What’s going on at Flesk? A lot. This is, without a doubt, my busiest year in regards to the amount of books I am publishing (nine titles between spring and fall). I thought I would run through the titles, give an update on each and share some of my thoughts.
Mark Schultz Blue Book was a fun little project. At 16-pages and being a softbound, it is intended as a cool inexpensive item available at the shows where we appear and direct through us by mail. Each copy is signed by Mark Schultz and goes for only ten bucks. The quality and printing is the same as with any of our products and offers those on a tight budget something affordable. 2010 will continue to be tough on many people as they get their feet back under them after a few tough economical years. Most of the books I am publishing this year have affordability in mind—solid volumes, packed with beautiful art, with low price points to get you all more high quality books without having to shell out the big dollars.
The James Bama Sketchbook is here! The book showed up last week and we are processing orders now. All pre-orders and stores should be receiving their copies any day now. The story behind this book is a simple one. I had visited Jim Bama and saw some of his sketches, which I absolutely loved. About a year later when my schedule opened up, I called Jim to ask if I could put together a book of his preliminaries. “Sure,” he said. And that was that. A year later the book is done and available. It can take me up to a year to get a book done based on what is involved and how many projects I am juggling. I get bored easily and prefer having too much to do in lieu of too little. I feel Jim is a living legend and one terrific guy. He has a gift for making anyone feel like family. I am always honored to have an opportunity to work with him. A few people have asked me if there will be a hardcover edition for this book. Not for this one. However, I’m working on a new Bama fine art book that will be published as a hardcover only in 2011. It will feature over 50 of his unpublished fine art paintings from his travels around the world.
On Friday I received my sample copies of William Stout: Hallucinations from the printer. What happens is the printer will send a few copies for me to review and make sure all is as it should be. If the book meets my approval then the bulk shipment is approved and heads for the shipping yard to make its long Pacific journey to the States. I will make the announcement on the Flesk Publications website once they arrive. The book came out exceptionally well. I’m happy with the colors and the wide variety of fantasy themed artwork filling the book. The deluxe signed hardbound edition is limited to 500 copies. At the moment 400 are spoken for. I will have some copies held for the San Diego Comic-Con International in July. I do expect these to sell out over the coming few months, as did the deluxe hardbound for Stout’s last book “Dinosaur Discoveries.” That’s a big hint that if you want this edition, I would recommend acting early.
I sent the book Al Williamson Archives Volume 1 to the printer last Thursday. This book is treat. It is packed with over 100 of Al’s personal unpublished drawings. The book is printed in color at 64-pages at 9” x 12” in a softbound format. I decide to bump up the dimensions so it would fit nicely alongside our previous Williamson book, Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic. A few people have asked about whether or not a hardcover edition will be available for this book. Nope, there is no hardcover. The themes for the first four volumes are already planned out, and the second volume is about eighty-percent designed. We all hope this becomes another successful yearly collection like the Mark Schultz’s Various Drawings series.
At the moment I am working on Petar Meseldžija’s The Legend of Steel Bashaw. It brings me great pleasure to publish Petar’s work in the English language for the first time. If you haven’t read his interview yet, you can click here to learn more about the book and how I came to meet Petar.
Another title which is almost ready for the printer is Walt Reed’s Harvey Dunn: Illustrator and Painter of the Pioneer West. This is one of those books that is a dream project for me to publish. Besides Walt being one of my earliest influences and someone I look up to, Harvey Dunn is one of the legends of the illustration field long deserving a lavish book collection of his work. The final tweaks are being made now. Pending Walt’s final approval, I expect the book to be off to the printer soon.
I am also working on putting together Jim Silke’s Jungle Girls. Mr. Silke has already provided me with a very thorough book map and all the material I need. It’s just a matter of finishing putting it all together and getting it into all of your hands.
Right after I am done with Jungle Girls, I will work on wrapping up Mark Schultz’s Xenozoic collection.
Then there’s William Stout: Inspirations coming in late fall. Yes, I enjoy being busy! Especially when having the opportunity to work with all of these talented gentlemen.
John
John Fleskes
Flesk Publications