Well, here’s a new Kickstarter campaign for a comics memoir by former DC staffer Scott Young which promises some first-class lid ripping including the legendary comics scandal known as “Compgate”:
The Superhero Within is a very special memoir. It’s the story of Scott Young (me!), a long time comic book fan whose own life has featured many of the sensationalized elements of the genre he loves including betrayal, murder, scandal, love, sex, rebirth and tragedy. In each chapter of the memoir, I relate famous comic book characters and stories to specific moments of my life. Along the way readers will hear the tales of: family tragedy, my drunken past, my time serving in the United States Army, my years attending the Joe Kubert School, working for DC Comics, my first hand account of being in midtown Manhattan on 9/11, and my insider knowledge of the comic book scandal known as “Compgate” along with many other heartbreaking and thrilling moments. As a life long comic book lover I discover the lessons I learned while reading about superheroes can help impact your reality in more ways than one. It’s a unique and engrossing tale of a man who overcomes the adversity of his life to find The Superhero Within.
“Compgate” involved a DC crackdown on staffers who were turning in their comps at a local store for credit, and it certainly changed the faces of offices around the city.
Young is looking to raise $8,500 with 36 days to go.
He’s plainly more interested in writing about himself than in providing scandal about the comics business, which is not unreasonable. But I’d advise him to just write the sleaze and put it out on Kindle.
I would agree. Write the “compgate” thing as a Kindle single. Publish it there immediately and based off that feedback, THEN figure out how to do the autobiography.
Comedian Fred Stoller did this with “My Seinfeld Year.” He published a 60 page mini-book for $1.99 on Kindle. As a Kindle single and it’s still in the top 25.
And the best part is that you don’t need a publisher. Just good marketing.
This is not a Kickstarter project. He’s got his model backwards.
Joe and Noah, if all you care about is the compare and scandals then to look else where. You complain that he is writing about himself, did you not notice the subtitle? “a life related through comic books” that should tell you that he is writing his life experiences. He just happened to have been a part of compare when it was going on. Before you critic something maybe you should read what you are criticing.
Actually I read the chapters he’s posted online and this simply doesn’t look like a commercial book.