Soon to Be Available at an Amazon Near You...

September 25, 2014: Another quick update on Rats 2. The first proof came back and it looks really good! Apparently we learned something with the publication of Rats 1. Three of the images and the cover need slight adjustments, and the "Last Week on Rats in the Cellar" paragraph needs to be written. But getting the narrative edited and formatted with that should see the final proof sent off.

September 18, 2014: A quick update on Rats 2. The bonus images are done--there are seven. While we are waiting for the narrative (Tim had some setbacks that slowed him down a bit), we are submitting the art for a proof so that the next proof we submit will be "for the win." Depending upon when the narrative is complete and edited, we could still be looking at an October 1st release. If not, it shouldn't be more than a week or two later than that. And in other news, the next page of Bookbinding will be posted this evening. I've been busy.

Old Update. Here's an update on Rats in the Cellar, Part 2 (a.k.a. "The Naughty Bits" -nickname courtesy of vvvan ).

Step One : Done (paperback publishing option found).
Step Two : Done (optimal drawing and print sizes determined).
Step Three : Done (design the cover for Rats in the Cellar, Part 2).
Step Four : Get the narrative finished. According to Mr. Magnussen, this is slated to be finished close to September 1st.
Step Five : Done (internal inconsistencies edited and fixed).
Step Six : Complete bonus storyline images. There are five this time around, and three are in the soft pencil stage, with two in the ink stage.

Once these steps are completed, we'll send away for a proof, and using our previous experience, we expect we will only have to do one of these, and maybe two, tops. So, we're looking at submitting proofs by mid-September, which means this could be available as early as October 1.

Now Available at an Amazon Near You

Rats in the Cellar, Part 1 can be purchased at Amazon.com here:

www.amazon.com/Demons-Due-Rats…

and on Amazon.co.uk here:

www.amazon.co.uk/Demons-Due-Ra…

Regarding Amazon. ca (Canada), a fellow deviant looked into it and left this comment below: comments.deviantart.com/1/4640…

Here are some images from collared-by-faile ‘s recent postings about it.

A quick FAQ for those who might have questions about it.

*Why “Part 1”? Why break the chapter into two parts? Perfect-bound paperback books like this have a tendency to split down the spine if they are very thick; I’ve split many myself. So we made it thin to be more durable, and also because it will make it easier to publish each chapter given the effort it takes to put such a thing together. Rats in the Cellar, Part 2 is already in the stages that Part 1 was in last March, and we have our processes down a lot better now, having completed this one.

*Why so expensive? Twenty dollars seems high for only half a chapter. Yes, I guess that’s true. If we had gone for lower quality images we could have cut the price to about $10 per book, but the difference in appearance was too great. As it is, the artwork in the $20 publication looks about 75%-80% as good as the images that I’ve posted here, and I reworked all of them so that they looked as good as possible when printed on paper. Then we opted for full-color printing on appropriate paper, and that raised the minimum price to $17.05. We raised the price to $19.95 for one reason: other books in the storyline will come out a bit thicker with a minimum price around $19 by our calculations, and we don’t intend to charge over $19.95 for any of them. In fact, we intend to charge $19.95 for each book that comes out, no matter how low a royalty that gives us. At $19.95, we stand to make about $1.70 for each one, and given how things are looking in the storyline, that’ll be the biggest royalty we’ll get in the whole run.

*Will there be a digital version available? Yes, there will. When Rats in the Cellar, Parts 1 and 2 are both published, we will work on releasing a digital e-book of one kind or another that includes all of both parts. We’ve been looking at options for that for a while, and we’re still looking. Part of the problem is that to include artwork that is the main feature of the storyline, Kindle doesn’t work all that well. The best option at this point is a pdf, but we’re looking for something that isn’t quite so easy to distribute illegally, because, let’s face it, I don’t want to spend even one minute worrying about that kind of thing. But I do have a vested interest in the market economy and Amazon.com in particular (you can even buy food there!). So, if you have ideas, please send me a suggestion. Also, in the digital version I hope to include the alternative narratives that were provided by interested writers a few years ago, assuming they’re still interested, along with an audio reading of the official narrative by someone who has a nice, sexy reading voice (NOT me…).

*So, what do I get for my $20? The narrative is really cool. Timothy Magnussen, who provided it, gave Valerin, Albert, Deirdre, Anna, and even the gremlins interesting, distinct voices and characterizations. All 9 Prologue images and 4 tribute images I’ve posted here are there, along with three new storyline images that aren’t posted here on dA. The cover, seen in the images above, is really pretty nice, if I say so myself.

*Is the book just like the images and story posted on dA? Very close, but the narrative is much, much better, and then there are the three new images I added to it as well. Plus, I edited the images to reduce the inconsistencies in Valerin’s armor (elbow pads, or no elbow pads?, studs on the armor, or no studs on the armor?). Also, dA viewers should note that some of the content that has been avoided to keep up with dA’s posting standards has been included in the publication. In the Rats chapter, that’s not an issue, but the nudity and sexuality of the storyline do get more explicit as things progress, and both the hardcopy publications and digital versions will not pull those punches (as it were) like was done for dA. Viewers need not be concerned that pages upon pages of rat-men having sex with cat witches will suddenly show up, but the images that currently do exist on dA will be included without censoring of any kind, and sexual material will be present here and there. Again, for Rats, there’s no real difference. For later chapters, there will be.

*Do you really think you’re going to make any money off of this deal? Who the hell is asking this one? That’s never been my concern, nor my goal. I make money teaching Math and Stats. I draw and tell stories because I love to do so. Here I’m telling a story that I love to tell. If you want it in your hands, get it and enjoy. If not, don’t. All I ask is that if you do get it, and you like it, please leave some feedback on the Amazon page and/or let me know what you think of it in a note here on dA.

Regardless, my thanks to all who have been interested in this and left me comments and notes and praises and favorites and such to indicate this. You’re all the best.