Catching a Vision 017
Breaking Comics Out: Self-Publishing Part 4
Catching a Vision, the (really tries to be) weekly column on Comic Related from C. Edward Sellner, Founder and Creative Director of Visionary Comics Studio. CAV provides practical guidance on how to break into the comics industry, as well as insights into this medium we all love. With resources you can order online, interviews and debates with comic professionals, and online workshops, this is your best introduction into the wonders of creating comics!
Alright, we had another unplanned little hiatus with the Philly Convention. I'm working on trying to prevent those, but, we will convene here as often as we can, I promise.
Okay we've been going through the self-publishing odyssey, looking at some of the big questions to answer before moving ahead with investing the time, money and other resources needed to self-publish. Let's continue in that journey.
We tackled the who and why and started in on the what. Specifically, we looked at some very general things you want to make sure you're doing in any self-publishing venture. Let's break things down a little more this time and look at the question of what from a few different perspectives based on potential goals in doing the actual self-publishing.
At this point, I really want to stress these answers should not be taken as the end-all and be-all of answers. They are guidelines. They do not imply you will fail unless you do exactly as I say, but more along the lines of you have a slightly better chance of succeeding if you consider what I say. Likewise, I do not want to imply that anyone self-publishing is so clear cut and simple in their goals. Usually anything we're doing includes a number of goals and hopes, or possible desired outcomes. Most of us would then be happy if one of the desired outcomes actually comes out. So, I get that. For the purpose of the column though I need to try and break things down in simpler form to look at with any intent. Fair enough?
I want to build a successful publishing venture as a business.
My best advice here then is several brief but important points...
First, go back and re-read the last column in terms of ensuring quality, and teamwork so that people stick with things. The fastest way a publisher can ensure they will never succeed is to put out poor quality or have a revolving door of creators that never stick with anything to completion.
Second, make sure you are prepared to run a business because that is what a publisher is. You need to understand the dynamics of the market, have the personality style and personal skills to be a salesman, a financier, a tough decision maker, an editor, a counselor, and a coach all wrapped in one. If you aren't committed to running it as a business, putting in long hours EVERY day, it won't happen.
Third, have a business plan. If this is not your strong suit, find someone to help you. Make sure you've done your research, make sure you have the financing, the time, the skills and knowledge to apply to charting a course for this. Thinking you can just freestyle flow and run a successful publisher in this market is something akin to taking a kayak down the most violent white water without ever having paddled before. You will sink...fast.
Fourth, be consistent and hit your marks, keep your promises and be on time. Remember your first ';customer' is not the fan, but the retailer. You have to sell to retailers to carry your book in order to make it in the direct market. Most retailers won't even take a risk on books from new indy press. Out of that slice that do, a good many won't take it on them a second time, if they got stuck with late books, or promised titles that never delivered.
Fifth, have an aggressive marketing plan. If you want to throw your hat in this ring, you've got to do something to make sure people notice it above all the others already there or being thrown in with you. Launch out the gate with a strong marketing incentive for your first customers, both retailers and consumers. For example, launching with a free or reduced cover issue, or extra content for a lower price can get people's attention. VCS ran a money back guarantee to retailers who stocked issues of our recent release Headlocked. We saw a good sized increase in orders because of it.
Sixth, if you want to help stack the odds in your favor, find a niche of the market to exploit that no one else, or relatively few are at the moment, then use that to build your brand. What do I mean by that? Market niches are tapping specific genres, styles, or approaches to comics that give your initial books a more unique identity. They then give you a target market that your product, or brand, will appeal to. That in turn gives you an edge over the competition because you have a catered to demographic.
This is a world of difference from a small publisher who instead tries to establish themselves solidly in something over done in comics. For example, the small press publisher who wants to do super-heroes may be facing more challenge then its worth, because the super-hero market is flooded right now. Fans are going to be hard to win, because unless they already buy everything else and still have money to spend, or desperately dislike what is currently being done and looking for something they do like, there is plenty of high profile titles for them to choose from. If someone likes Spider-Man, and they want more they can buy other Marvel books. If they get tons of Marvel books and want more, they can buy DC books. In many ways it's a numbers game. This is why you don't see any current smaller press publishers who launched successfully with super-hero titles and carved a successful niche for themselves. This is also why you don't even see many successful lines of such titles from publishers who have established themselves. Dark Horse tried it, it unfortunately failed. Devil's Due tried it, it failed. Dynamite is doing it right now, and so far so good, which is making them a big exception to the trend.
On the other side, when Archaia Studios Press launched, they launched with owner Mark Smylie's book Artesia. Mark's book is very unique, high-epic fantasy, with a unique painted style, mature themes and a complex world. It was ';quirky' but successful because it appealed to high epic fantasy fans who were looking for something different. Archaia then built its foundation on doing ';quirky' books. Sure enough, each of their books have been very different from anything else on the market. That has helped build their identity and reputation apart from every other publisher.
Likewise, IDW when they were in their early years published high quality horror books, in a time when there was not much of that in the market. They built their rep on that and eventually grew beyond their niche, but used that niche to establish themselves solidly in the comic book market first.
This principle is true even as far back as Marvel establishing itself. They did super-heroes, but they introduced very human heroes, who not only faced off against super-villains, but had family issues, and personal problems.
When you're building a brand, and a publisher is just that, you need to find every single way possible to stand out.
I want to launch a new property that will build a strong fan-base.
If you're thinking out the gate that you want to build whatever property you're looking to create into a viable way to be successful there are a number of things you need to consider.
First and foremost, is it an original creation that speaks of your creativity and talent more than it does your desire to succeed professionally and or financially? Few things bug me more than when I read a small indy book from a publisher or creator trying to make it, and find it's nothing more than a rip-off creatively from some popular series obviously hoping to ride the coat-tails.
For example, I finally broke down and read a free online comic that I kind of knew going in was not going to be great, but it seemed to be getting a lot of views and buzz, at least according to what I heard. The book was derivative in every way, chapter titles, names, concepts, right down to some scenes blatantly swiped from Giant Sized X-Men #1!
The point here is, the X-Men have been done. Something that re-does them, with just changing some names and a few conditions, is not going to build a solid enough fan-base willing to pay for a poorly done carbon copy. It won't succeed in the comics market and it sure as heck will not attract attention anywhere beyond.
Comic fans may have something of a curious attraction to derivative material, as long as it doesn't require much of an investment. They may pick it up at a con in the midst of a spending frenzy, or order it online initially to check it out. But they won't pay for it regularly. Retailers won't order it in bulk. Licensing folks will NOT be interested in the least. If you look at the indy properties who started small and succeeded, they were either radically different from what had been done in the industry, or at the least, very new and different takes on what had been done. Let's look at some examples here of other indy based success stories, and success here being the fact that the property made money for its creators in one way or another.
Men in Black did well. It did a great combination of sci-fi action and comedy, playing off a built in audience for both genres, both casual and hard core. The comic itself didn't sell well, but the concept translated well into film(s).
The Crow, a unique mix of super-hero, horror and tragic romance, did decently on the indy press side and spawned a number of films.
ElfQuest, a mix of fantasy and sci-fi with a focus instead on relationships, printed, reprinted and put out in any number of ways with a film coming.
30 Days of Night, an inventive horror story that took vampires to a new level of threat, including an ingenious use of setting. Spin-offs followed, movie, etc.
The list goes on and on. In it you will not find one poorly reworked carbon copy or derivative work. Yes, most of these have some conceptual connection to other ideas, stories and intellectual properties. ElfQuest was certainly not the first elf story, nor 30 Days of Night the first vampire story. The thing is each also takes what is established, twists it, turns it, put it on its head, or ups it several notches. There is definite creativity there that makes the differences stand out more than the similarities.
However at the same time, there is often a connection strong enough that helps peak the interest of potential fans. There is that fine line of something old and something new that hooks those who recognize something they like, but at the same time draws them in with the lure of a new and different take.
Along those lines you also need to consider how this property you want to have take off fits into the commercial industry. Is there a niche market to target? Are there trends or demographics that show the themes, genre or style will be well-received? Are there compatible products out there to compare it to and build some expectations of how it could compete in the market place? Is it a concept that has the potential to translate well into other mediums?
Trying to develop a property you can market successfully is nowhere near as simple as just creating a story to tell. Because to actively do so you need to analyze the market, trends, fads, focal points of popularity. Then do something that takes it to a different level. You have to be as business savvy as you are creative. But, it is something you can put thought and intent in and improve your odds with.
I want to establish myself as a talented creator to be recruited.
Here you've got to do a few things in general...
First, again, make sure anything you put out is top notch. Do whatever you have to to invest the time and energy in making it your absolute best work.
Second, make sure that everyone you are working with is going to, in turn, do their best and that the material they are contributing is also top notch. The point is to make your work shine right?
Third, as mentioned above, make sure anything you are part of is truly showing off your talent and creativity, but balance that with also showing off your marketability and commercial appeal.
This varies some from one role to another, so let's break this down a bit more.
Writers, you NEED to show originality in your work, smart concepts, great story twists, and definite originality. No one is going to hire you because you wrote the book that reminds everyone of Giant Sized X-Men. Why would any editor hire a guy who could have gone and created ANYTHING, told ANY story, and simply chose to rip-off something already done?
At the same time, you want to approach this in a way where your writing shows you could just as well write for other companies. Show solid storytelling, good pacing, good dialogue and character interaction. Lead with a solid hook, balance action, drama, and if you can, some good humor. It's best if you show range in your writing, your ability to write different kinds of stories, but it's also good to show a strength in telling good stories. So experiment but also make sure you feel confident about any genre, style, or approach you take.
Perhaps most importantly, show a good command of the technical aspects of being a comics' writer. Show you know how to write a story designed for comics, one that has a strong focus on the visual, plenty of action or drama that moves the reader through the pages. Take advantage of the medium, do things with it you can't do in prose. Show you know how to setup pages, spreads, scene transition, issue cliffhangers or breaks, etc.
Artists, you have a few more options here. I have seen artists who mimic certain styles of popular artists get their break, largely because their art style was similar. For a while a number of the booming studios at Image were bringing on multiple artists whose style reflected a strong influence from the founding artist of said studio. Numerous Jim Lee, Robert Liefeld and Marc Silvestri style artists broke into this business because they got jobs working on books associated with those guys. This still happens some, not as much, but there.
However, there are also many artists who broke into the business with their own distinctive look and style as well. Speaking personally as an editor, I always prefer to see an artist grow in and develop their own unique style. I think their art will universally be stronger and richer when they do so.
But in this line, there is also the reality that the further your art is from the ';mainstream' the tougher it will be to be seen as a viable talent to recruit. Styles may vary but the more radically different, experimental looks that push the boundaries, often need the additional luck of some editor doing some unique project that fits that artist's style perfectly.
For example, Dave McKean has a very distinct style. He's kept busy because his work is popular and plenty of high-profile writers have been excited about working with him and having his art grace their story. But his work is always on high concept, unique books. This seems in part to suit his intentions perfectly so it works out.
Ben Templesmith is another whose work is very distinct. His style evokes a perfect feel for almost any horror story, thus he has a wider range of books he has been able to connect on and work with. But here again, I don't see Marvel or DC offering him a monthly title like Spider-Man or Superman.
However there are others whose star rose and set fairly quickly, because their style made them too off beat for the mainstream, but not distinct and popular enough to sustain a number of projects to fit their work. I've seen portfolios from many artists whose work I could see on a handful of things, but felt very clearly was not a ';mainstream' enough look to get regular paying jobs.
This is even more true for inkers, colorists and letterers. While I would not imply in any way that each of these roles also require an artistic touch and are art forms in and of their own, there is more of a narrow window of style and license in doing the work. Inkers are looked to for their technical expertise and ability to enhance the pencil work. Weight of line, smoothness, detail work for inkers may vary in style, just as palette, lighting, effect and saturation for colorists, or fonts, balloon style and placement for letterers, but in each of these, the primary given is how well they accomplish the job they are doing, not their individual styles.
So, as you can see there are many things to consider when looking at the question of WHAT to publish if you are going to do it yourself. All the more reason to give it a lot of consideration and reflection before making the leap.
Next...
Once I get a little more back on track with the main section of the column, I will bring back the end piece of Now on a Completely Different Subject. In the meantime, a couple quick, and timely announcements.
First, it is convention season. Thanks to all those who said hello while I was in Philly, it was very heartening to have fans actually pick me out and come over.
I will next be at San Diego Comic-Con. Look for me at the Haven Distribution booth. Visionary will be there in force. I will have copies of Frog Princess and Visions #1 for sale as well as some possible surprises, so make sure you stop and ask. Mike Kingston, writer / creator of Headlocked will be there and we're hosting special guest Jerry "The King" Lawler again. We will be making even more announcements at SDCC, so this is turning into a great year for VCS! Check our main site's news page for all the ones we made in Philly.
Also at the booth you can meet Lance Stahlberg, head honcho of Haven, and someone who may be the nicest guy in comics period, Terry Cronin, writer / creator of the indy series Students of the Unusual.
After that I will be popping up at Chicago and Baltimore, and perhaps another stop later in the Fall.
In the meantime, you can now order Visions online at Amazon. You can also join Visions' Facebook Group to stay up on all the latest news on the quarterly anthology.
As for the next column, we will shift gears to look at the question of HOW and WHEN to self-publish, focusing here on the means and tools to take your best shot! That one will wrap this series on self-publishing. Join us.
Join the discussion and add your thoughts on this edition, or the column in general. If you have any questions or suggestions for resources, post them or email them to Sellner so they can be included in future columns. Are you an aspiring or up and coming creator and would like to share your story? Email Sellner and let him know who you are and what you've done.
C. Edward Sellner is the co-founder and Creative Director of Visionary Comics Studio, a studio that within its first three years has drawn high praise from the media and attracted the attention of legendary creators in the comics industry. They have been digitally and print published in the mainstream market and their creators currently work with over a dozen different publishers. Their work has been featured on television news shows, radio programs and internet podcasts as well as featured in every major comics news site online.
Contact him directly at cedwardsellner@aol.com
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