It's been a long time since I've started a topic like this, and historically it's never gone well...but now that I have a higher budget available to hopefully attract more serious artists, maybe it'll be different this time. I hope so.
So first and foremost, here's the concept of the comic: It is a short magical girl story (19-page script) starring a solitary heroine and her fairy sideckick. The plot is a comedic adventure where the MC tries to resolve a misunderstanding, learns some things about herself, and reflects on who she is and who she wants to be.
Ideally, I want to use this project to launch my lifelong dream of basically starting a doujin circle (I mean, this isn't a fancomic, but you get the idea). ^^ I'm looking to make connections with artists that I can not only hire for this project, but also collab with for future projects.
1000 USD is my starting budget-- I realize it will probably take more than that to commission the entire comic. But we're starting with this for now...and the reason I say 'up to' is because:
a) I don't remember what artists usually charge per page...it's been a while since I had to think about it. Plus, y'know, inflation and stuff has probably changed things recently...
b) I don't know how many artists I will have on board yet ^^;
Like, let's say that I find 3 recruits that I really like-- I will split up the work between them depending on their rates, so each will get roughly 300 USD. Meanwhile, if I only find one artist I like, then they will get the whole 1000 USD as a budget for their work.
Again, though, my ideal is to have multiple artists...even if someone rolls up offering to do the whole comic for 3 USD per page, I would much rather have multiple (and pay them decent rates). I'd really like to try out my prospective strategy of rotating through artists, instead of depending on just one person.
I plan to host the comic on ComicFury...but if it goes well, maybe I'll put it on Tapas and/or Webtoon. I've lost a lot of trust and goodwill with these sites (ironically), but if I like how the comic turns out, I won't mind setting up mirrors on 'em just to allow more people to see it.
All that is to say, the primary purpose of this paid collab is to bring a fun creative project to life and explore a good professional experience, not necessarily to 'become popular'. If that sounds cool to any of you out there, then I'd love to hear from you.
If you're applying, please include samples of your work, your professional rates (per page, per panel, whichever accurately reflects your workflow) and your best contact info. And feel free to spread the word to people outside the forum! They (and you) can always contact me at my art email, dokianimara@gmail.com
Some notes:
*This comic script is definitely finished. It has already been written and revised in full; it is done at 19 pages. I promise, you will not get dragged into an endless saga. ^^;
*The work will be 'contractual', in the sense that you'll agree to cover a brief story beat for a certain amount, and once you're done, you're done. If you want to 'renew your contract' for another assignment, or just leave the project entirely, that's up to you.
*Payment will be through Paypal/KoFi. Those are the only platforms where I can guarantee 'yes I can pay you through that' (although KoFi sometimes gives me issues with certain people...). You can suggest other ones, and maybe we can work something out, but again, no guarantees.
*I'm still gonna be an artist on the project! ^^ As you might've guessed, I've already started drawing Chapter 1, and I intend to finish, while handing out assignments for subsequent chapters. I also plan to do chapter covers, more full-color promotional art, and fill in as a replacement wherever needed.
This whole thing is kind of experimental; other details will probably be worked out as we go. ^^; But yeah, if you have any questions, please ask; and again, I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
