I haven't seen people talking about this, but the pilot for The Ebony Witch dropped! the visuals are absolutely beautiful. honestly, it has the same magic as old disney (if disney was brave enough to give us a hot elf who's actually 50 cats in a trenchcoat)
the sound design is a little rough, but that's because of the funding they're working with - if you'd like to lend some support, here's the link!
When an artist shares their work for free online, it can be easy to assume the art is free for everyone else to use too. So you grab it and include it in your own project, and all of a sudden an artist is mad at you, their fans are calling you out, you’re getting threatened with legal action—or even scarier, the artist’s publisher is threatening you with legal action.
One-shot comics and minicomics are especially susceptible to this misunderstanding because often they are seen as viral memes instead of art, or treated as public property. But is this really the case?
This guide will help you navigate using art you’ve found online. We’ll start with three basic questions:
1. Do I need to ask permission from the artist?
2. Do I need to give credit to the artist?
3. Do I need to pay the artist?
After that, we’ll offer some tips on how to approach the artist.
I wrote an article for Cartoonists United! CU has a great collection of resources to help the art community, and I was really excited to contribute.
If you don't know whether it's safe to use a piece of art you found online, if you don't know how to ask permission to use art, and if you are unsure of how to approach artists, read the article!
And if you're an artist who frequently finds your work being used without permission, spread this around so more people know the etiquette around using art online!
Can I Use That Art? A Guide to Approaching Artists and Cartoonists Online
and would it be too mean if I said that when it comes to discovering new books to read it seems like of people would rather just act willfully helpless and blame tiktok for "ruining literature" instead of putting in a very small amount of effort to find the damn books?
whenever this conversation comes up a lot of people start saying something akin to "just read older books" and while I do agree that humanity has an absolutely staggering backlog of books big enough to keep anyone entertained, it often seems to come with an unspoken implication (or, sometimes, ca very clear statement) that this is necessary because all books published now are Awful and Bad. to which I would like to say, respectfully, Shut The Fuck Up. the books that annoy you are not the sum total of everything being published.
personally I think best results will always come from just wandering around a library or indie bookstore and picking stuff up, but variety is the spice of life so here are some other places where I like to learn about cool new books coming out
BookBrowse is a great resource that includes readalikes, new releases, and the option to filter fiction and nonfiction by genre, subgenres, time period, setting, page count, debut books, and small presses.
Discover books that entertain, engage, and enlighten. Reviews, excerpts, reading guides, reading lists, info for book clubs & more.
BookPage publishes small monthly magazines that can be found in many libraries and bookstores, but all of their lists, author interviews, and reviews can also be found on their website. each month spotlights new releases across a variety of genres and age groups.
Find expert book recommendations for the best books to read in all genres
Electric Literature publishes short stories, poems, novel excerpts, interviews with authors, and even the occasional book list
Books by Katie Kitamura, Angela Flournoy, and Susan Choi are among the year's most celebrated novels
the Indie Next List compiles a monthly list of titles recommended by independent booksellers across the US, with an archive of lists
Lit Hub publishes lots of great pieces and literary news, in addition to book lists
over at Paste we've got, you guessed it, reviews, recommendations, and author interviews
Paste Magazine is your source for the best music, movies, TV, comedy, videogames, books, comics, craft beer, politics and more. Discover you
like sci-fi, fantasy, and horror? check out Reactor Mag! among other things, they have monthly compilations of all the genre fiction coming out
Reactor’s regular book reviewers talk about notable titles they read in 2025
and for my podcast heads check out The Stacks, where host Traci Thomas is dropping weekly interviews with authors about their new books and the podcasts' monthly book club reads
In the UK, drop by your local independent bookshop and pick up a (free) copy of Booktime magazine - or read it online, here:
The Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland is a trade body founded to promote retail bookselling in the United Kingdom and Ireland. I
The magazine comes out every other month and covers new releases in the two month period the magazine covers. There are interviews with authors and featured books none of which the publishers themselves have any control or say in; they can’t buy a featured book slot in the magazine. It’s an excellent resource and you can support your local indie at the same time if you have the cash to spare for a book.
You'll like The Three Tomes! Check out the Animatic Pilot on Youtube and KICKSTARTER FOR EPISODE 2 LAUNCHES JUNE 19TH
The disposable Black girlfriend, the undate-able Black girl, " why is a Black person in ( insert fantasy story) , that's unrealistic!". Let's smash these tropes into the dust.
Tammy Harris was just an ordinary 17 year old girl in the 2010s midwest. Then one night while making a short horror film with her best friend Sia, she gains the powers of a witch from an ancient tome with spirits inside. Now she'll have to capture them and face off against a mysterious foe that sends its vampire minions after her and her friends. However...she'll have to try to not fall in love with two vampires along the way. Will Tammy and Sia’s friendship survive this supernatural summer, and will Tammy's romantic endeavors with two vampires be more than she can handle?
A Bi4bi romance between teen two vampires and a teen witch, a sapphic romance between a human nb teen and a lesbian witch, a gay romance between two adult vampires. And an overall story about dealing with grief, and coming to terms with changes in your life as people come and go .. and grow.
A queer YA coming of age story about a black magical girl witch , and vampire romance awaits.
Check out the Trailer for episode 1/The Pilot now and give the full episode a watch if you like it!
Follow the Pre-launch page on kickstarter. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thethreetomes/the-three-tomes-episode-2-a-vampire-romantasy-animatic?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=The%20Three%20Tomes%20&total_hits=1
It's summer and I've been getting ads for Lokelani Alabanza's book Ice Cream Queen on Reddit of all places, so I wanted to pass it on to you and your followers! Alabanza is a Black chef currently based in Nashville TN, and her book is a cookbook full of recipes for homemade ice cream and Black culinary history around ice cream. I haven't read it yet but I *did* order it immediately after seeing the ad (I collect cookbooks!) and everything I've seen looks incredible. Apparently there's also suggestions for modifying the recipes to be plant-based too!
I wish you'd sent a link 😭 y'all gotta start automatically sending links when y'all make recommendations. Makes it easier to both share AND for people to access! This sounds really good, though!
romaincrisis
stormborns
origamiaround
gummygunk
jacobvanloon
dededos
tangentwithtanner
yousharknotpass
