Making your own comic book

Making your own comic book? Read this first

Editor note: Christian Sager is the creator of of the Children and Crossings He has also canada goose clearance written essays cheap Canada Goose about the comics industry, punk subculture and national identity.

In 1984, two guys named Kevin and Peter came up with an idea for a comic book. They didn’t wait Canada Goose sale for a company to publish it. Instead they took the “do it yourself” (DIY) route, self publishing their canada goose clearance sale own work.

Kevin took money from his tax return and then borrowed more Canada Goose Online from his uncle. They used the cash to print 3,000 comics. Peter thought they should also market the book, so they printed ads and sent press packets out to major media outlets.

Suddenly canada goose coats on sale Kevin and Peter started getting calls from retailers and distributors who had heard about their comic through local news. Those first 3,000 copies sold like hot cakes. Kevin and Peter burnt Canada Goose online through three more canada goose coats printings, totaling 153,000 copies.

By comparison, July 2011’s best selling comic was estimated to have sold only 135,564 copies. Self publishing a printed comic book is not so easy in this day and age.

Comic creators who self publish have their own community, either striving to reinvent the medium or hoping to make their mark and get the attention of publishers. These DIY comics form an entire stratum at the base level of the comics industry. Webcomics and digital distribution have changed the landscape, but publishing comic books is hard work, Canada Goose Jackets especially in print.

“DIY comics rarely turn a profit when you add in the cost of printing and table fees if you’re setting up at conventions,” says Eraklis Petmezas, self publisher of comics like goosesale Lune and Cigarette. By “table fees,” Petmezas refers to the cost of setting up a space at a comic book convention to sell his wares. Most creators today barely break even and it’s incredibly difficult to make a living from it. For some people, yes, it possible to make a living; for others of buy canada goose jacket cheap the same ability, no.

DIY Comics allow creators to tell their stories without having to obtain the approval of the gatekeepers at a publisher. There’s currently a plethora of independent comics out there with unique, interesting voices. These creators are canada goose store their own publisher. Many canada goose replica times they’re all three.

Rich Barrett is such a creator. He’s also a commercial graphic designer, who is used to earning an hourly rate in his day job, much higher than what he receives for his demanding comic book efforts.

“Making comics requires so much of my time that canada goose outlet store locations my hourly rate works out to less than minimum wage,” he says, “And that for work that people would actually pay me for. Making my own graphic novel and selling it online in installments brings in even less of a revenue stream.”

Let’s get down to brass tacks. How much does it cost to simply create a comic? Jim Campbell, canada goose deals a comic book letterer who has worked on comics like and Fairy Tales, recently presented a loose breakdown of what publishers pay beginning creators. His estimate is $250 per finished page, or a total of $6,000 for your average 22 page issue. There are still publication costs to consider. Luckily for comic entrepreneurs, there are publication options now that weren’t available to Eastman and Laird. Barrett says, canadian goose jacket “For costs that almost anyone can afford you can now get professional Canada Goose Parka looking comics printed via print on demand (POD) resources.”

Printing could be cheaper if you go with a different kind of company that doesn’t use the digital printing of POD services, but the ins and outs of pre press canada goose black friday sale print production (workflow, proofing, formatting etc.) can be a tricky and costly learning curve for first timers.

Some creators who sell small quantities buy canada goose jacket make Canada Goose Outlet “minicomics” instead: photocopied issues bound with a saddle stitch stapler. Not all comic shops will carry minicomics though, making them even more esoteric. Some comic book readers don care for the format and won’t purchase minicomics, even if they’re readily available.

Once canada goose outlet vancouver a comic 2018 canada goose outlet is made, one might think the next step is distribution. Remember the Eastman and Laird story though they didn’t get decent distribution until after they had marketed their comic to the press.

This is when creators get to do even more unpaid work! Two proven methods of promoting a DIY comic are a) working the floor at comic book conventions and b) spreading the word via social media.

Networking in the online DIY community lets you communicate with fans of your work, while also meeting peer creators who can support you down the line. The canada goose outlet toronto factory comics industry is currently so small that a lot of the dollars changing hands come from business to business transactions. An important audience for DIY comics is definitely other self publishers. “Personally, 50 percent of my sales are from fellow creators,” said Petmezas.

As Petmezas indicated, conventions aren’t free. Getting table space to sell your product at canada goose a convention can cost anywhere from $100 to $500. That doesn’t include your Canada Goose Coats On Sale additional travel and lodging expenses, which can get up to $2000 just to attend. But the strength of sales and marketing opportunities at conventions can make them worth the investment. Robert Wilson co published his superhero buddy comic with Brian Winkeler last year and sold copies at conventions.

“With no distribution and very little retail support we were able to sell about 500 copies, nearly paying for the print run,” comic artist and illustrator Wilson said, “The majority of those sales were from comic shop appearances and comic conventions.”.