How do writers ever make money off their comics?

[Joker12]

I've noticed since writers need to pay artists for their work (naturally), it's usually very expensive. Often times its almost a few grand for a 75pg book. Well, how would a writer actually ever make money when they still need to pay to have it printed among other fees? Even if the sell 24 books for 10 bucks each, it's only about 200 dollars. That would only cover the printing fees. so how do writers make money?

[NanettesClouds]

Welcome to comics - where the dollars don't make cents and the money doesn't matter.

But serriously tho - from what I know most of the time comics are a risky investment of peoples time and money no matter what the setup is. Its why most comics in the indie world are passion projects made by one person or a team of close friends. Most comic artists/writers work a day job to support their work, even the really successful ones. Sometimes that dayjob is freelance commission work, other times it's working retail, it just depends.

As far as paying for a print run - most people do a kick-starter or they find a publisher (or both...), or they use a POD service.
It's also worth considering that the cost per copy goes down the more you print.

This is also why selling merch and prints is so important - because the cost to produce them is so much lower than an actual book, and you can sell them with pretty high margins (you can also sell books with a high margin but that involves having a book >_>)

[spicy_sweets]

That's why I'm aiming for traditional publishing, among other reasons
I'm not a full time writer by any means yet, but writers can get commissions/ghost write if they wanted to go in that field. I only hire artists for book cover if I'm not satisfied.

[Azifri]

A friend of mine has published children's books; because she wanted to do it like that, she shares half of the revenue with the illustrator. I knew that the publisher takes a big cut of the sales price, but I was still shocked when I knew that for every $18 book she sells, she's lucky if she gets $1.75 from it (and then it gets split). Traditional publishing might help you get your work out there easier, but it is no guarantee of income.

[Rhonder]

Pretty much you don't. It takes tons of hard work, successful marketing, and a huge helping of luck. hard work eats time, marketing eats time and/or money, and you have little control over luck. So like this is why you don't see a ton of people living off of their writing/comics xD It's far from impossible, but more commitment and struggle than most are willing to go through. Mad props for those who do it though

[spicy_sweets]

Actually I have the perfect thread for you to check out:

I'm an established full-time author - willing to answer questions if you have...

[Joker12]

oh, thanks man! I'm going to read it now

[spicy_sweets]

Also here:
https://mobile.twitter.com/KathyBenjamin/status/1061717329803915264

WAIT I MISREAD SORRY
I thought this was about authors in general, don't mind me xD

[Joker12]

Nah, that's fine man, it was a cool read

[eochoa92]

I'm in that same boat.
I write and have/pay people to illustrate for me.
I go page by page. I just don't have the money to dish out for an entire book which would be about 22 pages.
So at the moment, I'm REALLY in the red in terms of my "earnings" as a writer. Which doesn't really matter so much to me. I haven't gone broke because of comics and I enjoy writing them. Yes, I would love to start seeing something from my writing, mainly in the form of catching a publisher's eye that will result in me landing a paid gig.
Jim Lee at WonderCon two years ago said that writers get paid good money to write comics. That little something also keeps me going. I know you have to be on his level, but one can hope.

[ble]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[fattackycats]

Yeah I see them everywhere on both LW and Tapas! I can't imagine ever making that much off my comics. Their comics are usually fairly bite sized so it makes sense that they can work on that many at once.

[spicy_sweets]

Why was I mentioned

[jessicaherman27]

Hi. Yes, Merryweather is really successful webcomics writer, but how about Anthony Clark, James Squires, and Alex Norris? They are successful webcomic writers too. If you need some information about them you can read my article for https://edubirdie.com/write-my-essay website about them.

[baasinsimple]

Honestly it ain't worth it. Patreon is the only foreseeable future for a lot of people. Makes me wanna go ahead and try joining the Manga industry because even then my chances there are much higher than anything here or on Webtoon (and yes I am aware that Mangakas live through hell). Honestly the idea of trying to make money off webtoon and tapas alone is cause for a huge brain aneurysm. I hate that I have to say that but it needs to be said being a writer sucks. You have to make money with sources that are always dried up in markets that are overly saturated and I hate it.

[JackOfArtAndProse]

Patreon has been somewhat anti-consumer as of late, however(from what I've heard) -.ever since the shift in company leadership.

[baasinsimple]

Yeah, and it's still the best choice any of us got.

[JackOfArtAndProse]

Hmm. I think I need to find someone who has gone through the Patreon TOS(Terms of Service) to see whether or not they assert rights over any creative property posted on Patreon. I heard a rumour of such a thing having taken place, and that... if it's true, that should be the end of any self-respecting artist's' Patreon-usage.

Just for the sake of the artist's capability to make their living, if nothing else.

[baasinsimple]

Yeah, you're right I completely agree with you, but it doesn't make our choices much more varied. It's kinda like how we know Facebook has our info but since your granny has it and wants to share pictures with you, you have to have it to help her keep in touch with you. It's not a good choice but it's the only reasonably viable thing. Our alternates are shit and honestly I wouldn't join Patreon at all if their was a decent rival but there isn't. Simple as that, and it's gonna stay that way for at least another 5 years.

[JackOfArtAndProse]

Aye, I also wish to apologize for using the words "any self-respecting artist's". Obviously, people are going to have differences in priorities.

What I'm afraid of is the blatant stealing of the artistic community's best ideas for other mediums(movies, TV series, etc.). This is why I'm personally advocating going against Patreon usage, but like you stated... the other options are almost non-existent. One would have to pave their own path to get there. I know I find such an approach appealing, but there'll be many who don't.

Anyway, my apologies (again) for speaking in absolutes. That was thoughtless and disrespectful of me.