HOPE Volume 2 : "Masks"

New Book Alert: LOVE STORIES ABOUT DEATH
about 2 months ago – Wed, Jul 24, 2024 at 10:02:25 AM

Hello friends!

I hope this update finds you well and enjoying some great book and graphic novel reading! If you're looking for another emotionally-investing graphic novel to treat yourself to... well, I'm here for you!

I wanted to give you all a quick heads-up that the campaign for my newest graphic novel LOVE STORIES ABOUT DEATH is now live, fully funded, and within striking distance of the “Super Stretch Goal” of upgrading the book to a red leatherbound-style edition of the book with red gilded pages, a red ribbon bookmark, and an autographed bookplate!

If you’d like to get a Kickstarter Exclusive Hardcover Edition of the book (and help us all unlock that red leatherbound edition) please come check out the campaign and join us at www.LoveStoriesAboutDeath.comtoday!

This is a collection of seven full-length genre-hopping stories that explore the intersections of love and death, with gorgeous art and plots that will tug at your heartstrings… and then tear them out!

Thanks, all! Again, I hope you’re all doing well, and I appreciate your continued support all so very much!

Now… let’s get that red leather “I Saw Red” edition of this book at www.LoveStoriesAboutDeath.com and keep our bookshelves looking sexy!

Your friend in comics,
Dirk Manning

All packages have shipped! That's a wrap... for now!
2 months ago – Sun, Jun 30, 2024 at 09:32:13 AM

ALL PACKAGES ARE SHIPPED! 

Hello friends!

As of two weeks ago all HOPE Volume 2: "Masks" Kickstarter packages have shipped from Whalebacker in Saginaw, Michigan, meaning this campaign is a wrap!

If you didn't recieve your package, please reach out to Whalebacker directly to get a tracking number via email at [email protected]or reach out to me directly if you have any addition questions of concerns.

THANK YOU!

On behalf of myself, illustrator Sally Scott, letterer Dave Lentz, editor Drena Jo, and publisher Source Point Press... THANK YOU for your support of this book! Truly!

It's your support that makes it possible for us to not only bring these books to life, but also offer you deluxe hardcover editions of the books with all those cool extras for those of you who enjoy them as much as we do.

SO... WHAT'S NEXT?

No spoilers, but how about that ending to HOPE Volume 2, eh? 

Hopefully now you all understand why I couldn't share much internal art from this book... I wanted to keep the story as surprising as possible!

If you know someone who may enjoy HOPE but missed the campaign, feel free to direct them to Amazon, where they can order the trade paperback editions of HOPE Volume 1: "Mother" [Special Edition] and HOPE Volume 2: "Masks" now.

And, yes, I'm already actively working on HOPE Volume 3. I couldn't possibly end things like that, could I?

In the meantime, though, my next book release via Kickstarter is LOVE STORIES ABOUT DEATH, a collection of seven full-length horror stories that will tug at your heartstrings... and then rip them right out! I'm planning on launching this one towards the end of July, and I'll drop you all a note when it goes live, as we're going to offer a super limited edition leather bound, gilded pages, ribbon bookmarked hardcover edition just to Kickstarter backers in what will most likely be a "Quickstarter" three week campaign.

Thanks again, everyone! YOU make all of this possible, and it's an honor I don't take lightly.

Happy reading, have a great holiday if you'll be celebrating it this coming week, and we'll talk soon!

Your friend in comics,
Dirk Manning

IMPORTANT: Start watching your mailboxes, friends...
3 months ago – Sat, Jun 08, 2024 at 10:36:49 AM

All HOPE Volume 2 packages will finish shipping next week!

Hello friends!

I’m excited to announce that, as per Source Point Press and our fulfillment partner Whalebacker, all pledge packages for HOPE Volume 2: “Masks'' will officially be in the mail by this Tuesday… so start watching your mailboxes, friends!

If you pledged for a digital copy, it is now available for download via your BackerKit too! Huzzah!

Whalebacker is a valued shipping partner who offers excellent shipping services, but if upon receiving your package there are any damages to your package despite all their care, please contact them directly at [email protected]– and please include your contact into and a photo to make the process quicker for you and them.  :)
 

We HOPE you like the book… and that you’ll let us know!

While I’ve also gone over the digital files many times, in full transparency, I’ve only seen photos of the books themselves and have yet to hold a physical copy… but the photos I’ve seen are GORGEOUS, and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the books and the story itself as well! Feel free to tag me (@dirkmanning), artist Sally Scott (@tallnose), and/or our publisher Source Point Press (@sourcepointpress) on Instagram or your social media platform of choice if you’d like to share your thoughts publicly – just don’t post any spoilers, OK?

I know you might want to by the time you get to the end of the book… but just don’t. Seriously.

Maybe leave an Amazon review instead, though?

Looking ahead to what's ahead...

The files for my next book (a werewolf western horror graphic novel titled HOMESTEAD that, ironically, is also about people trying to protect and defend their families) are going to the printer next week. We had a very successful Kickstarter for this book, and if you missed it and would like to snag a copy of the TPB Edition (at least) you can snag one via the HOMESTEAD BackerKit right HEREwith FREE U.S. SHIPPING if you hurry.

In mid-July I’ll be launching the Kickstarter for my next original graphic novel, an expanded re-release of my long out of print graphic novel LOVE STORIES ABOUT DEATH, a collection of seven 22-page genre-hopping horror stories that revolve around the themes of the intertwined nature of love and death. Despite this book being so popular it was once even featured on the television series Chicago Fire, this will be the first – and only – time it will be available in a deluxe hardcover edition.

After that, we’re moving on to the officially licensed and definitive graphic novel adaptation of the classic lost Lon Chaney horror film LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT in October, and then another major horror project in February that we can’t officially announce until January 1st.

I’ll then be returning to continue some of my creator-owned titles after that… but no spoilers on which ones, or in what fashion, exactly. There are some characters who I’m very much itching to return to, though… and after you read HOPE Volume 2, I suspect you'll feel the same. Heh.

I’ll drop you all a note on each as they release, but I just wanted to give you a peek ahead at what’s ahead.

Again… THANK YOU!

Thank you all for your continued support, my friends. I cannot stress enough how much your support makes these books possible, how much gratefulness and appreciation I hold in my heart for each and every one of you, and how dedicated I am to continuing to pay your support forward with more great graphic novels. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Watch your mailboxes, message me directly at [email protected] if you need anything from me, and otherwise I”ll be in touch soon!

Your friend in comics,
Dirk Manning

THE BOOKS HAVE ARRIVED AT THE WAREHOUSE!
3 months ago – Thu, May 30, 2024 at 09:36:06 PM

REJOICE... AND PREPARE YOUR "FEELS," FRIENDS!

Both the Kickstarter Exclusive Hardcovers and the TPB editions of HOPE Volume 2: "Masks" have arrived at the fulfillment center... and here's proof sent from them to me to you!

I almost also posted a photo showing a few interior pages of the book, but we're too close to delivery to spoil anything now!

According to our fulfillment partner Whalebacker, these should start shipping next week... so I'll keep you all posted once the shipping starts!

Again, though, for now... rejoice... and prepare yourselves for what should prove to be an equally exciting and heartfelt read!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Your friend in comics,
Dirk Manning

P.S. -- Obviously, if you didn't fill out your BackerKit yet, do it NOW!

Guess what's scheduled to arrive at the end of the month?
4 months ago – Fri, May 03, 2024 at 07:29:42 AM

We're in the final countdown...

Hey all!

I spoke to our publisher Source Point Press's CCO Josh Werner the other day, and according to the printer the HOPE Volume 2: "Masks" books are scheduled to be delivered by the end of this month! Huzzah!

This means we'll be locking the shipping addresses in the BackerKit soon, so if you moved recently -- or haven't filled it out -- do so NOW, please! (It only takes a few minutes, I promise... and if you have any issues, message me through here directly.)

Also of note, HOPE Volume 2 artist Sally Scott and I got to table next to each other in Artist Alley last weekend, and that allowed me to get to see her remarking the bookplates that will be included with every KS Exclusive Hardcover first hand! Here's a peek..

How cool is it that the limited edition hardcover versions of the graphic novel come not only with a KS Exclusive wrap-around cover, but also double-signatures and a quick remark sketch from the artist? This is why I love Kickstarter so much... and appreciate being able to pay it forward in this way to all of you!

Bookplates aside, the shirts and pins are also currently in production, so once the books arrive Whalebacker will begin fulfillment from the warehouse in Michigan fairly immediately.

I can't wait for all of you to get to read this book, as I can't wait to get your reactions to it... and we're almost there!

Thanks so much for your support! I'll be in touch again soon!

Your friend in comics,
Dirk Manning

P.S. -- Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day, and I'll be making my annual signing appearance at Packrat Comics in Hilliard, Ohio, so if you're close, swing by and say hello! If it's a bit too far away, though, and you have a closer local comic shop, consider swinging by there to not only discover some new books (that's how many of you may have first discovered HOPE, after all), and also do what you can to make a purchase of some sort when you're there, too. Remember, the free comic books the comic shop owners are distributing are NOT free to them... so try to pay it forward to them if you can!