I'm retiring... but not from here!

I've been struggling over the past few months with many competing interests and issues, leading - if you are a faithful reader of this site - to some neglect of Comicoz news. That's not to say nothing has been happening (just the opposite!), it's more about trying to find time to attend to all these things. There's time needed to work on personal relationships (always a fragile environment, especially when I'm not always as "100% present" as I ought to be). Sadly, I'm sure my children (and grandchildren) recognise this. There's the time that paid employment takes away from said relationships (and the time taken and needed to travel to said employment). For me, there's also the toll that the type of employment I work in brings, with shift work, the emotional strains of the work, and management's misguided (in my opinion) attempts to address even some of the ongoing issues of that decimated experienced workforce, post-COVID. There's also the time required to creatively work on projects, past and present (and into the future). And, of course, personal things that life throws at you. The loss of our two dogs within a six-month period last year was a tough time, most especially for Carlene, who was always home with them all the time. And then, there is the need for self-care to ensure one doesn't become a victim of all these competing issues and interests...

So, for those readers of this site, this is just a way to say "sorry" you have haven't heard much from me, and to explain why you have been so neglected! Although some of those issues are going to be resolved in the coming week: I am retiring from my place of paid employment! It's always been a balance. Do I work to fund some of my projects (something that has taken place over the past ten years) or do I allow the projects to begin to fund themselves? Honestly, I'm super-excited about the projects ahead. Allowing the projects to be more commercially viable is something that's going to have to happen now, or other future projects will fall! We'll see which way it goes in the coming months... 

With some dismay I learnt that the company that was distributing all my books (Novella Distribution) has gone under. I had wondered why no-one was answering my phone calls, why emails were not returned, why money promised had not arrived into accounts... It's a pity the financial troubles of the company had not been relayed to those whose products they rely on (the various publishers and creatives). But for Comicoz, it's nothing new. From the collapse of the Bookworld retail chain when we brought out our first book (John Dixon's Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor), to the change to the Australian Government's parallel distribution laws just before The Men Behind Superman was released, to Denis Jones and Associates' liquidation ... we've seen it all. It's really a matter of trying to keep ahead of the game, something I've not done particularly well if I am honest.

I've mentioned here on this site before, that I'm concerned that there is a limited shelf life for comic creatives on crowd-funding sites like Kickstarter. Even though I have used the medium (even as late as last year), and that it is presently successful for a lot of Australian comic creatives, I personally don't want to rely on it into the future. There has to be a different business model. I'm not going to discuss that here at this moment, but these changing circumstances will bring a change to the future direction of Comicoz that I shall share with you in the months to come. In the meantime, I just thought I would explain why you've not heard from me lately, and to resolve to share a little more of what's going on into the future the next time we meet here....!