Happy Birthday ITCH

Happy new year everyone, and, yes, this is also ITCH’s birthday. Two years ago, I started my little publishing business as a way to help artists get their work into print and into the hands of eager readers.

I kept meeting these great scribblers, you see, who for some reason didn’t manage the step from finished comic to printed book. I wanted to help them, on a small scale and in a principled way: it is important to me that creators own their own creations, and are in a position to profit from their own work.

In the last two years, ITCH has grown a lot: more events, more books in print, a better website with growing visitor numbers and a bigger audience.

More recently, I’ve been coming up against the limits of this growth, though. I am still only one person, and my resources are limited. By resources, I don’t just mean money, I mostly mean time, or even practical things like suitcase space. The number of books I can get printed in a year is limited, and so is the number of books I can carry when going to events. I look at the folder of submissions I haven’t responded to yet (I’m sorry!) and I know that I’m going to have to turn some of these people down, even though they are very good, because I just don’t have the capacity.

That kinda sucks.

Another issue is that, embarrassingly, ITCH is kinda running low on money. That’s because ITCH doesn’t make any money, and doesn’t pay for itself. It’s financial fortunes are tied to mine, and I’m in a place right now where I really have to keep a close eye on my spending. And that includes my spending on ITCH. Ya, I know. Sucks. I’m not out of money, but I now need to be a lot more selective about what books I print, how many, what events I go to, etc.

So… I’ve been thinking about what my mission really is, what I want from ITCH and what you guys need. My mission is still to help bright, skilled, talented but inexperienced artists to get their work into print and into the hands of people who will love it. That’s still what I want to do; it makes me feel meaningful. But I’ve been looking for a different way to do it, because my current way of working has reached the limits of its usefulness.

Perhaps, when it comes to publishing, you don’t really need me (or anyone else) to do it all for you. Many of the books (not just comic books) I read last year were self published. The authors had done it all themselves, by gaining the skills they needed and/or hiring expertise where necessary, and doing their own unique thing, start to finish. And they were a success.

They didn’t have any super powers or secret knowledge that allowed them to do this. And let me be very clear about this: I don’t have any super powers either. No angel came down from heaven and anointed me a publisher. I just started doing stuff. I did a lot of dumb stuff, and I learned, and now I do slightly smarter stuff. But I’m still not special. And everything I’ve learned, I can teach you. Everyone I’ve met, I can point them to you. If some of the technical stuff, like building a website, is daunting to you, I can do it for you. Rather than trying to publish all the cool stuff out there myself, I can give you the tools and knowledge to do it, and then get out of the way so your audience can easily find you, and get the awesome sauce straight from your brain.

This would allow me to stay true to my mission and principles, potentially help far more of you than I currently can, and it also means that if ITCH were to ever completely fall on its butt, you can say, “thanks for all the fish” and be fine. That’s important, because ITCH is a one-person business. I get sick — nothing happens for a week. I fall off my bike and crack my skull open — nothing happens again, ever. I’m young and healthy and doing just fine thank you, but still.

Now, this doesn’t mean I’m going to stop doing what I currently do. As you may know, I’m in the middle of putting Leek & Sushi 2 together, and there’s a couple of other books currently in the works (like The Pariah’s Urn) and they’re not being scrapped. There are some events I may have to skip this year, but I’ll definitely be at the London Expos. And yes, you can still send submissions, as before.

I’m expanding the definition of what I do, not announcing a radical change of direction. But you may notice some ongoing adjustments, and occasionally new services or… other changes. I hope you’ll stick around to see what I’m cooking up for you.

Here’s to you in 2010.