Why do I keep getting all this email about web comics? Oh that’s right, we have a blog covering the world of webcomics. You’d think after the amazing traffic over the past couple weeks you would think I would get it through my head. On to the news!
Rainbow Orchid – What’s this? There’s another site dedicated to covering comics. It may need to narrow it’s field a little to the next wave of the future but it’s nice it was introduced to me in reference to a web comic. The artist behind Rainbow Orchid, Garen Ewing, was interviewed and posted for your reading pleasure.
The Chameleon Collective – Not just another collective. Their main idea is to create a new theme for the site every two months, and readers are encouraged to submit material that relates to the theme. It went up at the beginning of the month so I have yet to see a change. Take a look and experiment away.
Theater Hopper – More trees for a good cause! Tom announced his first book “Theater Hopper: Year One” available for pre-sale on Monday but he’s doing a little more then just publishing a new book. A reader places a pre-order for themselves. Then if they can get five friends to do the same thing Tom will give them a $20 gift certificate to Fandango.com! The first 25 people to complete the task will get a free Theater Hopper t-shirt!
This brings up an interesting topic. Many webcomic artists are self-publishers and are in the unfortunate position of not having enough start up money right out of the gate. Pre-order periods can be a requirement to raise the amount for the press before-hand. What are techniques that others have tried?
Hi!
My website Nelshael is a fantasy webcomic. how can I add it on your list?
sincerely,
ophy
I\’ve noticed a lot of webcomics actually making their stuff printed, a lot of which are doing exactly what you said. Pre-ordering is usually often the system, baring lulu.com which I don\’t believe a cost is needed (to my knowledge).
Hey, thanks for the mention of Chameleon Collective. We\’re going through a little rough time getting the site and its members up to speed, but that\’ll even out soon enough!
Thanks,
Alex
I\’ve been self-publishing off & on since 1994. Back then, if you wanted a cartoon book or indy comic book printed, you had to have minimum orders in the 1,000-3,000 range just to keep your price per unit down to a reasonable level. With the advent of digital printing and print-on-demand services from comic-friendly companies like Lulu, Ka-Blam, and ComiXPress, the upfront costs are reduced. In the Lulu example, they keep your money when you sell a book; just like a publisher. So a minimum for your color comic book from Lulu will be in the $8 range with Lulu keeping $5-6 of it. Not a great profit, but if you sell only ONE copy of your Monkey Boy Meets Stick Boy book you\’ll have zero inventory left over; not too shabby.
Boomer Cardinale
Satellite Studios