@@SHIELD-dk5od they do not accept author only submissions. They take art samples or artist/writer team submissions.

@@volver987 if those two things intersect I would include it. If it’s just two separate stories like on story and a prequel just pitch the first part maybe. I’d look at similar stories to what you’re writing (for example IT or Yellowjackets where they balance two timelines between the same characters) to see how others refer to the kind of story you are trying to tell.

@@creatorowned851 Ok thank you! Ill have to rack my brain for a similar stories. Cant think of one off the top of my head.

@@vellamattfilms from what I’ve heard you pay the publishing fee through Image, not sure how it works with smaller publishers

@@vellamattfilms also thank you for watching, much appreciated!

@@creatorowned851 interesting. Thanks!

@@federicodallocchio49 something I hope to know from experience eventually.

@@BrianLCS that’s amazing! It’s not easy even for something as modest as this 16 pages. Congratulations

@@MrHazz111 I love hearing that this was an avenue that worked for you both. It’s true this is an area I didn’t event cover. It’s just a rare one. Many go looking for a “collaborator” but I have learned in my own experience that rarely works for a number of reasons, not only that the artist may become unmotivated but because there are so many other hurdles to figure out you as a writer don’t want to leave your collaborator hanging. But super cool you guys accomplished this!

@@ivanmartinez498 you would want to let them know what the entire length of the story will be, but it makes sense to clarify it will be in 3 parts. However a trade is typically approximately 168 pages (28 pages x 6 issues) so you might be closer having one volume in total

@@creatorowned851 sorry i mean to say that we have 200 chapters/issues planned and they specify that in the outline we make sure it is a page per issue. would this be too much?

@@ivanmartinez498 that’s an ambitious run, though I’ve estimated my own comic could go on about 150 issues if it makes it that far. Even the walking dead only made it 193 issues. I would pitch the idea broadly, and what aspects of the narrative the first volume (6 issues) achieves and just say it will be an “on-going book.” ANYTHING can happen between issues 1 and 200. The book might simply not sell well and get canceled. You want to make sure the publisher knows you have a strategy to hit milestones that are achievable and won’t leave you or the reader in a bad place if things suddenly stop on the project.

For context Robert Kirkman famously claimed regularly TWD would go “at least 300 issues” he claimed he would do the project forever and easily could have. 1 issue is 1 month of your life. 200 issues is something 16 years

Doing your work in smaller increments like this while you can still gain experience and build a following is definitely the right approach. Image might not accept the book but there’s plenty of smaller publishers out there as well. Having something complete is the easiest way to get it collected and published in a traditional format however. Basically if you have the time to keep doing it on your own, just do it at your pace. There’s a great page called C Cassandra, she does short 4 panel comics on social media but I believe she worked out a book deal with Scholastic, so it’s very much possible that shorts and stories will get noticed if you’re doing good work and being consistent

@@creatorowned851 Thanks, I appreciate the help. I've been doing it on my own time after work. I have 118 pages done and I'm thinking it will probably be about 220 pages. It's a dinosaur, fantasy, horror comic so definitely have to be a publisher that's okay with some gore.

@@michaelmunster9074 I love the fact that dinosaur is part of it, sounds like my kind of comic! The important thing to remember is not every creative project has to exceed our greatest expectations. Let it be part of the journey

Send the exact amount of pages they request

@@creatorowned851 so just 5 for Image? Got it.

This is true, “Indie” being used as a broad term to basically refer to anything outside of the big two, it’s about as indie as sub pop records lol. I’d like to do a follow up video covering smaller publications like Vault and Mad Cave

Where would you recommend?

@@MeekandMeTry titancomics or dark horse through dark horse is pretty bad right now. I would say idw but they’re on their last leg only being held up by their tmnt license and they don’t pay there creators on time. Another is antarctic press.

that is wild i was not aware of that fact. so they use your idea and make you pay the printing cost and then also pocket some of the money what’s the point of going with them ?

@@ShamanTiers you sound like you’re either in the industry or adjacent. Thank you for the advice, I’ll probably apply to them all cause once the demo is finished why not? All the work was in making it so sending it out too as many as possible makes the most sense to me. What do you think?

@@ivanmartinez498 Submitting to image is more of a brand thing, if people see your comic with the image logo in the corner it may potentially boost sales since image is a popular recognizable company that's the only difference but it's not a guarantee it'll actually make a difference in sells if you submit it to them compared to a different company.

I don’t have much context for indiegogos platform or its user base, Kickstarter seems to have its fair share of adult comics being created on the platform however

That’s very nice of you, and I agree wholeheartedly!

Good luck and just remember that even if you don’t hear back you should try and make it happen anyway, perseverance is key

Thanks so much! I hope it was helpful, I have another one planned for a different book where I think I get a little more granular which I am looking forward to.

@creatorowned851 I'd love that! As someone who has never wrote anything but wants to create comics I've always wanted deep dive into the writing of comics. So I'll be on the look out! 😊

Thanks, new vid just dropped this morning!

Good luck! 🤘

No one said it would be a LOT of money 😂

My impression is that they print and distribute and take a cut of the profits but honestly it wouldn’t be too surprising at least if that’s how it was, that is not totally unlike the way the record industry works, which is basically a label fronts you a loan and you have to earn it back

Haha I could there are PLENTY of successful indie creators, Kirkman is just perhaps the more notable “modern” success.

@@creatorowned851 Ok thnak you!

I would be surprised if no one has at least attempted to fund something like a “Spider-Man fan film” on Kickstarter. To be blunt: NO ONE accepts unsolicited pitches like this (whether comic publishers, film studios, etc) for them it is a legal liability and kind of a taboo, they’ve heard it all before anyway. If you’re going to embark on something I would advise doing your own original work so you have full creative ownership of it and aren’t in a legal grey area of what you can or cannot do with it. For example: Watchmen by Alan Moore could have easily been a property he owned all the rights to, he suggested it to DC using characters like Vision and Blue Beetle, he just “re-skinned” them to be Rorschach and Nite Owl. Similarly tv shows like Critical Role are creating their proprietary Dagger Heart module so they are not under any legal obligation to Dungeons and Dragons which they base all of their characters on.

35 words per panel is the max that is recommended

@@creatorowned851 awesome, thanks for the clarification.

@bugracomic on Instagram

Always! Let me know if there are any topics you’d like to see addressed soon

@@creatorowned851 glad you asked! I have been searching for the best ways to advertise my comics. How to do it through social media without being slaved by the algorithm? What about printing on-demand options? I could go with the questions forever, man, but I believe that is a good start.

“Caricatures in the New York City subway should be your PRIMARY means of income!”

Glad you enjoyed it, hope it was helpful!

Hahahaha yes this one has performed particularly well 😅

Hey thank you, I appreciate it!

My assumption is yes, I was just reading an image comic that had a bunch of quotes from press so they must have a PR person. This is something I will have to research!

@@creatorowned851 thank you for the answer! Maybe a video about the comparison between self-publishing and submission to a publisher would be interesting for the channel. Keep up the good work, man! Cheers!

That’s more or less my advice: plan on doing your book with or without Image. If you have a completed book it is POSSIBLE they will pick it up, but if you’re not willing to go the distance then yes your chances are likely near zero. Image and Dark Horse fortunately still maintain an open door policy. BOOM! And DSTLRY are creator owned publishers but you’d had to have some kind of agent or following to be considered by those other outlets.

I definitely plan to share more about my project in the future, but once it’s closer to that phase. I have been leaving Easter eggs in some of my recent videos however ;)

Thanks so much! These are all things I am looking to address. In an upcoming video I mention how most of this is “work for hire / gig economy stuff.” IMO you should pay 50% upfront 50% upon completion so no one gets burned. Even then it can be tough. Some artists are not super concerned with the “what happens next” phase (because it rarely does generate profit) but yeah as a writer you are often the one putting all the investment in which to me means you should get the lions share of the revenue. I’ll do a little more research on this.

@@creatorowned851 No problem! Looking forward to what you find