So excited to be able to show you the cover for the graphic noiz manga which is available now as an ebook on Amazon Kindle and will also be available in paperback. The manga follows the story of Noiz, the amateur manga artist as he works on the Fissure manga based on the bestselling scifi Fissure series by Shiro Ijima.
The cover features Noiz, the manga artist with his skateboard and some pages of storyboards he is creating. He is wearing his cat ears hoodie which is part of his style and has his “skatepunk” designed skateboard which he personally assembled from scratch. Noiz is only 19 years old and a little eccentric so I wanted to highlight his likes and dislikes in the cover. The red circle is for Japan like in the novella series covers as Shiro Ijima is Japanese and living in America since he was a teenager. The Shiro’s family dynamic and his interaction with his sisters is important in the series and that is why the flag is highlighted on all the covers of the graphic noiz books.
Shiro is Japanese American and his cultural background and family experience as an Asian American is key to the story. The arranged marriage his sister Julia wants him in is central to the story in book 2 of the novella series and is highlighted in book 1 of the manga. We get to see Shiro’s emotions more in the manga than in the novella series which continues the story from book 1 of the novellas and into the storyline of book 2.
What genre of manga is graphic noiz?
The graphic noiz manga is boy’s love or BL, and can also be classified as yaoi but there is no sex in the artwork. There is some kissing, hugging and hinting but the sex happens behind closed doors. This is a YA, young adult manga so I wanted to ensure there was no sex in the story to make it lose its YA categorization. The main storyline follows Shiro and Noiz working on the manga but Shiro’s flirting and the sub-plot related to the interations between the two of them is a major plot device along with the family dynamic. The manga highlights the emotions in the story of Shiro and delves into his personality a little more while touching on his flirting with Noiz.
The manga takes place between book 1 and book 2 of the graphic noiz series.
How did you make the cover?
The cover was illustrated traditionally with mechanical pencil on manga boards. Shading and colouring was applied using copic markers and then the image was scanned into the computer, leveled and sized for the book. The text and title was added and the red circle in the background and then the PSD file was flattened and turned into JPG. The individual pages were then placed in InDesign for the final book.
Where can I find the graphic noiz manga?
You can read the first chapter of the graphic noiz manga at the Global Manga Initiative. Click here to read graphic noiz manga – chapter 1
Read the manga for free on Kindle Unlimited at: graphic noiz manga – book 1
What are your future plans for graphic noiz?
We are currently working on graphic noiz – book 3, the novella which should be released around March 5. We are currently writing chapter 3.
graphic noiz – book 1 is available now on Amazon. This is the first edition and the second edition is currently in edits.
You can pre-order graphic noiz – book 2 on Amazon. Book 2 and has a release date of 14 February.
Work on graphic noiz manga – book 2 will start when we are further into the novella for book 3 as we need to get a handle on the storyline for the second volume of the manga.
How long will the graphic noiz series run?
The graphic noiz series and hopefully more manga will run for the duration of the story which follows Shiro and Noiz from scouting Noiz for his art at CommicCon, Noiz winning the contract, start of the artwork on the Fissure manga project, creation and illustration of the manga, production of the book working with editors and submission including serialization, publication of the first volume of the manga, advertising and marketing, and the eventual book tour as the Fissure manga gets on the New York bestseller list.
I want this series to follow the whole process of creating a manga. The main difference is that there is a big publisher involved. As I am an indie author I am familiar with publishers and the submission process. I did not have to deal with a lot of the rejection due to the fact that I am a hybrid author that is working with a small press and also doing self-publishing on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. I do not have a multi-million dollar book deal but I have published 20 books under my name in the last 7 years. The process of the Fissure manga which will be traditionally published and Noiz’ Disaster Code which was indie published and printed will use the knowledge that I have of my publication process to enhance the storyline.
We are working on book 3 of the novella series now which has Noiz still in the early chapters of the manga for Fissure volume one but one of the outcomes for book 3 is to get the manga serialized online and in a monthly serial print magazine. I also thing I want to have another press release like in book 2 and a showcase of Noiz’ artwork maybe at a gallery. Shiro will also do an appearance at a book signing where he will get to see his fans fall all over him.
I was just able to put graphic noiz chapter 1 up on the Global Manga Initiative so that I can share chapters for free. I had another webhosting site before but this one seems to be much better. I will be glad to share more chapters of the graphic noiz manga with you and more books in the series.
I hope you stick around and enjoy following the story of Noiz and Shiro as they make the Fissure manga.
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