Broken Frontier

Val Staples, the head-honcho of MV Creations (www.mvcreations.com) knows what it takes to self-publish a comic. During the next 5 weeks, he will explain everything there is to the game of self-publishing in the comics business. Just remember it's not an easy road to travel. 

So you want to publish comics?

Ah, the joy of publishing. You've come up with a great idea, put together a killer art team, and are ready to set out to make your fortune!
Sorry to disappoint you, but that last part will NEVER happen!

Okay, it might. But it's VERY rare that someone new to comics will break in with a smash hit and go on to a ton of success.
It's best to pull your hopes and dreams back down to earth and review the reality of the comic book industry before charging in with both guns blasting.
You probably don't want to hear it but the following information is stuff I wish someone had told me prior to publishing so I didn't have to learn it all the hard way.

The following is an explanation of the various "basic" publishing details I faced over my six-plus years as a professional colorist/writer in the comic book industry and my experience publishing for two-plus years through my company MVCreations. I've had my share of hard knocks and good fortune.
This is not only for hopeful publishers, but also for up-and-coming artists who want to know what determines the kind of page rates that exist in today's industry.
Before you complain about today's page rates, you may want to read this article to find out why comics don't pay a king's ransom.
This is current as to what I know up to October, 2004.

1. Intro - The state of comics and initial thoughts
2. Production Schedule - The backbone to how your comic is created
3. Publishing - The vessel for getting your book to the public
4. Publishing Through an Existing Company
5. Publishing Yourself
6. Solicitations
7. Considering Printing Time / Returnable Books
8. Understanding Preorders vs Reorders
9. Production - The important behind the scenes stuff
10. Printing
11. Choosing a Printer
12. Getting a Price Quote
13. Short Runs
14. Cost vs Number of Copies Printed
15. Variant Covers
16. Forecasting Your Budget
17. Shipping
18. Advertising
19. Calculating Your Profit - A look into the reality of profit from comics
20. Profit From Self-Publishing
21. Profit Through Another Publisher
22. Final Notes

***

1. Intro
People talk about the hope of comics bouncing back.
You also you hear reports now and then of increases in comic sales.
But the truth remains that comic sales are at a historical low.
Occasional spikes in sales for a few choice titles does not equal a rebirth in comics.
And quite often, those spikes for a few issues mean other titles are losing sales.
With a finite number of fans, who have a finite amount of dollars to spend, only so many comics will be bought each month.

So when you create something to publish, you better make damn sure it's awesome!
You have to give a consumer a good reason to possibly drop one of their existing favorites to give your book a chance.

We're going to put the creative side of comics on the back burner for a while, and focus on the stuff that people don't tell you much about.
And that's all the nitty gritty that brings the comic to life, and ultimately drains all of your profits.

2. Production Schedule
One of the most important things for publishing comics is devising your art production schedule.
This should be centered not only around how much time it will take you complete a finished issue, but when you hope it will be in stores for people to buy.
Comics are produced well in advance. It's a wise idea to plan to have your first issue completed four months before your desired in-store date. That's just my advice. Other people will tell you different.

How you set up your production schedule is completely up to you. It depends on how fast you and your art team works and what is realistic given the other factors in your life.
For example, if it seems more realistic for you to complete a book ever two months, then aim for a bi-monthly comic (a comic that arrives in stores every two months).
You should also use the info in this article to help determine how the in-store date affects your art production.

Plan for the worst. Put buffers into your schedule. If you have a penciller who takes four weeks to do an issue, don't give him/her just four weeks. Make it five or even six, and line up a fill-in artist to help out if needed.
This goes for all production stages on your book.
The unexpected happens more often than you'd think.

Be reasonable with your expectations. If you are asking people to commit to a project, and they say yes, then they do have an obligation to follow through. But don't ask for the world when you are only giving peanuts in return. Give creative liberties to your art team, and nurture their strengths. After all, if you are the publisher then you are the one who picked the team. You should know what you are getting into with your creative team before hand.
If you are the one in charge, then you hold the key to the city. But in the same respect, your book isn't going to get done without the help of others unless you are doing everything yourself. So be patient with your team and plan ahead, and make sure you have a back-up plan if something was to happen to a creator working on your book.

Remember that not everything can be done all at once.
A writer must start first, then a penciller comes in, then an inker, then a colorist, and finally a letterer (unless they are lettering on the lineart, or along side the colorist). Your schedule must allow for these breaks in start/finish times.

Once you have your creative side in place, you need to decide how you are going to publish your comic.
Will you self publish under your own company name?
Or will you line up with the countless others in hopes of having another company publish your book?

3. Publishing Through an Existing Company
The second always sounds more appealing. Is the thought of simply turning in your finished comic and collecting a paycheck appealing? Heck yeah! Who wouldn't want to do that?
But did you really think it was that simple? Nope.
There are a handful of reputable companies/studios that take pitches. But let me tell you, none are created equal.

Some of them are going to want to own part or all of the rights to your property (the idea you created) if they publish your book.
Don't get the wrong idea. They aren't out to screw you. It's just that they run a business, and if they are going to take a risk on your idea then they want to insure that there might be some sort of payoff for their studio/company in the end. It's simply smart business for a publisher. After all, if you were publishing the comic, you wouldn't want to lose money on it either.
The ONLY studio (that I know of) that takes pitches from any up-and-coming creator and will not take any of your rights is Image Comics.
The only catch is that you have to pay Image Comics a flat fee for their services.
And, you are also competing with hundreds of pitches they receive each week... no joke.

Then there are some publishers that will never pay you.
Keep your ears to the ground. There are a few publishers out there now who don't pay people, even if the book profits, because that profit is going back into their company... not your pocket. Just listen to what other creators say online and use common sense. It's not hard to find out which publishers to avoid, unless you just want your book out there and don't care about the money. And, in all honesty, these days you have to look at publishing as more of an experience than a profit opportunity anyway. At least until you decide to make a career out of it. In which case, I hope some of this helps to smarten you up!

Companies accepting pitches have details on their websites about what they want to see. For some it's just a few completed pages of the first issue. For others, they want to see an entire first issue to know that you are serious about getting your project completed.
If they don't list submission guidelines, they may not be accepting pitches. So ask before you submit. Otherwise, you could be wasting both your time and theirs.

If the company allows, it's always smarter to submit a concept along with a few pages of art from the first issue rather than a full issue.
No one wants to do an entire issue only to have it rejected. If you are rejected after only doing a few pages, it's not a big loss.
And if you are accepted, then you move forward with completing the entire first issue and continuing on with subsequent issues until they are ready for solicitation.
It's getting them approved initially that's the trick.
It's important to note that once your book is accepted, most companies won't solicit your book with distributors until the first issue is completed. It would really suck for a company to solicit a book that you don't even complete! (more on what solicitations are later).
And if you are publishing yourself, you certainly don't want to solicit a monthly series that you haven't even begun, let alone cannot complete on a monthly basis. If the book ships too late, it becomes returnable (more on what that is later).

4. Publishing Yourself
Approvals? Bah! What a lot of work to possibly get shot down by a publisher!
The other alternative is to do this on your own. All that approval stuff with another company is too much of a pain, right?
Well, wrong, you still have to submit your idea for approval before you can solicit your product! This time, you are submitting your idea directly to the distributors who will sell your books to retailers.
Different distributors have different guidelines. But for the most part, it's the same as pitching your book to another company to publish.
If you want to self publish and work directly with the distributors, some of the most recognized distributors in comics are:
Diamond Comics
Cold Cut
FM International

But what is soliciting and how does it affect your production?
Once you have your art production schedule roughed out, you know when you want your book to hit stores, and your book has been accepted by the distributors or the company publishing it for you, now it's time to solicit.
But let's just TALK about it before you do it. You'll definitely want to read, in DETAIL, the information later on about production expenses!

To be continued...

- Val Staples