Cartoonist, The Internet Vs. The Sad Realities Of Print Publishing

What happens when not enough people know about your book for it to see print? If you're cartoonist Andy Ristaino, you take to the internet to spread the word. Introducing Escape From Dullsville, the kind of thing that comics need.

We've loved Ristaino since his last book, The Babysitter (which we recommended as one of last year's 10 best graphic novel holiday gifts, and still highly recommend), but it seems that he's run into trouble with his new book, Escape From Dullsville:

About a week ago I finished my newest graphic novel, a 288 page book collecting all 7 issues of my comic "Life of a Fetus." The collection, "Escape from Dullsville" contains over 80 pages of new material including the previously unpublished L.O.A.F. issue 8. Unfortunately, pre - orders were not high enough for my publisher SLG Comics to justify printing the book, so unless i can raise enough pre-order sales quickly it might NEVER BE PRINTED!

Trying to escape a fate worse than unseen work, he's asking people to pre-order the book on Amazon:

If we can get enough pre-order sales the book WILL BE PRINTED! ...Not only is it super easy to preorder the book from Amazon, you'll be getting the book at $6 less than the cover price! Just click the Amazon button in the upper left of the screen to order. Amazon will not charge you until the book ships so if the book never gets printed you won't ever be charged. As a bonus, if you email me a photo of yourself holding the book, I'll will personally send you an original sketch of a character of your choosing from "Escape from Dullsville!" I'm sure with your help we can this thing printed lickety splits.

To help convince potential readers, he's also offering preview pages from the book itself, as well as the press release for the book to explain what it's all about. Really, though, he had us with the first line: "It all starts when a claustrophobic fetus, tired of its surroundings, decides to make an early exit."
We're big fans of Ristaino's work and comics we can hold in our hands, so we're hoping this happens. Spread the word!