It's a remarkable thing that I find myself writing to you on the second Tuesday of April. When I launched my MUSEletter, just over a year ago, doing so on a second Tuesday was more a function of how the dates aligned. Since then, it became a sort of cornerstone to my production schedule even giving rise to my #TigerTuesday campaign for self-publishing A Tiger's Tale.

I'm sure you're aware that once that February 1st date approached (also on a Tuesday), my schedule shifted onto a 25 hour clock and I stuffed inboxes with almost daily updates. With that past, I'm hoping you'll see these less-frequent emails as a welcomed change.

It's not because I haven't been busy. Quite the contrary actually. I've been so busy that I've barely had the time to sit and write about it. Even this update I'm sending to you... I'm writing day of, rather than in advance. Something I got used to doing over the course of February but generally a no-no for "pros."

I have faith you'll continue to be forgiving of such things.

Backers of our kickstart.aTigersTale.com campaign are receiving their surveys! 33 of the 93 recipients have already replied. If you count yourself among the benevolent backers who helped make our campaign a roaring success, then check your inbox or spam folder for a survey from Kickstarter.
The key function to this survey is to ensure you receive your rewards including the various stretch-goal extras, like our Year of the Water Tiger sticker and The Comics Fu Reader.

Incidentally, I'm also working my way to having those cool metallic stickers available on a forthcoming online store. THE COMICS FU READER will only be available for backers. But if you don't want to wait and need that sticker yesterday - drop me an email and we can work something out.

There are other questions in place because I'm hoping to build a much more accurate picture of who my audience is and what their interests are. February's TIGER TALK video series well received, and nourishing to me on a personal level, it also demanded quite a bit of extra time and attention. I'd be curious to see if I can quantify its impact on the campaign itself. There is a Volume 2 campaign in the works and while my goal is to surpass the success of my first campaign, I believe it will be essential to do so with less of a reliance on luck and good will. I look forward to whatever it is I might learn.

Class is in session for three intrepid backers! They are backers 20, 23 and 55 who elected to make the journey, not just to the legendary Shaolin Temple (birthplace of Zen & Kung Fu - but you knew that already) but to the second dimension! They will undergo that transformation so as to train alongside Bodhidharma himself on page 40 of A Tiger's Tale volume 1.

Arts micro-grant to support independent comics

The Make More Comics Arts Grant was created to find ways to support creative comics creators in pursuit of the art of comic storytelling. We want to promote and reward creative people working in the medium that we love and enjoy for many years to come.

Among the news items I could fill this missive with, I thought it best to stick to the one most relevant to these updates. As March came to it's close I submitted an application to this year's MAKE MORE COMICS grant. The goal; to work with martial arts schools on getting copies of volume 1 (& perhaps vol. 2) into the hands of students who may not be able to afford a copy, or who have English as a second language. Alternatively this graphic novel could be used to add a literacy feature to a martial arts school's preexisting kids' program.

Judges are currently reviewing my application. Winner(s) will be announced on June 1st.  The Grant will be awarded and funds dispersed to the winning submitter(s) within 30 days of that public announcement. Fingers crossed.

...and with that, I will bring this message to a close.  As always, thank you for your support and attention.
I hope to hear from you soon.

BEST ! PLUGO