#24: Is It Worth It?
Welcome back to Creating Comics! Today, I want to tackle a question that, whether they admit it or not, every independent creator will ask themselves from time to time: Is creating comics worth it?
A loaded question, for sure. Why am I focusing on this question this week? Well, it's due to an email I received. Readers of this column might remember that in a recent article, I shared my sales numbers from Baltimore Comic-Con. To recap, I grossed more at Baltimore than any previous show, yet because of the costs (table fee, travel, parking, etc.) I did not make a profit. While reporting my specific sales figures is not necessary to make my point, it did engender a response. Shortly after posting that column, I received this email from a reader:
Tyler,
I find those Baltimore sales numbers kind of depressing. (I realize being there is good publicity, though) I'm thinking of hiring an artist to produce an ongoing comic series for me, and it looks like the odds of losing all of my money are rather high.
The reader went on to inquire whether or not Super Seed sales were better through Indyplanet.com, one of the online distribution channels for my first published comic book. And you know what? It was a good question. Part of the reason I decided to share my exact sales numbers was to shed light on the realities of the comic book market and the uphill road creator's face. While I sent a personal response to the reader, I've decided this is a question worth discussing in the Creating Comics Forum. What that email is really asking is whether it's going to be worth it to invest one's time and energy into making comics. That's a question each individual creator will wrestle with. My job is to help illuminate the realities of making comics as an aspiring creator. Here are the facts:
It's NOT easy to make comics.
It's DAMN HARD to make good comics.
And it's REALLY FREAKING HARD to break even, let alone make a profit, on independent comics.
Let that sink in for a moment. Creating comics is a labor intensive and time consuming process, with the odds of creating a successful and profitable property stacked against you.
However, EVERY SINGLE CREATOR working today has faced those same odds. MOST creators you've heard about have been publishing comics by themselves or through small publishers for 10 years before they ever did anything that made a splash, worthy of Newsarama coverage. The fact is, it takes a body of work and a history of strong performance in order to get the attention of the big publishers.
Let's talk about the realities of comic book sales for self-publishers/independents. My reader was exactly right...It's damn hard for me to make a profit selling single issues of my comics. At a $4 cover price, I make $1.05 on every issue of Super Seed sold at cons. I make about a $1.05 profit on Over issues I sell at shows, though I do pull in a nice $6.00+ profit on Artist's Editions...of course, those have original art in them. I use Ka-Blam Print-On-Demand to print my books, and while they do a good job and let me decide how large or small a run I want to do, I think it's safe to say that no one is getting rich selling books printed by Ka-Blam. The margins just aren't there.
But, that's the reality of the print. In general, indies don't make much money on floppies (single issues.) From what I've read, even Robert Kirkman didn't start turning a decent profit on Invincible until that first collection was collected in trade form. And that's really what you need to do. Complete your issues, put in the work, make money where you can, build fans one at a time, etc., and then collect it in a trade that can be sold forever.
So yeah, Super Seed floppies don't really make me much money. In fact, I'd be taking a loss if I tried to put them in stores, because the printing cost would be more than the discount price I'd have to give the retailers or distributor. But, when I finally finish up the mini-series and collect it in a trade that I can print for $5-8 and sell for $15-$20...and sell forever, now I've got a shot and turning a profit. It's the same with Over. I'm taking a long view with my books. When I go to a show, it's to meet people, to share the things I'm doing and to learn how to be a comics professional. I haven't put in enough work yet, and I don't have enough product to realistically expect to profit from it.
Now, the reader who wrote me had a specific question. Is he going to blow his money by hiring an artist to draw his comic book? Well, the short answer is, that only he can answer that question. Comic books are a form of entertainment. Profiting from any form of entertainment (except perhaps porn) is damn hard to do. Making comics, writing novels, shooting movies, acting...a general rule for entertainment careers is that it takes a while before you're any good, and then it takes being good for a long while before anyone bothers to recognize your talent. Oliver Stone wrote some 9 screenplays before he sold one. Jon Hamm was on something like 10 failed TV shows before he got the Mad Men gig and got to host SNL and people started recognizing his name. Brian Bendis put out a bunch of MASSIVE graphic novels (that he drew himself) before Marvel decided to make him their go-to guy. It just takes a while to get good at what you're doing, and takes even longer before people notice.
That being said, if you have stories in you, you've GOT to tell them. No, creating comics is not easy. No, it's not going to be "profitable" in the beginning. But if you have to create and comics is your medium, than you need to get after it.
But you want to be smart with your money. Here are a few bits of advice for writers:
- Regardless of whether or not it's an ongoing, think of it as a mini-series...or even a TV pilot. Finding a reliable artist to sign on to an on-going with an unproven comic book writer will be a daunting task. It's much easier to grab a guy for an issue, and go from there. Furthermore, publishers are 100 times more willing to take a chance on a mini-series that can be collected as a trade than on an on-going. Or, if self-publishing, as stated above, the margins on trades are much better than floppies, so you might as well envision that first trade collection from the outset.
- Have your script vetted BEFORE you pay any artist a dime. Every big name writer in the universe has an editor. You and I can seriously use one, too. And I'm not talking about having your mom or your best friend who likes comics read it over. They'll tell you it's cool. I'm talking about someone who:
A.) Is actively involved in the craft of creating comics, knows comics, knows what works and what doesn't and can provide insight on how to improve your story BEFORE it gets to the artist.
B.) Has no interest or concern about your feelings and thus can be completely objective.
One of my guys for this is Steven Forbes...Check out the service he provides, to get a taste of what you'd be in for when you have a guy like this looking at your work. It's not always pretty, but it will make you better: (His column here.)
- Consider honing your craft on shorter stories, with younger (and cheaper/free) comic artists before shelling out big bucks for your ongoing epic. Prove to yourself and others that you CAN do this thing. The Wachowskis wanted to break into big screen stardom with The Matrix. They KNEW it was going to be huge. But studios wouldn't bite. So, they proved themselves first by doing a much smaller (and also cool) flick Bound, and were then given the greenlight to do their epic trilogy. There's nothing wrong with thinking big...but give yourself some room to fail when you first begin.
I can tell you, regardless of how good a comic writer you are, there are a ton of other things you need to learn when it comes to producing a comic book. Script writing, selecting an artist, managing an artist, managing a team of artists, production, printing, marketing, promotion... Mess up any one of those steps and your project can be a failure. Why not learn these things on lower cost, lower risk projects before sinking big bucks into your epic? Do some short stories...3 pages, 5 pages, 8 pages. Perhaps they'd just be short scenes from the ongoing. Work with a bunch of different artists looking to hone their craft- They're out there! Build up your skill set and your confidence, so that when you're ready to tackle your epic, you've got the tools and the experience to get the most out of your investment.
This is the advice I'd give a young writer thinking about creating comics and asking himself the question, is this going to be worth it. Now, while I write a column and have worked with a bunch of artists, and have been trying to get my name out there for the last year, it's worth noting that I've only been going to comic conventions for a little over a year now. If 8 years from now my sales are still at this level, yeah, it'll be a bit depressing. But given the fact that just a few years ago I wasn't even in the comics game and today I am, I have to focus more on my trajectory than on my current position. If I were a stock, would you invest in me? Maybe, maybe not. But personally, I'm proud of the progress I've made over the past year. I'd invest in me. And I am. (And really, that's all that counts.)
The real question is, what about you? What's your trajectory? Are you going to sit on the sidelines and focus on all the reasons not to start making comics? (There are plenty.) Or are you going to get the ball rolling? Are you going to create?
I hope so.
NEXT: The Re-Write - Part I
Tyler James is a comics creator residing in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He writes and draws Over, a romantic comedy online graphic novel updating every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also writes Tears of the Dragon, an epic fantasy webcomic. His work has been featured at Zuda Comics, and includes Interrogation Control Element, a political action thriller, and Super Seed, the story of the world's first super powered fertility clinic. When not making comics, Tyler works as a game designer and content producer for a software company.
Contact Tyler directly at tylerjamescomics@gmail.com, keep up with him at his blog, or follow him on Twitter.
Previous Columns
1: Big Goals
2: Resolutions
3: The Great Idea
4: Research Part I
5: Research Part II
6: The Killer Pitch Part I - The High Concept
7: The Killer Pitch Part II - The Synopsis
8: Pay Your Artists
9: Zuda Comics- A Tale of Five Submissions
10: Creating Great Characters Part I (Or Why Wolverine is Everywhere)
11: Creating Great Characters Part II (Or Why Wolverine is Everywhere)
12: Structurally Sound- The Beginning
13: Your Reputation
14: Structurally Sound- The Middle
15: Structurally Sound - The End
16: Your First Con
17: Beat It
18: Memorable Scenes
19: Mailbag
20: Comics Dialogue - Part I
21: Comics Dialogue - Part II
22: Baltimore Comic Con - Part I
23: Baltimore Comic Con - Part II
blog comments powered by Disqus