The indie comic scene is bigger than ever and if you’ve always dreamed of making a comic but haven’t made a plan, this is the guide for you. I’ve spoken to four successful comic creators and asked their advice on every step of the process that goes into making an indie comic: from choosing which of your ideas to pursue and setting your expectations, to selecting digital publishing platforms, creating and selling print copies, and marketing your comic.
“Make what you want to make!” says Michelle Leffler. “Make something that makes you feel excited and makes you want to create your story. Comics are just an insane amount of work. If you don’t love your story, you will lose steam, or end up resenting your work. It shows in the art when you don’t like what you’re working on. So if you want to commit to making a story using comics, be sure you are making a story you just can’t wait to put to paper.
The best way to get a sense of what you can do with comics is to immerse yourself in the medium and read as many as you can. Michelle recommends:makes Marvel’s Spider-Ham comics, which are both superhero and comedy, and she shows great action scenes, and the timing is just perfect to make you laugh."just released her debut novel The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich, and the sweeping romantic panels in it will make you weep.
She also uses Sketchup, a simple 3D app, in a very clever way for building more complicated backgrounds. She has this ingenious tip: “I have built the main character’s homes and a simple town, so that I can always have an accurate reference in perspective for my backgrounds. It saves me a lot of time, because I don’t have to build perspective grids and remember the layouts for every last panel and shot. I can just place the camera, screenshot, then draw over the model.
Many artists prefer to order in bulk from a printing company and then handle the fulfilment themselves. If you can find a local company, this can be a bonus as you can visit the premises to inspect paper options, binding styles, and printed colour samples in person. Whatever services you choose, think about how they all fit together, as this can make your life a lot easier. For example, some print-on-demand services integrate with). When choosing your shipping software, look at what kind of integrations it can do, and whether you can connect it easily to your website or Kickstarter (read ourPublishing digitally on a comic platform gives you access to a global audience, and you can do it for free.
The second major bonus was that they managed to get a contract that enabled them to retain full rights over the Woven IP - a situation that’s harder to come by these days. Notice that while Michelle’s concept - a romance between a witch and dwarf - is special and unique, she does touch on some aspects that have a strong following at the moment. With anxiety levels on the rise, many people are seeking comfort and cosiness from their entertainment media, and this ticks that box. Cottage core is also a big trend, and fantasy romance is always a popular genre. People should be able to set their calendars to when your new page, panel, or episode comes out.