Hello Grim5next Artists, Supporters, & Fans! Happy Friday 13th!!!
I’ve SUPER-EXCITING news! I bet some of you have seen my (not-so) subtle hints
on Twitter, and now the time has come to reveal the THIRD COMPANION project to
the Grim5Next Anthology. As you know, the Anthology has 3 sections: Grim Future, Last 5 Minutes, and What
Next. Originally, it was going to be just an Anthology, but then I decided to expand by adding one companion mini-project to
go with every section. The more artists the merrier!
Well, the Photography part goes with Grim Future and the Afterlife Survey (a.k.a. Interviews) goes with What Next. So until today we didn’t
have a companion project for Last 5
Minutes, which is the most exciting one because it’s where the world ends!
But then I figured it out… Grim5next was growing grimmer and grimmer with each
day… end of the world, dystopian futures, talking about death, etc. Which is
why I decided to brighten it up a bit!
AND WHAT BETTER WAY
TO DO THAT THAN DO A CHILDREN’S BOOK?!
So the project is called Apocalypse for Kiddies. And I know what you’re thinking: End of the
World, not exactly kids material. But what would you say if I told you it was
all about stories of wacky characters who want to end the world (OR save it) in
funny ways? When I came up with this idea, I kept picturing JAM FLOODS and
HOOVER MONSTERS.
Oh the strange things lodged in my brain space…
And the best part
about it is that 35% of the profits will go to children in need!
(If you haven't read the Terms of Agreement yet, please do so before you apply.)
But that’s not even half of it. Since I came up with it two
weeks ago, I’ve been running around and recruiting AWESOME ILLUSTRATORS. Truth
is, it took about 70 emails to get 13 to say yes. But in the end, it was all
worth it. I’ll introduce them in just a sec, so you can see their amazing
portfolios. But before I do that, I just want to say a big fat THANK YOU to
them, for being open-minded and adventurous enough to hop on board with us.
Now
that’s out of the way, here’s some info about the project…
The Apocalypse for
Kiddies ebook will be made for toddlers, which means it falls under the
category of ‘early picture books’. It’s going to have twelve (or thirteen)
stories: 6 of heroes and 6 of villains, a.k.a. good characters and naughty
ones. I’m still waiting to hear from everyone, so we might actually step into the
Realm of 13, but I believe it to be a lucky number anyway. Seeing as there will
be so many stories in this book, each story will be quite short.
Big ideas come in small bites!
The illustrators will be working with WRITERS, so we'll need 12 or 13 writers. More specifically, CHILDREN’S WRITERS. If
you think it’s easy to write for children, think again! These people are full
of wisdom and knowledge of the way little people think. They know that kids are
often smarter than adults, so they’ll question everything. They might be
the worst critics out there!
If you write for
children and would like to work with these talented illustrators, please
leave a comment below with your name, artist preferences (give me some choices)
or alternatively, hero or villain preference, and links to your work. That way you increase your chances!
And now, before you meet the fabulous illustrators, some
GUIDELINES would be helpful.
1. Age Group:
4-8 year-olds.
2. Pages per Story:
Each story will have 2-3 pages, as 1 big illustration may spread over 2 pages.
3. Wordcount:
Max words per story: 120. Max words per
page: 40.
4. Image Format
& Dimensions: PNG, 1000x750px (or
bigger), and only do horizontal if you do one big illustration over 2 pages.
Although the preferred alignment is vertical…
5. Deadline: After we’ve found the writers to go with these
amazing artists, I’ll personally assign everyone (kind of like matchmaking,
lol) and once we start in earnest, you will have SIX WEEKS to finish your stories.
6. Process: ILLUSTRATORS, please keep early
sketches and character prototypes for later promotions. For example, if I were
to introduce your character in a project on Behance, it would be helpful if I
had them separately. With your permission of course!
7. Collaboration: I know it's usually either the writer or the illustrator comes up with the idea for the story and the other fills in the blanks. I'd love to see more collaboration in this challenge. So I'd love to see some brainstorming going on before you start drawing/writing.
7. Collaboration: I know it's usually either the writer or the illustrator comes up with the idea for the story and the other fills in the blanks. I'd love to see more collaboration in this challenge. So I'd love to see some brainstorming going on before you start drawing/writing.
8. Features: Artists, if you’d like to be featured on the
site, write up a little something and send it to me together with some samples
of your work. I’d love to show people how awesome you all are!
Finally, give it up for the ILLUSTRATORS! And
writers, make your choices. ;)
HEROES
1. Cat Neligan
has been so excited about this project from the start. Her work is a wee bit
creepy, but we’ll see how we can use that so we don’t scare the kiddies. Check
out her portfolio!
2. Peter Brown
(a.k.a. the toonist) does illustration and animation. He says he’s always on
the humorous side in his work, so he’ll be as snug as a bug in the Grim5next
glove.
3. Monica Rondino,
who is also known as one half of The Art of Puro, produces various characters
who are all very adorable and some funny-looking, which is great for our
purposes!
4. Matthew Vimislik
has it all. He does heroes and villains, and his art has this particular wacky
element to it that Apocalypse for Kiddies needs. You can see a lot of his work on his site.
5. Cathy Hookey’s illustrations are so wacky and fun, I
just want to go back to being a kid and read books full of her characters. Ah
to be innocent again…
(Some illustrators were re-assigned to heroes because everyone wanted to draw the bad guys, lol.)
VILLAINS
1. Murray Somerville’s
art is a little bit out there. I
like to stare at it and make up worlds. :D
2. Rimi
Rasheed’s illustrations are so cute! She shows them off on her blog. Go
look!
3. Steve Morrison
is quite inventive with his illustrations. Go see
for yourself!
4. Soju Shots is an awesome artist on HitRECord. His work has subtle dark tones,
so he’ll come up with a great naughty character! You can see a lot of his
illustrations on his personal blog.
5. Vian Oelofsen
produces such lovely illustrations, I’m very curious how he’s going to tackle
the villain angle. You can see his portfolio HERE.
So if you like to collaborate and challenge your skills, I
think you’re the perfect match for Grim5next. Join us, so we can make children
smile. And laugh. And roll on the floor laughing. And generally be happy. Like the cutie on that choochoo up there. ^_^
1 comments:
Hi there,
Just had a read- and your project sounds fantastic.
I'm a comedy writer for children and would love to get involved in your future plans to take over the world with this fab book of short stories.
I write for all ages and have sold my work the theatre,tv and radio companies.
If you would like to get intouch email me at Emma.kenny@hotmail.co.uk
Thanks ever so much for your time and I hope to chat soon.
Em.
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