I would like to offer a solid piece of advice to those of you out there who want to get into comic publishing.
Firstly, do not believe the hype that having an online virtual store to sell your comics is "the" way to go. It is not. If, say, you were George Perez, Carlos Pacheco or a really big name Marvel/DC pro you probably could sell a lot -if you could be bothered. But as someone new in the industry just don't.
Crippling postal costs these days have ruined any real chance of attracting customers. Sure, Amazon can do it but as they told me, a book of mine costing £15.00 to buy will net me around 85 pence ("but it will be on Amazon!").
Also, forget forums aimed at comics. Seriously, if you post work or tell people about your projects you will get every type of abuse going. I could go on but just DO NOT go that route.
Sure, set up a web site and include contact details but avoid allowing comments!
The best way to sell your books and get your name out there? Go to marts, conventions -the smaller ones first because you do not want to be mugged for the table costs. Talk to people. Sell face-to-face and realise that you need to treat people coming to your table as interested comic people and if you sit back, stare silently at them....they'll walk away.
Ignore social media for anything other than posting details of your new books and where you'll be selling.
But you'll ignore this advice, right?
Firstly, do not believe the hype that having an online virtual store to sell your comics is "the" way to go. It is not. If, say, you were George Perez, Carlos Pacheco or a really big name Marvel/DC pro you probably could sell a lot -if you could be bothered. But as someone new in the industry just don't.
Crippling postal costs these days have ruined any real chance of attracting customers. Sure, Amazon can do it but as they told me, a book of mine costing £15.00 to buy will net me around 85 pence ("but it will be on Amazon!").
Also, forget forums aimed at comics. Seriously, if you post work or tell people about your projects you will get every type of abuse going. I could go on but just DO NOT go that route.
Sure, set up a web site and include contact details but avoid allowing comments!
The best way to sell your books and get your name out there? Go to marts, conventions -the smaller ones first because you do not want to be mugged for the table costs. Talk to people. Sell face-to-face and realise that you need to treat people coming to your table as interested comic people and if you sit back, stare silently at them....they'll walk away.
Ignore social media for anything other than posting details of your new books and where you'll be selling.
But you'll ignore this advice, right?
Good advice, Terry.
ReplyDeleteThinking about it, one of the biggest problems of all for small or independent publishers is a way to present their works to the 'public' in general without breaking the bank. I think that is the key question for many people - how to get general people to view your work, not just those who'll go to a mart or a check out a website. I wish I had an answer.
ReplyDelete