self-publisher's forum: how much will it cost?
• 18 July 2002
Martin Buxton writes with a three part question:
I emailed a few months ago asking about self-publishing my own comic. You gave me titles of a number of books to read and said to get back to you with any specific questions. So here they are.
1. The first one is to do with cost. Basically, how much would you say it will cost me to get an issue out and how many copies would you suggest I get produced?
Gary responds:
It's impossible for me to say how much it will cost and how many copies you should produce as there are so many variables involved. What I can do is to give you some general advice that you can apply to your own set of circumstances. The cost of production of a comic book is obviously dependent on the number of copies you intend to produce and the size and format of the project you're considering, so it's probably best to address this question first. And this question in turn is dependent on what level you are intending to publish at.
Self-publishing doesn't necessarily mean producing a 24-page comic with colour covers and soliciting it through Diamond; self-publishing can also be photocopying autobiographical mini-comics and giving them away to friends; or publishing a 500-page square bound graphic novel and selling it through book shops. David Hitchcock self-published his Whitechapel Freak as a tabloid newspaper and sold them through London tourist outlets like the London Dungeon. Obviously the cost of producing these different formats varies greatly.
Once you have made the creative decisions on paper size, paper stock and format, you need to consider how many you expect to sell.
If Diamond are prepared to distribute your book (and it's not a foregone conclusion that they will), you will receive an "advance order" before you need to go to press. This could be anything from a hundred copies to a thousand or more, although unless you are already a big name within the industry or indulge in a massive promotional campaign, your orders will most likely be in the lower region of this scale. In addition, you'll need extra copies for other distributors like FM International, for promotional purposes, supplying reorders, selling at conventions (if you plan to attend them), selling via mail order or the Internet and suchlike.
If your orders come in from Diamond at around 200 copies, then perhaps you would set your print run at around 400 or maybe 500 if you're an optimistic sort. I certainly can't tell you how successful your comic will be, nobody can, regardless of quality. You just have to weigh up all the factors and take your best guess at it.
Once you have considered the format, size and quantity of the comic you want to produce, it's time to consider where to have it printed. If you're looking at a hundred copies or so, then your local photocopy shop will be the only cost-effective way of producing it. If you have orders for several thousand, then a specialist comic book printer like Quebecor, Morgan or Brenner may be the best solution. Paul Grist has been using a local printing firm, YBE Business Forms for his excellent Kane comic book for years.
Most printers will be happy to give you a quote for a range of quantities - e.g. for 200, 500 and 1000 copies - which will give you the unit cost and an idea of where your break-even point will be. The more you have printed, the less each comic will cost. Make a mock-up of your publication, or better, give them something similar in format to what you envisage, to avoid any confusion. You will get a more useful response if you know exactly what you want. They may also want to know how you will be supplying your materials - digital files from disk or zip drive is the norm these days for larger printers, although original art or even crisp black photocopies are still options.
Get a range of quotes from different printers for the same specifications and you will be able to compare and choose the most economical printer for you. Quotes will differ in price greatly as certain printers are set up to do certain jobs. Some printers are set up for large runs and some for small runs, so shop around. Don't worry about working with overseas printers - I work with Quebecor in Canada quite efficiently via e-mail ninety-five percent of the time (although a fax is useful for last minute proof corrections). Most of the big comic book printers also have websites. Preney, who print Dave Sim's Cerebus are currently advertising 2000 copies of a 32 page comic book on newsprint with colour covers for a little over $1000 U.S., which sounds like a great deal. If you want better paper, more pages, a bigger format or more copies, it will of course cost extra.
Printing is not the only cost - you also have to consider things like shipping, promotion, advertising, business costs and art materials. If you run your self-publishing operation from home and through a personal bank account most of the peripheral costs can be minimised. Advertising is an expensive option, but it can be tailored to suit your budget. Shipping is a big expense that is unfortunately unavoidable.
Martin Buxton writes:
2. The second is about materials, are there specific materials, i.e. paper and inks that should be used? I should say at this point my girlfriend will be doing the hard work of drawing the thing.Gary responds:
If you were asked to work for a major comic book company then you may be limited to traditional materials - many still supply their own paper and much artwork is still drawn in blue pencil and inked in black India ink (although more and more of the traditional methods are being replaced by computer techniques). If you look in any (apart from the most recent) How-To-Draw-Comics type books, this is most likely the way they will tell you to produce your art.
The beauty of self-publishing is that you can illustrate your stories with whatever and however you want. Brian Bolland now pencils, inks and colours exclusively on a computer using a graphics tablet. Dave Sim uses Hunt 102 crowquill pens, India ink and Strathmore board. For Brotherhood, I scanned blue pencil drawings and rendered them on my PC. You can use charcoal, dry brush, marker pens, collage, grey wash halftones, photographs, scratchboard, whatever you think best suits the narrative. If you are scanning into a computer and sending digital files to the printer, you can use whatever makes a mark on paper, so long as it will sit on your scanner's glass. You have much more control over you image when using a program like Photoshop. If you intend to send your original art to the printer, then you will need to check with him what type of artwork he can handle. Traditional methods and halftone artwork often lead to disappointing results, so it's best to stick with stark black and white. I understand that it can be more expensive for printers to have to shoot from original artwork these days.
I think it's probably a good idea for your girlfriend to decide what technique she feels most comfortable with, or what best suits your story, unless you have any specific idea on how you want your story to look.Martin Buxton writes:
3. And thirdly, what sort of desktop publishing programme do you use, if any at all?Gary responds:
The industry standard for desktop publishing is Quark Xpress on an Apple Mac operating system, but this is a hugely expensive set-up for the novice. I'm still using Adobe PageMaker on a Windows PC, but I do occasionally have problems with text formatting when the printer outputs my files. I understand that this is more to do with incompatibility between Macs and Windows rather than any problem with PageMaker. Successful results can be achieved with cheaper DTP programs, but you do need to check that your printer will be able to output any digital files you send them. Alternatively, if you have a good quality laser printer at home, hardcopy from it may be sufficient for the printer to shoot negatives from if there are no halftones.
I have used PageMaker to create page elements such as speech bubbles and captions, panel borders and lettering in the past, but results were sometimes unpredictable. I now prefer to create the whole of my comics pages in Photoshop, although Illustrator is a good alternative if you have access to that program and a fast computer. I continue to use PageMaker for creation of my text pages and for imposition.© 2002 Gary Spencer Millidge. All rights reserved.