Preston is working on a new anime-themed IP, best described as an 80s Robotech pastiche starring the White Lily lesbians. Now, why he's going to
Anime Matsuri specifically is anyone's guess. Maybe he'll throw himself in front of Nick Rekeita's golf cart? Who knows? Also Cecil will be going as well, which of course he is since That Star Wars Girl is going, Maybe Preston will be treated to a live version of his Mike Oxmaul character?
All of the logistics (printing, packing, shipping) of Meyer's crowdfund projects have been handled by his "secret" fulfillment company, which more or less did the job but structured their business on a value-added service model to gouge him with microtransaction fees every time they lifted a finger. It's a great model if the client is a multinational corporation or a government branch that is willing and able to throw whatever amount of money it takes at a problem until it goes away. Think the US medical system charging $10 for the sharpie marker to write on a cast. It's a less great model on a relatively tiny business like a one-man crowdfunded comic book operation. When you're charging your client $1 to put a .10 cent bookmark in a gemini mailer, $1 to put a 50 cent dog tag, $2 for a fold out poster, so on multiplied against 8000 orders, the profit margins are eaten up quickly. The innumerable surcharges reached a point where they interfered with logistics because updating the backer list (like, say, a backer moves) cost a $500 processing fee; Simple Zack didn't think of just keeping a list of all the backer list changes and submitting them in one go before shipping everything, and instead just refused to correct destination addresses.
By the time Meyer noticed that most of his profits were being eaten up by processing surcharges, they were also charging him exorbitant storage fees for excess stock, leading to outwardly bizarre moves like the "Zack Friday" firesale (no discounts though). Neither side is providing details, but the only supplied reason for the holdup for the multiple delays is that Meyer simply did not or would not pay the processing fees required to fulfill the project. However according to his latest update, after all his talk about going into self-fulfillment, the video campaign how he was "bringing it
all back" and going to publish it himself, in reality the comics themselves never left the custody of the fulfillment company. Why did he make all the videos saying otherwise. Bargaining tactic? Talking big before caving again? Hard to say.
In any case, Meyer's latest story is that he had all the bookmarks and fold-up posters and shit at his place, and once he puts them in a mylar bag himself and mails and mails them back, the fulfillment company will have to touch the bag once instead of five separate touches, and then they will fulfill the three campaings. Once he gets around to it (they've been at his place for at least 3 months). His immediate problem solved with the value added service model, he may well no longer need to publish
Jawbreakers through Frog.
A couple things I've noticed about
Knife-Hand: Blindspot
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One is that Meyer is now quietly making a second printing of the old
Jawbreakers, something that he's been unable or unwilling to do until now beyond "limited releases". This lends credence to the argument some Kiwis are making that he is in need of money.
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I'm just going to chalk this one up to user error.
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Why is the backup larger than the main story?. My guess is that after the reception that the first, failed
Rock N Roll Ninja at 22-pages, Meyer has decided to bundle multiple stories he's paid up for together into a "graphic novel". This may also explain his growing need for money.
