E4:  building the brand

So, I moved to Instagram. I had an old account where I used to post my best clips of the game, Fortnite. You know what was really annoying? Going through and deleting all those trickshot videos and unfollowing the hundreds of Fortnite fan accounts. It was like trying to clean up after a food fight in the cafeteria—messy, time-consuming, and just a bit embarrassing!

After setting up the Instagram account, I tackled Facebook for the 'oldies' (aka my family) and TikTok for my younger target audience. It was fun because I also love graphic designing and having these social medias allowed me to create a variety of posts about my comics and books.

Moving on to the trailers. Why did I go into making them? Well, if you didn't know already, I like dabbing in different things and making a trailer felt like the closest I’d get to having a film made about my projects—minus the big Hollywood budget and red carpet. Creating the trailers gave me the opportunity to make the books and comics more exciting and more inviting for new viewers. It also let me show my audience how I imagined the characters talking, as well as the background and location they were in. And the cherry on top? Choosing the music. This way, I was able to show what mood I wanted the comics/books to be.

Now, if you’ve seen the trailers, you might’ve noticed I didn’t animate that much. The Cambio trailer, for example—I just drew his mouth moving differently and called it a day. But, I'll let you in on a secret: I struggle with animation. Probably because I haven’t spent enough time actually learning how to do it!  But, I loved editing my videos and composing the trailers. So while the animation might be a bit...let’s say “minimalist,” at least the trailers are catchy enough to distract you from it. Or so I hope! 

If you’ve had a look around the website, you’ll notice there are quizzes for most of the books and comics. I added them to see how many people really understood the story I was telling and to make the site more interactive. But judging by the number of quiz takers, I’m starting to think my quiz-making skills are a bit like my attempt at animation: a work in progress!

Another attempt at expanding Jimbowha Productions was creating theme songs for some of the projects. While I might have a skill in drawing, my music skills are so bad that even my dog leaves the room when I make a theme tune! Luckily, we have technology these days to help cover up my ‘unique’ sounds! The reason behind this was to add a feeling or a mood that related to the project.

You might have noticed that Jimbowha Productions is also in Spanish. For those who don’t know, I speak Spanish! When I was trying to grow my website, I thought, ‘Why not use all my skills to reach a bigger audience?’ So, I decided to release Cambio, my first comic in both English and Spanish. This way, I could use my other capabilities to good use—and hopefully, expand my fan base. After all, even if your skills seem as random as being able to do a perfect impression of a chicken, you might find they’re exactly what you need to stand out!

I've saved the best still last...becoming an author. Here's how it went: Just after I'd released Electronic Exodus, I wanted to complete my dream of having a book published. I didn’t want to spend loads of money to do it—I aimed to keep it as affordable as possible. Thankfully, I discovered Amazon's free publishing method! I went on to publish my books there, along with my comic book, Cora. Even though I don’t get many orders, I’m grateful for having achieved my dream of becoming an actual author. For some reason, it still doesn't feel right to call myself an author. Maybe it’s because my grand book signing event is just me, my dog, and a pen that’s seen more action signing shopping lists than book covers!