r/books • u/Darkrose_Morgan AMA Author • Oct 12 '16

ama We are five successful indie comic book writers, artists, and publishers who want to share our secrets. Ask us anything about self publishing and the process.

This is the crew of the NYCC panel on self-publishing. We are Morgan Rosenblum (writer/creator of Treadwater and CEO of Darkrose Studios), Claire Folkman (Philadelphia artist and co-editor/publisher of the award-winning Dirty Diamonds: an all-girl comic anthology), Kelly Phillips (creator of comic series Weird Me and co-editor/publisher of the award-winning Dirty Diamonds: an all-girl comic anthology), Justin Jordan (Creator of the Luther Strode and Spread comic series, currently writing for DC and Image Comics) and Anthony Del Col (Co-Writer of Kill Shakespeare, Assassin’s Creed and writer of Sherlock Holmes vs. Harry Houdini). Ask us anything!

Also you can check out our panel page at NYCC: https://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/Sessions/31393/How-to-Succeed-in-Self-Publishing

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u/PopFenton Oct 12 '16

For someone who is a writer only, at what point in the project do you look to getting an artist involved for character design?

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u/Darkrose_Morgan Oct 12 '16

If you already have a pretty clear vision as to who the character(s) are and what they look like, and you know it's pretty set in stone, then you can start doing it.

I love the "Concept Art" part of the artistic process. In case you're not familiar, a concept artist is the one who designs what the characters and environments look like, whereas an illustrator or comic artist are the ones who do the frame by frame comic artworkwork. Sometimes you'll find someone who does both, but I find it fun to have a separate concept artist from the illustrator/comic artist.

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u/JustinJordan Oct 12 '16

When I'm sure I have an actual story. Ideas are pretty easy, but stories are hard. But I don't approach artists until I have, at least, a issue by issue breakdown of the first six issues and, if ongoing, a solid idea of the arcs we need to get to the end.

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u/DelCol Oct 12 '16

There's no right answer for this. I think the most important thing is to have a firm idea of what your story and world is. The characters, an overall arc for the major ones, etc.

But the key is to be flexible on some elements, especially the visual. It's great to be able to collaborate with an artist(s) and get their involvement. And be open to having them improve upon your story.

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u/clairefolkman Oct 12 '16

Do you know what you want out of engaging with an artist? Are your characters exceptionally clear in your mind, or are you looking for someone to really help you flesh out your vision? Are you ready to pay someone or are you hoping to barter/trade for designs? Knowing what you want from your artist in exact detail can help you figure out when you have the resources to be able to start contacting people. But once you have all that, just start dropping people you want to work with an email. The writer/artist relationship is INCREDIBLY important to the success of a comic, at any level, so going into it with a clear head and an idea of what you're looking for (and a kind/understanding/polite attitude!) can really make sure everyone walks away from the collaboration happy.

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u/PopFenton Oct 12 '16

I would like to think I had a pretty clear vision. I provided something akin to an inspiration board (read as folder filled with images) filled with images that I had gathered based on my vision of a given character. Pay is something that often seems be a sore subject for a lot of people that are looking to get into the writing side of comics. Thanks for your time and advice.

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u/Chtorrr Oct 12 '16

What is the best advice you could give someone interested in self publishing?

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u/Darkrose_Morgan Oct 12 '16

Justin Jordan says this a lot, and I couldn't agree more: "Know what you want out of it."

If you know what you want out of it, it will make it easier to decide what approach to take. For example, if you want to simply have a well executed physical copy of your book for yourself as more of a passion project (which is kinda how i started), then you're less interested in the biz aspect of things.

On the flip side, if you're main focus is in monetizing your publication, then you're going to want to devise a marketing plan, and apply for distribution.

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u/Bangus4791 Oct 12 '16

Can you walk us through a pitch process? How do you get your foot in the door? Best practices?

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u/Darkrose_Morgan Oct 12 '16

Firstly, you should really get the book: "Good In A Room" by Stephanie Palmer. I've personally found that is the best piece of material for how to pitch. The book is geared towards Film, but the overall pitch process format i've found to be consistent in all forms at least in regards to pithing your story and characters.

It also breaks down the different kinds of pitches. and this is important to note - that you shouldn't look at it as one long pitch, but rather a series of smaller pitches. There is the:

"The Genre Pitch" - i.e. It's a dark and mature sci fi action drama

"The Comparison Pitch" - what is it like? i.e. It's like The Dark Knight meets Jason Bourne, but with the flashback narrative style of Lost.

"The Premise Pitch" - a one to two sentence log line i.e. Only a few years from now, in the wake of a global economic meltdown, chaos erupts and the world's safety is jeopardized by a new wave of crime, terror, and political turmoil. To combat the rising tides of anarchy washing over the world, six misfit anti heroes are recruited into a privately funded special operative program known as Treadwater.

There is the "Genesis Pitch" - how you came up with the idea, why YOU are the expert to tell this particular story.

Again, i got all of this from "Good In A Room" and there's way more good stuff you can learn about from reading it.

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u/leowr Oct 12 '16

Hi!

What kind of books do you like reading? Why do or don't you read a lot of books in the genre you write in?

Also, read anything good lately? Anything in particular you would like to recommend to us?

Thanks for doing this AMA!

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u/SinSlayer Oct 12 '16 edited Oct 12 '16

Im a writer an have finished a short that Im VERY interested in turning into a six issue graphic novel. The problem I have is two fold: 1) Finding an artisit. Im on a very limited budget and cant afford to pay $100 plus per issue and finding a talented artisit who is interested in working pro-bono is like winning the lotto, especially when asking them to really commit to the project. 2) Once I have the finished project in hand, what's the best avenue to market it, not only to the general public, but to Indie houses like yourself? I'm considering a booth at next years SDCC, but want to go a bit further than just sharing my work with the world.

What advice do you offer and does your house accept manucripts for stories?

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u/Darkrose_Morgan Oct 12 '16

Well, firstly it sounds like your main focus right now should be on finishing your comic - getting it into a tangible fully executed form. It takes several months usually to finish just one 20-ish page issue (especially when the artist has another full time job or is working on several free lance projects at the same time).

Being a writer myself, I've found it to be a lot harder to get the artist to want to work with the writer than the other way around, especially if it's "pro-bono". Also, you should never ever look at it as pro-bono. The artists time is extremely valuable, and he/she should be compensated no matter what. Whether that be on a per page rate or as a part owner in your IP (your comic series). I believe that would be the only way to get an artist to work with you without any money coming in immediately.

What I would suggest, is that you find an artist(s) whose style you really like for you comic, and then find out what their page rate is. Then save up enough for about 6-10 pages. Then pay them to create the beginning of your comic. You can then use those fully executed pages for a crowd funding campaign like a Kickstarter to help raise the money to finish the book. This is essentially what I did. Kickstarter is a whole other beast. But I believe this is a good starting point.

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u/Chtorrr Oct 12 '16

What would you most like to tell us that no one has asked about yet?

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