There is more than one answer to this question. Here’s ANSWER #1:
I had originally intended to have Unearth Printed in Book Form, but the format, layout and gray-tones of the Prologue made for crappy printing. So I planned to redo The Prologue to match the layout & color pallet of the Chapters so it could be reprinted too. That project languished until . . . (see ANSWER #2 once someone asks)
Hey, you jerk[-1]! A) cough up answer #2 stat! II) Prolog 2 page 23 has me thinking about what Alice wants from her intended – perhaps a sign of interest in her for herself. 3) Prolog 1 page 3 – the perspective work is overwhelming. I did four years of mechanical drawing in high school[0] (still a dab hand with T-square and triangles), but to get just the view down the street would have worn me out.
[-1] per your self-description supra
[0] 1959-1962
Brother Parvus, I’ve been thinking about what you wrote about “perspective work” wearing you out. I’ve worked with professional artists who would say the same thing. So don’t fret. If I can freehand perspective without a ruler… it’s just because something in my brain is wonky that way.
Brother Parvus said “T-Squares”! Huh huh. Huh huh 😉
OK, Here comes ANSWER #2:
Years after planning to “upgrade” The Prologue, I finally got motivated to do the work as a MARKETING PLOY! I took down the existing Prologue, and then started to dole-out the Prologue Redux as Patron-Only content on Patreon. It was supposed to incentive-ize people to pledge monies to see the Shiny New Pages one-at-a-time. When that failed to pan out (and, boy-howdy, did it ever fail), that’s when… someone asked about ANSWER #3
Boy, I sure could use an ANSWER #3 about now! I wonder if one will suddenly appear? Probably not.
But as a loyal Patreon follower I want to take this moment to encourage everyone to donate at least a little bit to keep this little adventure going. You’ll read it differently as a subscriber! (as they say on NPR)
ANSWER #3:
Once it became obvious no one was taking the Patreon Bait, I decided to RELAUNCH Unearth on SMACKJEEVES. Starting with the Prologue Redux, Unearth got TONS OF NEW READERS, far far more than I hoped for, and the numbers were growing by the page update. It seemed like the sky was the limit, when, suddenly, Smackjeeves switched ownership and became a Webtoons clone where everything redirected to sponsored/promoted content. Unearth was reset to scratch and disappeared in an unsorted pile. Readership dropped from thousands to virtually zero. So much for that. (There’s an ANSWER #4 if anybody is really, really interested.)
Actually I am really interested. I don’t know anything about webcomic publishing platforms, and like other content hosting platforms it seems that creators end up at the whims of some more or less obfuscated algorithm for traffic and promotion in most cases, and even once you figure that out, the platform can shift out from under you at any time, due to either ownership changes or just the whims of the platform developers. Very frustrating!
Frustrating is an understatement, wintermute. For instance…
ANSWER #4: Still looking for new readers, I put The Prologue Redux up on Webtoons, reformated into tall & skinny scrolling pages with larger text (most of their readers arrive via smartphone). But that was a waste since my ability to reach their 50+ Million readers is throttled by the 100-or-so Sponsored/Promoted comics that, by design, get 99% of Webtoons’ traffic. Unearth on Webtoons has a dismal number of pageviews each month. So, with no real options for advertising or sites that offer new readers, I stuck The Prologue back on unearthcomic.com.
So, uh, Why did it disappear for a long, long time only to return now?
Thanks for asking, Wintermute!
There is more than one answer to this question. Here’s ANSWER #1:
I had originally intended to have Unearth Printed in Book Form, but the format, layout and gray-tones of the Prologue made for crappy printing. So I planned to redo The Prologue to match the layout & color pallet of the Chapters so it could be reprinted too. That project languished until . . . (see ANSWER #2 once someone asks)
I think the author is dragging out the explanation to get more people to comment on this page. What a Jerk.
Hey, you jerk[-1]! A) cough up answer #2 stat! II) Prolog 2 page 23 has me thinking about what Alice wants from her intended – perhaps a sign of interest in her for herself. 3) Prolog 1 page 3 – the perspective work is overwhelming. I did four years of mechanical drawing in high school[0] (still a dab hand with T-square and triangles), but to get just the view down the street would have worn me out.
[-1] per your self-description supra
[0] 1959-1962
Brother Parvus, I’ve been thinking about what you wrote about “perspective work” wearing you out. I’ve worked with professional artists who would say the same thing. So don’t fret. If I can freehand perspective without a ruler… it’s just because something in my brain is wonky that way.
Brother Parvus said “T-Squares”! Huh huh. Huh huh 😉
OK, Here comes ANSWER #2:
Years after planning to “upgrade” The Prologue, I finally got motivated to do the work as a MARKETING PLOY! I took down the existing Prologue, and then started to dole-out the Prologue Redux as Patron-Only content on Patreon. It was supposed to incentive-ize people to pledge monies to see the Shiny New Pages one-at-a-time. When that failed to pan out (and, boy-howdy, did it ever fail), that’s when… someone asked about ANSWER #3
Boy, I sure could use an ANSWER #3 about now! I wonder if one will suddenly appear? Probably not.
But as a loyal Patreon follower I want to take this moment to encourage everyone to donate at least a little bit to keep this little adventure going. You’ll read it differently as a subscriber! (as they say on NPR)
ANSWER #3:
Once it became obvious no one was taking the Patreon Bait, I decided to RELAUNCH Unearth on SMACKJEEVES. Starting with the Prologue Redux, Unearth got TONS OF NEW READERS, far far more than I hoped for, and the numbers were growing by the page update. It seemed like the sky was the limit, when, suddenly, Smackjeeves switched ownership and became a Webtoons clone where everything redirected to sponsored/promoted content. Unearth was reset to scratch and disappeared in an unsorted pile. Readership dropped from thousands to virtually zero. So much for that. (There’s an ANSWER #4 if anybody is really, really interested.)
Actually I am really interested. I don’t know anything about webcomic publishing platforms, and like other content hosting platforms it seems that creators end up at the whims of some more or less obfuscated algorithm for traffic and promotion in most cases, and even once you figure that out, the platform can shift out from under you at any time, due to either ownership changes or just the whims of the platform developers. Very frustrating!
Frustrating is an understatement, wintermute. For instance…
ANSWER #4: Still looking for new readers, I put The Prologue Redux up on Webtoons, reformated into tall & skinny scrolling pages with larger text (most of their readers arrive via smartphone). But that was a waste since my ability to reach their 50+ Million readers is throttled by the 100-or-so Sponsored/Promoted comics that, by design, get 99% of Webtoons’ traffic. Unearth on Webtoons has a dismal number of pageviews each month. So, with no real options for advertising or sites that offer new readers, I stuck The Prologue back on unearthcomic.com.