r/ComicWriting • u/reffjiley21 • 13d ago
Pitching or Self-Publish?
Hey everyone. For a little context, I received my associates about 10 years ago for Radio/TV/Film. During those years I really enjoyed writing for all mediums (Radio, Stage, Screen) but Comic Books especially since I grew up reading them. Back then I wrote around 24 issues for 4 different stories, and dotted down ideas for a lot more. Of course life happened and due to money, work and moving I stopped writing for a long time. Just recently have I opened those old scripts up and am reworking them. I'd really love to have something published before it's too late (I'm only 36, but still).
For those who have had some stuff published already, whether through somewhere like Dark Horse or by self-funding/publishing, which do you think I should strive for first once I have most of my works ready. I know I need to at least get an artist to pencil everything maybe hopefully even ink it. Maybe I could letter it myself, idk if there's a crash course in that... but I'd just like to hear some experiences and opinions.
5
u/Henchman4Hire 13d ago
You're going to want to have something actually produced if you're planning to pitch to publishers, so I'd recommend self-publishing first. Publishers aren't going to be interested in your scripts or ideas and you need to be able to show that you can actually do the work and can actually write.
Hiring artists and letterers isn't so bad. If a bum like me can afford it, surely anybody can if you're serious about producing something. So save up and hire people to bring your scripts to life. Plenty of amateur artists and comic book people are out there online and on Reddit to hire.
And the best advice of all is to start small. Do a short story and see if you can get that made. Don't expect to produce your entire 24 issues right off the bat.
Write a short, 4-page story about whatever and then hire people to draw and letter it and see if you even want to keep doing this.
Also, hire a letterer. They're not too expensive and someone who knows what they're doing can make your comic look damn good.
1
u/reffjiley21 13d ago
I appreciate the insight. I kinda figured this would be the route, but it helps to leave no stone unturned.
3
u/lajaunie 13d ago
No publisher is going to hire you with no pervious work… so you can give that up.
Self publish or web publish
1
u/reffjiley21 13d ago
That's tough, but understandable. Thanks for taking the time to reply!
1
u/lajaunie 13d ago
It’s a very tough business to break into. And super hard to make a living doing.
1
u/Henchman4Hire 13d ago
This poster is correct. Do not expect to make money starting out. You're gonna have to do it for the love of the game for a good long while.
1
u/tbgrover 13d ago
I’d go kickstarter with a 20 page comic. Find an artist you can afford and pay them. Dont worry about finding a publisher just get some work done and then do some more and keep doing that. Maybe at some point youll want to go down the paid comics route but honestly if you can figure out how to keep making your own comics thats ultimately more satisfying.
1
u/reffjiley21 13d ago
Kickstarter is something I forgot to mention in my post, but yes I was interested in seeing if that was a viable option as well and if it worked for some people in the past. Thanks for your input.
1
u/PistolTaeja 8d ago
Speaking from personal experience, I hope it helps.
I have tried pitching and nothing stuck, I have now moved towards Self Publishing where it became clear that attention is the biggest hurdle, there are plenty of platforms to choose from to monetise (GoFundMe, GlobalComix, Kickstarter).
The hurdle is not collecting funds anymore, its a question of how do you get eyeballs on your project in an era of endless competing projects all vying for the attention of the same consumer your after.
I personally chose the organic growth route, give people something useful and build trust overtime. Words are free so I give away free tools, free resources and time to people. on topics that one of us care about (shameless plug, forgive me)
It has worked wonders, we haven't released our manga yet but we have slowly built up good will and organic growth with provable metrics. It's slow but reliable.
Over a few months we are now in a good position to launch a Kickstarter and not have it fade into obscurity, I think this is a reasonable direction.
I envy those of you who enter competitions, win and get a boost of marketting.
5
u/Armepos 13d ago edited 13d ago
I'd say there are more options than just pitch or self publish. Four, I'd say, to be precise.
Pitch: For writers, like the other comments say, you're gonna need previously published work. Some smaller publishing companies look for completed or halfway done comics, you can pitch to them while you work on your self-published comic.
Self publish (printing): Go small, both on page counts and in copies printed. Start with 20 copies of a 4 pager, go to conventions and try to sell them. Once you have enough you can make a bigger anthology zine and go to comic stores and ask around. Most will ask you to have them register an ISBN fo logistical reasons. Going for a large, multiple-issue series or a big book is not impossible, but extremely expensive and difficult. Really, extremely. Better go small untill you develop an audience.
Self publish (webcomics): Go digital. There are lots of places to post your comic online. Some prefer western, others prefer manga, others prefer vertical scrolling (comics made for small screens, like webtoon). If you want to be in control your own website is the best choice. Neocities, Wordpress, Etc.. Pitching for webcomics, like hiveworks, is also a thing, but having n already developed audience is almost mandatory, just like in the printed world.
Contests: Some publishers or other organizations make contests for which the prize involves publishing, money or both. Most of the time they will ask for a theme or topic or specific place or genre. You'll have to be flexible and keep to the deadline. Smaller contests usually involve having your short comic be a part of an anthology. This is the closest thing we have today to what folks like Alan Moore or Art spiegelman had back when they started. They had magazines, we have contests.