Fiction writer, Chuck Wendig, has referred to fiction self-publishing as "the shit volcano." It's always erupting. There are some good things in there. But lots and lots of shit.
This was inspiring to read. In 2015 I broke even on my own self-published comic. I sold copies out of my car and at a couple of local bookstores and coffeeshops, made back my print costs, and got some modest recognition, and some portrait work out of it. It also led to me selling some of my art prints at a local gallery for five years. My art helped pay for groceries and for that I am thankful. I was in my forties, so the realities of what I could achieve were far more realistic than they would have been in my twenties. I had fun learning that I could do it all, and having a demanding day job that is far removed from the arts allowed me to appreciate the time I spent proving to myself that I could write, draw, edit, and print my own work without being interrupted by people who either wanted to use me or would root for me to fail, like it was high school. I admire DIY a great deal and was glad to see it grow inside of comics. And I love seeing other people being enthusiastic about their own creativity and hard work.
I find it interesting that self-publishing is "hot" again. As you know, Kickstarter has made it easy to raise capital and fulfill orders. There's a few campaigns I've backed that have turned to crap (thank you, Scott Kurtz), but 90%+ of the campaigns I back deliver on-time or within a few months of expected delivery date. The 90s have returned!
Loved that great flashback. I self published in the early/mid nineties, as Twist And Shout Comics, and pioneered the “jam” cover, in which I went to conventions and got creators to draw their own characters on a Bristol Board that I then used as the cover for the comic, solicited with all their names. And now genuine collectible items, which is a shame as I had to pulp the last of the print run because of storage fees. If I’d have paid the fees, at current market rate I could pay off my mortgage right now.
I really appreciate that Rich, I don't know much about your self publishing years! great to read about it! And yeah, I also got rid of some books that later became collector's items, sigh.
A very silly comic called Dirtbag followed by a sillier comic called The X-Flies. The latter of which Diamond listed as the X-Files on the order form, which generated tens of thousand of orders, which I printed and supplied and was paid for, which Diamond had to eat when they realised their mistake. Here are some of the previous Dirtbags with those covers… https://www.ebay.com/itm/186152493835https://www.ebay.com/itm/386595476061https://www.ebay.com/itm/124076789283
Fiction writer, Chuck Wendig, has referred to fiction self-publishing as "the shit volcano." It's always erupting. There are some good things in there. But lots and lots of shit.
Thanks, Colleen. Interesting photos.
This was inspiring to read. In 2015 I broke even on my own self-published comic. I sold copies out of my car and at a couple of local bookstores and coffeeshops, made back my print costs, and got some modest recognition, and some portrait work out of it. It also led to me selling some of my art prints at a local gallery for five years. My art helped pay for groceries and for that I am thankful. I was in my forties, so the realities of what I could achieve were far more realistic than they would have been in my twenties. I had fun learning that I could do it all, and having a demanding day job that is far removed from the arts allowed me to appreciate the time I spent proving to myself that I could write, draw, edit, and print my own work without being interrupted by people who either wanted to use me or would root for me to fail, like it was high school. I admire DIY a great deal and was glad to see it grow inside of comics. And I love seeing other people being enthusiastic about their own creativity and hard work.
I find it interesting that self-publishing is "hot" again. As you know, Kickstarter has made it easy to raise capital and fulfill orders. There's a few campaigns I've backed that have turned to crap (thank you, Scott Kurtz), but 90%+ of the campaigns I back deliver on-time or within a few months of expected delivery date. The 90s have returned!
Loved that great flashback. I self published in the early/mid nineties, as Twist And Shout Comics, and pioneered the “jam” cover, in which I went to conventions and got creators to draw their own characters on a Bristol Board that I then used as the cover for the comic, solicited with all their names. And now genuine collectible items, which is a shame as I had to pulp the last of the print run because of storage fees. If I’d have paid the fees, at current market rate I could pay off my mortgage right now.
I really appreciate that Rich, I don't know much about your self publishing years! great to read about it! And yeah, I also got rid of some books that later became collector's items, sigh.
A very silly comic called Dirtbag followed by a sillier comic called The X-Flies. The latter of which Diamond listed as the X-Files on the order form, which generated tens of thousand of orders, which I printed and supplied and was paid for, which Diamond had to eat when they realised their mistake. Here are some of the previous Dirtbags with those covers… https://www.ebay.com/itm/186152493835 https://www.ebay.com/itm/386595476061 https://www.ebay.com/itm/124076789283
OMG, that's HILARIOUS.