Stephen McCranie was on the staff of Scribendi 2007. After his work on the magazine, he went on to work in the comics industry and published his own works, such as Mal and Chad, which started as a strip during his college years.
His current ongoing project is Space Boy, described as a sci-fi comic about an alien artifact, a mysterious murder, and a love that spans light-years. It updates once a week and is available at Webtoons.com and their mobile app.
If you would like to learn more about Mr. McCranie and his work, please visit stephenmccranie.com.
Here, Mr. McCranie reflects on his time with Scribendi and what impact the experience had on his life and career.
What encouraged you to sign up for Scribendi?
I someday wanted to publish books of my own, so I was keenly interested in the practical hands-on operations of learning how to format books and work with printers.
What was your favorite task or responsibility while on staff?
I enjoyed reading submissions—both the good and the bad ones. I also had fun designing layouts.
What did you think was your and your staff’s greatest accomplishment?
I couldn’t really say—I’m not sure we were better than other years of Scribendi. What I enjoyed most about the class was the comradery, the late hours, the hard work, and cooperation towards a single goal. That was fun.
What was one of the most hectic or intense moments in the production process?
Reading submissions was intense because of the large quantity. I remember me and another went to LaPo and read submissions from lunch until dinner and then until closing time.
I also remember that the moment before you send the book off to the printers, there’s a lot of pressure to get the correct pagination and make sure there are absolutely no errors.
What do you miss the most about Scribendi?
I miss the people. Everyone on the staff was highly motivated and hard workers, but as a result of that we’ve all gone very different places with our lives. I don’t get to see the staff much anymore.
What skills and experiences from being on staff helped with your comics career?
I still use InDesign to layout books, and I still keep in mind the typography principles we learned when I am putting speech bubbles down on a page of comics.
What do you do to unwind after a long day?
I try to be with people since my job is very solitary.
Mac or PC?
PC