Making Our Story App, “GARY’S PLACE”, Was it Worth It?

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Will Terry

Is it worth it to put all that time and effort into a story app that probably won’t sell?

It’s Time to reveal the sales for Gary’s Place, my children’s story app.

Twenty some years ago when I was going to school, the illustration students had an ongoing debate with the fine art students about money and art. The illustrator’s argued that illustration was art in spite of the commission and art direction. The fine artists said “By nature an assignment takes the artist out if their vision – so it’s not art that’s being created.” I think both sides were right and wrong depending on the individual project but I think it sets up an interesting way for artists to evaluate the value of their work.

We’ve only sold a few hundred apps at $2.99

This is the blog post where I reveal my sales for my Gary’s Place children’s story app. Even though we have gotten a handful of 4-5 star reviews – we’ve only sold a few hundred apps at $2.99 each in the past two months. This is no doubt disappointing for many of you who are planning on making an app and retiring, and I won’t pretend it’s not a little disappointing for me too but it’s only part of the story. Okay more than a little, but…

Since 2010 I’ve sold over 60,000 e-books.

I’ve sold tens of thousands (60k to be exact, well, to be close to exact) of my ebooks starting back in 2010, and that, I concluded was mostly due to market timing – aka “luck”. Now that we’ve had about 4 good years of story app and e-book creation, the marketplace has obviously gotten a little noisy or crowded. But, most of the noise is coming from e-books and low quality story apps.

I still believe that an audience can be cultivated over time with a great story and good art. My long term game plan is to keep working on the series of Gary apps and Rick and Aaron are equally committed. Each new app released points back to the earlier ones and thus each new app becomes a marketing piece for the early ones and the early ones will hopefully intrigue consumers to purchase the new ones. The total project should gain traction over time. (I hope)

Why would an Artist take such risks with their time and effort?

Over the past 6 months I’ve received questions such as: Will you be able to make enough money? Aren’t you worried that your self publishing will be looked at as a downgrade in the publishing world? Seems like a tough road are you sure this is a good decision? Many people aren’t recouping their time and costs what will you do differently? The marketing seems like the hardest part – are you ready to spend twice as much time marketing your apps? What’s wrong with you? Are you mad?

These are all good questions, all but the last two, but none of them address the most important aspect of creating art such as: Are you having fun with it? Are you creating the art you want to make? Do you think children and parents will respond to what you’re doing? Are you committed to doing this for several years? If it doesn’t make any money will the enjoyment be enough compensation? The answer to all these important is YES!

We artists need to ask ourselves the right questions.

I don’t think most people ask the right questions of themselves in regard to their art. They’ll question my decision to venture down this road while they themselves have been working for years trying to get picked by a publisher – that sounds like a tough road too. They’ll question how much money I’m making with my apps while they aren’t making much or any money with their artistic ventures. One question I’m never asked is: What are you doing different to engage parents and children? I think people don’t ask this one because they are afraid that they can’t create something remarkable. I’m afraid of that too and we do spend a lot of time discussing it and working on it!

It’s not a successful climb unless you enjoy the journey. ~Dan Benson

I can’t think of many successful companies or products that came from following a proven method. Most success stories share a lot of personal struggles and negative criticism. Apple came from a couple of guys following their dreams of tinkering with computers the professionals insisted that thought nobody would want a personal computer. Stan Lee kept Marvel comics going when everyone told him there was no market for comics. If U2 hadn’t won a $500 contest and had the guts to risk it all on their art, they wouldn’t have been able to record their first demo tape. The stories of artists working on their dream projects and finding success with them years down the road is endless. Yes I hope to be one of them. I’m a dreamer. I work to be able to afford to work on speculative projects.

Should an artist even be talking about money?

But what am I talking about money for? I’m in this for the sheer joy that it is to find time to tinker with a new medium that allows me to express creative ideas in so many new ways! That’s the gold! I just wish you could spend that at the grocery store. lol.

But perhaps this kind of speculative project is in my comfort zone because I’ve had a few successes with my own projects in the past. Starting a freelance illustration business was supposed to be nearly impossible. Making my ebooks was a total unknown in 2010 but has generated a tidy profit. Making and selling illustration video tutorials on my website that lead to starting Folio Academy with Wayne, which has been a wonderful addition to my income. That has lead to starting SVS online teaching with Jake Parker which is also been an amazing project. Each one of these projects has been born out of a labor of love. I love creating art and teaching.

Trust me, you don’t want it to be easy.

There is no such thing as great talent without great will-power. ~Honore’ de Balzac

So can money corrupt your art? I think so – if you base your artistic decisions on money you may never explore the projects that your audience will love the most. If you play it safe your art will be more predictable. If you follow the “proven” method you’ll find yourself competing with many who can do what you can…that seems risky to me. You are unique. You have an artistic fingerprint that nobody else can generate. I’m not willing to make all of my artistic decisions based on financial compensation. But I have to consider it in order to maintain my art ventures.

If this thing we call art was easy it wouldn’t be of much value. If it were easy to make lots of money as an author or illustrator it wouldn’t be special. Trust me – you don’t want it to be easy.

I will keep you posted on Gary’s sales.

We should be releasing Gary’s Worms sometime towards the end of March! I’ll continue to give updates on sales throughout the year because I do think that it’s valuable information if not to understand the potential both for risk and reward. I’m a realist. I know you have to eat to live but artists also need to create to live. The trick is to make sacrifices to afford the time to create in your down time.

Make no mistake – Gary’s Place has cost me much more than time. I’ve turned down numerous freelance projects to afford the time to work on Gary…and now that this blog post is finished I’m going to dig in!

See the process in the previous step by step how to make a story app blogs.

Billy Goats & a Troll, Three Blind (Pew) Mice, Illustration wit a Twist

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Will Terry

Put a new twist on an old idea

Why not make the troll HUGE!

This is an image for a fun little book project I was doing awhile ago and unless you just arrived on this planet you already know what the story is.

I had done another book project that was for a fractured fairy tale called The Three BULLY Goats. A cute little story where the goats were the bullies and the troll was kind and gentle.

I guess that led to me wanting to

illustrate another troll under a bridge with a goats story. I wanted to make an image that would bring a slight twist on the classic BILLY Goats Gruff tale and I thought that playing with the scale of the troll might make my piece more unique. I’ve always been puzzled when musicians re-make a well-known song yet fail to put their own artistry into the performance. I hope I can give this book freshness so that both adults and children can appreciate it.

CAN YOU TELL IF I PAINTED THIS TRADITIONALLY OR DIGITALLY?

Part of my process has always been to work from a warm tone over the entire surface – and then I add tone to the shadow areas. Weather I used acrylics, oils or an iPad or other digital devices, I would still go from a toned canvas, to toned shadows to to the finished piece.

I combined two different sketches to get it right.

I combined two sketches because I was having a hard time drawing the Troll where I wanted him in one sketch. I used Photoshop to get it right…and the painting was also done in Photoshop. – Brushes that never run out of paint! Undo! Copy Paste! Endless Adjustments! Speed! No Shipping Costs!

A new look at an old illustration

3 blind (pew) mice. A new take on an old favorite by NC Wyeth called the Blind Pew.

0003 Jim M. 3 blind mice. A new take on an old favorite painting from NC Wyeth called the Blind Pew.

Artist Jim Madsen, (Wayne Andreason is his best friend) copied “Blind Pew” with a twist. He took an old favorite by NC Wyeth, the Blind Pew and put it to Three Blind Mice.

The Blind Pew ~NC Wyeth

Compare the mouse on the left and the house in the background. And the color pallet and painting technique. Although Jim’s is a digital painting. Way to go Jim.

Alicia VanNoy Call’s Apocalyptic Nursery Rhymes

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Wayne

Freelance Fine Artist, Illustrator, Alicia VanNoy Call, & her Adorably Disturbing Apocalyptic Nursery Rhymes

The Zombies are coming, the town must be warned…

We salute our former student, our friend and colleague, Alicia VanNoy Call who is not only an artist/illustrator but also a writer and an all round creative person. She is truly one of those artists that is defining herself. Alicia first caught my attention with some extremely, strait out of the tube, colorful portraits of animals and family pet portraits. Dawgart. But lately I’ve been seeing her apocalyptic nursery rhymes and I was so impressed that I asked her if we could blog about her. We will get to some Q & A with Alicia and what makes her tick, but I want to start with her apocalyptic fables here to catch your attention rather than make you scroll down or read the whole blog before you see what I’m bragging about.

Zombies and Little Boy Blue

Wayne: W (question)- Which one started this series?

Alicia: A- This [Little Boy Blue] was the first. You can see the difference in the art from the rest of the series. I will probably do this one over, and change the trumpet to a trombone. The biggest gripe I got from a few different viewers was that he could definitely still play the trumpet with one arm. That it’s physically possible. I think they’re missing the point. I personally don’t know that I could play a musical instrument after my arm had just been torn off, what with the pain and all.

Jack and Jill were Eaten for Lunch

W- This rhyme made me laugh. It still does.

A- It’s one of my favorites. It’s so gruesome and funny. I went back and forth with what to do for the image. I debated showing people actually eating them, piles of bones, etc. But I eventually decided that the image would be most interesting in the moment before the tension breaks. Just before Jack and Jill lose their innocence. And everything else.

Little Miss Muffet’s city was wiped off the map

W- I love the relationship that she and the rat seem to have. Great design.

A- This is the one that started the series gaining attention. I think it’s just the flat out ridiculous nature of it. That and the pitiful tragedy of this kid left all alone with a rat named Dave. How sad.

Rock-a-bye Baby, The Battle is over, we lose.

W- ?

A- I love how with just a few simple lines and some value, you can convey so much. This one is particularly creepy to people. It’s like, look at this nightmare world these babies have inherited.

Doctor Jack Horner it’s the end of the world

W- How do you maintain the fresh, loose look of spontaneity?

A- One of my goals with these drawings is to keep them quick (I have an art business to run after all), and to deliver something immediately legible and humorous. I couldn’t decide what kind of monster to put in this scenario; I thought zombies initially. But it could be anything, couldn’t it? So I just went with a couple of tentacles and left the rest up to the viewer.

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, it’s fallout.

W- Which one is your most popular?

A- This and Georgie Porgie are the two most popular so far. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just the expression on his face and the ripped umbrella. Like, “I’m going through the motions of keeping dry, but really, what’s the point?” The Lady Liberty head was an afterthought.

Georgie Porgie Came out of the John

W- What do you think this one is so popular?

A- People love this one. I think it’s the underwear, another doodle afterthought.

Continue reading →

Can An Artist Survive Without a Rep?

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Wayne

Will Terry is an Illustrator without a Rep, Still.

Today is March 3, and I, Wayne Andreason, would just like to start by saying, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mark Andreason and Kory Kennington. I’m Mark’s favorite brother and Kory’s best friend. And happy birhtday anyone else out there who happens to have a March 3 birthday.

Artist, Will Terry has been repless since january 2010

Q&A:

Q- so Mr. Will Terry, you don’t have a rep, do you starve?

A- Well Mr. Wayne Andreason, No, I do not starve, in fact if I ever suffered from anorexia, I certainly one that battle. In case you haven’t noticed, I am a big guy.

Q- So how do you make money if you don’t have an agent finding you work?

A- I’m still a free agent and in a position to negotiate my own contracts with my clients. I used to have a rep and It was a good ride with Shannon Associates but due to creative differences we have now parted ways. It was great to work with that company and we did many wonderful projects together.

Q- How long have you been on your own?

Four years ago I declared my independence, severed the umbilical cord and moved on. I was on my own and chose to embrace the freedom it afforded me.

Funny how, in the beginning, I SO wanted a rep to get me work and keep me fed, and it didn’t come easy. I had to prove myself before they would even look at me. It was like, you can’t get an agent until you don’t need an agent. I was glad to be a part of the team and it was good for me too. Have Paints Will Terry

Q- What’s that supposed to mean?

A- You’re the one that came up with it. And it’s kind of stupid by the way. It’s supposed to be like my artist’s credo, (like a mercenaries creed) It’s supposed to sound like, Have guns will travel. Well any way, the thing is, If you, or any one you know, has a project that you think might be a good match for me please call or email me direct – 801-368-7568. And yes, my refrigerator is running.

Q- So have you been busy?

A- Yes, off and on. More off than it seems. When I am not working on something for a client, I try to keep myself busy with a self imposed project of some type. To better my skill or to create an app or work with on Folio Academy, or an e-book. I also teach adjunct at UVU.

Q- What about the (above) picture of the boy and the fire?

A- Thank you for asking, Since I am reminiscing, I wanted you to post this self imposed assignment, of the boy and the campfire. It is one I did while getting on my “free agent” feet and trying to get a handle on Photoshop.

Q- Do you like how it turned out.

A- You forgot your question mark.

Q- Whoops, I do that a lot, Do you like how it turned out?

A- Yes, I was busy at night working on this painting trying to gain more control with Photoshop and was happy with the results. I was experimenting with the texture but I think that most of the painting worked out. If you have my book The Frog with the Big Mouth you might recognize the little froggy in the lower right. I was always jealous of digital artists for the ability to rip themselves off – you know, copy and paste, now I get to do it! And I do do it, all the time. Tee hee.

Q-So the campfire boy was a “self imposed” assignment?

A- Yeah, This piece was a “just for fun” painting. I still draw and paint, “just for fun” but back then I had to in order to get ready to send out digital art examples to my clients. (note to reader: So if you’re a client or a would be client, I’d love to chat.) I love the ability it gives me to work on details and erase unwanted paint and the control over color and value are undeniable. My personal email is will at willterry dot com (it’s in code to confuse the bots).

Q- So that was Will Terry, has paints, Will terry?

A- Yes.

How to Make an App: Step 10: Make Another App

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Will Terry

Nice Reviews on Our Story App & a Sneak Peek at “Gary’s Worms”

We are so excited to talk about the reviews Gary’s Place is getting as well as talk about the sequel to Gary’s Place. Gary’s Got Worms.

Gary’s got worms?

Starting my next app, Gary’s got Worms. It’s not what you think, In this next App, Gary has worms, but not the itchy bum type, the night crawler type. Either way, worms can be a pain, in the end.

Gary’s Place gets a 4.5 and a 5 star rating!

We have the new updates now that we’ve fixed the ending of Gary’s place and we submitted it to Digital Story Time and The iMums. Two of the top review sites for children’s story apps. Digital Story Time gave us 4.5 stars and The iMums gave us 5 stars! YAY! I couldn’t believe it! I had to start looking at the competition on those sites and found that many of the other apps in the 4-5 star range are being produced by big publishers like Harper Collins and Disney. It felt really good to be able to start and finish this project with Rick Walton and my son Aaron and a little help from Tabitha Thompson’s wonderful voice acting – and to be able to compete!

WHY IS HE HELLBENT ON MAKING APPS? IS HE CRAZY?

Since we’re finally rolling I’ll share our sales stats from Google Play, Amazon, and iTunes, but not yet, stay tuned. I will in future posts. I don’t expect to sell thousands of these, and certainly not overnight. I don’t think digital publishing works that way for the

most part. I’ve got my eye on the long term goal of steadily building a brand. Some of my peers ask me why I seem to be so hellbent on making apps. Why work on a project like this without any guarantee of success? Why not spend

more time in traditional publishing markets? Or watch more TV? Why risk it? Do you hate traditional publishing? ARE YOU CRAZY?

I love these questions – keep em coming!

No I don’t hate traditional publishing – I illustrated 3 books last year and loved each one of them. I look forward to illustrating more in the future. I’m having the time of my life working in a medium that is expanding my knowledge and skill sets. I’m enjoying the collaborations I’m making with famous children’s book author Rick Walton, and my son Aaron – who, by the way, is very creative and is actually a major contributor on interactive, animation, and content ideas. I count myself extremely lucky to be able to afford the time to work on these. But probably the biggest reason is that in order to succeed in anything artistic there needs to be risk. I’ve learned to embrace it. This doesn’t mean that I don’t hear nasty things from the voices. There always there but I’ve learned how to cage them quicker and keep them locked away longer.Many are afraid of digital publishing. Some are wishing it away. Some are ignoring it. I would just like to point out that it took nearly 50 years for the automobile to become mainstream. The early contraptions were noisy, expensive, unreliable, and inefficient. People made fun of the early adopters. Many were hoping they would fail so everything would go back to normal. I can’t predict the future but I doubt we will move away from digitally delivered and enhanced storybooks for children. This means that I won’t have to worry about my creations going out of print.

Build a Quality Brand

My plan is to steadily and slowly build a quality brand. Each new app will advertise the previous story apps and each previous app will be updated to advertise the newest story app. I guess that might be step 11 or step 12 but who’s keeping track? They “say slow and steady wins the race” – unless it’s a sprint – we’ll see. I keep hearing about artists who make an app and never make another one because they didn’t sell enough to justify the effort. I also hear about those who make one app and it’s their “Driving Miss Daisy” and they are suddenly rich, and famous and they are millionaires, but that is fluke-ish and it’s probably those guys that make the rest of us want to give up when we don’t hit a home run with our first try. I think this is a mistake if they can afford to continue. Think about some of the most famous picture book brands out there – like the Olivia stories…or the Skippyjon Jones books. They weren’t created in a year or even two – it took a LONG time. It took RISK from their publishers. So Give a Hoot, Take a Risk, and another, and another, and slowly and steadily win the race, it’s not a sprint.

Story Apps Need (good) Ratings TOO

If you’ve bought a copy of Gary’s Place I’d love to hear what you think! Also if you wouldn’t mind giving us a rating in the app store – that will help – good or bad – Preferably good. My mom used to say, you must be able to think of something good to say about anyone, or any app.

If you haven’t bought a copy, feel free to buy it, we don’t mind.

thank you

If you want to go back and see all the steps, start with step one and link from there. How to make an app-step 1.

The Folio boys road trip to Las Vegas

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Wayne

Las Vegas trip

It’s never a good idea to send Will and me to Las Vegas. We went once before and it’s the reason I’m listed in the Guiness book of world records under human appendage modifications. LOL.

We walked around.

The California Teachers Association chose one of Will’s books – Armadilly Chili for their Read Across America book for 2010 and 2011. What an incredible honor! They brought him out there two or three more times that and the following year to speak and to sign his book at their conferences. It’s was so fun to hang out with their committee members in Vegas. And eat.

We learned that the famous Faberge egg company had just gone out of business a few weeks earlier (still don’t know if this is true but the dealer made sure we knew that there is now a supply and demand issue) It would have been a good idea for us to have been rich before this trip. Either way, we came home broke so…

I must not have wanted my picture taken. Or I was just in a stupor of thought, or lack of thought. Or maybe I was trying to “act natural”.

FREE WEBINAR! 10 Step Digital Painting

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Will Terry

FREE STEP BY STEP Digital Painting Webinar

March 1, 2014 7:PM MST (mt. standard time)

You know that feeling you got when you were 5 and you got to run downstairs on Christmas morning to open presents? Not to diss on past memories but WOW – I have that feeling again! I’m so excited to be able to create a lesson and share it with people all over the world! Our last webanar “How To Draw Everything” by Jake Parker gathered 879 people from countries on just about every continent – I even saw someone named “Penguin7493″ so… (Okay, maybe that wasn’t his, or her, real name… but then again, maybe it was)

How to, Step by step, Digital Painting Process FREE!

My ten step, how to paint, digital painting course webinar is absolutely free. And the video we make of the webinar is not free, but you can get a $10 discount if you act smart, I mean fast. Anyway, we have another webinar coming up on March 1st at 7:00PM MST and this time it’s my turn to share my digital painting process. I’ve broken it down into 10 steps. You know that old saying? The one that I’m about to butcher – “eating an elephant is hard unless you eat him one step or spoonful at a time…” or whatever but you get the point. If you learn to do something methodically it can not only make the task seem easier but also give you results you can replicate, and really, that’s what’s important right?

You can also purchase the video with added perks.

For those who decide to purchase the video recording of the webinar we’ve decided to throw in some extras this time (we’re learning). You’ll get 3 things: A PDF study guide with a verbal description of each of the 10 steps. A bonus video explaining in detail how to set up Photoshop to use the texture settings in the brush pallet and my FULL Photoshop painting with over 30 layers from sketch to finishing touches. This is a high res file over 300 mb – my working file so you can deconstruct the Dragon Rider and see what she’s really made of. Don’t be dissapointed if you don’t find any bones or entrails. Use it as your own working file to replicate my layers if you want to. This is a great way to actually see how someone paints in Photoshop.

I realize that many people will think I’m crazy for letting my artwork get out there to be used by anyone for any purpose. I think most artists get a little too attached to their work and subsequent self importance. In the end it was 25 hours having a blast doing exactly what I wanted. If someone makes T-shirts out of it in some other country good luck – send me a picture of all the cash – that’ll put a smile on my face! And send me a T-shirt while your at it. I take a size “pretty freaking big”.

Pre-Order the Video & save $10 – The Webinar is FREE

It is absolutely FREE to attend the webinar, but if you would like to pre-order the video, PDF, Bonus Video, and Dragon Rider Photoshop file, you’ll get a $10 discount using coupon code “10step10” – but this will expire the end of the day of March 1 – check out the details in our store.

So you need to get registered for this event in order to be sent your individual joining link from GoToWebanar – simply click here and follow the instructions! See you soon!

Illustrate the word, Confined.

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Wayne

How would YOU Illustrate the word, Confined?

What do you do with your spare time?

This is a “Quick and Dirty” that Will Terry did in his, otherwise, spare time. He did this a long time ago for Illustration Friday.

You would thing that he wouldn’t have any spare time with his busy schedule. He deals with FolioAcademy, teaches college art and Illustration classes at Utah Valley University and he spends a lot of time in the boardroom. That is what we call Mother Nature. So a nice hike to clear you head is basically a trip to the board room.

Illustration Friday word or phrase to illustrate

Every week, Illustration Friday has a different word or phrase that they put out there for all their followers to have a go at. The thing is, they don’t really pick a winner. I mean, they don’t choose the winner for it’s merits, I think. In fact I think they just randomly choose one each week to display as the winner.

Artist Jim Madsen, I’m his best friend, has been submitting almost every week, and he his Dang good. They finally chose one of his paintings, (Last Friday, Feb, 14, 2014) for the “random”, pick of the week.

We Should do a Folio Friday weekly competition

I have thought that would be a good Idea and a lot of fun to allow any and all of our peeps, that is, those follow this blog or use Folio Academy, to enjoy a similar thing but with some kind of judging system that chooses the winner. And they win something like a trip for two to Florence Italy, a brand new car, or our art courses at Folio Academy. (Which ever costs less)

Naturally there would be a lot of times when several pieces are near equally good and we would inevitably choose one that may not be the exact best but rather, the best according to our judges opinion. And I don’t want to ever hurt anyone’s feelings, especially one of my peeps. So if we ever do this, and I do want to, I am just apologizing in advance for not choosing YOU every time.

Any way, it may be awhile till we get that, or not, what say ye? I am still pretty stupe when it comes to running a blog, so if you have an opinion, you should let me know via my personal email. wayneandreason at gmail dod com. (that is in code to keep bots from spamming me.

In the meantime, this week’s winner for the word, confined, is the above cat in the cage by my good and probably best friend, Will Terry.

How to Make a Story App, step 9, fix it.

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Wayne

Gary’s Place Now Available For Android

In this post I’m going to write about what we’ve been doing with Gary’s place and some of the mistakes we’ve made along the way – and give information on how to contact my son Aaron for help with your app.

Now Playing at Google Play and Amazon app stores near you.

First: Gary’s Place can now be found in the Google Play and Amazon app stores for Android devices – YAY! We are charging a dollar less since it’s optimized for iPad and stretched a bit on many of the android phones and tablets.

Still not a best seller.

Second: I’m not sharing sales data yet because we really haven’t gotten off the ground yet – I’ve been holding back because of all the problems we’ve had – ARRRRG! Sales data coming after we start advertising. Naturally I hope it sales like “Where the Wild Things Are” but I am also realistic. So don’t hate me if it flops. I already know that it might. That’s the beauty of free enterprise. We are lucky to have the freedom to buy, the freedom to sell, the freedom to try AND the freedom to fail.

So lets talk about the problems and subsequent updates:

UPDATE #1: FIX THE NAME.

When we first uploaded to iTunes and waited and waited for the approval we were horrified when we downloaded the app and saw that it was called “Build 17” on my iPad in the title below the icon. NOOOOOO!!!!! Let me just say, that while Apple is “user friendly” for consumers they are 180 degrees from that for developers (User UNFRIENDLY). It really feels as if they don’t care about helping you AT ALL! Or even like they want you to fail, give up, eat worms and kill yourself. When we uploaded the app file, Apple asked for the title of the app – which we filled in with “Gary’s Place”. But they don’t use that to put under your app icon – instead – they use the file name -BUT THEY DON’T TELL YOU THAT.

Now available, an awesome children’s story App, “Build 17”. No, it’s not sci fi.

Therefor, update number one, change the name to something a little more appealing, like “Gary’s Place”.

Update #2: fix the ending and reducing the overall size

The story of Gary’s Place is about a small fur bearing animal that lives with mom and dad, and eventually moves out into a place of his own. Hence the name. Gary’s Place.

Well one of my online friends – Elizabeth – informed me that at first she interpreted the ending as Gary moving back in with his parents at the end. “Hmmm”, I thought, “that’s not good.” So I asked Jan Watford who had reviewed Gary’s Place on her blog if she read it that way as well – and she said, “Yes, isn’t that what you intended?” …..Crap!
So…Update # 2 was to fix the ending and reducing the overall size of the app…and that update just went live for iPad. Yay!

Update #3: add a navigation bar

Then my app builder guy, AKA my son Aaron (who’s been working really hard on all of this) thought we needed navigation to make it easier to pick a specific page in the app and go directly there. (It will disappear after a few seconds so it’s not in the way.) That was a GOOD CALL. I’ve been so busy with a large freelance assignment that I haven’t been able to give it as much attention as it deserves. So luckily I have him around, and yes, I compensate him for his brilliance and work. He went ahead and did added the navigation, and it makes using the app Sooo much easier, and user friendly. Take that Apple. Below is a screen shot of what update #3 will look like. So Update #3 will add a navigation bar to quickly jump to any page and reduce the size even further.

UPDATE #4: TBA and in the mean time, Start my next App

My writer/partner, Rick Walton has now written the next story and I’m starting to layout the entire app – and loving it! Gary’s has Worms.

My son Aaron has decided to help other people with their apps as long as they’re using Kwik. He’s spent the last 3 months working with Kwik and has gotten pretty good at it. He’s offering to coach you or build your app – you can visit his site right here: or copy and paste or click this>>>http://www.atanimations.com/ and here’s a gratuitous link to FolioAcademy.com where you will find art lessons online.

Happy Valentines Day

P.S. Happy Valentines Day. Thanks to Photoshop, I was able to customize a candy heart pic for my wife and valentine RuthAnn.

I will post step 10 on Feb, 21, 2014, put it on your calendar, and put that on your fridge. See you then.

I Love Presenting Art to Children

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Will Terry

Presenting is The Funnest Part of Being an Artist.

School Visit in Katy TX

I love presenting to kids because of the honesty…like…”you’re cat sucks!”…with all the sarcasm and BS we adults feed each other – sometimes a little brutal honesty is refreshing. Painful, but refreshing.

Of course it is funner, (are funnest and funner real words? Good question, let me answer that right here in the middle of my sentence since you so kindly interrupted and pointed out my ignorance. According to Grammarist.com “For now, the fact remains that funner and funnest are, erroneous and still considered unacceptable by many editors and other careful English users”.) to get comments like, “your cat is cool!” or You are the best artist EVER!” And some times the children say things like that too. So much for brutally honest.

So these pics are from a school visit I did in Katy Texas. Here is a little picture of a child’s work. I love the Kids drooorings.

School Visit in Katy TX Child Drawing

Met some awesome librarians in Katy TX… Everything is bigger and better…and sweeter.