Broken Frontier

Gary Scott Beatty's article in the current Comic Buyers Guide reveals the steps he took applying and landing a Xeric Foundation grant to publish his done-in-one comic book "Jazz: Cool Birth," a murder mystery in a 1957 jazz club with art and typography inspired by '50s album cover design.

This is Beatty's first article in Comic Buyers Guide, the world's longest running magazine about comic books. He has been writing about comics and publishing for 10 years at www.ComicArtistsDirect.com. The Xeric Foundation regularly funds the publishing efforts of creative people whose work pushes the boundaries of what comic books can be.

"When I decided to apply for a Xeric Grant I couldn't believe the lack of information out there about the organization," said Beatty. "I bought Xeric-winning books and read through the entire website (http://www.xericfoundation.org) but had to read between the lines to figure out what would maximize my chances to land such an important grant."

Just like when he submits to comic book publishers, Beatty knew he could steer his creativity in a Xeric direction if he knew what that direction was. "You don't submit an Uncle Scrooge story to Dark Horse because that's not what they're looking for," he explained. "I believe the Xeric website is vague on purpose so the committee doesn't 
interfere with submitters' creativity, but I found it hard to believe, with all the chatter on the internet, I couldn't find anything more specific."

A 35 year veteran of publishing, Beatty set up http://www.ComicArtistsDirect.com so he could collect articles about the production and business of comic books. He recently began a blog there recording his experiences beginning Aazurn Publishing (http://www.aazurn.com). "There are a lot of people writing about comic entertainment but, since I color and letter for the industry, I like passing along information about the nuts and bolts of the creative and production process."

Information about Gary Scott Beatty can be found at http://www.garyscottbeatty.com  and Comic Buyers Guide #1660 is on newsstands now.