A couple more Hereville sketches

Back when I was selling the self-published comic book of Hereville, folks sometimes paid extra for their comic in order to have me do a drawing on their title page. (A similar offer is now available for folks who preorder the hardcover book). Sometimes these sketches would be requests, other times I’d just choose a theme myself.

Anyway, here are two more of those sketches. You can see a whole bunch of Hereville title page sketches here on Flickr.

And the second one…

Hereville Flip-Though Video

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Remember, Hereville is now available for pre-order. (Yes, you’ll be hearing me say that a lot in the next two months. 😛 )

Thanks to Jenn Lee for making this video!

Preorder The Hereville Graphic Novel!

Hardcover
6″x9″
144 pages (with 139 pages of comics).
Color

The Hereville graphic novel is now available! I have copies on hand, and are generally shipping them out within a week of receiving orders (but it can take longer if you want a drawing). The book is also in stock at many bookstores (both real-world and online).

You can find an independent bookstore that carries Hereville by checking Indie Bound. Or you can preorder Hereville from online booksellers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Due to the discount those folks provide, this is definitely the most affordable way to buy Hereville, and I don’t mind a bit if you’d prefer to order through them.

That said, I am selling signed copies myself. This is the way to go if you’d prefer an autographed copy, a copy inscribed as a gift for someone, or a copy with a drawing in it.

If you order a book from me, I’ll assume you want it inscribed “To [name of person who placed the order]” But if you’d like me to write something else (or to not write anything at all) please let me know exactly what you want me to write, either by emailing me, or by using the “instructions to merchant” option in Paypal’s order form.

Books cost $15.95, plus shipping. Shipping is $4 in the USA, more for folks outside the US.

You can also order an original drawing with your book, which costs either $10 extra (for a quick sketch) or $40 extra (for a more labor-intensive sketch). If you’re interested, you can read more about that here.

I can’t even describe how excited I am to finally be selling copies of the Hereville graphic novel!

Hereville Gets Starred Review In Publishers Weekly!

Woo-hoo!

Publishers Weekly, August 2, 2010

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword

Spunky Mirka wants to be a dragon-slayer, but everyone in the small Orthodox Jewish community of Hereville is against it. When a witch and a talking pig turn up in the woods near home, Mirka can’t help getting involved, much to the dismay of her seven sisters, brother, and argumentative stepmother.

The book brings new material to the original Web comic, completed in 2008, allowing Deutsch to make a great comic even better. His expressive, surprising drawings give life to Mirka’s quest and to the unusual and genuine relationships she has with family members and magical creatures. Deutsch weaves in information about Shabbos, phrases in Yiddish (translated at the bottom of the page), illustrations of the different looks (rebel, pious, popular) girls create with the white shirts and long black skirts they wear – and all of it is lively and engaging.

Fantastical elements mesh perfectly with the deep emotional heart of Mirka’s story. “I live in the family your mother made, surrounded by her children and under her roof,” Mirka’s intelligent, prickly, loving stepmother tells her, in one poignant scene. This is a terrific story, told with skill and lots of heart, that readers of all ages will enjoy.

Waiting For Hereville

I’m ridiculously anxious, waiting for Hereville to come out! It’s like buying a lottery ticket — but then having to wait eleven months to find out if it wins or loses! (Or I guess it’s like that. I’ve never actually bought a lottery ticket.)

Sometimes the odds against Hereville seem immense. The marketplace is so huge, consumers are strapped for money, and Hereville is such a weird book. It’s an action-adventure comic with very little actual violence in it; it’s a mass-market book with a oddball, artsy palette; probably a third of the book is about Mirka arguing with her relatives; the art makes everyone look like muppets; and, of course, it’s about an 11 year old Orthodox Jewish girl.

On the plus side, I’ve been extremely flattered — I’d even say, taken aback — by the positive response I’ve had to Hereville. The first time I took Hereville to a con, I had two publishers tell me they’d be interested, which was an enormous boost to my self-confidence. Actually getting an amazing agent (hi, Judy!) and a book deal is a literal dream come true. Everyone seems to like the artwork, despite what seems to me to be my glaring lack of drawing skill. And most importantly — amazingly — is how many readers have stuck with Hereville, despite the too many years it’s taken for anything to get done.

Of course, unlike a lottery ticket, I’m guaranteed to win. Even if Hereville sells badly, I’m still amazed it’s coming out at all, and proud of the work that Jake (the colorist) and I have done. And even if my audience remains small, it’s such a great audience!

If you create a book, and it flops… well, then, you still have the book!

I’m also committed to creating the second Hereville book, no matter what happens with book one. (Happily, I’ve made major creative progress on writing the second book this week, completing the first draft of the story. And getting the story written is the hardest part for me. Well, that and laying it out. Oh, and drawing it.).

But let’s face it: It will all be easier if the first Hereville book does well commercially. It’s easier getting paid than not getting paid, after all. The book is scheduled to hit shelves November 1st, and by January or February we’ll know how it did in the market. Until then, I guess I’ll just keep working on book 2… and chewing my fingernails.

Hereville is a “staff pick” in Previews! Plus, please tell your local comic book shop about Hereville.

Previews, for those of you who don’t know, is the monthly catalog of available comics sent to comic book stores all over the USA (and I think Canada as well?). Each month is a huge, glossy brick of more comic books than anyone could ever read — so it’s easy for a new and unknown comic to get lost.

(Unless, of course, people like you call your local comic book store and ask them to carry Hereville. Hint, hint.)

So I’m relieved and thrilled that in the August issue, Hereville will be one of seven “Staff Picks.” Woo!

Here’s what Kate Henning wrote in her review of Hereville:

Witches, trolls, talking pigs, and knitting lessons — yup, Hereville brings the goods. With its heroine growing up in a blended family, an orthodox Jewish community, and a rich fantasy world, there are a few different gimmicks this book could lean on, but Deutsch neatly balances these elements rather than belaboring them, making for a fun and endearing story.

Eleven year-old Mirka Hirschberg is a sympathetic, dynamic protagonist who will appeal to fans of Raina Telgemeier’s Smile, Jone Yolen’s Foiled, and even Joe Kelly’s I Kill Giants. As a sister, daughter, and aspiring dragon slayer, she joins the heroines of these other works as an appealingly imperfect character learning to understand her own goals. She’s also very bright, and it’s entertaining to watch her start debates with her stepmother Fruma, who is not so much wicked as wickedly clever.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword is only the first chapter in a story that promises much more fantastic adventure and social tension. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in Orthodox Jewish culture, sword acquisition, or trolls with an affinity for needlecraft.

See PREVIEWS page #218

Thanks so much, Kate!

I loved both Smile and I Kill Giants, so it made my day to be listed in that company. (I haven’t read Foiled, but now I think I really must.)

By the way, that last line — “PREVIEWS page 218”? That’s what you tell your local comic book store, when you ask them to stock Hereville — they can find it in the current issue of PREVIEWS, on page 218. And, of course, you’re going to call them and ask them to carry Hereville, right? Please? Pretty-please? Do it today? Pretty-please with sugar on top?

(I’m not too dignified to beg. Heck, I love begging.)

Of course, you can also buy Hereville in bookstores (on shelves November first), or you can pre-order it from Amazon and other web outlets. In addition, I’ll be making pre-orders available in the next week or two for people who’d like to buy autographed and/or sketched-in copies — I’ll post once I’ve got the details worked out.

Comic-Con vs The Westboro Baptist Church

Comics Alliance has a lot of fun photos from the counter-protest against the homophobic, America-hating, horrible-in-every-way Westboro Baptist Church, which was in San Diego briefly to protest Comic-Con.

Report from Comic-Con

Sheila Keenan, Hereville’s wonderful editor at Abrams, with whom I have spent countless hours on the phone discussing trolls, knitting, color palettes, Yiddish wording, and all sorts of other Herevillisms, attended Comic-Con. She wrote in an email to me:

Also wanted to let you know that the galleys of book #1 went like hotcakes at ComicCon. A good number of people had already heard of it; others were drawn in by the cover and the tag line (folks love that!). The ComicCon audience was very, very enthusiastic!!!!

We also heard today from a Brazilian publisher interested in Brazilian publishing rights… and that a certain major Jewish book review publication is planning to review Hereville. So things are looking pretty good.

Hereville’s Goodreads Page

(Warning: Minor spoiler in this post.)

Via Steven Bergson, I discovered that Hereville has a Goodreads Page. Even better, there are four reviews on the page from people who have read the black-and-white advanced reader’s copies of Hereville.

And best of all, the reviews are positive! So far 14 readers have rated Hereville an average of 4.4 (out of five) stars. Cheryl writes:

The author draws an accurate and nonjudgmental picture of Orthodox Jewish life in this graphic novel about an observant and strong girl hero. Tween girl Mirka defiantly rejects her knitting lessons in favor of adventuring. In her quest for the sword, she encounters a pig (trayfe!) monster and witch along the way. Can’t wait to see this unusual story in color.

Beck writes:

Delightful. Well done. Interesting. Educational without being obnoxious. Perfectly tied together, beginning to end. Expressive art. Great book!

Thank you, Goodreads readers!

Steven Bergson’s “Jews-And-Comics Book Montage”

Over at the Jewish Comics blog, Steven Bergson has posted his very neat Jews-and-Comics Book Montage,” which displays the covers of a whole lot of Jewish comic books. What’s really neat is that you can click on any of the covers to be taken to the goodreads page for that book (and from goodreads there are links to Amazon and other major book sellers). (Hereville is on the top row, fifth from the right.)

Steven also very kindly included in his post a capsule review of Hereville (along with six other comics). Here’s what he writes about Hereville:

Hereville tells the fictional story of an 11-year old Orthodox Jewish girl who wants to hunt trolls. Hereville started life as a pay-per-view webcomic at Girlamatic in 2004. Since then Barry Deutsch self-published a 57-page version of his story which he has sold online and at conventions, while still leaving the webcomic online for anyone to read for free. There are so many scenes I’m particularly fond of – the knitting contest, the shabbos and havdalah pages, the explanation of how skirts worn at the school can differ. My favorite character besides Mirka is her stepmother Fruma, who can pilpul with the best when she wants to.

Those who enjoy reading the story (in whatever form you read it in) will likely also like the longer (139 pages) book-length treatment which will be published by Amulet in November.

Thanks, Steven! I can’t wait for you to read the full 139 page graphic novel — which, frankly, I think is a lot better than the original comic. It’s the same basic story, but it’s much more fleshed out; we see more of Mirka’s family (including Fruma), there’s a lot more adventure, and I think I draw better now than I did in 2004.