The Pulp 2.0 Brand

One of the questions I get asked the most is "What sort of material are you looking to license for Pulp 2.0?' It's  certainly a fair question, but sometimes hard to define as I do have eclectic tastes when it comes to my reading, movies, comics and toys.  I thought I would take a moment to sit down and try to define my tastes, and give you a clearer insight into the Pulp 2.0 brand.

Come to find out that it's a good time to discuss branding, universes and "presence" on the internet bookshelf. 

When I was a snot-nosed brat growing up, one of the best places to visit was downtown Aiken, SC.  A short bike ride past the Highland park golf course and voila' you were in the center of a cornucopia of small shops, thrift stores, drug stores, 2 movie theaters (The Rocking Chair and the Mark 1&2), a sporting good store and a newsstand/convenience store.  For a ten-year-old kid this was a major component of the pulp paradise that would help define my level of taste  (the other being Kmart and Nonesuch Books ).

Downtown Aiken, SC had, for all intents and purposes been built in the fifties and sixties when the Savannah River Nuclear Facility came online and brought thousands into the sleepy town and the 20th century.  Prior to that, the main street was dirt and geared toward not only cars, but horses and carriages. Aiken was known as one of the premier horse training areas in the country with several Kentucky Derby winners to its credit. It was a small town that liked it that way, and did its best to accommodate the great influx of  people, money and commerce that a nuclear plant provides.

So by 1974 or so, I had the good fortune to be able to navigate this sleepy downtown corridor of 50's storefronts and find all sorts of cool things - the kind that delight the mad-pulp-bastard-in-training with a voracious appetite for reading, hobbies and movies - of the fantastique variety.  We would get Aurora model kits and Estes rockets from Aiken Sporting Goods. We would devour copies of Famous Monsters, Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella  at the Quick Stop; pick up comics at Hooks Drug store and Starlog and Fangoria at Aiken Drugs.  Some Saturdays we would go to the Rocking Chair Cinema and see things like The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Silent Running,  The Planet of the Apes movies, Godzilla v. Bionic Monster, and later more adult fare like The Great Texas Dynamite Chase, Death Race 2000 and yes, even Big Bad Mama.  


[OMG - Captain Kirk is getting naked with Police Woman! She is so hot!] 

So this is the stuff I grew up with (though not necessarily grew up on. I went to high school with an emphasis on reading, and because I had such a habit I read everything - including all the literature that's supposed to be good for you).  Yes it informed my style, and the style of many of my peers.  From those humble beginnings we haunted garage and attic sales and the occasional swap meet looking for these buried treasures...

And we realized we weren't alone.

So if you remember Famous Monsters,  weird series fiction paperbacks, Aurora model kits,  masked mexican wrestling, cliffhanger serials, pinup magazines, and all of the movies mentioned above then you have a pretty good handle at what makes my clock tick.  That's what we're doing with Pulp 2.0 ... and not just with books.

(Cue dramatic organ music)

So what does that mean for you creators and our audience?

For established writers it means if you have material that fits the description and has been published before - we want to talk to you to see about possibly licensing your work for new pulp-inspired editions.  We want to keep your work in print and looking its best to our audience so that it makes all of us a nice profit.  This includes prose as well as graphic novels.

For artists it means we want to see about licensing art from you for covers and interior illustrations.

For new writers who may have a few credits it's an opportunity to work with us writing novel and graphic projects we've developed - just like the old pulp publishing houses. You'll have the chance to earn money in print as you develop as a writer.  You get to work with all of us here and get stuff done.

You see, I'm setting a goal of licensing 100 titles in the next two years.  A pulp library dedicated to bringing back the "buried treasures and guilty pleasures" of yesteryear, as well as developing new pulp properties in the classic mold.  A library that draws an audience and is the launching pad for all sorts of media creations: tee shirts, posters, web series, movies, games and toys.

(Nobody ever said I wasn't ambitious)

For the audience it means you'll get a plethora of pulp entertainment at your fingertips (or wifi connection) : digital books, print editions, media and merchandise that doesn't break your bank and looks great on the shelf.  It means you get to hang out with people who are just like you, and help us develop a company that's geared toward what you like. Maybe even develop your own talents just like Don Glut or Joe Dante or John Carpenter (when they each wrote for FM) and become a pro at it.

We've already had some small success with Brother Blood and we're building on that with Radio Western Adventures and our upcoming Frankenstein Lives Again.  
















I can let you know right now we have many more cool things in store for you, and I look forward to hearing what cool stuff you have in store for us... 

I Googled Myself (You've done it too, don't try and deny it)

The terms Pulp 2.0 , Mad Pulp Bastard and D2DVD all point to this blog when searched on Google.  They are each in the number one position, especially when combined with my name.


Nifty huh?  Guess I haven't been slacking off as much as I thought.... (Ha!)


I also found some really cool and humbling quotes about me and my little area of the business that are quite lovely.  Thank you all. It gives me the energy to continue my work carving out a recognizable pulp entertainment niche. When the fingers are numb after typing and the eyes are red from staring at designs and fonts all day - and you know the day is only half over it's nice to know you're appreciated in some way shape or form.


Especially when an academic resource website says you're one of the 60 Best Blogs out there.




I first came across Bill Cunningham at his website, Pulp 2.0, a few years ago and was an instant fan. Our paths crossed several times over social networks and we finally spoke when he announced the formation of Pulp 2.0 Press several months ago. 


- Stefan Blitz, Forces of Geek


Bill screened my film twice during our long editing process (at the very beginning and very end). Both times he gave absolutely indispensible advice on cuts, music and sound design. If you're making a movie, webserial, short, (or let's face it, ANYTHING you expect people to actually sit through and pay for the privilege to see) you'd be a fool not to consult with him. 


- Lis Fies, The Commune


This is the web home of the Mad Pulp Bastard himself – Bill Cunningham. Even if you’re not interested in pulp or genre filmmaking, his site is a must read. On a daily basis, Bill delves into the business and marketing of film and new media. You should also sign up for his e-mail newsletter where he goes even deeper into these subjects and gives out PDFs of information you won’t find anywhere else.


                                                - Christopher Sharpe, Sex Machine


-- Bill Cunningham, who's been relentlessly preaching "Get of your ass and make your own media", just issued the first chapter of his old school radio play, "The Murder Legion Strikes at Midnight" online.


-  John Rogers, creator / showrunner,  LEVERAGE 




Most interesting to me, though, are the guts of the idea. Joss Whedon blowing his savings account on staging a 45-minute serial for the internet (that will doubtless prove to be i2dvd — internet to dvd — apologies once again to Bill Cunningham for perverting his "d2dvd" coinage). 


* (Direct-to-DVD has long interested me, since I made the acquaintance
of DVD pulp king Bill Cunningham. D2DVD is the common search term.
D2DVD still has the stink of straight- to-video on it, mostly because of the potboiler crap that fills the field, but it wouldn't be hard to do something that was actually good
in the area.) 


-- Warren Ellis, writer Red 

So to all of you who make me the mad pulp bastard that I am, thank you.  Not just the wonderful people I've quoted above, but the gang of you who actually listen, and are applying the lessons I've learned toward your heart's desire.  That is so profoundly cool and humbling (I've said that twice now - I am officially obnoxious). Thank you.


So all of you creative types with "a passion for the cult and pulpy" you just keep on doing what you're doing, and...


I'll just keep adding to the discussion wherever I can. Now if you'll excuse me I have to try and fit my head through the door. Anyone have any butter?

I Love My Job Pt. 2,465

Part of my role as Pulp 2.0 Press' Mad Pulp Bastard is to design the advertising that will go into our books in both Kindle and print.  If you study all of the old paperbacks and pulps of yesteryear you will see many simple designs hawking next month's great adventure. I've found that many of those ads were really simple - single color, minimal text, and a primary image that holds your attention. 


Of course, we want to do something similar with our books, so I spend a little time in research using the web to peruse old pulps, paperbacks and lobby cards. Then I pull out the pencils and some scrap paper and start sketching a few things out.

Bottom line, after an hour or so we end up with something like this:

This advertisement will be in the upcoming RADIO WESTERN ADVENTURES  available from the Kindle store in October for the low, low price of only $2.99.

Please join us on Facebook.
Or follow me on Twitter.

All Aboard the Piracy Bandwagon

Times are tough, but it seems that there is a growing trend amongst indie filmmakers to blame much of their ill times on internet piracy.  While the studios have long asserted that the internet and file sharing is to blame for millions in lost revenue we are no seeing a trend amongst indie filmmakers who place blame on internet pirates for their film's lack of success.

The latest case to crop up comes from the LA Times profile piece on filmmaker Greg Carter.

Greg Carter spent the last three years scraping together $250,000 to write, direct and produce "A Gangland Love Story," a gritty, urban retelling of "Romeo and Juliet."

Since its DVD release in July, audiences have embraced it: More than 60,000 viewers have watched the movie on the Internet, giving the independent filmmaker a coveted public following.

Unfortunately, winning an audience has come at a steep price. The viewers of Carter's film watched if from pirate movie sites and never paid for it. Carter figures the unauthorized viewing has cost him as much as $100,000 in lost revenue, dashing hope that he'll ever see a profit.

Now on the surface this seems pretty straight forward: Piracy = Bad.  However if the film community is to make sense of the next decade of entertainment media and engaging the audience we MUST dig deeper than that and get to the roots. We can't assume anything.

In reading this story there are some pretty bold assumptions set forth that I would like to question...

[Full disclosure. I have met and discussed business with Greg Carter many years ago when I was with York Entertainment.  I admire his business savvy and entrepreneurism, and have no axe to grind here. I have also done work for Maverick Entertainment as a freelancer]

1. I would like to know how he arrives at the $100,000 estimate he says he's lost to piracy.

2. I would like to know where the movie has been sold.  Has the # of downloads of the movie ever been used as a marketing sell point?

3. Beyond this article, Greg has never had an interview with the LA Times for one of his movies.  What is the value of this article toward people looking for the movie now that they've read about it?

4. What has he done to reach out to all of the people who watched his movie to see if they would be willing to pay money for a DVD of it?  Has he attempted to sell the soundtrack to the movie as an ancillary product?

5. What is the line item budget of the picture?  I ask this because budget is often used as a press ploy in these articles.  I want to look at the actual ROI for this film.

6. Has he done any events to promote the film and tie it to the urban audience?

Piracy IS going to happen, but we need to analyze these stories very closely to determine the truth of whether or not piracy was a factor in the film's profit or loss.  This is tricky business and there's too many unclear assertions in this article without any actual facts being presented.

Be a Hero: It's Really Easy

MARK WAID &
THE HERO INITIATIVE
WANT YOU
TO BE A HERO


Help support The Hero Initiative
by using your Ralphs & Food4Less, and Cala/Bell rewards card

 


Comic fans, its your turn to help comic creators!

Monday, September 27, 2010 - Mark Waid and The Hero Initiative want comic fans to rise up and be a hero! If you live in California, Nevada, Illinois, and Indiana, sign up your Ralphs, Food4Less, Cala Foods or Bell Markets rewards card with the “Community Contributions” program and the next time you shop using your rewards card you'll be helping comic book creators in need of emergency medical aid, financial support, and other necessities. It's never been easier to be a hero!

As part of the “Community Contributions” program, Ralphs, Food4Less, Cala Foods and Bell Markets will make a donation to The Hero Initiative every time you shop with your rewards card. Not only are you saving money but you're saving lives.

Here's how you too can become a hero!:

1) Log onto your www.ralphs.com and sign into your rewards account. If you don't have a Ralphs.com account sign up, it's free and it saves you cash!

2) After signing in, click on the following link: 
https://customer.ralphs.com/ManageCommunityRewardsStep1.aspx
or if that doesn't work try the second link blow:
https://customer.ralphs.com/ManageCommunityRewardsStep3.aspx

3) Fill out the information form including The Hero Initiative NPO# and corporate name:
NPO#: 80680
Corporate Name: A Commitment To Our Roots.

4) Start shopping!

If you've already signed up but it's been more than a year, sign up again! Every Sept 1st “Community Contributions” are reset which means if you're not sure your purchasing power is helping The Hero Initiative, now's the time to find out!

So tell your family, friends, comic shop acquaintances, Mark Waid is looking for heroes! Sign up those rewards cards and shop at your local Ralphs, Food4Less, Cala Foods and/or Bell Markets to help The Hero Initiative and uphold a tradition of generosity towards comic creators in need of medical, financial, and moral support.

To find your local Ralphs use the Ralphs Store Locator
(http://services.ralphs.com/StoreLocator/StoreLocatorAdvanced.aspx)

To find your local Food4Less use the Food4Less Store Locator
(http://services.food4less.com/StoreLocator/StoreLocatorAdvanced.aspx)
About The Hero Initiative
The Hero Initiative (http://www.heroinitiative.org) is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterdays' creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work.

Killer Covers: "Pulp Covers... were Designed to Sell!"

Killer Covers pulls a great quote from the UK's Independent newspaper regarding a recent auction of pulp fiction art:

It’s a peculiar discipline, pulp. The purpose--back in the smoky, inter-war days when the cheaply produced magazines would line the news-stands--was always practical. Pulp covers, like the airbrushed supermodels who replaced them, were designed to sell. There was no whimsical expression of artistic impulse; no desire to appeal to a higher plane. Illustrations had to catch the eye of the passing customer, and that was all. Competition was fierce and covers had to be striking. They featured grotesque creatures of the night, outlandish specimens from outer space, and--almost always--a scantily clad damsel in distress.

“The appeal lies in the lack of subtlety,” [Heritage Auctions vice-president Ed] Jaster explains. “It is the art of the masses. It exists outside the conventional artistic boundaries, yet it elicits this visceral reaction. The women are beautiful, the men are handsome. There’s sex appeal, danger, good and evil.”

and of course, this gem: 

Perhaps, though, it's no wonder that pulp art is having a moment in the spotlight. So steeped in romance are its origins – the fakery, the freight trains, the fast-and-loose nature of the stories it decorated – that it is surprising it hasn't happened sooner. And the artists aren't without their claim to history; Frank R Paul, for instance, is frequently credited with the first illustrated depiction of both a space station and flying saucer, a seminal pop-cultural symbol if ever there was one.

Pulp 2.0 Design for Return of the Originals

I am friends with Mike Bullock, the writer of the upcoming BLACK BAT series  for Moonstone Books. As Mike has been out and about  the internet stumping for his book  which you can read about here, those of us over at the Pulp Factory Yahoo Group have been discussing how to market pulp stories and concepts to today's audience -- specifically at the comic shop.

The conclusion is that you have to take every opportunity you can to get your work seen by the right eyes and that means thinking outside the box of just your usual suspects.

Well since I was getting ready to tackle some new design work - I thought it would be good to do some quick design "sketches" as a warmup to the really heavy lifting I'm going to be doing.  Mike had a flyer for Moonstone's RETURN OF THE ORIGINALS and I asked him if I could get an image from him to play around with... he graciously agreed. So  after a couple hours I  fan-ficced their flyer.

And here's the result:

You can add it to your desktop if you want. Maybe it will remind you to ask your local comic shop retailer you want to take a look at these comics.  [Take the hint and just order the books] 

I kept it simple and widescreen - because of course,  I like it like that - and made the color palette something that would play against the deep blue of the original art.  Red, yellow and blue is an excellent color combination. Just ask Superman. 

It sort of reminds me of one of those newspaper box inserts you see in the big cities (which might be a really cool way to sell newspaper sized comics that have tons of big ads in them!) or an old serial lobby card (which might be a cool way to sell more comics - a cool serial adventure!). 

In any case it was fun and a good warmup for the pulp to come. 

Jonny Quest Documentary Pt. 16: The Music of Hoyt Curtain

For those of you tracking this documentary - I was searching for information on composer Hoyt Curtain, and I stumbled onto this entire affair.  What a treasure trove of actiony-goodness!  This part of the documentary includes actual recordings of the sessions that provided us with the pulse-pounding themes found in so many of those H-B shows.

Enjoy.

Jonny Quest Documentary Pt. 15: Hi-Tech Jonny and James Bond

Please note Doug Wildey's philosophy in incorporating science into the show.

Jonny Quest Documentary Pt. 14 : Dr. Benton Quest

Jonny Quest Documentary Pt. 12 & 13 Secrets About the Show

Jonny Quest Documentary pt. 11: Race Bannon License to Kill

Jonny Quest Documentary Pts. 9 &10

Locales, Animals and Jezzebelle Jade:



The writers of Jonny Quest:

Jonny Quest Documentary Pt. 8: Hadji Joins the Quest Party

Jonny Quest Documentary Pt. 7 : The Process of Animation

This is a chapter of the documentary that I feel will be of help to not only animators but to VFX artists... the backgrounds used on Quest set the tone for much of the limited animation action. Note the staging of the background which follows the classic "foreground / midground / background" design.

Jonny Quest Documentary Pt. 6 - The Show Gets In Big Trouble

Sean Phillips Brings The Pulp

From his second series of INCOGNITO...

BROTHER BLOOD - ON SALE IN KINDLE STORE!

If you've been checking into the Pulp 2.0 press Facebook page, or Bish's Beat then you know that BROTHER BLOOD is on sale at Amazon's Kindle Store here.

If you haven't checked in to either place, then you are certainly missing out because there have been a few discussions back and forth.  Pulp 2.0 superfan Bobby Craig even posted on the Out Of Print Books Reborn Facebook Group.

Since we discuss all things pulp media here at the Pulp 2.0 HQ, the topic has come up:

What difference does a digital book make anyway?

From my writer-publisher perspective it makes a great deal of difference.

-- Thanks to the opportunities afforded us from digital distribution we can get more books to you faster so you can enjoy them.

-- Thanks to digital distribution I don't have to wait for a print proof.

-- Thanks to digital distribution money gets to the author, artist and me faster and at a greater percentage than print.

-- Thanks to digital distribution books are cheaper for you the consumer. In the case of Brother Blood the $2.99 cost is for 350 pages. THAT'S LESS THAN A PENNY PER PAGE!

-- Thanks to digital distribution our print editions are now elevated to the position they have always deserved - collectible objects d' pulp.  They are book editions jam-packed with extras you won't get anywhere else: pictures, articles, notes, essays and design that takes the pulp aesthetic seriously.

-- Thanks to digital distribution I now sell worldwide.

So yes, digital does make a huge difference in our business plan. So much so that you will be seeing more of them followed by their print counterparts.  To put it in comic book terms: digital is our 'floppy' and print is our trade paperback.

Oh, and speaking of comics.... and of course, comics.

And let's not forget westerns.

Gee, it's all pulp to me!

Widescreen Keyart Lives!

Courtesy of Focus features and The Los Angeles Times:

Not a lobbycard, but a newspaper box insert... still very cool though. 

Jonny Quest Documentary Pt. 5 Spiraling Costs and Artist Trouble

The plot thickens and the stakes are raised as JONNY QUEST behind-the-scenes becomes as dramatic and hurried as the action onscreen.

And at the end of this episode we get a clue as to how Wildey and co. started using their budgetary and design restrictions to their advantage and create some new visual storytelling motifs.