January Update
4 months ago
– Sat, Jan 03, 2026 at 01:56:44 PM
Happy New Year!
Not much to report this time around. EVEN STEVEN is at the printer, and I've been told it will be printed, bound, and ready to ship out by January 19th. It will then be placed on the proverbial boat from China… hopefully not a slow one! I'm expecting the books in my hands some time in February, at which point I'll get your copy in your hands ASAP!
All other printing— bookplates, prints, stickers, etc.— are already in the capable hands of Phil and Lori at Portland's premiere print shop COLORHAUS. Should have them back any day now.
And David is hard at work on the Sketches, in case you're on that list.
So we're right on schedule, and 2026 is off to a great start! Although there was one hiccup at the end of '25…
I deal with PRINTLORE for hardcover books like EVEN STEVEN. They always do an exceptional job and their rep, Samantha, always goes above and beyond. For instance…
I was using a very narrow font for the body copy in this book. Well, Sam took one look and told me it simply wasn't going to print legibly. She suggested using a different, wider font. But I'm a stubborn cuss— I really liked that font!— and I knew something she didn't: the problem wasn't really the font.
The problem was I had been putting my pages together using Photoshop, then importing them into inDesign and generating a print-quality PDF from that. But what I should have been doing was assembling the pages from start to finish in inDesign— that's what it's created for (and Photoshop isn't).
The thing is, I'm basically lazy. When it comes to computer programs, I only know what I need to know, and up until now Photoshop had been doing the job fine… until it didn't.
So I stripped out all that body copy from the Photoshop files, and taught myself how to handle fonts— on a very basic level— in inDesign. (Thank you, online tutorials!) I painstakingly reassembled all those pages (not a pretty sight, believe me), created a new print-quality PDF, presented it to Sam…
…And she gave it the thumbs up! Mission Accomplished!
And from now on, I'll do all my page construction in inDesign. Like I'm supposed to.
KK
LAST DAY to be on the THANK YOU PAGE!
6 months ago
– Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 05:42:00 AM
If you want your name (or nickname) on the EVEN STEVEN THANK YOU PAGE, you need to fill out your Survey TODAY— November 21ST.
I'll be putting that page together over the weekend— then the book's off to the printer! Once that's done, there's no way to get your name in the book. Even if you're my own sister.
Let me repeat that: EVEN IF YOU'RE MY OWN SISTER!!!
HEY! Look what showed up yesterday:
What could be in it? WHAT— ???
OH!
AAAA— !
Happy SURVEY REMINDER (For Those Who Celebrate it)!
6 months ago
– Tue, Nov 18, 2025 at 10:30:26 AM
A quick reminder that…
…SURVEYS Need to Be Filled Out by FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST…
…if you want to be listed on the THANK YOU PAGE. This weekend I'll be assembling that THANK YOU PAGE (much like how the Avengers assemble, yes) so if I don't have how you want your name listed by then, it won't go into the book. Sad but true.
Now, chances are I already have your THANK YOU PAGE response because an ox-stunning 88% of EVEN STEVEN backers have filled out their survey! So if that's you, I thank you yet again!
If it that's not you— well, you still have time! Not much— but enough. Surveys originally went out on NOVEMBER 10TH. Check your emails and trash and spam folders on that date. If you still can't find it, message me and I will send you a link to your specific survey. Fill it out, submit it, breath a sigh of relief.
Then maybe check this one out…
This is a double-dose of work from legendary RICK LEONARDI— famous for his art on SPIDER-MAN 2099, X-MEN, CLOAK AND DAGGER and so many others. Here you can get a SKETCHBOOK full of his awe-inspiring art and/or BLUE ANGEL— Rick's passion project graphic novel.
Of course, I've loved Rick's work forever, and was lucky enough to work with him twice— he penciled FANTASTIC FOUR 2099 #1 (which I wrote) and an issue of CrossGen's SCION (which I inked). A joy and honor each time. The man simply can't draw a bad comic— and as good as his work for mainstream comics has been, BLUE ANGEL blows all that out of the water. This is coming from his heart, people— and it shows on every page, every panel, every figure, every line.
Ends Monday, November 24, 10 AM PST.
You really don't want to miss this one. Click now, click HERE.
OK. Back to work for me. HAPPY THANKSGIVING to those who celebrate it. (I certainly do! Still working out the menu, but the Hawaiian Smoked Turkey is a given, as are the New York Salt Potatoes. The rest is in flux, although I am eyeing a Gateau Invisible aux Pommes for dessert…)
CHECK YOUR INBOX!
6 months ago
– Mon, Nov 10, 2025 at 03:27:29 PM
I just sent out ALL the surveys!
Yours should be waiting for you NOW!
Look in your Inbox. If it's not there, look in your SPAM folder. It's gotta be there somewhere.
If not: please let me know and I'll look into it, get it sorted ASAP.
REMEMBER!
This is where I get your address to mail out all your exceptional EVEN STEVEN stuff. Can't mail anything if I don't have a mailing address! And, yeah, the books won't be ready to mail out until next February, but—
If you want to be listed on the THANK YOU Page, you MUST respond to your survey BEFORE NOVEMBER 21st!
After that, I will not be able to add anyone to the page. Not even YOU.
So. Let's do this thing, OK?
Thanks! And THANK YOU for supporting EVEN STEVEN!
KK
Surveys— INCOMING!
6 months ago
– Fri, Nov 07, 2025 at 02:18:34 PM
I WILL START SENDING OUT BACKERKIT SURVEYS WITHIN MINUTES OF POSTING THIS UPDATE!
The way BackerKit does it, I send out what they call a "SMOKE TEST"— about 5% of the total surveys— and wait to see how well those work (or don't ). Believe me, they have extremely rigorous standards for putting surveys together (which is why it takes for-ever to put them together!) but sometimes there's still a bump or two that needs smoothing out. This way we catch any problems before 95% of the surveys go out, making everyone's life a lot easier.
If everything goes well with the Smoke Test, I'll release the remainder of the surveys some time this weekend. If there's something that needs de-bugging, I may not be able to do that until Monday (when BackerKit's crack tech team is back in the office).
So if you don't get a survey today— DON'T PANIC!
Yours will be coming SOON. Hopefully this weekend. Monday or Tuesday, latest.
REMEMBER:
The survey is where I collect your mailing address and postage costs. It'll also give you a chance to grab, say, an EVEN STEVEN T-SHIRT or SIGNED BOOKPLATE if you didn't get one during the Kickstarter and have been kicking yourself ever since. So stop kicking yourself! No one wants that, believe me.
VERY TIME SENSITIVE: The survey is also where you'll tell me how to list your name on the THANK YOU PAGE (if you want to be listed). To take your prestigious place on that page, you must respond on or before NOVEMBER 21, 2025! After that, the book will be off to the printer and I will be unable to add your name to the list.
That's just how the universe works, man.
One last thing before I leave…
One of the EVEN STEVEN "SECRET WEAPONS" Sketches I did where a lucky Backer got to choose the "weapon" EVEN STEVEN used— in this case a tres-cool Tron Lightcycle!
I'm outta here…
KK
