The single most important advice for new creators…
There is a sea of advice out there for getting started in indie comics. We are surrounded by people on social media that are doing what we wish we could be doing. Some of them being as helpful as they can sharing tips and hard won advice, some puffing themselves up to appear bigger and more successful than they are, and those that want to take advantage of hopeful young creatives ready to sell you their “proven method for increasing your kickstarter total with their secret list of super backers”.
Some advice is universal, while some is situational.
Just get started making comics, ‘finished’ beats an unfinished ‘perfect’ everyday.
Put your phone away at a con and interact with the crowd.
Start building an Email list of people interested in your work.
Start small. Make short stories not your 100 chapter masterpiece.
Sometimes it is great advice that can apply to anyone… While sometimes it only applies to certain people in certain situations. For instance, the biggest advance in my career was making friends with the letterer on the first indie book I worked on as the inker. We became fast friends, and when he started showing off pinups I did for him, people started hiring me for their books. That advice only really worked for ME in that particular situation. You can’t just message him and ask to be his friend and expect him to start handing you jobs. (Trust me, people have tried! You notice I no longer mention his name in that story.) BUT, “be the kind of guy people WANT to work with” is universal advice that can benefit anyone.
My best advice for new creators is to start investing in the indie comics community. Get involved in discussions, start watching and commenting on podcasts, start making friends, and most of all, START INVESTING IN KICKSTARTER BOOKS!
You don’t have to be rich, setting an affordable budget of just $10-$20 a month will lead to many benefits.
Read and learn: you will read so many interesting indie comics. Learn what works, what doesn’t, and find inspiring new creators to follow.
Connection: reach out to the creators that move you. Everyone loves to hear people enjoy their work.
Be specific: “I love the way your use of color intensified the emotional impact of that scene” will have a bigger impact, and make your interaction more memorable.
A nice compliment can make a creator’s day… an interesting, thoughtful comment just might make a new friend.
Kickstarter master class: you will see what works with successful campaigns and what doesn't. Study the layout of the campaigns, the videos, the sales pitch. Learn what resonates with backers and use it to improve your own pitch and campaigns.
Community investment: Regularly investing in other creators shows you are a committed member of the indie comics world, interested in seeing everyone succeed. Nothing says “I’m only out for myself” like seeing “3 created projects 0 backed projects” under a profile name.
First impressions: Most people that stumble across our campaigns will have no idea who we are, those little numbers under our profile name are the first thing they will see, we want it to show we are an active, vital member of the indie comics world.
Start now: looking to start a new professional profile in your business name? Start backing other creators immediately, so the new profile has some credibility in the community when you are ready to launch that first book.
School of Fish art stream returns!
Join us LIVE at 3:30 EST 2:30 CST Wednesday afternoon as we welcome Esteban Carrero of Ultra Comics as the new cohost for School of FIsh Art stream as we walk through a step by step tutorial on building advanced reusable assets for creating breathtaking background buildings in Clip Studio Paint EX. https://youtube.com/live/2W5aD1SsZN4?feature=share
Fans are loving issue 2 of Alice: Lost In Wonderland, and the messages are rolling in!
And just as quickly as issue 2 shipped out, issue 3 launches August 4th! Sign up to follow the prelaunch page today, and help us unlock prelaunch rewards. We are half way to unlocking the first reward at 50 followers that will send a FREE 3’ sticker of the White Rabbit to all first day physical backers!
Sign up to be notified on launch today and help us unlock more FREE swag when issue 3 launches August 4th at www.gomrfish.com
