Darkrose_Morgan

1. How much money are you willing and able to commit to chasing your dream? (don't tell me, just know the number). If you don't have funds now, i would recommend putting some away from every pay check from here forward.
   
2. research research research. google everything. literally if you want to know something ask google as if you were asking me. this actually helped me a lot. "How do i achieve best seller on amazon?" you'd be surprised what kind of information you can get from a question like this. "where is the best place to go to print a proof (a physical sample for your book)" -- btw -- i spent a lot of time looking for the right printers. i would strongly recommend Endeavor Printing (Endeavorprinting.com) for graphic novel print on demand - ask for Brian and tell them Morgan sent you! this is for graphic novels only. If you're only looking to print a traditional novel (no illustrations or color), use Lightning source or Createspace. I prefer Lightning Source. Their quality is fantastic.
3. build a kickstarter - not sure how great this would work for a novel, but works great for comics and graphic novels. again, ask google "How do i build a great kickstarter for my graphic novel?" Google is your friend!!!! :)

Hey Suaveitguy, It's Morgan Rosenblum (one of the speakers from the panel). Matt (Ultramat2m) is spot on. Have a plan. I can't tell you how much money and time I legit wasted bc i didn't have a plan when i started. Hindsight is always 20/20, but if i could go back i would have spent a lot more time on formulating a plan.

but regarding how you can get it in the hands of your target audience, Facebook advertising to people who like things similar to you is also a great way to get on their radar.

I've found that people like things that are familiar to them. So saying something like. "If you like The Dark Knight and GI JOE, then you'll LOVE TRDWTR (Treadwater)!" And visuals work great in a post - much better than simple text. you could even make a collage of GI JOE, DARK KNIGHT, and TRDWTR (For example), bc it will help the audience make the connection.

Facebook pricing has gone up as of late, but if you have a little bit of cash, i've found it can really help with your visibility.

I'm a huge advocate of Social Media, clearly :)

Morgan here (Panelist). My friend and co-panelist Matt Kadish is probably one of the most business savvy people i've ever met. So I would say his advice is likely better than mine. But unlike Matt, I went the route of a GN (Graphic Novel) as my first title.

I would say the ratio of cost for GN vs a traditional written novel is about 30:1-ish. I'm not the best writer in the world, and i'm only an ok artist. my forte is probably my crazy brain - world and character building. So i had to hire a co-writer (Don Macnab-Stark) and an artist (Ray Dillon) to bring my story to life. this was not cheap. I spent the majority of my life savings to do this. It helps that I don't have a wife or children to stop me though! :D

Crowd funding is prolly the best thing you can do. have something to show, have a plan, and then try a kickstarter, or indiegogo. this is waayyy better than asking for handouts form friends and family (and i def encourage you to show your friends and fam your KS campaign, bc they will be far more likely to help you out). If you have very limited funds (which is the case for 99.9% of us, then crowdfunding is the way to get "kickstarted" - It's how i got started.

Hey it's Morgan Rosenblum (Panelist). If you want to get an actual publisher, you'll def need a literary agent. Which is really tough. I sent my work to a bunch of lit agents, and i only heard back from a few. and the ones i heard back from i'm pretty convinced didn't even bother to read my stuff, despite claiming otherwise.

I actually made a list of all of the people who turned me down as motivation. You should NEVER give up on your dream. let your haters be your motivators! :P

While i was waiting for responses from the legit agents i submitted to, i said fuck it, and just kept doing my own thing. There is absolutely no harm in trying to do it yourself while you "wait to hear back".

I've found that the more work you have to show, the more serious people will take you. SHOW DON'T TELL!!!! :)

Personally Amazon is the best.

My strategy for making it into the Superhero Graphic Novel BEST SELLER list was this:

I only listed my book for sale on one platform: AMAZON.

Why?

Let's say for example, that each platform/retailer (i.e. Amazon) has a requirement of you having sold 1000 book in a week in order for you to make their best seller list. then let's say you list your book on four different platform (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books.com, and bookclub.com). Lets say that you sold 250 books on each of those platforms. based on the criteria, you would have missed the best seller list on all four of those platforms, whereas if you only listed your title on one of them, you would have made the best seller list. Makes sense?