Видео

Heck yeah, thank you!

In a general sense, your goal is not based on what you want to achieve to cover costs, but rather what you realistically think you can achieve based upon your fanbase size. Add up an average of your collective friends, family, email contacts (personal and if you have an email list) and social media followers. Set your private funding goal at about 15% of your fanbase. If that fanbase number is 1000, and you expect to sell your book for $20 as your base/primary product -- then your true goal should be 20x150 = $3k. But you'll set your public funding goal at about 30% of that. So your public goal will be $900-1k. If you're an absolute beginner, with no credibility or public porfolio, then your best marketing technique is to partner with somebody who has credibility. This can be done through "cross promotion" in which you promote a popular creator's project in conjunction with your own (if you both have books of a similar genre), in exchange that they'll do the same for their fanbase, or by hiring popular artist to do a cover for you, or with more nuance techniques -- like adding unusual products to your campaign that stand out from comics and target a more niche audience (such as plushies for kids).

@@indiecomicempire I really appriciate that information, thank you for your comment!

Nice!

Heck yeah!

Here’s the hard truth…no, being a comic creator is a tough career on its own. Most creators have day jobs in the field that are more consistent, such as an art teacher, college lecturer, storyboard artist, social media manager, tv writer etc. comics themselves, even with consistent jobs from mainstream publishers, is a tough career. Only the celebrities in the space make a comfortable salary. The average newcomer makes little to no income from comics. As an artists, you can probably find a handful of jobs that pay a low page rate. As a writer, you have to invest in an artist, and it’ll be hard to sell enough comics to earn more than you paid the artist. If you’re a writer and an artist, you have to find a publisher which is tough as a newcomer, or you have to invest in a printer and marketing to self publish. All of these option leads to a tough sell, hard to make much money from. And finally, no, Image rarely takes on projects from new creators, and when they do, it’s usually from someone who’s not actually new, and has an audience from another medium like a novelist, actor, screenwriter, or Instagram famous artists,etc.

@@indiecomicempire if the comic industry is that harsh, what company should I apply for to publish my work? Because it sounds like the comic industry doesn’t indulge in the idea of newcomers or different norms.

@@legoninlaz_3116 there are plenty of publishers looking for newcomers. I made a whole video about it here: ruclips.net/video/jeLUav8szxM/видео.html and you if you join my email list you can download my master list of publishers, or just order it here: www.hovencrow.com/product-page/ultimate-guide-to-comic-publishers

@@indiecomicempire thanks a lot! I know what I’m going to do now (before I was going to go for image comics since they’re brand revolved about creator publishing) but now I want to go for IDW Publishing; thanks a lot! (I did watch the video) Edit: Turns out IDW Publishing doesn’t accept submissions, I really don’t get this industry, they say they are willing to invest in any genre and are creator owned but they are only interested ‘experienced’ and non creative IPs. I’ll look through the video again to see what other Publishing company is the best

@@indiecomicempire (I’m only 14 btw lol) but this whole thing is quite irritating. It says IDW Publishing does not take submissions unless they ask for it on their page. I also asked two AIs to see if they do accept submissions and they said yes. So please, does IDW Publishing actually take submissions?

Thank you!

Thank you!

You too bro!

For sure!

Of course, thanks for coming on!

You’re welcome!

I released one of my feature films on RUclips via my own channel. Didn’t result in much, although it’s also a strange film. Are you releasing yours via your own channel or on a channel dedicated to feature films? What methods do you use to promote it?

@@indiecomicempire my own channel since it’s already monetized and dedicated to filmmaking .

Paul directed a film called Sacrilege in 2017 and I produced a film called Halfpace in 2021. He also has a few popular horror short films and series’ on the RUclips channel Vintage Eight and I have a film in post production called Tapak.

I'll check them out

Or a comic book, manga, or graphic novel!

Thank you my friend!

What’s not free anymore?

If it’s through a publisher - about 2-3x demand. And demand is based on preorders. If you’re self publishing, usually do 50-100 on top of whatever your demand is…which is 1% of your audience (social media followers, email list, etc), or however many backers you get from a crowdfunding campaign. You want to print enough extras to cover damaged copies and have some to sell at conventions and/or on your own website/shop.

@@indiecomicempire cool, thanks for the response!

That’s usually the director’s decision. The producer may have an influence over the songs, and can say no to specific songs, but they only really oversee the budget. The director in theory would have creative control over the soundtrack.

I would definitely encourage some form of merchandise with the book, since this is the personal connection that readers value with a kickstarter. It’s like getting exclusive freebie merchandise when you go to a movie premiere or big comic con. So I’d add something cheap like stickers that you can add for free to backers, but also add something big like a t-shirt and a poster for those willing to spend an extra $30-50 on top of the book costs to make it special. Depending on the genre of the book, free digital items related to the story are good too, like a map, or a family tree etc

Right on! Thank you

Email me max@hovencrow.com and I’ll send it to you.

So I’ve heard! Shoulda known. Everybody just connected there and then made their own private deals without vuulr to avoid commissions. The same way people bypass paying FIverr and other sites. And a subscription model probably wouldn’t have made them enough to profit.

@@indiecomicempire Yep! Filmhub is all us independent filmmakers have! I just hope they don't screw up!

Awesome. You’re welcome and thank you for commenting!

:)

Hell yeah it is lol

I'm pretty sure that no matter what you'll have to package and ship the items yourself. However, there are a few primary software tools people use to make this process easier, so you're not going to the post office and trying to buy and hand them 100+ packages with separate mailing addresses. The big and most trusted and used software is called BackerKit (backerkit.com). For packaging and labeling, you can use Stamps (Stamps.com) or similar websites to buy the materials and software in bulk. Then for actual shipping, just look up 3PL (meaning 3rd Party Logistics) on Google or where ever and you should find local shipping companies that specifically help with crowdfunding campaign fulfillment.

I would do two things...A) reach out to the agent of Akkad and request information on the obtaining the comic or novel publishing rights for the IP. Don't tell them you're a screenwriter, tell them you're a producer or comic writer. They're more likely going to give you a lead that way. Even though you may not get any response, they may give you some kind of information or gateway to pitching your ideas to the person who owns the publishing rights, and from their you can eighter try to buy the rights yourself, or pitch the person who owns those rights. Point being, try to crawl your way in with a business deal instead of a story pitch. B) Rewrite the script with your own characters. Just literally rename the characters and see what path it leads you down. I wrote a spec script that was an origin story for Mortal Kombat's Sub Zero, and eventually that script was re-written and became the basis for my ongoing comic series Liquid Kill, which at the moment is set to sell more that 100,000 units worldwide.

@@indiecomicempire Wow! Thanks so much for that great advice! Do you have any clue how I’d find who’s representing Akkad? Are these things normally listed somewhere?

@@PurpleRain500 I would just look it up on IMDb pro. It’s well worth the price, which I think is like 100 bucks a year.

@@indiecomicempire Cool! Thanks so much for your help! I read somewhere that it may be difficult trying to score IP rights as an unknown first time writer, but your method gives me hope. Do you think they’ll even consider my work as an unknown at this point?

@@PurpleRain500 in a general sense, if you’re unknown, just give as little information as possible. Just say you’re interested in the rights. Entertainment people are used to dealing with unknown people who are rich from other industries who look to buy the rights to their favorite IP. And those people just ask questions, they don’t try to exaggerate who they are. The secret of the wealthy is they don’t explain themselves, they just ask for what they want. And if they’re out of their depth, they just move on. You can do the same.

My advice is to complete one 20-26 page issue -- self-publish and then crowdfund it for as much as you can, but setting a low bar, enough to cover printing for 50-100 units. Then, after completing a few more issues, pitch the full series to publishers. If nobody bites, self-publish and crowdfund the rest of the issues. Then, after growing your audience to about 100 core people, see if any publishers are interested in publishing the full trade as a graphic novel. If not, crowdfund the trade. Rinse and repeat with a new series, or continue to grow your audience with that series if you start to see a lot of interest.

@@indiecomicempire I see thanks alot! Im gonna be cookin with that advice!!!!

Ha! Thank you!

Yeah, that's definitely true. Very rarely will you find a publisher who will take on a series that's still in its pre-production phase. They're not like film studios that will finance production. Instead their main business is through financing post-production and profiting from an already completed product.

From a reader's perspective, an ashcan can be its own collectible -- a short physical comic that's a preview of the story and sometimes some promo pages detailing other comics from the same publisher. Cheap paper, usually black and white with concept covers (but not always, they can be high quality with cardstock covers and and with gloss and color pages) or sometimes they're self-printed zines with short stories from the universe of the comic. They're often given away for free at comic conventions, but eventually become rare and unique because of their small print run and unofficial release. From a creator's perspective, they act as a proof-of-concept physical pitch to both readers and gatekeepers alike, while also acting as a full blown collectible product with a tangible value. They're a win win essentially for everyone involved.

Also, to add to what was said. Cecil isn't combining all the ashcans into one collected trade. He made 8 ashcans, each about 8 pgs long to show people and test which one people liked. Now that he knows he is writing and paying for art for 80-100 pages of one of those stories. Then he will do the next one. Some of those ashcans may never go any further, but he got the idea out and tested it.

Heck yeah. Send me an email max@hovencrow.com. I can send you a signed copies of almost any of the issue 1 covers. I think I may even have a metal or foil cover.

😂 I’m super excited, if you could sign the i and e variant of issue one, and c variant of issue 2. Those are my favorites. Hahahahahahahaha what do I have to do man lol I’m so glad I commented here lol amazing

Thank you! I try my best with the time I have lol

Thank you! I I wrote a non fiction book about the space if you want to check it out at www.hovencrow.com

I’m actually terrible at the actual artistic aspects of comics; my specialty is in writing and marketing. So I’m not sure what it would actually take do a comic in 24 hours. But I would calculate it out to about one page per hour. Or if you need to sleep. 2 pages per hour and an a few hours to write and sketch.

@@indiecomicempire thanks mayne you the real deal you keeps it real and professional I appreciate the dedication you put into this shit keep it up

Thank you! That means a lot!

Oops lol

The most famous movie makers and comic book publishers and bro forgot😂😂😂😂​@@indiecomicempire

@@NecromancerSplatI'm not sure if you're joking or if you're unaware that I was joking. Marvel and DC don't accept unsolicited submissions. This list is of publishers that do.

@indiecomicempire no I'm like joking because marvel and DC aren't indie comics that's the joke lol

@@NecromancerSplat oh gotcha lol

Oops! I need to get it scheduled!

Thanks for coming on!

For real, mult-talented.

Thank you. And wow...true elite top level artists.

@@indiecomicempire Yes, very top. But sometimes they'll say yes to an unknown creator if you have the $. Plenty decline such projects or simply do not respond to inquiries. Understandable.

Thank you, means a lot. I strive to give out quality information. The editing and production value of my videos may be low, but the value of the information should be high.

Yes, there definitely are, as this is common practice for writers with agents. However, for new creators reaching out to publishers directly, you'll often have to contact an editor or research all the submission guidelines for the publishers you want to work with. I can't remember specific ones. I want to say Antarctic Press or some of the small press publishers on my list will. If you go through my Mega Publishers list at www.hovencrow.com/shop (or download it free by subscribing to my email list if you haven't already) and look at submissions pages, you will see some that accept artist portfolios and/or scripts. I'll try to make a video that details these publishers.

@@indiecomicempire ahoy comics accepts writer only submissions

Heck yeah! Let's go Collabr! gogetfunding.com/collabr/

Thanks for the engagement lol. Yeah, with nearly every creative I know out there, we've dealt with all levels of getting screwed...uncredited, unpaid, miscredited, lied to, stolen ideas, falsely accused, etc. It can be from a long-term partner or someone you barely know. Some of us extract dreams from the ether and attempt to build them in reality, then there are others who claim credit for building the ether and then charge you for building their dream.

@@indiecomicempire The worst thing about it is they don't even get their own contradition. Or they do, but still want to lie to themselves. I mean - why offer to pay me a meager sum of money, if it was all done by himself? I learn a lot about writing good villains from people/bosses who think they are doing the right thing. Everyone is the hero of their own story.