Project restart or give it the boot?

I started the Eternal Dusk project way back in 1996 to submit a complete and original 48 page comic to publishers to see if I had chops to be a comics creator. The project was poorly conceived and had gaping plot holes, so I faltered on it not long after.

In 2000, I revisited the story and saw a drastic need to improve my characters and spent a year doing so. In 2002, I wrote the formal first draft which was a huge step. After two more drafts and a failed collaboration with my first artist, I finished the final draft in April 2004. I connected with Victor that winter and in the spring of 2005, he produced a series of character concepts that reenergized me and made me feel like the book was finally on it’s way. We actually started sequentials that summer, but preparations for the birth of my first child and personal problems for Victor put development on hold.

So here I am in November 2006. I have a final script, finalized character concepts and 6 pages of incomplete sequential art. After 10 years, I wonder if the project is destined to ever see the light of day. I have many people around me excited about it and eager to see it succeed and that helps keep my spirits up on it. But the mountain looks no less steep today than it did when I first started.

To complete the project I have to have the artist complete the entire 64 pages of the book, plus the cover, logo and promotional artwork. Then I need to find a publisher or bite the bullet and self publish. A 64-page full color publication will likely run in the high $1000′s for even a small print run and for someone with a family and home to support, that’s a daunting prospect. Then I’d still have to market and distribute the book (crossing my fingers Diamond would pick it up). The marketing I’m not so worried about as I have the skills to complete a very good Web site, but self distributing could be expensive and time consuming. I’d expect to have to travel to cons and specialty shops to try and promote the book and that means time away from home and my little one.

This project has essentially been my baby for the past decade and a story I personally feel could put me on the path towards publishing not only this story, but other ideas I have as well. It could open doors or ruin me both personally and financially. It’s a difficult line to walk and I wonder sometimes if it’s worth the risks. A little voice inside me keeps saying yes, however, and not to give up without a good fight I’m sure I’m not alone in this situation, but seeing others conceive, launch and publish their own books around me, I do sometimes wonder where it is I am going wrong.