Tip sheet for the road to god knows… by Von Allan
Synopsis:
The road to god knows... is the story of Marie, a teenage girl coming to grips with her Mom’s schizophrenia. Marie’s youth makes it that much harder for her to cope—as a teenager, she just doesn’t have the life experience to feel confident about her decisions. At the start of the story, we see a scared young girl, uncertain and overwhelmed, but as her Mom collapses into a full nervous breakdown, Marie is forced to examine herself and her life and come to a decision: does she continue to be a child, reacting to what’s happening around her? Or does she take control of her life, come what may?
Sales Pitch:
Imagine it’s the 1980s. Imagine your Mom has schizophrenia. Now imagine you’re only 13 years old…
Galley Cover:
(please note that this is not the final cover)
Publishing Specs:
- ISBN: 978-0-9781237-0-3 (ISBN-10: 0-9781237-0-0)
- Order Codes: to be announced
- 142 pages
- Expected Release Date: 2008
- Trim Size: 8.25” by 11.0”
- Suggested Retail Price: to be announced
- Art: black and white with grey watercolour washes
- Not suitable for young readers
- Pre-publicity sales materials: Bookmarks, Buttons, Ashcan Samplers, Advance Reader Copies (ARCs)
Features and Selling Points:
- An original graphic novel
- Will appeal to readers of Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise (Abstract Studio, $11.95 US, ISBN: 1-892597-00-4), Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World (Fantagraphics Books, $11.95 US, ISBN: 1-56097-427-3), Judd Winnick’s Pedro and Me (Henry Holt, $22.95 US, ISBN: 0-8050-6403-6) and Bryan Talbot’s The Tale of One Bad Rat (Dark Horse Comics, $14.95 US, ISBN: 1-56971-077-5)
- The story deals with mental illness in a straightforward and convincing way
- The art features hand painted grey washes to go with the hand drawn black and white art
- Statistics from the Canadian Mental Health Association’s website (cmha.ca):
- “20% of Canadians will personally experience a mental illness in their lifetime.”
- “Schizophrenia affects 1% of the Canadian population.”
- “Stigma or discrimination attached to mental illnesses presents a serious barrier, not only to diagnosis and treatment but also to acceptance in the community.”
Pre-Marketing Plan:
- Promotional website at vonallan.com
- Monthly ad began appearing Sequential Tart’s website in March 2006 (sequentialtart.com)
- Convention appearances (including Small Press Expo (September 2005 & October 2006) and the Alternative Press Expo (April 2006 & April 2007))
- Gallery showing of early pages at Rasputin’s Folk Café in Ottawa, Ontario in July 2006, at the Parkdale Gallery in December 2007, and Ristorante La Dolce Vita in May 2008.
- ARCs, Ashcan Samplers, Bookmarks and Buttons distributed to both retailers and convention attendees.
- The entire story was serialized on GirlAMatic.com beginning on December 3rd, 2007.
Von Allan was born red-headed and freckled in Arnprior, Ontario, just in time for Star Wars: A New Hope. The single child of two loving but troubled parents, Von split most of his childhood between their two homes and, consequently, spent a lot of time in the worlds of comics and wrestling. He managed an independent bookstore in Ottawa for many years, all the while working on story ideas in his spare time-- eventually, he decided to make the leap to a creative life, and the road to god knows… was the result.
Von currently lives in Ottawa, Canada, with his writer/editor geek wife, Moggy; a husky dog, Rowen; and two feisty cats, Bonny and Reilly.
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Von Allan
c/o Von Allan Studio
P.O. Box 20520
390 Rideau Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. K1N 1A3
Email: von(at)vonallan(dot)com
Von Allan's art & writing by is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
Based on work at www.vonallan.com.
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