LESSONS LEARNED

Creator-owned books are NOT easy!

I first posted this on FaceBook, where it got a LOT more traction and interest than I had expected, with a huge amount of feedback from other creators, stores and industry commentators. I realize now that I should have posted it here first, but I’m still getting used to this being my first and main platform for news! I’m getting better though. It’s important to me that you get the benefits of signing up here across the board, and not just when it comes to art previews!

It is in regard to my StarHenge follow-up, ORE. A book I’m incredibly proud of. I’ve added a few new thoughts at the end.

Some thoughts on what NOT to do when independently publishing currently, and this is from recent experience.

We thought we'd try doing a stand-alone 60 pager, rather than run a short three issue series and risk losses on the second and third issue. Don't do that.

We thought, given the negativity around variant covers, that we would run it with just one cover by myself, thereby missing out on a bit of the genuine collector's market. Also don't do that. They can definitely help you!

We assumed a 60 page comic would be sellable through Amazon too. Turns out not, as it counts as a single issue comic, not a trade. Be aware of that! You need an ISBN no. too.

We tried to market it just as the AI was really kicking in across multiple platforms, meaning hardly anybody got to hear it was coming out, despite months of me plugging away.

Due to lack of time, I didn't push it out to enough places in advance for reviews, or ask my industry friends to help me plug it. To the first, that's my bad. I should have been more proactive there. To the second, I just hate bugging people. I got so much kind support for StarHenge that it felt wrong asking people to do it again. I know that if you don't ask, yadda yadda, but still, it can get to be a lot, with the best will in the world!

Lastly, perhaps not a good idea publishing on a very heavy month for new titles.

The net result is only 5K copies of ORE: A StarHenge Graphic Novella were printed. A tiny bit over 3K were sold. It made nothing at all, so all that 60 pages of work I did - writing, full color art, lettering, etc. - remains unpaid for. Bear in mind, that's about four solid months, full-time, unpaid.

What we do next remains up in the air. Lots of lessons learned! So I hope this is helpful to some at least.

UPDATES.

From retailers I learned that often, when you create an independent series like StarHenge, and its wider universe, orders on a new series will be based on the orders for the last issue of the previous series. This is problematic! There are a significant number of readers who’ll get the first issue or two, then wait for the trade. But if your last issue makes no money - indeed, loses money, as was the case with StarHenge - then you’ll never be able to make a new series, as you are making nothing right out of the gate.

Other retailers said success depends on continuity of the series. But if by issue six the book is making nothing, then you can’t continue the series. The paid work from work-for-hire gigs then becomes imperrative. You can only do your passion project by supporting it with funds from elsewhere. That means there is innevitably big gaps between the original books and any follow-ups.

I also learned that a lot of retailers are in survival mode, and can only get books that they 100% can rely on.

There were a few people who thought that 3000 sales was decent. But StarHenge launched at just over 30K. At this point in my career a decent size audience should be more than 3K. Forgive me if there’s a tiny bit of apparent arrogance in that statement, but I’ve spent literal decades trying to build a decent audience, and my first big success, Death’s Head II, sold half a million copies. So 3K does not feel like a win, even taking into consideration these changing times.

Others said do crowdfunding. On 3K sales we might have made a decent profit that way. I refer to my answer above. I’m still more concerned with audience and reach for these books I put my heart into, and would rather do work-for-hire on something like ‘Conan’, that has built-in significant reach, than something that doesn’t land with my wider audience.

There were two later posts off the back of the first:

There is another side in all of this which I take for granted as obvious, but hasn't really been stated often, that I recall at least: I want the books I create to be a success not just for me, but for my partners in these ventures - the publisher, the distributer, and of course, the shops! I don't want ANYBODY to lose money, or to feel they are backing a lame horse. If they don't do well it's a strain on pretty much everybody. It's why we count on those that believe in us so much. The industry needs supporting at every level.

And:

No, I don't do this just for love. I have to make a living. It's all I've ever done, and all I know how to do. It confuses me when people don't understand that we have to earn a living from this.

That doesn't mean I DON'T love it, of course!

Thankfully I'm employed as work for hire on some great projects, so I'm all good (VERY good, as it happens! Conan! Spawn! Yay!), but I would LOVE for just ONE of my creator-owned books, from the last 30 odd years plus, to grow a damn pair of legs and be actually viable. It's certainly not for want of trying.

We can dream, right?

These posts were fueled by some disappointment, of course, but the post about wanting EVERYBODY to do well strikes me as something we don’t often acknowledge. We ARE all in this together.

One ‘fan’ informed me (in a manner I can only assume was somehow meant to be kind, but actually left me feeling a bit sad, if it’s true) that he followed lots of artists, and while he ‘loved’ my work, he simply couldn’t afford to start buying my books/comics because he had his go-to creators, and they came first. As such he just enjoyed my work online. Passively. In one sense, great! That’s wonderful, to be loyal to your core favorites. But if there’s wider truth in that it speaks to the struggle I’ve had building on my fanbase. It’s almost impossible to grow, and only lucky breaks, like ‘Wonder Woman’, have brought me any significant, often short-lived, growth.

The above is born out by one significant example from a good while ago: Print on demand was in its infancy, and I made an art book, ‘Reluctant Barbarian’, available that way, based on what appeared to be significant online interest in buying a copy. I hoped to sell a few hundred copies at least. I sold 34. That’s it. And yet more than 34 people were claiming online that they had bought it! So, like it or not, online cheerleading is not the same for us creators as actual, real support. One feeds our families, the other, not so much.

To end, I’ll say that I have no idea, currently, if I can make StarHenge work. Lots of people offered their solutions, but I’ve been publishing for almost 30 years now, in every format on every platform. I’ve pioneered new media (Madefire) and championed print (Mam Tor) as well as doing several successful crowdfunding campaigns (Sharpy). There are only so many ways to suck an egg! I DO know what I’m doing, and it (sadly) isn’t cutting it - at this time. And that last line is key here. For me, the best bet, currently, is to stick to work-for-hire. But StarHenge will always matter to me. I’m so bloody proud of it. And huge thanks to everybody who DID pick up a copy of ORE. Your support does, and will always, mean the earth to me.

Cheers!