Ad spaces consolidation! Or Two for the price of one.

I just made a slight change to the advertising spaces on my website.

Now on, the same advertiser owns both the top and bottom of all pages on the site. I thought it would be cool to have the same brand to open and close every page.

Should you want to place ads for your comics, books, fundraiser or anything, visit ProjectWonderful.BlackFlag.TV

Cheers!
-Sv Bell

Free ads available on Black Flag TV website

OK, nothing is free you'll say.
What's the gimmick, you'll ask...

There's none! Simply put, the banner ads on my website are up for auction, and I've set the minimum bid to $0. That means you can run your banners on my pages totally free of charge, until someone decide to bid a penny. Otherwise you have nothing to pay. Pretty neat!

Banners on my site don't go thru an approval process. You're going live right away!

That's the perfect option for indie filmmakers and comic book artists, to advertise their Kickstarter and IndieGogo campaigns!

How to go to get your banners displaying across my pages?
Easy enough - click here to join Project Wonderful (free of course), upload your banners, and select which page(s) on my site you want your banners to display!

Good luck!
-Sv Bell

New Trading Cards coming this week!

Everytime I see you folks in comics convention, you ask me "Got any new trading cards, brother?" Guess what? Next time you will ask me, I will be able to respond "Yes, YES!"

Color 2 sides, 16pts stock, laminated.

Because I'm getting a new run of trading cards this week. Finally! Two new cards to add to the lineup. Mainly used as freebies and gifts for people subscribing to my comic books, these lil'things are sexy as Hell. Take my word for it.

Want your kit of cards? All numbered, with illustrations I did: covers, paintings, heavy metal art, and still photos taken from my horror movies. All packaged in a lovely resealable bag. Get'em while they're... OK it's getting cheesy now.

'Nuff said, here's the Paypal link to order the kit for $5 postpaid.

Thanks!
-Sv Bell

No budget to advertise your stuff? No problem!

Comic books?
Self-published author?
Crowdfunding your project?
Advertising your Amazon or Etsy store?
Advertising your Ebay auctions?

I've been there too, you have great stuff to advertise, but no money to do it...
There's only so much you can do thru social media before feeling like you're spamming your friends.

That's why I'm offering banner ads on my website for free.

Well not really for 'free', since placement are auction-based, BUT I have set the minimum bid to $0. That means if no one has paid for the space, you can use it to promote your stuff, at no cost.

You can see the current bids of the ads right under the banners. If it states 0$, that's because the ads are currently free and you can run your banner at will.

You can take a peek at all the spaces available
via my Project Wonderful profile.

That is also where you upload your banners, and publish them on my website. Joining is free, by the way. Can't beat that!

(Don't have a banner? Drop me a line, maybe I can arrange that.)

Enjoy!
-Sv Bell

Black Flag TV Website Facelift

I felt like it was time to slightly update my website. Some minor changes, but that gives a bold new look to the whole thing.

Darn! I'm having more and more pages and content to show the visitors! The usual webmaster trap, we always want to have everything accessible from the main page. So I changed a bit the navigation, all the main links are in the header, but there's loads of stuff that's more or less hidden on the pages.

I leave it to you to find out where are the easter eggs!

Sv Bell

Comics: Apple picking doesn't help the fruit producer!

We live in a fantastic age with the internet! Comics fans now have an unbelievable selection of comic books to chose from, available online. Comics that can be ordered right from the artists themselves!

La Boite à B.D. de Laval

Doesn't it feel great to buy a comic book from the artist? It's so - Oh! so - very satisfying for a comic book fan to get the goods right from the hands of the author. And believe it's the best way to buy something. Because all the money goes right from your hands to those of the artist. No one in between to take a cut!

Folks, sorry to break your bubble here, but brutal truth is: it doesn't really help the artists.

Don't get me wrong. Sure, as an author, it's really satisfying to get an e-mail, a Paypal payment for those comics we make with passion. Often, comics are printed low runs on-demand, and money is always, always welcome to recoup the investment.

But what's even more satisfying is to receive an email from a retailer, or even better, a distributor. Selling comics to fans, one by one, is very cool, but retailers will buy comics 10 (or more) at a time. And a distributor will buy in bulks of hundreds. Or thousands. Yes, they do take a markup, sometimes an outrageous one, but in the other hand when we publishers print runs of comics in quantity, the production prices go dramatically down. Down to the point where it's more interesting to sell in bulk with 60% discount than it is selling comics one by one directly to readers.

«So... what are you saying? Not to buy from you?»

Of course not. My online store is always open! But before ordering from me (or from your favorite artist), check if the comics are available at your local shop. If the retailers hear about our comics, they might be up to order them, and carry the entire series in their stores.

Volume is the key. What helps the most a small indie publisher is selling in bulk. And retailers play a critical role. Ask your retailer for the title you want to get even if you know they don't carry it just yet.

Remember: would Metallica have made it if they were pressing their own albums to sell fans?

Sv Bell

Why books in print? Why records on vinyl?

There's a whole lot of stuff web-based companies and e-marketers won't tell you. Stuff like: real world still exist. And it's where you should look to have an idea of how the future is shaped. Not online. You know movies are fake, right? Now see the web as a movie. Because that's what it is!

Occasionally I get mail from people asking me how come I haven't uploaded my comics online, and offer them on various digital platforms, e-reader and the like. Why?

Simply because I prefer my comics available in print, on paper. I feel like having them displayed on a screen kills all its value, and kills the experience of flipping thru pages. Nobody can brag about having a sentimental attachment to a digital file. But they do feel something for a book they hold in their hands, and that is what really matters to me regarding my comics!

Offering books in digital format as a way to bring in extra revenues for an author selling physical books? How about offering a book on digital platform impact physical sales... Because it does. The general thinking goes like: "Hey it's available online, one day I'll download it." In most cases that day often never comes.

In the other hand, when you walk in a store, grab a book that interest you, chances are you think "Hey, I'm here, I like this book, I have it in my hands, so while being at it, let's buy it..." Why is that? Because it's physical. It exists, and unlike a digital file that will be available online forever (in legit or pirated form), there is a possibility you may not find the physical book again somewhere.

That's the real world.

Same applies to vinyl records. It's cool to buy and download a digital album from your favorite band. What kind of attachment do you have with the album? None. It's another icon in your player. You are attached to your mobile, tablet, iPod, but are you feeling anything for the files it contains? You connect only with the real, physical world. Same goes for the records you have on your shelve... You like them. They ain't perfect, records may be scratchy, sleeves may show signs of wear, but they're there in your hands. The real world connection always work.

We can go on and on. Are you taking photos? Probably. Like many people during vacations you will take thousands of pictures. And store them online, or on a disc. But you don't print them on paper. The interesting part is, photos on paper stays forever. They're in the real world. You still have (and cherish) those 36 photos from 1985 in an album on your shelve. But do you remember where are the thousands of digital pictures you took last summer?

Digital world means big numbers, but that's all what it is. Numbers!

sv bell

My new doodles site coming soon!

I'm preparing a new section on my website, where I'll be posting on a regular basis some rough sketches and doodles.

The name?
Monsters and Models!

I'm populating it right now, adding some content, and will go live in a few days!

Nothing but rough black and white marker sketches. For some reason I wanted to have it separated from my paintings and comics area. Though both pages will be linked, of course.

I also have in mind to post a doodle every 48 hours, sketch something new, force me to spend more time away from the keyboard, and make it some sort of challenge. Kind of. But - hey! - you now how it is.

Wondering why there's only reboots and remakes lately?

This Variety article about the Jupiter Ascending flop sums it all. It goes along the lines of what I've been saying for years.

There is no lack of creativity in Hollywood.

Movies are expensive, and investors are simply afraid of throwing money in a film that audience won't go to see.

Investors are afraid to throw money in a film that will end up free to download from torrents hours after the premiere. Sometimes even before the premiere.

When something new comes out, give it a shot, try it! I know it's an expensive try, but see it as an investment and support for a studio who might want to try again something new next time. Otherwise, the message they'll get is: stick to remakes and reboots.

sv bell

Want to give exposure to your Kickstarter or IndieGogo campaigns?

Well hear this: ads on my sites start at 1¢ a day. That's right!

Use Project Wonderful, upload your banners, and throw in your bid on my site!
https://www.projectwonderful.com/viewprofile.php?id=105955&tag=105955

The system is auction-based. If you want to bump out someone elses' ads, you increase your bid and spread across all the pages of BlackFlag.TV

If you set your bid at 1$ a day, and the second highest bidder is 5¢, then you only pay 6¢. You know how auction works...!

I recently created a blog sectionon my site, so since it's pretty new, there's very little advertisers. That means you can bid 0¢ and you still have exposure. Give it a try and see how it works for you!

https://www.projectwonderful.com/viewprofile.php?id=105955&tag=105955

See you there!
sv bell

System Upgrade Next Monday

Finally, I got confirmation.
Next Monday, the network technician will be at my place to upgrade my video router! At last!
So just a few more days with low bitrate, just a few more days with low quality broadcast. Hang on there folks.

Starting next week I'll be broadcasting via optical fiber, which will allow a much more solid stream, and a much higher quality. The past week was pretty hectic, I'm glad it's almost over. Not easy to be a TV station without the resources (and incomes) of a 'real' TV station.

Bear with me!!

sv bell

Horror for dessert, please!

You're totally right, this is a cake!
If this not the sweetest tribute to The Exorcist, I'll be damned!

Several years ago - before the web was cool, I made a Hellraiser' Pinhead cake for a friend's birthday. Molded on my own face with foil paper (...) I stuck in it an array of candles. Result was nowhere near as good as this one hereby though. But I definitely do have a thing for horror-themed cakes!

That whole 'Support' thing!

We read it everywhere on the web... Support! Support! Support!!

Black Flag TV is no different and just like everybody else, supporting the station is critical. Yes, there are paid Roku subscriptions, but that's nowhere near enough to fund a live TV broadcast. It helps, but it doesn't cover everything.

OK, now what's the best way to support Black Flag TV?
There are plenty of options, but the best one, by far, is to buy my comic books! Yes, most of the funds to run the TV channel come from my print comic books. It may not seem a lot, but real world goods is where revenues are. That's where the expenses are for my TV channels, and money has to come from the real world too. It's a simple concept that no online marketer will put forward, for obvious reasons.

By getting my print comic books, you get a nice, highly entertaining little book in your hands, made by me, and the moolah I get from the books sales are invested in the TV station. I write and draw the books myself, so there are no 'real' expenses (except ink, paper, and lots of labor of course.)


Sv Bell's Comic Books

But you know, basically, anything you can buy in Black Flag TV store will help! Books, DVDs, and there's also a donation option available. But the best route is and will remain the comic books!!

Black Flag TV Store

Thanks!!
Sv Bell

Black Flag TV television network is expanding!

Yes, much more stuff is coming soon. Right now, there are three live channels broadcasting, and a fourth one is in preparation: a channel that's dedicated solely to my own productions!

24h a day, you will be able to watch, TV-style, all the films I've made, and those I'll be making in the future! To date I have 5 feature films released, and many short films. Also a whole bunch of experimental dark movies. Some music videos as well. Bottomline that's a lot of content I can gather together in a single TV channel.

Just like the other Black Flag TV streams, this station will be live on the website, and also available as a Roku channel!

Because of that, I also need to increase my bandwidth pipeline. All my TV channels are hosted on my own video servers, right in my office. None of my content is online, all is broadcasting live from my studio. That means a lot of horsepower is needed...

sv bell