General self-publishing discussion

[Emperor]

What came up in the discussion about pitching to Tharg is the idea you should be speaking to other companies but you could also think about self-publishing. It has certainly worked well for people like Garen Ewing, Andy Winter and David Hitchcock.

So once you have your comic written, drawn, coloured and lettered what do you do next?

One of the best general resources is:

The Poor Man's Guide to Self Publishing by Val Staples
http://www.mvcreations.com/articles/publish.html

Zarjazzer's link from another thread is handy here too:
http://calebmonroe.com/?page_id=42/#selfpub

I don't know how folks go about getting their comics printed but would assume they phone round local printers looking for quotes (as it is easier to pick up your box of goodies if they aren't far away) but I have no idea what are deemed good page rates, and that'd be very useful to those thinking of self-publishing.

There are also print-demand service which might be an option:

• Ka-blam - POD specifically aimed at making comic books
• comiXpress - ditto
• Lulu - good for larger volumes and has been used by Paul Von Scott for his Solar Wind collections
• Lightning Source - another POD book publisher and the guy I know publishing quite a few books recommends this one as the company take a smaller cut, they stock in Amazon (with an ISBN) and you get on the Espresso Machines (print-on-demand printers that go in book shops, meaning any book available to the printer can be done while you wait)

Of course, now you need to look at getting it reviewed and on the shelves.

However, I don't have any experience in getting things printed myself so I thought I'd get the thread started and then turn it over to people more knowledgeable than me, so fire away.

[Emperor]

There is also the electronic publishing route which can either get a free sampler out there or you could have a cheaper version if people are unsure if they want to shell out on an unknown quantity or if you have sold out all your print run you can keep the comics in circulation this way (and open them up to a much wider audience).

I had a look around and there is:

• Clickwheel
• DriveThru

2000AD is already on them both.

Myebook is also something some of the small pressers and independent publishers have been using a lot recently, like Markosia, Insomnia, Berserker (Alan Grant's horror comics), Orang Utan, Dare, c2d4 and Smallzone.

[Professah Byah]

If it's just for the purposes of leave-behinds, you can run your comic off in reasonable quality (not pro standard, but inoffensive) on a home printer as an A5-size booklet by printing on A4 paper and then folding the pages in two - even a 32-page comic would work out at 16 prints on 8 sheets of paper, so depending on your home printer this may or may not make colour a viable option.
You can even go smaller than that and produce A6 comics (just remember to size lettering accordingly) and squeeze 8 pages onto one sheet of A4, while the forum's own Al Ewing is well-known for testing the boundaries of the form and the patience of anyone with progressive glaucoma by doing A7 minicomics.

Remember that your cover is your selling-point and print that in colour if possible, on decent stock (cheap photo glossy or matte paper can be bought in most Tescos or Asda stores - matte is preferable for wear and tear), use paper that won't be see-through once you print on the other side, and always set your print quality to something higher than 'text' or 'text with image' if you're reproducing anything other than plain black and white linework - though if you don't mind using slightly more ink, you might want to choose higher-quality print settings for all the pages.

[Jim_Campbell]

Be aware that turning paper over and running it through your printer a second time to get double sided printing (duplexing) can be very bad for your printer if it's not designed for it, because it can deposit ink/toner on the rollers and, in some cases, the print heads, too.

At the very least, I would wait a while to feed the sheets through a second time, to ensure that the ink is totally dry, or that the toner is completely fixed.

Cheers

Jim

[Professah Byah]

D'oh!  Good catch, Jim.  Though some printers can do both sides for you - but they still might need the odd bit of maintenance.

Also remember that adding ink to a page is effectively adding water, so good stock is essential, as the economy stuff is basically the same quality as lavatory paper once you've put a high quality print on one side.

[Emperor]

Business Plan 101 For Comic Book Publishers
www.comicbookbin.com/businessplan101.html

[HOO-HAA]

I don't know much about self-publishing comics... can it be done via POD companies such as lulu.com etc. to cut down on costs?

Anyway, I published my own novel, DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, through Permuted Press in November 2008. One of the benefits to publishing through a trad press is the support they will give you. There's the obvious publicity a press will provide, of course, but I wanted to think, primarily, about the lesser discussed support of a press assigning an editor to your project.

An editor's role, in the publishing process, is essential, in my opinion. For those investigating self-publishing, I would advise you to secure a good editor, privately. It needn't cost much, either. Perhaps you could contract them to receive a cut of sales, as opposed to paying them outright? Maybe you have contacts on the forum, here, who could offer you basic proof reading/ copy editing at the very least. Either way, I think everyone needs someone to look over their work, professionally, and offer constructive criticism on what works well/ what doesn't work so well, plot holes, difficulties in characterisation etc.

Just my 2 pence worth... 

[Bolt-01]

Yup- any title out there needs to be read by several people to make sure it works.

We at FQP have a core of three for editing, and we have argued many times over the point of a plot or the relevance of text, BEFORE the writer gets both barrels- i mean some constructive feedback.

Usually I try to offer the writer a rewrite after the artwork has arrived, but sometimes time doesn't allow for this.

I also personally make sure that at least three poeple cast there beady eyes over lettered pages before they are locked for print.

[HOO-HAA]

Just checked your blog, Bolt. Some interesting titles you got going, there. I love the look of the 'work in progress.' Nice!

I must admit, I've never written a comic script, before. I would imagine it's a good bit different to writing novels or short stories...

[Emperor]

I don't know much about self-publishing comics... can it be done via POD companies such as lulu.com etc. to cut down on costs?

It can be - I list a few in the first post. However, you also need to think about how you are going to get it to people. If you were going to get a table at a convention then you might want to get a local printer and you can sort out the posting yourself through internet orders (POD usually factor in the P&P).

I must admit, I've never written a comic script, before. I would imagine it's a good bit different to writing novels or short stories...

Yes. It is a different medium and lies somewhere between prose and screenwriting. The formatting is easy to pick up, the trick is getting the pacing right and not asking for too much in any one panel. Of course, the important thing is to have a good idea. Anyway there should be more help in the general writing thread - Denny O'Neil's column is good as it assumes nothing and covers the bases.

[HOO-HAA]

By the way... are you the same Emperor who used to lurk around the Allthingszombie forums? 

[Emperor]

By the way... are you the same Emperor who used to lurk around the Allthingszombie forums? 

Well I have lurked in all sorts of places and ATZ is one of them.

[Emperor]

Stumbled across this Self-Publisher magazine:

www.selfpubmag.com/start.htm

Free electronic magazine, might be a good place for tips or shameless self-promotion.

Also if you publish a comic you can post the details here:
www.alltern8.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=188&title=and-my-new-comic-is

[IAMTHESYSTEM]

Business Plan 101 For Comic Book Publishers
www.comicbookbin.com/businessplan101.html

Business Plan? The one thing I'm most hopeless at is presenting any kind of plan! God that's the one thing I thought you'd never need to publish your own comics. Good thread tip though Emperor you've won your spurs as Global Moderator already.

[The Doctor Alt 8]

This is very intresting.
Mind if I share?