GETTING INTO COMICS, AND PUBLISHING

Advice for the aspiring creator

This is an old piece I wrote well over a decade ago, but just recently people have been asking what my experiences were with regard to publishing and getting published - so here it is again, with a few revisions. It’s interesting, actually, how little things change overall!

Importantly - please, don't be put off by this. The point here is to try to help you go into the business enlightened and with open eyes. Comics are NOT easy - certainly it’s nothing like many outsiders frequently imagine it to be - and neither is it a glamorous, rock-star sort of existence. Like all other trades, it's work, and should be treated as such.

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Getting into comics is something a lot of people want to know how to do, but there's a lot of questions you want to ask yourself first. There is such a vast array of genre and subgenre, technique, approach, and so on, that it’s important to be clear on where you want to go with your work at the outset – and you have to be REALLY honest and tough with yourself at this stage!

If you’re into the capes and tights and you want to go mainstream you’re going to have to want it incredibly badly, as the competition is extremely tough. There seems to be more titles than ever - and with the digital revolution more people are capable of producing sleek, mainstream art - but right across the industry there's an enormous amount of competition.

One thing I'm NOT seeing at cons is break-the-mould, edgy and accomplished new types of comic art. Invariably it's by-numbers superhero fare of a fairly similar standard - what I would typify as three or four years off producing pro-standard work, but nevertheless showing promise. But I often wonder when we're going to see the next Sienkiewicz, the next great stylist. Originality is not only becoming rarer, it seems less desired - either by the industry or the fans, who want above all else consistency.

(Note - I’m starting to see some innovation in the crowd-funding world, and that may be where the new ‘originals’ are birthed. It is a great model for trying fresh approaches, though they don’t always get off the ground, sadly.)

You might be interested to know that very few artist or writers are “discovered”, becoming over-night sensations. Most UK writers will have cut their teeth in 2000ad, and that‘s certainly the case for many artists too – even though the art in 2000ad isn’t necessarily done in a US mainstream technique. (Slight update - I’ve heard some creators ARE discovered on IG now - my daughter was! - so do bear that in mind, even if it doesn’t quite have the reach it used to. Try other platforms too.) If you can’t get in to the industry through a break in 2000ad, or you're US based, then you have to go direct to the US editors at DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and so on. You’ll most likely find one of them at a con – at which point you can pester them, endure any criticism or advice they might make about your work, and get the details you need to submit work. It’s not easy, and it’s fraught with disappointment – even as a pro of 38 years, I’m lucky if one in maybe ten pitches gets off the ground! Even now I have pitches at several publishers. It's a lottery, and it’s about timing and what the publisher is focusing on doing. You won’t always fit into their plans and/or current aesthetic at any given time.

Another thing nobody tells you about the mainstream is that, as an artist, you’ll almost certainly be drawing stuff you’re NOT prepared for, and don’t really have any desire to do or passion for. This is important to know and to prepare for. You almost NEVER get the book you're most suited too (I've been trying to get a Conan gig my whole career - a book I'm so clearly suited to it's not true - and after 38 years as a pro it is only just about to happen! Think about that!)

Your portfolio – which should be mostly pencil art, half as big again as regular comic pages on high quality paper, and not inked with ball-point pens or felt tips – will, naturally, be stuffed full of things you LIKE drawing. The reality is that nobody spends months and years practicing drawing what they don’t like! I’m pretty good at monsters, barbarians, trees, natural landscapes, organic alien technology, and yet early on I found myself struggling to draw work for hire comic strips full of things I was really not very good at - such as cars, house interiors, modern city buildings in general… all things I found uninspiring, and really tough to work out. And it’s still not fun for me doing that kind of work, even when it’s on a great book like The Hulk, or Batman but you have to be able to do it regardless, and do it well! So be warned!

Your other alternative is the indie route, which is the route for committed auteurs doing comics for love. This is much more flexible, though you still have to find a company that fits your vision and buys into your work – and you absolutely will not make any money out of it 99.9% of the time. If you can’t find a publisher, you might as well just go ahead and publish it yourself - as mentioned earlier, we now have various crowd-funding options, which has definitely revolutionized things! Consider that as an option. You get complete control, but be warned - running a campaign is a lot of hard work! But it can be very rewarding.

If you’ve decided to go down the self-publishing or indie route, then you need to be very honest with yourself, and you need to know how unbelievably hard it is to get your stuff seen and sold. It has never been so easy to create comics and produce printable files, it has never been so cheap, BUT, and crucially, neither have there been so many people doing it.

With the advent of social media, Warhol’s assertion that everybody would be famous for 15 minutes seems born out. We’re seeing everybody selling themselves everywhere all at once – often with absolutely nothing to sell BUT themselves. That’s what you’re up against – everybody else selling something. So you have to have a good idea WHO is likely to buy it, and why, and where you’re going to sell it to them. You’ve also got to know why you’re doing it – because if you honestly think it’ll be a good business venture you’re almost certainly in for a shock. The only way to succeed as an independent is to do it for nothing else than the love of the medium, and belief in your product.

But then again - you MIGHT get lucky!

Update - we’re also up against issues on the platforms themselves, detailed in these two earlier posts linked below (article continues after the links):

Also, be sure you really know what it is that you have. You’ll need a pretty accomplished and experienced eye casting over most work to genuinely know if it’s pro-quality. There’s an awful lot of self-delusion in the indie publishing world, so don’t be delulu if at all possible! Try to be honest with yourself about your actual abilities, and work with that! We’re all still learning all the time.

At cons you’ll need funds for tables, hotel rooms, etc, and you’ll most likely not cover your costs with sales. If you get a distribution deal, you’ll be in the long shadow cast by the big companies, buried in a dark corner of a vast monthly catalogue.

If you’ve no marketing budget, then your only option is social media. Important - don’t be a dick! Play nice, and try not to bother people. You need all the allies you can get!

If you have created your own book, and your dream is to see it printed, but you have literally no funds, and nobody is willing to publish it, there are other great options, such as the afore mentioned crowd-funding, on platforms like KickStarter.

If you accept all of this, I can promise you – there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing it through. It’s amazingly satisfying and cathartic!

Most of what I’ve outlined above we found out when we started Mam Tor Publishing in 2004, and in my career in general, along the way. The first book Mam Tor produced, twenty years ago, was really a glorified convention sketchbook. These had become the thing to do in the US, and every artist had a pulpy black and white A5 booklet with a colour photocopy cover, that progressed to an A4 book with a card stock cover the following year. By the time I did mine, which ended up being Sharpenings: the Art of Liam Sharp, we found it could be on glossy paper, with a colour section and card stock cover. It had become - almost by accident - a real book.

At around the time we were printing this, which was also a fallow work period for me (another reason for producing that showcase title!) I met a group of highly talented artists at the Bristol Comic Expo – Dave Kendall, Kev Crossley, Emma Simcock-Tooth, Cardinal, and Emily Hare, to name a few. We had met on my old messageboard, Sharpenings, but it was the first time we had come together face to face. John Bamber (old friend, and long-time art collector) and myself simultaneously – and entirely separately – came up with the notion of an anthology showcasing their work. When we discovered this it became obvious we should unite our efforts, and put it out under the MamTor banner, as we had my artbook. I thought it might help to get some pros involved, and started asking around to see if anybody had any personal work they’d like to see in print. Some had, but as it turns out, most creators are desperate for a chance to do something for the hell of it, and without the usual editorial constraints. Event Horizon slowly started to give birth to itself.

We also received a few pieces that literally stunned us, such as Matt Coyle’s unprecedented Worry Doll, which has been hailed in the Australian press as a landmark, and is getting it’s author TV and radio spots, major exhibitions, and international attention. Work like that comes along once or twice in a decade I think. It’s hard to recall the last time I saw something so unique and technically awe-inspiring, and it set a new standard for us as a publisher.

The biggest issue of all concerning new traditional publishers, indie publishers, and publishers of niche material in general, is promotion, distribution, and printing. Securing a distributor in the first place can prove extremely difficult. Many book buyers simply won’t take you seriously. Some require you to have published 10 books before they will even take a look at your material. But lets say you get a deal with a distributor; immediately you’ll be losing 62% of your revenue – and that’s excluding advertising and printing costs. To get seen in the catalogue will cost you an arm and a leg if it’s going to compete, and there’ll be no concessions in the price. Big companies receive huge discounts for advertising space because they buy so much. You, on the other hand, will have to pay the going rate.

You will also have to pay top dollar for your printing, as – unlike the big companies who get good deals for huge consignment print runs – you’ll most likely be involved in one generally tiny print run.

Promotion is an endless cycle of head-scratching and frustration, and it often doesn’t seem to be reflected in sales. You can win awards, receive great reviews and endorsements, even get yourself in national – or even international – papers and magazines, and you still won’t be able to get decent orders, the trust and faith of the retailer, and the full backing of the distributor. It’s the most talked about subject of any indi comic publisher, and it can break hearts and bank accounts. So again, be realistic with your expectations.

If you really want to hear it as it is, you have to network within the industry – and be prepared to listen! It’s a tiny business, so you really DON'T want to make enemies!!! As I mentioned earlier, THAT MEANS - BE CIVIL! Do not, on any account, force yourself into conversations, or make demands on pros. DO NOT BE RUDE OR SUGGEST YOU KNOW BETTER. A bad rep, once it gets hold, is near impossible to shake, and in such a navel-gazing industry it can be remembered for a very long time indeed. Look long and hard before asking a question, but if you do, you’ll find there are a lot of people willing to give you answers and fill you in on how things work. Again, civility is the key-word.

If you think you know it all you’ll be laughed out of the industry.

If you can build up a good rapport online, you’ll find that pros are more open to you at cons, once they’ve established who you are - and don’t hide behind online pseudonyms, they don’t help you. People want to know they’re talking to real people, not “Frag Gor the Battle Rat”! There's a lot of vitriol being spawned in part because people hiding behind their avatars feel they can say what they please - and creator’s feelings and emotions are seldom spared! So be prepared to have your heart split open and your ink-babies crushed under callous virtual feet. That happens to the best of us. It will happen to you too. And sadly, online culture seems to be just getting worse, so find your allies, and be brave.

Having said all this, something inside drives me to continue working in this unique and burgeoning industry. I do love what we, collectively do, and I will keep on doing it as long as I’m able. Few art-forms - if any - are so labour intensive, but few can transport us so readily to the places we imagine. Comics as a medium have the potential to be pretty much anything, being as they are a fusion of words and pictures, and the more people who see and understand this the better. It's important we learn to be broad-minded in the things we're interested in, both as creators and readers, so that this evolution in the art-form can take place. We're in a time where the whole medium could really explode, but only if we let it, don’t give up on it, and continue to share our passion for it. That's something we're all responsible for and should never take lightly.