Creator's Rant

Anime North 2008

Secrets of Sorcerers creator, Sara E. Mayhew, will be attending Anime North '08 as a guest artist May 23-25th, 2008, in Toronto. For more info visit the following links (right-click open in new window):

Anime North 2008 Guest Page
Sara Mayhew.com AN'08 blog entry
Secrets of Sorcerers Official Facebook group

New Online Store

The online store has be offline for a while now, but now it's back! The new store is simple in both function and style, since it's purpose is to provide an simple and easy way for anyone to purchase Ztarr Manga Studio products (which are available currently only in a select few stores). All products are shipped directly from the studio and all online payments are made using PayPal.

Visit the online store at www.ztarr.net/store

Webmanga Versions

Regular HTML versions of all Volume 1 chapters have been uploaded to the Manga section. Previously, volume 1 was only available as a FlipBook version, which required flash. Not all readers could view the flash versions properly, or had issues with screen resolution. Now, readers can choose to read the SoS webmanga in a standard version made of .jpg images displayed in a simple HTML navigation.

Volume 2, currently at chapter 6, is available in the standard version only, and will become available in the FlipBook version as chapters are completed.

Anime North '07 Guest Appearance

--Glad to announce that Secrets of Sorcerers mangaka, Sara E. Mayhew, is on the guest lists for Anime North '07. The convention is surely the biggest Anime convention in Ontario, which takes place annually in Toronto. Ztarr Manga Studio will have a booth in the corporate area, and Sara will be speaking at some of the con's panels.

More info coming soon.

Anime North's official website: www.animenorth.com
As always, visit Sara's blog at www.saramayhew.com

Northern Ontario Mini-tour

Secrets of Sorcerers mangaka, Sara E. Mayhew, was a guest speaker this week at several Northern Ontario seperate schools. Mayhew spoke to students from grade 4 to grade 8 in Kirkland Lake, Englehart, New Liskeard, and Cobalt.

For more on her mini-tour, visit Sara's blog at www.saramayhew.com

Webmanga Update

Volume 2 Update!

Pages 6-11 of Chapter 6 have been uploaded. Enjoy!

UPDATES!

Yes, finally, an update to the webmanga! Although it's only the first 5 pages of volume 2...I was planning on finishing the entire chapter before updating, but it's been so long. Hopefully there will be more pages added soon.

Please let me know what you think of the Flashbook versions of Volume 1. I'm going to publish Vol 2 in standard HTML format atleast until there is a whole chapter completed to make a flashbook out of. If some of you are having trouble with the flash versions of the manga, I would be willing to make HTML versions of them as an alternative.

Other updates today include two new fanarts added to the fan page. This time it's drawings of characters other than Kaori/Lela...YAY!

Book Signing!

Secrets of Sorcerers creator, Sara E. Mayhew, will be signing copies of the volume one graphic novel this weekend at the local Coles bookstore in North Bay. The book signing will be held in the Northgate Mall on Saturday from 1-3pm. Be sure to stop by!

Coles
Saturday, December 16th,
1pm - 3pm
Northgate Mall, North Bay, ON

Volume 1 Available at Amazon.com

Secrets of Sorcerers is now available through Amazon.com. Visit the Goods section for more details. If you've already purchased a copy of SoS Vol. 1, please head over to the Amazon.com website a give it a good review!

SoS Vol. 1 @ Amazon.com (Right-click and Open in New Window)

Of course, you can always get Secrets of Sorcerers products straight from Ztarr Manga Studio at the official online store: http://www.ztarr.net/store

Note: Volume 1 now comes with a free SoS limited edition postcard, whether you buy through Ztarr Manga or Amazon.com.

BRAND NEW SITE!

Welcome to the brand new "2007 design". I hope you like it. Here are some of the new features:

-Flash FlipBook Manga viewer
-New Fan mail form
-New Fan corner

...and of course, a brand new design for the whole site.

Work is coming along nicely for Volume 2--updates to the online manga are on the way.

New Site and Volume 2 Coming Soon...

Hey,

It's been quiet here a lot lately. Volume 1 is complete and the cause for delays on Vol 2 updates is due to production--I'm still working on getting the first chapter of it done.

Also, I'm working on creating a new site design, to celebrate the upcoming Vol 2. The "2007" site is a lot cleaner than the current site--which is starting to get quite cluttered. The new site has a brand new setup for the online manga. All the online pages will be delivered through a manga-viewer, similar to Tokyopop's online manga viewer.

I've ordered some shinny-new postcards with some SoS artwork I made. I'd like to give them away with purchase of the graphic novel, like I've been doing with the posters at various cons. They'll also be given away if there's still some left when the Vol 2 GN comes out, whenever that may be.

SoS is really in need of an actuall publisher...so I can focus more on production and less on distributions and sales. So if you want Volume 2 to be release faster, write TokyoPop, Seven Seas Entertainment, Viz, or any other manga publisher you can get a hold of and tell 'em you want more SoS ^_^

Vol 1 Online COMPLETE

Volume 1 of the SoS webmanga is now complete. Don't forget to pickup your copy of the SoS Vol 1 graphic novel, which contains completely new artwork and extras. You can buy vol 1 through the online store, or at participating retailers.

Volume 2 updates are coming soon.

Volume 2

The first chapter of Volume 2 is in production. It's still not clear whether it will be done in time for Anime North this weekend. There were plans to have it available in an issue-sized format, however, SEM will have to pull off a miracle to get it printed in time.

The good news is that updates are on the way. The last chapter of Volume 1 is wrapping up and volume 2 will soon follow.

...and don't forget to visit the Ztarr Manga Studio booth this weekend at Anime North '06 in Toronto, ON. SEM will be there signing books and giving away free autographed posters. We'll also be giving away Letraset prize packs.

Letraset Sponsors Ztarr Manga Studio

I'm proud to announce that Letraset (www.letraset.com) is sponsoring the Ztarr Manga Studio booth this month at Anime North (www.animenorth.com). We'll be having a draw to win great prizes provided by Letraset, as well as some studio goodies: Secrets of Sorcerers Vol. 1 GN, Love Pet #1, and Secrets of Sorcerers #6, all autographed!

Anime North 2006: SoS Chapter 6

Ztarr Manga Studio is heading to Anime North, May 26-28, in Toronto. Of course, volume 1 of Secrets of Sorcerers will be available, which contains the first 5 chapters of the series, as well as exclusive extras. Recently, a new series was made available at the Toronto AnimeCon: a 32 page issue-sized manga named "Love Pet". Plans are in the works to make a simular issue-sized version of Secrets of Sorcerers available at Anime North '06 next month. The issue will pick up from the graphic novel and contain chapter 6.

This will be a great chance to meet with the creator of the series and get your copy of the SoS print editions.