedicated server, and we have a completely different forum system in place now. Testing confirms that it’s much faster-loading and cross-browser and operating system friendly. We also have the section that the contest is in set up so that guests can vote in the polls, so that we can have a slightly different voting situation than last year. To post and comment, however, you’ll need to sign up on the new forum. Here’s the section to bookmark for following this year’s competition: http://www.dimestoreproductions.com/Community/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=19
Feel free to start asking some questions about things – we want to make this contest as much what the fans want to see as possible.
MYSTERIOUS VISIONS ANTHOLOGY
2004 winners Michael Hutchison and Phil Meadows will be the lead feature in this new series, being printed soon! Their Metro Med strip leads a solid cast, including Philip Clark with a Quantum 4-pager, a strip by Dan Sehn, and a 6-pager by Kevin Gleason. Watch for this soon, everywhere we can get it into! #2 will follow with last year’s runner up (who lost in the last seconds by just a few votes!) Fly Guy as the lead story.
NEW LISTING/REVIEW SYSTEM
Those that have been following the development of The Guide and it’s distribution system, will be pleased to hear that we’ve completely revamped and changed policy on how and when you get listed. Previously, you had to wait till we printed your review in the magazine before it would appear online. But what this did as more and more publishers came in, was create a backlog of things to get in that we’ve been unable to do in a timely fashion. So, here at the start of this new year, we’re reversing that policy, and have set up a whole new listing/review system. Books will appear in the online pages the minute they are approved, and reviews will follow just as soon as one of our reviewers complete a review. The whole system has been automated, and is ready to roll. So if you have books for sale and that you want reviewed, here’s your new spot to go to get them available in our shopping system: http://www.dimestoreproductions.com/Guide/Submitting.asp
DIMESTORE’S EBAY INITIATIVE
This item is for the publishers out there who are looking for an online distribution system that can really drive sales of their books. We took great pains over the fall season to get our advanced shopping cart system working. The cart’s great, we can offer members a discount casual browsers don’t get, and we can offer retailers the discount they need to sell books in their stores. The cart tracks the inventory that we have in stock, and allows for back ordering so we can go to the publisher to get the books needed. Not being satisfied with just that, there’s an ADD-ON to the shopping cart which automates the population of an e-bay store with all of the products of your database and inventory, making – in our set up, a hugely visible avenue for bringing in new readers to small press/indy comics. Basically, all we have to do is figure out how to afford the add –on, and the SPA is having discussions on that subject here: http://www.dimestoreproductions.com/Community/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=89&PN=1
So, that’s a glimpse into what’s coming up from the SPA, hope to see lots of new faces participating in the Idol contest, and I’m around to answer any questions/follow up on anything.
Ian Shires
Dimestore Productions
P.O. Box 214
Madison, OH 44057
www.dimestoreproductions.com