Broken Frontier

While serving at Fort Hood in 1-7 Cavalry, we had a most eloquent slogan: “If you ain’t Cav, you ain’t shit.” We can see this same elitist mentality amongst comic book creators, only they would say “If you ain’t in ‘Previews,’ you ain’t shit.” Is this true—is it myth—or is it merely elitist ballyhoo (I’ve been dying to use that word)? Are there creators out there who are less creative or less significant simply because they have chosen to go the route of self-publishing? Or, more simply stated: can one make an impact on the medium if one chooses not to go the Diamond route?

Anyone who knows me knows that I spend a lot of time maintaining an internet (Omni) presence. In fact, I’ve been accused of being everywhere—which I am—so stop doing that. You may go blind. Anyway, I was visiting a rather prominent comic community when I came upon a thread debating this very point, namely, Diamond versus self-publishing.

What surprised me was the overall attitude of many creators. Phrases like “Let’s face it: if you aren’t in Previews, you ain’t shit in this business” littered the thread. Many creators who chose to self-publish chimed in, but were basically met with a resounding general consensus that Diamond was basically the route “successful” creators chose.

My question is this: how do you define success? Is getting a teeny tiny solicit in a great big cyclopean magazine your definition of success—or is making money doing what you love the definition of success?

The reality of the situation is that most small press publishers simply cannot afford to mount successful marketing campaigns for your book. This is not something a creator at one of the “Big Deuce” need not concern him/herself with. Marvel and DC have multi-million dollar advertising firms doing the work of advertising for them. And small press? The majority of advertising will be done by you. You will send out press releases, you will set up interviews, you will be omnipresent on the internet, you will, you will, you will.

I’ll admit: I rather enjoy this; I’ve made many contacts that I would not have otherwise made. I also have the time to do this because I am a disabled Army vet. How is someone supposed to work 40 or more hours, take care of a family and be omnipresent on the internet? I must say, I have been happy to see several small press publishers who realize that “In order to make money, you have to spend money.” More and more, I see ads for small press books popping up on the comic news sites. It’s simply a logical and profitable decision. What a creator should expect from a publisher is that they will do whatever is necessary to get the word about their book out there to comic news sites and perhaps spend a few bucks on advertising. After all, if I make money, that means you make money, too. “Well, then why don’t you do that?” says the small press publisher. If I am going to go that far, why not self-publish the book and sell it online and at conventions?

“What the hell does this have to do with success and Previews?” It has everything to do with it. You can have a miniscule solicit in Previews or a full-page, pretty advertisement. That doesn’t mean that the book will sell well. And if the book doesn’t sell well—what happens? If you’re with a small press publisher either A) Your book doesn’t break even or B) Your book gets cancelled or C) Both A and B. Successful? I think not.

There’s a lot more to success than getting your name in the “Comic Book Bible.” Getting your name in ‘Previews’ doesn’t make you any more successful than getting a gold star on your report card makes you Valedictorian.

Okay, I’ve discussed the fallacies of success being defined by getting your name in Previews. After much digression, I can finally move on to my next point: can you be successful by self-publishing your book instead—without Diamond?

To find the answer to this question, I spoke with Nate Piekos, owner of Blambot.com and creator of the wildly successful webcomic ATLAND.
The following is an excerpt of my conversation with Nate.

BROKEN FRONTIER: Hey, Nate. Thank you for your time—and for agreeing to this impromptu interview. Okay—let’s get right to it. You've collected and self-published your ATLAND strips in the past. Have you done well from the sales of these books?

NATE PIEKOS: Depends on how you define "well". If you mean "made a profit," no—but there are very few self-publishers who make a profit solely from their books.

BF: Okay, now for the money shot. Do you think a comic creator can be successful if they choose to self-publish—or do you think that one MUST go through Diamond to be a successful creator?

NP: Unfortunately, I think you're screwed either way. If you define success based on money, then the comics biz is not the path for you. If you self-publish, you're going to reach a smaller audience, and still have to pay for printing, shipping, etc.  If you use Diamond, you'll reach a larger audience, but you'll still have to pay for printing, shipping, etc. AND Diamond will be taking a cut of your cover price. A BIG cut.  So unless your book blows up, you'll still be in the hole.

BF: That’s cool you mentioned defining success. That’s the point I was trying to make earlier in the column. Having your book in “Previews” does not guarantee your success. So… how would you define success?

NP: Well, I define success as "Doing what I love, being my own boss, and making a living at it.”  I do that with Blambot. ATLAND is a hobby that I am lucky enough to have the time and resources to do because I already make a living in comics.

BF: That is exactly what I stated at the beginning. Wow—perhaps I’m onto something. You think?

NP: I think it all comes back to your own definition of "success.” Was it cool the first time I had my name in a Previews catalog? Sure. But I didn't think, "Hey, look! I'm a success!" Success for me was when I could finally quit my day job and made the leap into doing comics full time... and still be able to pay the mortgage and buy food all while making my own hours. Maybe having your name in Previews is less about "success" (because there are a lot of books that have been in previews that aren't a success story), and more about attaining certain goals.

BF: Well said, Nate! Thank you for your time, and I wish you continued SUCCESS with ATLAND!

I should mention that each week’s column is not—by any stretch of the imagination—all-inclusive. Each column is designed to spark debate; debate which can be carried on in the VOX POPULI forum.  So please head on over and register at the Broken Frontier message boards and let your voice be heard. One final self-promotion note before I go. This Sunday (the 14th), my new webcomic THE SURREAL ADVENTURES OF EDGAR ALLAN POO kicks off at Drunk Duck. So please join us for what promises to be an epic—and successful—webcomic venture for myself, artist Thomas Boatwright and letterer Thomas Mauer. I’m already talking to a major publisher about the property, so check it out Sunday so you can say you’ve been there from the beginning.

Thank you for your time and I’ll see you next Thursday when I’ll be discussing the (supposed?) importance of attending comic conventions. Those who thought there would be name-dropping… sorry, you won’t find that in VOX POPULI.

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Dwight L. MacPherson is a creator, writer, editor and poet. He lives in the cellar of a mortuary/barbeque restaurant with his three sons in the mystical land of Tennessee. He makes up for his deserted whereabouts by being present all over cyberspace:

- E-mail: dwightmacpherson@brokenfrontier.com
- Personal site: www.dwightlmacpherson.com
- Writer’s café site: http://www.writerscafe.org/profile.php?id=4190
- Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/dwightlmacpherson