Martin Steeton - Publishing in the comics industry.
Martin Steeton is a publisher. He started a blog for his passion in comics after a failing music career. Avoid the future.com is a good source for news and reviews on French comics. Hopefully I can find a way to use the information supplied in it over the summer and in third year. Martin also works as a translation editor and has a large skill set.
One of the main points that was made was a strong emphasis on getting the eyes of the world onto your work, as well as tips on how to approach a publisher. What different publishers might look for was also mentioned. Pitching directly to the publisher is good if you can manage it. Making sure to only take your best work and to study the house style, to see if there’s anything about your portfolio that may fit in twith their house style (if they have one.
One of the publishers who keep their eyes out for new talent is Blank Slate. Who might be worth looking into. Finding a way to get a foot in the door means researching as many publishers as possible. I feel it’s something I need to do more as the third year comes closer.
If attempting to get work published it’s important to have a complete skillset. Being a good writer, artist and having a good grasp of layout, composition and text will make you an easier sell. Sometimes a publisher may want a completed work while at others a work in process might be required. Just remember to only ever take your best work and to never try and try to avoid showing anything you don’t want to, or that they’ll obviously not have an interest in.
Knowing how to sell your work is very important. Being aware that other people will want to read your work and knowing what sort of audience you’re targeting and tailoring your pitch towards a specific publisher is just as important as having a good porfolio. There’s not much point submitting to a publisher at all if your way of working clashes too heavily with what they normally sell. (And we all know that Marvel and DC are terrible.)
I’m especially interested in trying to make my work up to a publishing standard, especially for Self made hero, though their standard is very high. Steeton mentioned them having an interest in historical based fiction, a genre I have an interest in getting into and focusing on. Although I also have an interest in wider areas such as independent superheros and possibly comedy or general. It’s something to work towards at the very least. Blank slate is also worth looking into, as they have a wider scope and finding a place to fit in would be a little easier. Regardless of actually getting published or not, I think it’s important to try and have as high a standard as possible.
If I can I’d like to try and work on expanding my connections and getting references. I’ve already got a number of friends and connections, but nowhere near enough. Going to a few conventions and showing off work might be a step forward as well as social networking despite how afraid I am of that sort of thing. It’s also good to make friends and alliances with as many other creative’s as possible. Getting the help of older, more established artists can also be helpful, they can be sympathetic and helpful due to knowing what you’re going through. The worst they can do is tell you to clear off, but you don’t need help from folks like that anyway. Getting a few good quotes from your peers can make all the difference and help you explain why readers might enjoy the work.
Don’t be arrogant.
Don’t be…is that a cup of tea I see? Er, unfocused.
Don’t take any crit badly.
If talking to a publisher always try and give them a physical copy of your work, as it will at least be there for them to find later. Digital files get lost on a computer. Having a self published copy of your work might also be a good step to take, a hard backed book isn’t too likely to get thrown away. They’ll at least appreciate it as a coaster or something.
When at a conventation make your table as nice a space as you can. Since you are essentially a shop, be polite and friendly and only bring your best. Interaction with people is great and doing small commissions can even earn you some bonus money.
The UK has been refered to as an extension to the US in terms of comic book publishing. The US has a huge range of work, though most of it is more mainstream. The UK market is still smaller in comparison. France has a large market that’s more interested in loose art based styles and is perhaps a good place to consider going for me.
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Creative Futures - How I make a living from Death.
How I make a living from Death: Violet Fenn
Violet Fenn runs a website, is self employed and makes a living selling hand constructed jewellery. This all sounds normal enough until we discover that she also collects photographs of dead people and collects them on a website. We’re not just talking about any old dead people though. It’s a form of photograph that died out with the advent of better healthcare. Victorian cadaver photographs were a way for families to remember the fallen and keep a likeness of their children, pets, grandparents close by. Sometimes editing them so the eyes would look open. But dones with complete devotion and love. We might not understand it today. But when placed within this context it makes perfect sense.
Many children didn’t live long enough to get a photograph taken, and death was merely the last chance a parent might have to immortalise them.
Much like life (and this entire blog) we must be very aware of the fact that our career plans are not always entirely reliable. Sometimes you will find yourself doing bizarre things as you collect starfish in a bucket, wondering how your creative writing diploma managed to get you into such a position in the first place.
We can only be sure that sometimes things don’t work out. But we can coax it into going our way if we’re willing to make friends, get a good reputation spreading about us through word of mouth. Which is why you should never argue with anyone over the internet. A bad reputation is sort of like a bad smell. Let it linger and soon people won’t want to sit beside you on the bus, let alone buy repurposed starfish necklaces off you.
While it is important to maintain a good reputation, it’s also very important not to be regarded as boring or dull. It’s okay to be a bit odd. In fact, being a little strange and kooky will draw people in. Rather like a freak show of old, they may poke you with a few sticks, but the chance of getting a little coin off them is worth it. The possibility of them gossiping about you is even more valuable as free advertisings since it can be expensive. Be vaguely interesting and people might even stay.
If you can find a way to get ahead with very little then you’ll make a bigger profit in the end. In the case of us illustrators, selling the illustration for over one hundred pounds is very nice. But it’s even nicer when we didn’t spend twenty five pence on the paper to begin with and we found the pencil on the floor somewhere. That’s not to say you should go around robbing art supply shops or rummaging in bins. But being savy and getting the best possible deal from everything will make your earnings seem bigger and you can buy more of those delicious chocolates I mentioned a while back. Maybe even a frappichino and a swivel chair constructed from panda pelt.
The best possible advice I was given during the course of the weeks proceedings was this: Take an accounting course. This may seem unusual but bear with me. I generally know a lot more about art than I do about accounting. In fact numbers are my main weakness and I’m suddenly reminded that a life of self employment looms ahead like a spectre, and it brings with it adult pastimes like taxes, accounting and wearing matching socks. These things are very important. I could put together a professional portfolio and get hired by Marvel comics much faster than I’d ever understand insurance forms or mortgages. It’s a reminder that eventually we must all start to become adults. It’s a very welcome reminder too. Especially considering I hadn’t been aware accounting courses were actually a thing that existed.
The most important thing in all of this is to be curious and keep learning. Even if it does happen to be about doing your accounts.
Violet Fenn runs a website, is self employed and makes a living selling hand constructed jewellery. This all sounds normal enough until we discover that she also collects photographs of dead people and collects them on a website. We’re not just talking about any old dead people though. It’s a form of photograph that died out with the advent of better healthcare. Victorian cadaver photographs were a way for families to remember the fallen and keep a likeness of their children, pets, grandparents close by. Sometimes editing them so the eyes would look open. But dones with complete devotion and love. We might not understand it today. But when placed within this context it makes perfect sense.
Many children didn’t live long enough to get a photograph taken, and death was merely the last chance a parent might have to immortalise them.
Much like life (and this entire blog) we must be very aware of the fact that our career plans are not always entirely reliable. Sometimes you will find yourself doing bizarre things as you collect starfish in a bucket, wondering how your creative writing diploma managed to get you into such a position in the first place.
We can only be sure that sometimes things don’t work out. But we can coax it into going our way if we’re willing to make friends, get a good reputation spreading about us through word of mouth. Which is why you should never argue with anyone over the internet. A bad reputation is sort of like a bad smell. Let it linger and soon people won’t want to sit beside you on the bus, let alone buy repurposed starfish necklaces off you.
While it is important to maintain a good reputation, it’s also very important not to be regarded as boring or dull. It’s okay to be a bit odd. In fact, being a little strange and kooky will draw people in. Rather like a freak show of old, they may poke you with a few sticks, but the chance of getting a little coin off them is worth it. The possibility of them gossiping about you is even more valuable as free advertisings since it can be expensive. Be vaguely interesting and people might even stay.
If you can find a way to get ahead with very little then you’ll make a bigger profit in the end. In the case of us illustrators, selling the illustration for over one hundred pounds is very nice. But it’s even nicer when we didn’t spend twenty five pence on the paper to begin with and we found the pencil on the floor somewhere. That’s not to say you should go around robbing art supply shops or rummaging in bins. But being savy and getting the best possible deal from everything will make your earnings seem bigger and you can buy more of those delicious chocolates I mentioned a while back. Maybe even a frappichino and a swivel chair constructed from panda pelt.
The best possible advice I was given during the course of the weeks proceedings was this: Take an accounting course. This may seem unusual but bear with me. I generally know a lot more about art than I do about accounting. In fact numbers are my main weakness and I’m suddenly reminded that a life of self employment looms ahead like a spectre, and it brings with it adult pastimes like taxes, accounting and wearing matching socks. These things are very important. I could put together a professional portfolio and get hired by Marvel comics much faster than I’d ever understand insurance forms or mortgages. It’s a reminder that eventually we must all start to become adults. It’s a very welcome reminder too. Especially considering I hadn’t been aware accounting courses were actually a thing that existed.
The most important thing in all of this is to be curious and keep learning. Even if it does happen to be about doing your accounts.
Creative Futures - Building an Audience.
Building an Audience -John Alison.-
Web comic creator and artist to Bad machinery. John Alison is self taught and successful. His work has improved from hard work and trial and error. His growth was slow and a grind, but the pay-off can be good if you’re dedicated. I’ve learned not to expect too much from Mr Alison's talk, never assume you’ll be a big hit and take what you can get with dignity. (The amount of dignity is entirely up to the individual.)
Consistency is obviously important in your art . Even if your style is inconsistent, be consistently inconsistent. At least you’ll have an excuse for it when folks start to criticize. However, try and make friends and contacts with as many people as you can. It never helps to be a jerk since you catch more flies with honey.
When you catch friends with honey it’s better.
Because flies have no money.
When I create my own website I will remember not to put anything behind a pay wall. The internet is a breeding ground of free art, music, animated gif and, regardless, people will find a way to pilfer it anyway. Best to offer your comics and illustrations out for free.
Then sell it on t-shirts and in books once the readers are addicted.
Once you become more popular the option for advertising is a practical way towards attaining some free cash.
There’s also a question of trust between you and your readers. If you double cross them in any way you run the risk of losing an entire fan base overnight due to the fickleness of many comic fans (We’re looking at you Marvel, DC and Manga fans.) A drastic change in style may scare off those who get used to a certain way of drawing from you. This however cannot be helped all the time. Without change we grow stale and dull (and marketable) but I have no doubts that some fans will stay with you at the very least.
I believe that a certain level of interaction with fans can be highly beneficial. Making and keeping friends among the audience can be engaging and allow your readership to grow. A good example of this is Lauren Fausts ‘My little Pony, friendship is magic’ Yes, it’s a very girly show for girly little girls. Yet has amassed a huge following. A mixture of great character design, execution and audience participation has made it, literally, take over the internet. It’s managed to do this by not having too serious a tone. It’s far easier to sell something light hearted. The more serious your work becomes the harder it will be to sell.
On the technical side of creating a comic/anything (be it for publishing with a company or online via a web comic) it’s important to remember the basics. Good composition and pacing. Making sure the pages can be read properly is vital. Make sure at least you can read it properly without having to double back and reread anything. If you do, change the layout or text because if you can’t read your own work, somebody else will find it impossible and leave. Try and do things right from the start. It may be a little difficult to know what that is, but persevere. Learning what not to do is just as important as anything else.
And you won’t get any of their delicious money.
It’s important to always experiment and have fun. Like with the legibility, it’ll be almost impossible for a reader to enjoy themselves if you, yourself are not. There’s also not much point carving out a career doing something you don’t like regardless, if you wanted to do that, the dead end job you left might have suited a bit better!
It’s important to make friends and contacts with those who do work similar to yours. I’m personally interested in writing and research into historical fiction and making friends with a writer in that medium gave me such self confidence. Having an outlet for discussion is very important. Ideas flow freely and enthusiasm rises when you share a common footing with somebody. It’s especially important if the thing you’re interested in is obscure. A shared interest can even cross cultures, making a friend from a Slovak, Canadian or Frenchman. They can be great for lodgings at conventions and the bonus of sharing information and feeding off each other is a great feeling.
Lets not be hasty though. Searching out interesting people who like different things to you is just as vital. It broadens the scope of all your boundaries. Allows for discussions and informative arguments to arise and might just teach you something. Making friends with all sorts is a valuable skill to have. One that can make a person very happy. Just be careful not to be too hasty and jump into dangerous situations.
Web comic creator and artist to Bad machinery. John Alison is self taught and successful. His work has improved from hard work and trial and error. His growth was slow and a grind, but the pay-off can be good if you’re dedicated. I’ve learned not to expect too much from Mr Alison's talk, never assume you’ll be a big hit and take what you can get with dignity. (The amount of dignity is entirely up to the individual.)
Consistency is obviously important in your art . Even if your style is inconsistent, be consistently inconsistent. At least you’ll have an excuse for it when folks start to criticize. However, try and make friends and contacts with as many people as you can. It never helps to be a jerk since you catch more flies with honey.
When you catch friends with honey it’s better.
Because flies have no money.
When I create my own website I will remember not to put anything behind a pay wall. The internet is a breeding ground of free art, music, animated gif and, regardless, people will find a way to pilfer it anyway. Best to offer your comics and illustrations out for free.
Then sell it on t-shirts and in books once the readers are addicted.
Once you become more popular the option for advertising is a practical way towards attaining some free cash.
There’s also a question of trust between you and your readers. If you double cross them in any way you run the risk of losing an entire fan base overnight due to the fickleness of many comic fans (We’re looking at you Marvel, DC and Manga fans.) A drastic change in style may scare off those who get used to a certain way of drawing from you. This however cannot be helped all the time. Without change we grow stale and dull (and marketable) but I have no doubts that some fans will stay with you at the very least.
I believe that a certain level of interaction with fans can be highly beneficial. Making and keeping friends among the audience can be engaging and allow your readership to grow. A good example of this is Lauren Fausts ‘My little Pony, friendship is magic’ Yes, it’s a very girly show for girly little girls. Yet has amassed a huge following. A mixture of great character design, execution and audience participation has made it, literally, take over the internet. It’s managed to do this by not having too serious a tone. It’s far easier to sell something light hearted. The more serious your work becomes the harder it will be to sell.
On the technical side of creating a comic/anything (be it for publishing with a company or online via a web comic) it’s important to remember the basics. Good composition and pacing. Making sure the pages can be read properly is vital. Make sure at least you can read it properly without having to double back and reread anything. If you do, change the layout or text because if you can’t read your own work, somebody else will find it impossible and leave. Try and do things right from the start. It may be a little difficult to know what that is, but persevere. Learning what not to do is just as important as anything else.
And you won’t get any of their delicious money.
It’s important to always experiment and have fun. Like with the legibility, it’ll be almost impossible for a reader to enjoy themselves if you, yourself are not. There’s also not much point carving out a career doing something you don’t like regardless, if you wanted to do that, the dead end job you left might have suited a bit better!
It’s important to make friends and contacts with those who do work similar to yours. I’m personally interested in writing and research into historical fiction and making friends with a writer in that medium gave me such self confidence. Having an outlet for discussion is very important. Ideas flow freely and enthusiasm rises when you share a common footing with somebody. It’s especially important if the thing you’re interested in is obscure. A shared interest can even cross cultures, making a friend from a Slovak, Canadian or Frenchman. They can be great for lodgings at conventions and the bonus of sharing information and feeding off each other is a great feeling.
Lets not be hasty though. Searching out interesting people who like different things to you is just as vital. It broadens the scope of all your boundaries. Allows for discussions and informative arguments to arise and might just teach you something. Making friends with all sorts is a valuable skill to have. One that can make a person very happy. Just be careful not to be too hasty and jump into dangerous situations.
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