A new way to sell comics?
If you ever meet Phil Foglio he will talk your ear off at how great his comic is doing. He is posting pages of his series Girl Genus on-line instead of releasing a separate comic book. Now I have talked with Phil a few times, but what inspired me to wrote this post was something I read on the Comics212 blog by Christopher Butcher (a comic book store owner none-the-less).
According to Mr. Foglio he is selling more of the collected Trade Paperback when they are coming out. And he is not the only indy comic person to try this model, I just saw that the author of Finder is also posting her work on-line.
I have been behind on my GN and I am wondering if this format would work good for me too. I love the idea of testing out the work, get feedback, and then being able to ‘fix’ any rough edges before it goes to print as a trade paper back. Considering that I have gotten behind on my GN due to other commitments maybe this is the way to go. Hmmmmmmm.
What do you guys think?
On the current on-line Finder pages: the artist is posting some pages first as the rough pencils and that might be interesting variation to this model.
Carla’s posting the pencils to hold off the inking. I know several other comickers talk about posting their pages online and then taking it down when they get a book deal.
I’m considering it for my longer story myself. I think it’s a great idea to get your work out there, build an audience, and document your artistic process.
I find that feedback is spotty at best, even with sharing links or posting pages on various online forums.
Scott Kurtz also makes a good living publishing comics on the net and then collecting them into trade paperbacks. The net is how he creates devoted readers who want to buy stuff.
Karen,
I always find feedback spotty, so I am always pleased to have comments like you fine folks are doing.
But I still think posting the pages are a good idea considering I don’t want to spend money or printing separate single issues first (they don’t make money). As long as I get a few posts I am happy.
Karen have you had good responses to your web comic.
BTW: Thanks for posting guys.
Rickart,
Both PVP and Penny Arcade have been amazing marketing/moneymaking successes. They smartly market to certain crowds (Nerds/Video Games) and hit home. The web is definitely part of the puzzle to success.
The feedback I get for my comic is usually the “I love your watercolors” variety, but not so much on the improvement side of critique. I suspect it has to do with the finish of the pages, as I don’t really post in progress stuff. I get some feedback on Girlamatic.com and some on the Drawing Board and Flight forums. The latter two I post to get more exposure from folks who don’t go to Girlamatic.com.
I agree that the web posting and then the trade paperback route is the way to the go. Single issues for cons are great as samples or giveaways.
PVP, Penny Arcade and Megatokyo have branded their marketing well with their audience. Their merchandise beyond the comic and tradebacks draws more people and money in too.
At SDCC the Penny Arcade booth was huge and busy busy busy. They had their own video game, t-shirts, books, and other stuff. Even with the popularity, I have never had a desire to read the strip. I guess I am not part of their demographic.