Also, I think I remember Dave discussing why he got an ISSN number (or is it ISBN?) for Cerebus in the Guide..., but how did he know to do that? If it's discussed in the Covers book, um, well, I haven't gotten to that yet....
Travis - I think, in Canada, it was a "government thing". You're required to send two copies of any publication to the National Library of Canada and, when the ISSN number became mandatory, I think that was where we heard about it. They sent a letter saying that we were required to put THIS ISSN number in the top right corner of every comic book we published. That was for the comic books.
At some point, they told us to change the ISSN number from 0712 something to 7774 something. Not sure why, but -- oddly enough -- it seems to tie in to SDOAR. WAY down the road.
The ISBN for the books, I think happened the same way. I've still got an 8.5x17 file folder with...paleolithic...looking computer print-out sheets in it with a few dozen ISBN numbers. You were supposed to write the title and author into the available space to keep track of what books had what numbers. We don't do it that way any more but I'm not sure HOW we do it. I haven't published a new book in a few years.
Oh, interesting. I seem to remember you talking more about that it was something that you weren't required to do, but by doing it, it got Cerebus listed in a comprehensive guide to periodicals. I can't remember the name of the thing, but I know that libraries would carry the thing, and that by being in there, it got you "legitimacy".
On the DVD of Last Year in Marienbad, there's a feature by the same director about the French National library and how it requires copies of any publications printed in France. They featured some comics in there, I remember, and I think they said that because of that requirement, they had found some early Rimbaud writings, although I may have read about that elsewhere.
Travis - I don't know if it's even practical in the Desktop Publishing Age. Both in the sense that: if I photocopy a bunch of these and staple it in Canada and sell it to my friends, is that published in Canada? If I use a POD outfit in the U.S. but I write it in Canada, is it Canadian? Not to mention the sheer volume of work being produced across the board in the "pure text" end of things. I've read a few articles about the National Library of Canada and it sounds as if they -- long ago -- fell behind in being able to inventory, let alone store all of the contents.
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Just picked my copy of Cover Art Treasury from the mail. Awesome quality!
Many thanks to Dave, Ger and IDW, from Finland.
Thank you, Finland! I can't even imagine what it cost to get it over there.
Man, even Latter Days is old!
Also, I think I remember Dave discussing why he got an ISSN number (or is it ISBN?) for Cerebus in the Guide..., but how did he know to do that? If it's discussed in the Covers book, um, well, I haven't gotten to that yet....
Travis - I think, in Canada, it was a "government thing". You're required to send two copies of any publication to the National Library of Canada and, when the ISSN number became mandatory, I think that was where we heard about it. They sent a letter saying that we were required to put THIS ISSN number in the top right corner of every comic book we published. That was for the comic books.
At some point, they told us to change the ISSN number from 0712 something to 7774 something. Not sure why, but -- oddly enough -- it seems to tie in to SDOAR. WAY down the road.
The ISBN for the books, I think happened the same way. I've still got an 8.5x17 file folder with...paleolithic...looking computer print-out sheets in it with a few dozen ISBN numbers. You were supposed to write the title and author into the available space to keep track of what books had what numbers. We don't do it that way any more but I'm not sure HOW we do it. I haven't published a new book in a few years.
Oh, interesting. I seem to remember you talking more about that it was something that you weren't required to do, but by doing it, it got Cerebus listed in a comprehensive guide to periodicals. I can't remember the name of the thing, but I know that libraries would carry the thing, and that by being in there, it got you "legitimacy".
On the DVD of Last Year in Marienbad, there's a feature by the same director about the French National library and how it requires copies of any publications printed in France. They featured some comics in there, I remember, and I think they said that because of that requirement, they had found some early Rimbaud writings, although I may have read about that elsewhere.
Travis - I don't know if it's even practical in the Desktop Publishing Age. Both in the sense that: if I photocopy a bunch of these and staple it in Canada and sell it to my friends, is that published in Canada? If I use a POD outfit in the U.S. but I write it in Canada, is it Canadian? Not to mention the sheer volume of work being produced across the board in the "pure text" end of things. I've read a few articles about the National Library of Canada and it sounds as if they -- long ago -- fell behind in being able to inventory, let alone store all of the contents.
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