Howard Tayler To Illustrate a Tracy Hickman Book
Posted March 31st, 2009 by Howard TaylerLong story short (it’s more exciting that way): I met Tracy Hickman (co-creator of Castle Ravenloft and DragonLance) at LTUE in February, and Tracy told me about a new book he was writing with his son, The Amazing Curtis. The book is geared at making a good RPG game-master into a great one, and making a great game-master into a small god. It teaches the reader everything from applying the Campbellian Monomyth to contact juggling.
The working title? XDM: Xtreme Dungeon Mastery. “God doesn’t play dice with the universe. We do.”
When Tracy explained that his usual publishing contacts were reluctant to take this project, I told him he should self-publish, and I showed him the Schlock books as an example of what was possible.
Here’s the disconnect: I handed him books saying “This is what is possible for self-publishing, here are price-points, you can do this, I can show you how.”
He accepted the books and apparently heard “Here is something that Howard and Sandra know how to do, and Howard’s illustration style is perfect for the book.”
Before the end of the convention Tracy and Laura had pulled Sandra and I into a business meeting and pitched the project to us. Two weeks ago (about a month later) we accepted the project. Saturday we signed the contract. That funny-looking Wizard up there? That was what I sent Tracy as an example of the cartoony RPG-related artwork that he’d be getting from me. It’s not my favorite piece, and certainly not my favorite from the XDM project now that I’ve started, but that wizard holds a soft spot in my heart because he got me the job.
That was the short version of the story. The extremely short version is this: Sandra and I are publishing and illustrating a Tracy Hickman book, and we have to send files to our printer by April 30th in order to have product in time for Gen Con Indy in August. We’re both going to be extremely busy for the next four weeks. This, by the way, is why my buffer is so incredibly important.
If you follow my Facebook updates or my Twitter feed you’ve already started seeing a lot of “XDM illo” blurbs. Now you know what I’m talking about.
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March 31st, 2009 at 8:36 am
Bet you didn’t know you were going to become a publisher, did you?
March 31st, 2009 at 9:01 am
Does this mean, by chance, that you are reconsidering your “no travel for cons in 2009″ and coming to GenCon Indy? *hope hope*
March 31st, 2009 at 9:29 am
Heh… Bet you didn’t envision going this far back when you announced this at Linucon 1.0, did you, Howard? Congratulations on the move up the food chain on this stuff. Here’s to many more years of success.
March 31st, 2009 at 9:54 am
Yes, I’m going to GenCon Indy this August. I’ll be sitting with Tracy, Curtis, and with Margaret Weiss at the MW Games booth, a 20×10 endcap somewhere on the show floor.
I am not, however, going to Comic-Con. There’s just no time.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:05 am
Congratulations, and good luck, to both Taylers! ^_^
March 31st, 2009 at 11:05 am
Well, here’s another reason to go to GenCon Indy. I hope I can make it.
Also, are you going to be putting “XDM illo” blurbs here on Blógünder Schlock as well as Facebook and Twitter? I know I would enjoy them but will not see them unless they appear under the comic.
March 31st, 2009 at 11:21 am
… I suddenly have to wonder what you’d pick as a company name and logo, as a publisher. Would it involve a plasma cannon? Please say it would involve a plasma cannon.
Or maybe sawed off multicannons, but those aren’t nearly as instarecognizable.
March 31st, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Ooooh, the book isn’t named “The Amazing Curtis”, his son is. That sentence confused me for a bit there.
March 31st, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I’ll be sure to stop by! I’ll be running the Miniatures Painting contest. Will you be entering one of your trollbloods? :) Be sure to look for MHE events if you have any free time, I’m sure we could find something to interest you…
March 31st, 2009 at 4:06 pm
When I heard about the book on Writing Excuses, I started hoping it would get published.
When I heard it would on Comics Coast to Coast, I was ecstatic and posted about it at dragonavenue.com in order to let people in the gaming community know about it (at least the small corner of the gaming community that I call home).
I can guarantee that I’ll be watching carefully for pre-orders for this book and will pounce on it right away. Three cheers for the Tayler Corporation.
March 31st, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I might do the same as well (pouncing on pre-orders, that is), though my girlfriend Elf says that if I keep doing that, she’ll have a harder time getting me Christmas presents. (I got her into D&D shortly before we started dating. She’s naturally shy and withdrawn, but has been finding this a perfect outlet for the roleplayer in her. The fact that she’s the crit-queen doesn’t hurt, either.)
Even if Elf insists on getting it for me, I think I can pledge to get at least two other copies for DM friends of mine. One already reads this strip; the other might be enticed into finally joining the Schlock Community of Excellence by seeing the art. If that wizard is any indicator, this is the sort of thing that will pique his interest.
March 31st, 2009 at 6:12 pm
@Tchalvak: Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. I’ve got to work on clarity.
@hida_dragonbane: I may have to bring a painted miniature along with me. I have one or two that are competition-grade. Not that they’re likely to win anything, but they’re my best work thus far.
@rspringuel: You, sir, are a knight errant. I welcome your prowess and valor on this particular quest. Thank you for spreading the word!
March 31st, 2009 at 9:26 pm
My word. Campbellian Monomyths in RPGs *and* illustrations by Howard Tayler? Most definitely looking forward to this purchase!
March 31st, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Congrats on the new projects and the successful work, Tayler family.
Hey Howard… WHO knew life outside of IT could be so busy eh? :-) It’s AMAZING what happens when one does quality work and lives up to one’s expectations and commitments.
Later and good luck!
ArgentTree (Who opened his mouth, followed through on some promises at work, and found himself promoted to managing the whole damned mess….)
March 31st, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Congratz, Mr Tayler. May your enterprise succeed. A nice example of great work selling itself.
I might have a recipient for this book also… Just maybe.
March 31st, 2009 at 11:19 pm
In auto racing, drivers almost inevitably become team owners.
In fandom, cartoonists almost inevitably become publishers.
There must be some technical term for this phenomenon…. :)
April 1st, 2009 at 12:41 am
“Turning to the Dark Side.”
April 1st, 2009 at 2:43 am
I only got the post this morning, lucky I knew it wasn’t an April Fool :)
Again, congratulations. I look forward to having a dedicated ‘Taylor Corporation’ bookcase :)
April 1st, 2009 at 4:05 am
Errr…. [looks around making sure no-one is watching]…. Woohoo!
Congrats! [Tries to work out ways of being able to afford more Tayler drawn books]
April 1st, 2009 at 5:25 am
WOW. Look what you and Sandra did! You thought you were just trying to publish a comic book, and you went and became professionals! That’s what you get, for being so darn good.
“God doesn’t play dice with the Universe. We do.” is possibly the best tag line ever. Dang it, Howard. Don’t you get me back into gaming. You almost got me back into painting miniatures, but I resisted… and now this… Would it be silly of me to buy the book even though I’ll never Game again?
No, of course not. Pre-orders, ho!
April 1st, 2009 at 7:48 am
@Zenkitty We’re hoping the project budget can support printing a gorgeous hardbound book with toothy paper. That would be the sort of book you could read, enjoy, hold in your lap while thinking wistfully of tabletop role-play, and then WRAP UP AND GIVE AS A GIFT TO AN UNSUSPECTING FRIEND.
Not that I’m trying to take more of your money, mind you. I’m just sayin’ that if time’s the thing you’re short on, I have a solution.
April 1st, 2009 at 9:25 am
will it be available from your store? if so, it may be a good idea to have a copy available when your next book comes out. as i could save on shipping that way….
April 1st, 2009 at 9:39 am
Oh, yes, it will be available in our store. It will definitely beat the next Schlock book, Resident Mad Scientist to the shelves as I’ve stopped working on RMA in order to finish XDM on time.
I’m going to be very, very busy this summer. And this spring. And this afternoon.
April 1st, 2009 at 10:06 am
lol, good.
April 1st, 2009 at 11:39 am
And the Taylor Corperation grows.
The IRS (with it’s lose money 3 out of 5 years and it’s declared a Hobby … with the resulting refiguring of your past Taxes) will be quite happy now.
You know *they* know there are some Very Well Armed Schlockers … and some of them are Mean & Nasty when it comes to … ah … defending their relaxation/decompression/godsIneededalaugh webcomic.
Of course the lightly-to-not armed quiet one scare even the VWAS’s. ;)
Next Up for the budding publishing house…
April 1st, 2009 at 6:14 pm
• Well, at least Eeyore remembered that one of the ‘o’s needed to be an ‘e’…
• Looks like RMS will be the third consecutive Schlock book I order something else with.
• “God doesn’t play dice with the universe. We do.” So… What RPGs does Chuck Norris play?
(I know, it sounds more like a Randall Munroe fact, but he doesn’t play dice with the universe, although he does play tiddlywinks.)
• A question about applying the Campbellian Monomyth: Is there a warning not to use it as a checklist, lest someone who left a third of the way through ask if you’ve met Yoda yet?
April 1st, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Met Yoda? Howard probably knocked him on the head and stole all his “Jedi Knights for Dummies” books. What part of mercenary don’t you get?
Congrats, Howard, on finding another revenue stream to drink from. Let me know when you decide to break into online RPG’s. After all, they’re just interactive comics.
April 1st, 2009 at 9:08 pm
What I meant is that anything that follows the Hero’s Journey plot too closely seems like a rehash of Star Wars.
I take it you don’t listen to Writing Excuses?
April 1st, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Howard, are you going to be at Gen-Con all four days, or do you know yet? That is a weekend that I have to work, and need to know which day I need to take vacation.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:34 am
I’ll be at Gen-Con the whole time, yes.
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Your wizard reminded me strongly of the artwork in the Basic Edition D&D books. I bet Tracy got a nostalgia kick when seeing it, and it probably reminded him of the early days of D&D when it basically was self-publishing. It’s not surprising to me that he wanted you to illustrate.
Set your price. I will be pre-ordering this book. August can’t come soon enough!
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Off topic: When I saw today’s comic, I just had to check here to see if the page quote had changed to “WWSD?”.
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:22 pm
“What Would Schlock Do?”
Well, you need a T to spell “*THOOM*!”…. >;)