making a comic book

[Majestic Joey]

So I wrote a story and have started drawing it and am 10 pages into drawing it. I plan on making it a graphic novel around 90 pages. the comic has no super heroes and is about a relationship (yeah I know it's a lame wussy story). I know nothing about how the comic industry works or what's the best way to go about it besides small articles I read online. I thought I'd ask people on these forums because based on the "what is your job thread" awhile back, a lot of people here work or have had worked in an art industry. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[j-man]

You could take copies to your local comic store to sell, but I'm not sure if that's a good long-term. See if you can arrange a table at a convention; a lot of people (me included) go nuts for the indie stuff at comicons, especially with the personal touch of a meet'n'greet.

I dunno, that's all I got.

[Crowbar]

Yeah, having a table at a con is a great way to go about it. However, it helps alot if you have a bit more than just your little comic book, since even at the splurgetastic spendathon that is a con, not everyone's willing to drop a couple of dollars for an unknown comic book, and would rather get some stickers or badges with some cool characters on them for one dollar or less. If you have a friend or two to help you sell or even to contribute some wares of their own that's not only helpful but also adds to the FUN. I had a couple of friends selling a comic book and some stickers are postcards at the most recent MCM Expo in London, and I helped them run their stall, and we all really enjoyed it. They sold a fair bit, too.

[Senbei]

The easiest way to get it published would be to put it up online somewhere, preferably your own website. You might turn to one of numerous webcomic hosts for that. I have no idea how you could make money off this method (ads, I guess?), but it might be useful to be able to give interested parties a url so they can see your work. (And then we'd all get to see it too!)

As I understand it, granted that I've never run a booth myself, cons are great for getting your name and work out there, but only if you attend them regularly and frequently, which is a huge hassle, especially since you probably won't make a profit worth spit. I guess there's always the chance that your comic could be a breakaway hit or that some publisher will like it and write you up a contract, but you should expect to lose money attending cons.

If you do try the convention scene, you should try to make your book really nice to get attention. A professional image goes a long way. If the comic is a traditional format, you might try lulu.com -- they have a selection of binding techniques and will mass print it for you. Also consider learning basic bookbinding and binding it yourself; people love that handmade aesthetic. Of course, hand-binding however many copies you're making could take FOREVER -- in this case, it might be better to mass print the bulk of your stock, then hand-bind a few "special edition" copies. These copies will still draw folks to your booth, AND you can charge more for them.

Some creativity when it comes to the binding or cover design will garner attention too. The cover doesn't HAVE to be a rectangle, or just a regular paper or hard cover. I once made a comic that had a pocket in the cover that I put another comic into. Be imaginative!

I want to emphasize the disclaimer that I have never actually run a con or tried to publish anything for money. This is all info I picked up from my cartoonist friends and acquaintances.

[Majestic Joey]

Ok sounds good. The art probably won't be completed for a while though. To busy with school and graduating next quarter. I only have time to do a page a week. once I'm done drawing and inking it, I plan on painting over the panels with water color then scanning it into the computer then adding all the words with a software like manga studio (once I get the money to get that and a new computer). Hopefully everything will be done by october to make it to APE con.

Instead of running a booth, could I also go up to publishers like Onipress or SLG and ask for them to look at my work. anybody knows how the success rate with that is?

Should I worry about copyrights and trademarks when I finally do have a solid book made?

[Senbei]

I doubt the success rate for submitting a graphic novel, or any book, to a publisher is high, but if it doesn't cost you anything, there's no reason not to try! If you're lucky, the publisher may give you criticism, tell you what they are looking for, and explain how you might be able to adapt your book to their standards or just make it better in general.

Your work is copyrighted as soon as you create it, but it doesn't hurt to put a note somewhere in the book: "Copyright John Doe 20XX." Trademarking is whole 'nother deal that I don't know and don't care to know until I have to. The most reliable place to get info on the legal stuff is from the government: go here for copyright and here for trademarks.

[Majestic Joey]

Well looks like I got a lot of work ahead of me. Never realized how tough it is to make comic books. I tried drawing them before but I always lost interest before I started because I never felt I had a good story. It takes about a whole day to complete 1 page but at least it is fun and the time flies by.

One thing I don't get is how most people just write comic books off as "kids stuff." After working on this, I realized comic books are a lot more difficult to make than creating paintings. Also it seems to me, comic book art is one of the last few art jobs that are mostly done with traditional media.

Thanks for all the advice.

[gr4yJ4Y]

I'm not too familiar with the comic book industry, but I know an aspiring author. You may want to send publishers a summary of the plot, a list of themes, a target demographic description, and a small sample of the work you're trying to get published. That way you can gain interest in your project while you're working on it. Just make sure your sample is a good example of what the full product would be like.

[Majestic Joey]

I know we aren't supposed to self promote but not much has been going on around here lately so I thought I'd post that I finally figured out how to make a comic website (still pretty wonky). I'm releasing a page a week even though the comic is already finished (I'm trying to use that as an incentive to buy the comic, so far has not worked out).

Anyways here is my graphic novel, The Donut King: http://www.nicoharrimanart.com

Let me know if there are any suggestions on the website. I'm still very crappy at wordpress.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

Well, I'd place the "first prev next last" at the bottom of the page so the reader doesn't have to scroll back up after reading. I'd also make either the image or the just the text larger. The third panel in this page was particularly difficult to read even after I zoomed in.

So how are you distributing the comic? This strikes me as something First Second would publish. I dunno how they treat their creators, but I'm guessing pretty well considering the caliber they attract.

[Majestic Joey]

Well, I'd place the "first prev next last" at the bottom of the page so the reader doesn't have to scroll back up after reading. I'd also make either the image or the just the text larger. The third panel in this page was particularly difficult to read even after I zoomed in.

So how are you distributing the comic? This strikes me as something First Second would publish. I dunno how they treat their creators, but I'm guessing pretty well considering the caliber they attract.

I'd like to get the "first prev next last" button at the bottom but I'm still trying to figure out wordpress, which is a lot more complicated than expected. Also the words in the text box is a little hard to read. It looks better in print but it was tough making it work on web after lowering the resolution for the internet. But thanks for the suggestions, I definitely will try to fix those things when I get the chance but it's tough right now because I'm in grad school for a MFA and spring break ended a week ago so my free time is gone until next month.

Also I always wanted to try submitting stuff to indie comic publishers but for the most part they don't accept unsolicited submissions and only publish more known people. I've also tried just getting my comics in local stores where I live by giving them a copy to read and see if they want to hold it, but the owners never get around to reading it (and it's crazy because I live in the SF bay area where everybody is supposedly so "indie").

But hey thanks for checking out my site Dr. Bugman :)

[Jingles]

Also I always wanted to try submitting stuff to indie comic publishers but for the most part they don't accept unsolicited submissions and only publish more known people. I've also tried just getting my comics in local stores where I live by giving them a copy to read and see if they want to hold it, but the owners never get around to reading it (and it's crazy because I live in the SF bay area where everybody is supposedly so "indie").

Why not start a Patreon to raise a little fanfare? It's a good (albeit very risky) way for content creators to make some money while steadily updating their work.

I liked the comic! As Bugman said, though, I think making the image larger would make it a lot more enjoyable.

[Majestic Joey]

Cool. I just fixed the images sizes and resolution. Hopefully it looks better now.

Thanks for the feedback.

[G.Silver]

Oh! It's the guy from your avatar! No wonder he looked familiar.

So on the "getting people to buy" angle, I have always been a little iffy on the "make the thing completely, then upload pages one at a time" approach. The webcomic format is strongest when there's already a solid archive of comics for readers to get invested in, so to me, if you've already got that solid base then it makes sense to at least upload a large chunk of it at once so you can skip that awkward "I can only hold your attention for 1-2 minutes" phase, and then start updating every week or whatever.

[Majestic Joey]

I will probably try to send out review copies to sites once I get to page 15 or 20. I'm not in a hurry to put things out and trying to advertise this book right now just because I am really busy with school. But this is all very good advice I will consider. Thanks again!