Creating Comic Success: Time Management | Having a Plan

“It’s all… part of the plan.” – Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Happy New Year to you and welcome to the first post of the New Year. Now that 2009 has arrived, and bringing an end to procrastination and better prioritization skills are at the top of your resolution list, it’s time that we dive right in and talk about your plans. Experts will tell you that the most important component of managing your time is the planning stage. Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Quite often when I meet people at conventions that tell me they want to create, or are creating, a comic book, I will ask them what their plans are? More often than not I will either get a “deer in the headlights” look or a confused remark like, “Um, my plan is to create a comic.” No, no, no, I mean what are you planning on doing after you create it? How will the book be printed – Offset Press or Print on Demand (POD)? Will it be printed? Will it be digital? How are you planning to market? Who are you planning on marketing to? What are your plans for distribution? Will you be exhibiting at conventions? Which ones? You see, by answering these questions – i.e. making a plan – you will be ahead of 90% of everyone else attempting to enter into the comic industry – including a lot of those already here. It is staggering to see how many people in the world of comics walk blithely around with no game plan whatsoever. The last thing you want to be is one of them. So how do you prevent that?..

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