Shane’s Bit  (Update 2008)

So you want to create your own comic eh?

Therefore, am I the best person to hand out advice? Probably not.

However I am happy to share with you, oh brave pioneer ( we all think we’re pioneers with our first comic, and some of us could well be), the things I have learned along the way.

First of all there’s  one phrase that self publishers never consider: “MARKET RESEARCH”. ‘But’, I hear you say, ‘I am an artist, and this is a capitalist, money grabbing phrase, and does not apply to me!’

Well sorry, but that’s a load of poppy cock.

Okay, I understand that some of you don’t want to make money out of self publishing (it’s just as well), but who wants to lose shed loads of the stuff? No one, that’s who.

Not finding out about your target audience,  and your fellow self publishers (often one and the same), is a sure fire way of doing just that!

So before you go and spend wads of cash on a full colour graphic novel,  do a cheap digitally printed issue zero or something, and send it out to potential customers and comics retailers for free, to see what sort of a response you get. You can even include a questionnaire and SAE.

If you don’t have access to publishers and retailers I can help you with that.

If everyone loves your comic and you get an above 60% response rate, then, publish a few more, about 30 or forty at first, cheaply produced issues.

Charge a small cover price to cover your costs, and send some flyers out to those who enjoyed the freebies, putting a free classified add in suitable comics magazines.

If your comic sells out, and you get some good reviews, then you know your onto a winner. (If not, then go away and try again, you can afford to, cause you haven't spent your life savings.)

However, this is still not the time to dive into your pocket.

So you’ve sold a few score black and white comics, you want to increase your audience and improve the quality of your comic.

To do this you’ll need to spend more money, and probably increase your cover price too. Will your readers accept this? You can’t really charge more than £2.50 for any comic under 32 pages long, no matter how good it is.

So make sure your printing costs per copy are not higher than this. If they are, can you sell some advertising in your comic? Local comics shops, and record shops are worth a try, as are other self publishers. ( Also look into exchanging add space with other publishers. This ensures that your target audience will hear of your comic. )

Before you put your comic together, find out exactly how much it will cost you to print up your required print run per copy. I can supply reasonably low cost, high quality, small press printing, and can give you prices on most formats, to give you an idea of what to go for. Also you need to take into account that a shop or distributor will take between 40 - 60% of your cover price.

Okay, so you think you can sell, for example, 500 copies of your newly improved colour covered comic for a price of £2.50, with a cost per copy of £1.00. You’ve got your self £100 sponsorship from a couple of advertisements in your comic, and you’ve saved the money to pay for the printing.

This is a nice point to be at, and so long as you don’t over spend, you should be able to make your money back, if you sell them all, you may even make a small profit.

Just take it steady. Remember, that a first issue, will almost certainly sell more copies than a second issue. Try and build up your readership gradually, without huge expenditure on national advertisements.

Use the network of small pressers at your disposal, and likewise support other small pressers with reviews etc. And for God’s sake: Make sure you include the bloody cover price on the cover. Someone browsing at a mart, is 100% less likely to buy your comic without the price on it.

Use the internet to promote your comics. If you don’t have access, www.smallzone.co.uk can help.

A website is an invaluable selling tool for any self publisher, and make sure you publish your comics online at somewhere like www.myebook.com so folks get to see your work.

 There is also www.bugpowder.com , and TRS2 an invaluable resource for small publishers. I’ve barley scratched the surface, but that’ll do for now I think. The best of luck with your comic!

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