AdamMcGovern2014

Hi, it's Adam from the panel. These days comics companies mostly function like movie and music distributors do, so they want to see as much completed work as you can show them. That applies to companies that let you keep your intellectual property, like Image. Marvel and DC are still "hiring" companies, and for them shorter samples are requested since they only want to see enough to know if they want more, but once they assign you more, they will want to be taking a strong editorial hand in it. "Distributing" companies like Image are hands-off editorially, so they want to see that you can produce the work at good volume and at a reliable pace. They do take a hand in salability factors, like picking the most readable logo, visually catchy front covers, etc.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I’d say have at least one full issue to show a publisher, and the more you have, the more it will seem to have its own momentum, as if it’s coming into focus inevitably in their vision of what could be on the store shelf.

One drawback of the Image-like model is that you incur all costs of making the comic (writing, art, inks, colors, letters, layout) -- they take on all designing, printing, publishing, advertising and distribution costs. You make money at the end, after they’ve taken those costs back out of whatever the book-sales made (plus a fee). So you can only finish so much to show them ahead of time as you can afford…for my Image comic Nightworld we did it out-of-pocket and then resorted to a (successful) Kickstarter. Hopefully you can then sell enough to finance the next one…hopefully.

Hi, Adam McGovern, from the panel (self-publishing studio "Indie Ink," Image Comic "Nightworld"). Matt and Morgan know mow about seeking agents -- and it’s true, you need one to get in the door for prose novels, and it's been that way for graphic novels too for at least ten years now (after an early frenzy where old-school book publishers were talking to anybody to get in on the graphic-lit bubble). For DIY, I also agree, the more you have done the more real it feels to you and the more reliable you look to either your own audience or potential future publishers. Be it graphic novels or prose, it might be good to always at least have your one next book in progress.

Hi RAAIINN, Adam of the panel and Image Comics' NIGHTWORLD here. Do you do a single ongoing series with multiple issues/volumes? Or several series? I think it’s good to be diversified, AND to stick to series for as long as you are inspired and the story has not run its course. On this same panel, Molly was working away at her webcomic for years and now it’s being distributed as a book -- before 1990, there were only a few platforms for pop; two-to-four print comics companies, three TV networks, etc. -- since the internet and 200-channel cable and indie publishing, there are thousands of things for people to see so it takes longer for your thing to come to the surface -- accumulating success is the point now, not a timed release as much. So if you like it and it has even a solid cult, don’t abandon it, but keep trying new things anyway to keep yourself and others interested.

Adam from the panel here...My comments seem to be posting above earlier and more knowledgeable responders, so I'll try "replying" to the latest comment instead of under your question, Frajer. It does all depend on who needs to get paid and what services you can supply or need to contract -- often on comics, I and the artist are co-creators going in together on the risk, so no money for us until the book sells, but we have to pay colorist, designer, etc. Your own circle can absorb some of this -- I live with a graphic designer and we have high-end printer equipment, which is good for both formatting the product and making prototypes (and knowing some printers who might give us a break). I put out the indie comic Dr. Id for well under $3,000 in 2006...and at this point have only lost about $100 total :-). But now have a deal on one book with Image Comics, so it builds. The comic writer/artist Carla Speed McNeil has delivered a good formula for not losing money on self-publishing at comic-fests, but I can't find it written down online...I offer that if your search-optimization skills are better than mine :-).

Hey, this is Adam McGovern from the panel and Image Comics' NIGHTWORLD. I agree that identifying your audience is key -- the word will be put out by people who share your enthusiasm. My self-published comic Dr. Id, about a telepathic psychologist, was covered on sites devoted to Dr. Strange (and even spoofs of him) and one written by a real doctor who blogs about pop culture. My current comic, Nightworld, though picked up by Image and not self-published, is following the same path -- the Image publicist showed it in advance to a lot of horror sites 'cuz it's kind of a monster-movie comic. If the big companies do it, it's a good method to follow.

When I did Dr. Id I did not have an advertising budget, but that really helps the profile of do-it-yourself comics -- especially if you are bypassing the sole big distributor of comics, Diamond, and putting your book on amazon, etc. You can go with Diamond but they have higher minimums for how many orders an indie book has before they'll carry it, than they did when I put out Dr. Id -- so if you don't do Diamond or rely on online sales, Tony Shenton is a kickass DIY distributor who can do a lot for you -- we sold 800 Dr. Ids through Diamond and another 200 through Shenton; that's small numbers overall but a significant proportion; he's at: http://shenton4sales.tumblr.com/