I’ve been wanting to link to one of my favorite publishing blogs, Buzz, Balls & Hype, for some time now — it offers great information and links for authors and small publishers. Its creator, M.J. Rose, is a self-publishing sensation who in the late 90s parlayed some brilliant Internet marketing into literary fame and [...]

A conversation with Simon Jones of Icarus Publishing.

So, last time we talked about the difference between manga and porn, what it means to be a successful publisher of erotic comics and what challenges face those who choose to publish this material. This time we’ll talk about working with Japanese publishers and bring the [...]

A conversation with Simon Jones of Icarus Publishing. (Part 1.)

Recently, there’s been some discussion about how some small yaoi publishers have been struggling despite offering quality yaoi titles to their readers. With DramaQueen in particular, it saddens me to hear of their difficulties — I’ve enjoyed their work, found their enthusiasm infectious and [...]

So late last year, I was chatting with my buddy and colleague, Tommy Roddy — he’s the creator of Pride High, a series of comics about gay teen superheroes in high school… (C’mon, y’know you’re curious — click it! ;-)) — and he turned me on to this guide that comes out once [...]

My very good friend Bill S. recently sent me a link to an article by creator Joss Whedon (whom I greatly admire and occasionally take to task) titled “Let’s Watch A Girl Get Beaten To Death.” (WARNING: Heavy, but important content — as if the title alone didn’t clue you into that…)
You should [...]

In previous articles, I’ve been discussing the process of creating a graphic novel using, as an example, the first comic in our upcoming Yaoi 911™ short story collection, “A Shot in the Dark.”
I’ve covered writing and formatting the script as well as using thumbnail sketches as an aid to creating final pencils. [...]

…and why our book will be large and in full color.
In the comment section to Yaoi Art: “A Shot in the Dark” Pencils, I was asked why I was choosing to publish the first Yaoi 911™ book in color — an unusual choice for a manga book. In responding to that, I also commented [...]

Recently, in private correspondence, a woman asked me this question:
You want to make Yaoi? Why? I think I’d like to see you make something by a gay man for a gay man that might appeal to me on my level. 0_0.
Even though I’ve tried to address the larger issue of this in [...]

Yaoi is written predominantly by and for women — but is it “just for women”? Yaoi works feature guys falling in love, guys kissing and guys having sex — but is it actually “not homosexual”?
Who “owns” yaoi and why this is important is the subject of this article.

Some things I’ve been reading lately have gotten me thinking about “The One True Yaoi.”
Recently, Tina Anderson got some heat for not writing what one yaoi fan considered authentic Boys’ Love works. And an interview excerpt over at Comics 212 demonstrated the lines even creators (perhaps especially creators) try to draw between [...]