(help) Making a Comic Book 0

[cmixer]

Good day, all.

I finished what I think is a really engaging comic -script. 
Then I shopped it around to a few comic book publishers just to find out that almost none of them hire writers without seeing professional samples (finished comics). 

So I think I have a few options:
(#1.) Pay to have the comic made independently on my own dime; but I'd need to hire an artist, inker, letter'er, etc. --
but at least the comic would be 100% mine (right?) with no further compensation needed if it gets optioned or re-solicited for something else ...

(#2.) Pay for a 'few' pages to be made, then re-shop it around to publishers;
but then i would be a 'partner' with that artist going forward (right?)

The business-end of this process is new to me. 
How do you get a comic made if you're a new writer? 

THANKS! 

[comicquant]

I know nothing about this but I'd try to find an artist who can help you turn the -script into a finished product.  Maybe contact a local university and try to find a student.  I'm sure there's tons of talent with a need for money!  Its great experience for them as well.  I would lay it out before even approaching them so they have something to go by.

[TylerHam]

Not sure if this 100% applies but as a children's picture book writer myself (Nothing published yet) I am considering doing the self publishing route through kickstarter. 

Like your option 2, I am going to pay for some concept art, and make a video about the book, etc...  Self publishing isnt the easiest but I (Like you, it sounds ) just want my stories out there!

 

[WoWitHurts]

12 minutes ago, cmixer said:

Good day, all.

I finished what I think is a really engaging comic --script. 
Then I shopped it around to a few comic book publishers just to find out that almost none of them hire writers without seeing professional samples (finished comics). 

So I think I have a few options:
(#1.) Pay to have the comic made independently on my own dime; but I'd need to hire an artist, inker, letter'er, etc. --
but at least the comic would be 100% mine (right?) with no further compensation needed if it gets optioned or re-solicited for something else ...

(#2.) Pay for a 'few' pages to be made, then re-shop it around to publishers;
but then i would be a 'partner' with that artist going forward (right?)

The business-end of this process is new to me. 
How do you get a comic made if you're a new writer? 

THANKS! 

A couple of publishers will look at proposals to publish your book. Dark horse and Image are two.  Having said that it is preferable to have at least the first issue completed. So you would need to hire people to do all the things you can't. If you look hard you can find someone to pencil and ink a page for $150US. Is it going to be 4 color or B/W? A colorist will cost between $50-120US/page. You can probably letter it yourself, look here (http://www.balloontales.com/) for tips. Need a free comic book font? Look here (http://www.blambot.com/).

Ok. The good news is that barrier to entry is a lot lower than pre computers and the internet. The bad news is that statistically speaking you have a better chance of being a professional football player than a professional comic writer.  I suggest you forget trying to have a publisher do it for you and just do it yourself. You can do a web comic or research kickstarter as an option.

 

Good luck.

[HighRadArt]

There's a few artist here and I know I saw another board member that published their own comic. Don't remember who it was but I believe it was a crime story.

[topofthetotem]

Spike mulligan is the self published comic.

[Westy Steve]

PM me.  I have a friend who self-published a comic book.

Most importantly, I have a niece who is a super talented artist.  When she was 13 she did a perfect copy of Ditko's Spiderman which I keep in my Con sketch book along with greats like Infantino, Stout, Perez, etc.     These days she's between gigs painting sets for plays.  I've told her a million times she should try comic books.

 

[SteppinRazor]

Self publishing through Kickstarter is definitely the best way to go to get a comic book published without too much cash outlay of your own. 

Definitely hit up @Westy Steve for samples of his niece's work.  You can also find aspiring pros, part time pros, and full time pros on sites like digitalwebbing and penciljack.  As an artist myself, please do keep in mind it's a collaboration - if the artist thinks you can drop a panel or two, or rearrange a page, at least hear them out

Edited September 27, 2017 by SteppinRazor

[Westy Steve]

This is oddly coincidental.  A few minutes ago, I got a private message from my Niece on Facebook saying she's looking for a change and wanted to know what was involved in comic book artistry.  What's strange about that is that I haven't broached that topic with her for at least a couple years.

Give me a hint what kind of characters you're thinking of and maybe I can get her to sketch some samples.

[Phicks]

There is a website called Penciljack for aspiring comic artists.   You can post an invitation there and see if you get a volunteer to draw you some pages. 

[RidersRohan]

I have an arc (mostly in my head and notes) that I hope to turn into a comic one day.  I think Kickstarter is the way to go, but I plan to network like crazy for some time before I start hitting people up.  I would start with Facebook groups.  There is a pretty large community of independent creators helping one another. There are the Facebook groups, Creator owned and independent comics hub,, Independent Comic Coalition,and Independent Comic Takeover, for example. I am sure that there are a lot more social media watering holes for independent comic creators, but these are the ones that I have found with cursory research. 

[shadroch]

Talk to the Art Director at your local HS, or if you live in a big city, the Director at a school that specializes in the Arts.  They make be able to assign students  to it as a project. It won't be a finished project, but it will give you a rough sample to show  publishers your concept. 

What you really need is an experienced editor. 

[cmixer]

Thanks all! 

I guess I'm now asking process questions ...
Once i have a story & an artist -- do you:

(#1.) make just a few sample pages to 'shop around' or put on Kickstarter

(#2) or do you aim to make the entire first issue ... 

[HighRadArt]

51 minutes ago, cmixer said:

Thanks all! 

I guess I'm now asking process questions ...
Once i have a story & an artist -- do you:

(#1.) make just a few sample pages to 'shop around' or put on Kickstarter

(#2) or do you aim to make the entire first issue ... 

Start by finding an artist and have them send no less than 3 pages of sequential art.  Mainly, because you want to know they can illustrate your story and that you can work with them.

I'm not a lawyer, but you may want to get a non disclosure prior to discussing any of your ideas with potential artists unless your characters are copyrighted.  Not sure how that works if you put them up on kickstarter.

[AdamAnt]

I don't have experience in this specifically, so take what you will from this.  If it were me, my line of thinking would be something along the lines of:

Once you find an artist you can work with, form a partnership to create the entire book at as minimal cost to the both of you as possible.  Your writing, and their art, are two of the highest expenses for a book talent wise.  With both of you working on speculation for mutual benefit you eliminate that cost entirely.  Just make sure you have an agreement in writing detailing percentages and who owns the characters.  Ideally, in this case, you should limit your partner's stake to the one book and you retaining ownership of any characters you created.  You can always create a new deal later should you want to continue the partnership.  Once you have art and story on paper, you have something tangible to take to kickstarter.

Kickstarter absolutely favors those with a completed project that just needs funding to bring to market.  You can have a few sample pages, but a finished product almost always gets more backers.  Up to this point, you should have next to no costs, so you can easily bundle those minimal costs into your kickstarter funding goal to recoup them up front.  Once you have a kickstarter listed, you are going to have to promote the hell out of it.  People have to know it exists, and it has to be compelling.  Look at the successfully completed campaigns and you'll start to see similarities.  They have a well written pitch filled with detailed information, and they usually have at least a promotional video where the creators explain why they thought their project was worth pursuing.

Assuming your kickstarter is successful, you will have a finished book, funding for printing and distribution, and no debt connected to the project other than fulfilling whatever perks you offered your backers (which should have been factored into your funding goals and donation levels).  There may be industry nuances I'm not aware of, but the basic idea is to use your partnership's talents to minimize your production costs.  The more you are willing to share the rewards of the end result, the less your up front costs.  Given that statistically your book is likely to be another drop in an ocean, the less you money you spend on it's creation, the better.  Likewise, statistically speaking, the chances of you having to split billions in profits/licensing is also incredibly low.  In reality, if your book is a success, you're probably going to be splitting profits pretty close to what you would have paid out of pocket to create the book.  Do you want to spend a lot up front on the hopes you might have created a winning lottery ticket, but in reality will be lucky to break even on?  Or, do you want to get your book out there for almost no cost, with virtually no financial risk, that even if it flops you might still turn a small profit?

Edited September 27, 2017 by AdamAnt

[Artboy99]

13 hours ago, AdamAnt said:

I don't have experience in this specifically, so take what you will from this.  If it were me, my line of thinking would be something along the lines of:

Once you find an artist you can work with, form a partnership to create the entire book at as minimal cost to the both of you as possible.  Your writing, and their art, are two of the highest expenses for a book talent wise.  With both of you working on speculation for mutual benefit you eliminate that cost entirely.  Just make sure you have an agreement in writing detailing percentages and who owns the characters.  Ideally, in this case, you should limit your partner's stake to the one book and you retaining ownership of any characters you created.  You can always create a new deal later should you want to continue the partnership.  Once you have art and story on paper, you have something tangible to take to kickstarter.

Kickstarter absolutely favors those with a completed project that just needs funding to bring to market.  You can have a few sample pages, but a finished product almost always gets more backers.  Up to this point, you should have next to no costs, so you can easily bundle those minimal costs into your kickstarter funding goal to recoup them up front.  Once you have a kickstarter listed, you are going to have to promote the hell out of it.  People have to know it exists, and it has to be compelling.  Look at the successfully completed campaigns and you'll start to see similarities.  They have a well written pitch filled with detailed information, and they usually have at least a promotional video where the creators explain why they thought their project was worth pursuing.

Assuming your kickstarter is successful, you will have a finished book, funding for printing and distribution, and no debt connected to the project other than fulfilling whatever perks you offered your backers (which should have been factored into your funding goals and donation levels).  There may be industry nuances I'm not aware of, but the basic idea is to use your partnership's talents to minimize your production costs.  The more you are willing to share the rewards of the end result, the less your up front costs.  Given that statistically your book is likely to be another drop in an ocean, the less you money you spend on it's creation, the better.  Likewise, statistically speaking, the chances of you having to split billions in profits/licensing is also incredibly low.  In reality, if your book is a success, you're probably going to be splitting profits pretty close to what you would have paid out of pocket to create the book.  Do you want to spend a lot up front on the hopes you might have created a winning lottery ticket, but in reality will be lucky to break even on?  Or, do you want to get your book out there for almost no cost, with virtually no financial risk, that even if it flops you might still turn a small profit?

The issue for a professional artist in this scenario is: how much am I going to make for the work I will be doing. The time it takes to draw a single page is usually a full work day and that is just pencilling. The art isn't inked yet nor colored nor lettered.

Or another way to put it: how much do any of you make per hour.  What do you do for a living, and are you willing to do that work on speculation hoping you will get a paycheck later. Unlikely.

The OP will have to offer something of financial value.

 

[SteppinRazor]

2 hours ago, Artboy99 said:

The issue for a professional artist in this scenario is: how much am I going to make for the work I will be doing. The time it takes to draw a single page is usually a full work day and that is just pencilling. The art isn't inked yet nor colored nor lettered.

Or another way to put it: how much do any of you make per hour.  What do you do for a living, and are you willing to do that work on speculation hoping you will get a paycheck later. Unlikely.

The OP will have to offer something of financial value.

 

Any potential artist should have some portfolio of sequential work already, even if it's just submissions for the big companies.  You're right, it takes a full day's work (plus some front end time on layout and composition), and though many will ask others to work for free, few will work at their jobs for free.

Edited September 28, 2017 by SteppinRazor

[cmixer]

I am 100% okay with 'paying' an artist since it takes their time;

But what do i get for my money?
Do i get to keep the pages?
Do i get to keep the reproduction rights since you've already been compensated? 

Good conversation ... thanks ... 

[Artboy99]

6 minutes ago, cmixer said:

I am 100% okay with 'paying' an artist since it takes their time;

But what do i get for my money?
Do i get to keep the pages?
Do i get to keep the reproduction rights since you've already been compensated? 

Good conversation ... thanks ... 

In a work for hire basis: yes you keep the pages. You now own them and can reproduce them as you see fit.

[SteppinRazor]

9 minutes ago, cmixer said:

I am 100% okay with 'paying' an artist since it takes their time;

But what do i get for my money?
Do i get to keep the pages?
Do i get to keep the reproduction rights since you've already been compensated? 

Good conversation ... thanks ... 

You'd need a contract if you are hiring someone for your book, so you can spell all that out.  I'm no expert, I've never been hired to draw a comic, but I think typically the art and repro rights would belong to you

I wouldn't pay someone to draw a sample sequential page(s) of your comic, I would look at existing portfolios, and narrow down from there.  Then if you want them to do character designs, pay them a fee for that and state that you own the rights to the drawings.

Edited September 28, 2017 by SteppinRazor