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Comics Bound |
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How to self-publish your own minicomic!
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by Minty Lewis |
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How long have you been toiling away on your own comic, waiting to be discovered? Well, stop waiting and take matters into your own hands by self-publishing a minicomic! Once you have a physical product, it’s a lot easier to find an audience and develop industry contacts. Here’s how to take your comics from the sketchbook to a finished work of art that’s ready for public consumption.
CREATION
There are a lot of ways to create and duplicate minicomics—with a computer, Xerox machine, physical cutting and pasting, you name it!—but here’s a basic, foolproof, low-tech method that can get you started.
Prepare Your Art
If you’ve done your work in pencil, go over the lines with black ink and then erase the pencil for a clean original. If you’ve created art electronically, make sure it’s black and white—not gray and white. Black-and-white art provides the most accurate reproduction, offers better quality control, and is cheaper to reproduce than color art.
Make a Comp
“Comp” is short for “composite design” or a mock-up of your minicomic layout that doesn’t include the final art. Comps help you visualize the layout of your comics and will help determine the number of pages and art that you will need.
Format Your Master
Your “master” is the original layout containing final art from which you’ll make your copies. Use a photocopier to resize your art to fit your minicomic page dimensions. Most minicomics are 8.5 by 5.5 inches, but you can customize however you want. Then, cut and paste the resized copies into a master layout, using your comp as a guide.
Design a Cover
Remember that the cover is the readers’ first impression of your minicomic. And like it or not, people will judge your comic by its cover, so don’t be afraid to experiment with colored paper, color photocopies, or screen printing to entice your readers!
Reproduce
With a photocopier, copy a couple of sample pages of your comic to make sure your duplicates aren’t too light or dark and are registering properly. Start with a small print run of around 20 copies—you can always print
more. Bind your comic with a long-arm stapler (simplest method) or experiment with hand stitching, a sewing machine, or a large rubber band around the spine.
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DISTRIBUTION
Now that you’ve got your final product, here are some ways to get your masterpiece out to the masses.
Cons
Register for a table at a convention to sell your wares. Depending on the show, you can pay $10 or $300, or you can just show up with your minicomics that are ready to trade or give away to other artists and publishers. The Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland, (spxpo.com) and the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco (comic-con.org/ape) are especially friendly to minicomics creators.
The Web
Sell your comics on the web, either by setting up your
own web store or through an online distributor. Distributors like Secret Acres (secretacres.com) or Global Hobo (hobocomics.com) already have a loyal base of customers,
so you’ll benefit from an instant audience. The drawback is that they often charge half your cover price in exchange for their services.
Local Comic and Craft Stores
Many shops are willing to sell minicomics on commission, but as with online distributors, you should expect to earn only about half your cover price.
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"Comics Bound" has been edited for shojobeat.com.
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