Jan 26
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LavenderLeavened
Jan 26

lets talk about printing comics ! Whether you're printing them with a publisher, on your own, or even just thinking about it.

Lets share advice, tips, tricks, and everything you need to know before you get started.
To get the conversation started ask a question for me to answer or if you're experienced in printing already answer some of these questions for beginners !!

Which publishers do you use or if you print in house what kind of printer do you own?
When should beginners start printing?
How do you know when you have enough content to print?

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Leyelle
Jan 26

My main question is how you usually distribute your books once they're printed

moontokkym
Jan 26

Hiya! I have a self-published printed comic, by no means an expert but I can give some answers through how it went with me.

Which publishers/printers did you use?
Because I wanted to go self published with my first volume of Petrichor I basically put myself as the publisher and contacted a printer called Pulsio Print that operates from multiple countries in the EU. If you contact them they have some prices that are quite good for small print runs. I was recommended them by a colleague who'd done the same thing as I ended up doing, but a year prior.
I'd say don't hesitate to look around printers and check their specialities and ask for quotes as some of their automatic Price quoting algorithms don't reflect their pricing at low quantities.

When should beginners start printing?
When they have an audience willing to buy a physical copy, a, or preferably multiple outlets to sell the book, AND dry, warm storage space. You MUST have all three before planning on printing books yourself as a self publisher. If you have a publisher or use a print on demand service they'll work on all that, but you have to DIY it if you go alone.

I personnally checked the two latter boxes, having some storage space at home for the amount I was planning on ordering (150 copies) and having an online shop and participating in multiple book fairs and comic cons in artist alley and I'd sold stuff before. The first one I checked with the crowdfunding campaign for the print run that got 52 backers, so I knew that 52 people were willing to put money into the project. I made sure to keep my goals smaller and realistic so the campaign had the highest chance of success and I was blown away by the love and support I got.

How do you know you have enough content to print?
That's on working out your narrative structure. If you're publishing a full story in one book like a standalone novel then the cutoff point is easy: the end. However I'd advise at least one pass of developmental edits (even if that was already done while publishing online, doing another one at the end can't hurt), and a couple of line edit passes before a final spellcheck with beta readers.

If you're publishing a series, make sure each book has it's own arc while the overarching story gets told through the whole series. Whether it's a smaller villain defeated, a character arc touching rock bottom, a cliffhanger where the character just found out they're being cheated on after a book of building romantic bliss or somebody just found the cure to the plague, make sure that the ending of book 1 feels like we've been on a journey and one of the conflicts has found resolution so that the next book can build/bounce off of that.

LavenderLeavened
Jan 26
Leyelle

Awsome question !

Online store fronts like etsy, Ko-fi, or paetreon are great places to sell your books especially if you have a decent internet following.

However, that being said, in-person connections are far more likely to end up in a purchase. Places like conventions, book fairs, art festivals, craft shows, farmer's/craft markets, etc are great places to make these kinds of connections. These kinds of events can easily be looked up online. They happen very frequently (especially in the states) and usually i can find one or two events per month. One of the ways to utilize these events is to rent a booth which depending on the event can cost 40-400 usd. These events are great because the people attending them are there with the intention to buy things or support small creators.
Renting a booth for these events isn't always necessary either another thing you can do at these events is attend them with some of your material. I do this by carrying a bag with postcards one side has the first page of my comic and the other has links to my socials and shop. All you have to do is engage with other people, pass them our, or leave them in spaces for people to find. This is one of my most affective advertising strategies.

The other thing you can do is talk with local libraries, art galleries, studios, book stores, and comic shops. These places love supporting local creators and often have clubs and programs for them as well. My local library hosts an annual book festival for local writers. Some book/comic stores will buy stock from indie creators to sell on their shelves so it's definitely worth talking to these people and seeing if that something they do.

Leyelle
Jan 26

Unfortunately I don't live in the states, but I hope to move there soon XD. Thanks for the info!