Woo, hooray for having pages done somewhat ahead of time! That means I can write my posts up a day in advance and spend the rest of the day lazing around!

Over the past few days I’ve been doing a live stream of work on pages for one of the minicomics I’m making for book 2. This is easier than streaming work on regular comic pages, because I’m doing it entirely digitally! I’ve usually been doing about one stream a day with at least one complete page, sometimes more, so if you tune in to watch you can see some of the print-exclusive stuff! You’ll have to pick up a copy of the book to see the whole thing, but I thought it could be fun to let you guys in on things as they happen. You can view streams live at Radio Chio on Ustream, and you can follow @Radio_Chio for updates on when they’re happening! They’re generally pretty spontaneous as far as schedule goes, but I’ve been doing them in the afternoons and late nights EST. Hopefully I’ll see you there!

I’m also planning on posting previews and other bits from the book as I work on it, and have already started a thread here on the forum. The one caveat is that you have to be a registered member to view it! Registering is quick and easy, and will allow you to view other extra content as well!

The book is falling together pretty nicely, although it’s taking me longer to complete than I had originally planned. At this rate, I’ll probably finish sometime around mid-July and submit it for print shortly after. I’m not sure how long it will take for the printers to do their thing, so I’d guess mid to late August. I’ve submitted the reformat of book 1 to the printer as well, and haven’t heard back yet, so I guess we’ll see how it goes. I’ve also added a poll to the right-hand sidebar looking for input on preorders! Once book 2 is closer to completion, I am considering doing a preorder deal where you order a copy in advance from me, and I’ll sign it and draw something for you, as well as include some extra goodies. :3 But first, I need to gauge the interest level, so if you could spare me two seconds with your opinion, I’d really appreciate it!

As a rough estimate, I’d guess that the preorder bundle would be about $20 including shipping in the US, possibly a tiny bit more or less. (And a bit more for international shipping.) I plan to include both books with custom sketches in the front, two stickers, and possibly a bookmark or something similar. This could change at any time, but this is what the numbers are telling me at the moment. :v

That’s about all for now. The vote incentive updates on Tuesday with the final page of Gears, so stay tuned!