Keep making comic or put your income into an animation trailer for sponsorship

[inbox_anime]

Which would you do, keep making comics, waiting for a long time not only to be recognized but earn your money back.. OR invest your money into animation trailer get a sponsor and turn your comics into series ..

[Weevmo]

I think it's important to first try a comic or something to see if others like your idea! Otherwise you might pour a lot of money into an animated trailer only to learn that people aren't that invested.

[inbox_anime]

Very true. Thank you

[shazzbaa]

I mean, neither is a sure thing. You could make that animation trailer and then be waiting just as long for a sponsor to be interested in picking it up!

I think the difference is sort of which way you want to grow -- webcomics and independent content are almost guaranteed to be extremely slow growing, but by the end of it you're able to prove that you have an audience, all on your own. Leaning on a sponsor means you don't have to actually Make The Thing all on your own, but you have to convince a gatekeeper of sorts that there's an audience out there for your thing, that your thing can do well and be worth the sponsor's money. And if they don't believe you, then you just have to keep looking until you can find a sponsor who will.

Which would you do

I mean, I would make comics. But I'm doing this because I want to make comics. I'd want to do that even if it was guaranteed to never make me any money.

[TheThoughtfulBoxful]

I totally agree with shazzbaa on this one, specifically this:

I'm doing this because I want to make comics. I'd want to do that even if it was guaranteed to never make me any money.

This speaks volumes.
It's easy to get caught up in the bells and whistles beyond making your comic. But always remember that the comic, and your passion to create it, is what should come first in your mind.

@inbox_anime I'd advise you to think on a smaller scale, my friend, and focus on creating good content.

[shazzbaa]

But always remember that the comic, and your passion to create it, is what should come first in your mind.

I don't necessarily think of it as a "should," to be honest! Different folks are gonna have different motivations.

But that's going to affect the choices you make and what path is best for you. The slog of a webcomic is going to be hard to handle if you're not in it because you really just want to tell your story -- a webcomic might be a bad choice if you don't actually want to make a webcomic.

So if you ask me, of course I'm going to favour webcomics, the ability to make the story you want to make without having to convince anyone that it can find an audience, and just going out and finding that audience for yourself. But that's because I'm motivated by Making The Comic rather than Creating Something Successful. If your true goal is the latter, then you might need a different path from me!

[XzynderVexymous]

I’d make my comic first. It’s just like in Japan: If the Comic does well enough, then you go to Anime(the Animation).

[SleepingPoppy]

Whatever you want to make (comics, books, animation, etc) is what you should be putting your time, effort, and money into. So if you're trying to get someone to sponsor you to make your comic, a trailer is not really the best idea to be putting the majority of your effort into. If you're trying to get someone to greenlight an animated series, then maybe? I'm not sure.

If your goal is to be paid to make your own comic, it makes sense to submit something to Hiveworks, Tapas, get an agent, etc.

There are no short cuts but there are plenty of options!

As for me personally, I'm really happy just working on my comic. I don't want the pressure of being beholden to anyone else right now. I'd like to make money off my comic(s), and possibly for a future project I'll pursue that harder, but right now I'm glad I can do my own thing, and have room to grow and explore.

[NDmangaka]

I would say make the comic first see if people like it. Then make the series because if you make the series and no one likes it would have been a waste of time and effort. And also take things slow. Don't rush just to get an anime series or what not. If your idea is good people WILL find it. Thnx

[aqua03]

Funnily enough, I'm actually planning on making animated shorts based off of my comic to teach myself how to animate late this year (hopefully soon).