Creating comics, so simple… right?

“Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work.” – Rita Mae brown

Creating comics, such a simple thing. An idea is translated into a medium of sequential art incorporating pictures and words. A script is written, the pages are drawn, along comes the inker, she hands it over to be colored, the letterer throws some words into balloons, you wrap a cover around it, slap a staple in the middle, and voila, you have yourself a comic. See what I mean? Simple. Or is it? After all, if it were so simple, why on earth do so many that are not merely content with just reading comics but want to actively pursue injecting their creativity into the world of comicdom struggle day in and day out to bring their ideas to the printed page. It seems as if the process to create such a simple, innocuous thing is almost a war of attrition for those striving to do so.

It’s true that just about anyone can create a comic book. And yet so many creators are out there wanting to bring their ideas to life only to run into obstacles that prevent them from doing so; be it time to work on their creation, finding a reliable group to work with, or the necessary funds to make it a reality – the latter quite often being the biggest hindrance. Although it is the same for just about any artistic medium, comics present their own unique challenges.

Lets take a look at a few of those challenges that I mentioned above:

Time – Unfortunately there are only so many hours in the day. Professional creators will attest to taking 10-15 hours a day just to stay caught up. Unfortunately, most aspiring creators have nowhere near that kind of time to dedicate to creating comics due to the usual 9 to 5 job, leaving you little time to spend working on your creativity. You are forced to relegate your comicdom dreams to the realm of “hobby.” Although difficult, it is doable. The first 2 issues of my series were completed while working 60hrs a week. To do so you must use your time wisely. If you haven’t read the post on Time Management I encourage you to do so.

Creative Team – Coordinating a group of talented (and often primadona-ish) creators can be quite a feat. More often than not, this is one of the biggest problems to get to the completed comic. Creative differences and work ethics compete against each other making for often times a combustible situation. Weigh your choices for your creative team carefully. A note to remember: The first dealings you have with someone in a business setting is usually the very best your working relationship is going to be. If an individual you want to work with is slow to return your calls or emails in the very beginning, how fast to respond do you think they are going to be once they have the job? It behooves you to establish this in the beginning to avoid any future headaches.

Be sure to lay the ground rules and expectations of all parties involved, and most importantly, set deadlines. This is a deadline driven industry. Orders are placed, distribution channels are opened creating an unforgiving ticking clock. Make sure your creative team is aware of this clock. Don’t have any orders in place or distributor lined up? Pick a convention you will be debuting your creation at and shoot for that date. By prepaying for the show you will have an invested interest in making the deadline that you can use to spur your team into action.

This applies to creators – such as myself – who handle the entire creative process themselves. Without a ticking clock driving you forward your creativity will never see fruition due to the death sentence so many impose upon themselves: “I’ll work on it tomorrow.” Believe me tomorrow will never come.

Funding – This is by far the biggest stumbling block and hurdle to get over. Plenty of people realize that in order for them to bring their ideas to life they need to have at least a little capital behind them and it’s important you come to grips with this. No business can be started without money. Fortunately with Print-On-Demand companies like Ka-Blam and Comixpress the cost for a low print run, or even to print just one copy, is negligible. Your profit margins will not be high, and you will have to have a higher cover price just to break even, but the wall is a lot easier to get over than it used to be. Prior to this you had to use an offset printer requiring you to print thousands of copies just to make doing so worth wild since the cost of printing just a handful as opposed to thousands would be virtually the same due to setup costs.

That said, it is important for you to know and remember that there needs to be some outlay of capital in order for you to make your comic a reality. As I stated above, POD has made printing comics accessible to everyone. However, you still need to promote your comic and get it into the hands of the ravenous fans. Conventions are by far the best avenue for you to do this. However, conventions can add up if you are not careful offering you no guarantee of return.

As a successful comic creator, I can tell you that the rewards are worth it – and not necessarily monetarily. Truth be told, creating comics is a love affair. You have to love the industry in order to be willing to scale the walls and break down the barricades. It’s a willingness to sacrifice time, put aside creative differences, and hand over your hard earned money in hopes to see a smile on the face of someone who has read your story and cannot wait for the next, to receive that first piece of fan-mail, and to take your place among the creative ranks in this weird, little world.

To your success,

This is the beginning of a series on comic creation that will be highlighting some directions that you can take in bringing your comic, not only to life, but also into the hands of adoring fans. I encourage you to sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t done so already, the RSS feed, and to check back often. Because lack of money is by far the biggest barrier for aspiring creators, I have set up a page on this site called MILK MONEY. Here you will find different methods of creating possible revenue streams to help you achieve your dreams. These are programs that I have used personally to generate a nice income and might be worth a look to you. Be sure to Check it Out!