This bi-weekly column is meant to give advice from me and eventually other people in the industry about how to break in as an artist. This will include tricks for the formal submission routes as well as a bunch of informal elements you may not have realized.

Although I’d given critiques to students at an art college in Calgary where I worked from 1999-2002, nothing could really prepare me for giving feedback to hopeful comic book artists as a Project Manager at Udon.

Once my boss realized that I could do some pretty sharp critique of people’s portfolios he enthusiastically handed the reins of looking over submissions to me. At first I was honoured to be given such responsibility. That happy glow quickly faded. Now I have so much more respect for patient and polite editors at conventions because I have a clearer sense of what they’re going through.

Okay, here we go. Your portfolio should NOT include:

Scary Anime: I think I’ve seen every terrible anime-style portfolio imaginable. Pictures of giant breasted devil women or ridiculously submissive innocent girls who look like they’d blow over in a stiff breeze, designs traced from famous Japanese artists, over-sexed anthropomorphic anime animal people – the works. After an exhausting convention day I sometimes go back to my hotel and utter a silent curse at every Japanese artist who influenced these people.

I had a lady show me smeary crayon drawings on lined paper that she’d done of Sailor Moon and the other Sailor Scouts. This wasn’t some 13 year old looking for artistic encouragement; this was a woman in her late twenties genuinely wanting to know if she could leave her current career to find work as an artist.

Porn: Unless you’re showing a porn comic publisher your work, you should keep the porn out. Opening up a portfolio and seeing (almost always terribly drawn) huffing and puffing between characters does not inspire or titillate. Here’s another hint sort of connected to that- if you’ve never actually had sex before you probably won’t be able to draw the act convincingly.

As if regular porn wasn’t bad enough, Udon’s reputation for sexy anime-centric art means I get to see the portfolio of every terrifying anime porn artist in North America. Trust me when I tell you that it’s not edgy or impressive, it’s actually just sad. I wish they could change the ‘Adult’ category that people use to define porn to something more fitting like ‘Juvenile and Incredibly Annoying’.

Demons and Angels: Okay maybe it’s just me, but no matter what combination of horns, wings, claws, hooves, tails, fire, auras of energy, flaming weapons and fangs you’ve come up with – it’s probably not as cool or ingenious as you think it is. Just leave the demon and angel stuff alone. 99% of those pieces come across as derivative and lame. Even if it’s well drawn it tends to come across as “been there, done that”. I’m tempted to add “Wolverine wannabe claws” to this category as well.

Ego: Having confidence is good. Being an egotistical prick is not. If I’m taking time to look over your work while our booth is hopping and we’re moving product and making money, it’s probably not a good time to act like it’s my privilege to see your artwork. Negative bonus points if you interrupt other conversations I’m having to thrust your portfolio in my face. Extra bad points if you come around the table at a con without being asked and proceed to use one of our boxes full of inventory as a seat.

Giving negative feedback and critique is stressful for both sides of the evaluation equation. Getting angry, scowling or pointing out flaws in work we’ve published isn’t going to bring me to your side. Practically crying when I point out problems in your work also makes things pretty darn awkward.

Promotion Whoring: Tying in to the ego thing above is ridiculous self promotion. I know you have your own story and character ideas; Many of us do. Having 30+ drawings of your “cool” character’s many, many costumes comes across more obsessive than useful. Insisting that your creations are the great new heroes of this emerging millennium also doesn’t have the impact you think it does. Neither does a Power Point presentation outlining the movie, video game, toy and merchandizing opportunities for Cool Character X or whatever his name is. The fact that these characters invariably involve demons, angels and badly done anime art to boot is really just icing on the cake.

If you want to make an even scarier impression, make sure you dress up like Cool Character X while presenting your portfolio.

Glaring Weaknesses: Making sure every character in your portfolio pages is wearing a mask because you have trouble drawing faces and expressions doesn’t instil me with confidence that you can be a reliable comic artist. Doing 5 pages of sequentials without a single background other than a starry sky also tends to jump out at me as a problem.

Photos: Your comic art portfolio should contain artwork, not photos – I know this comes as a tremendous shock to you all.

Photographs of your fine arts installation exhibit is not useful to me. Photographs of horror make up you’ve applied to actors in B-Movies is not useful to me. Photographs of your graffiti art is not useful to me. Photographs of tattoo designs you created are not useful to me. Photographs of you standing next to famous people is not useful to me. Photographs of you looking cool wearing sunglasses and a trenchcoat is not useful to me.

Out In Left Field Material: If you’ve come to a comic convention and are showing around your portfolio, expect an editor to want to see the kinds of material they publish in your submission.

I had a guy bring up a portfolio full of movie star caricatures all done in pastel. Some were good, some were middling, but I still had no use for any of the stuff he brought up. When I explained to him that Udon publishes comics and that many of our books have an anime flare to them, he sealed his fate with “Oh man, I totally hate that Japanimation crap.”

Art doesn’t have to be your job at all. It can be just fun doodling your favorite things, 100%. But if you’re going to make it your job and your life then it’s going to be judged compared to your peers. The fact that so many would think the above stuff is what an editor would want to see, let alone the basis of an art career, amazes me.

You’ve just completed your first comic book, and you know that you don’t want to subject your work to the soul-crushing scrutiny of editors and other middle-men as well as the anonymity of a publisher’s slush pile. But then you also realize that, while the self-publishing route can be highly rewarding, it can also get expensive. This is where the Xeric Foundation could help. I first found out about the Xeric Foundation through Bebe Williams, a web comics pioneer whose “Bobby Ruckers” comic book was the recipient of a Xeric grant. Founded by “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” co-creator Peter A. Laird, the Xeric Foundation has offered financial assistance to “fully committed, self-publishing comic book creators and nonprofit organizations” since the early nineties. Note that Xeric’s assistance is expressly not intended to fully finance the artist/writer through the entire process of self-publishing. Also note that Xeric grants usually don’t exceed $5,000.

Things You’ll Need:
#1. Six “Clean” Copies of a Completed Comic Book (art and narrative)
#2. Six Copies of Completed Xeric Foundation Application Package
#3. Talent

Step 1:
Fully understand the nature of the Xeric grant before you apply. While the grant can be used for the physical production and distribution of your comic book, it cannot be used for obtaining services from other publishers, or for travel, business or living expenses. It also can’t be used for art supplies, web sites, T-shirts or any other promotional items.

Step 2:
Determine if your artwork and narrative are complete and at their best. Note that the Xeric Foundation will only review art and narrative together, not separately.

Step 3:
While Xeric Foundation grants aren’t awarded on financial need alone, need can play a contributing factor in receiving it. A financial statement is part of the application package. Gather your information. Even though the whole application process may seem daunting, don’t give up. See cartoonist Donna Barr’s account of going through this process.

Step 4:
Write a cover letter that includes the project title and the money amount needed.

Step 5:
Write a statement of purpose separate from the cover letter. In other words, briefly answer why you are applying for a Xeric grant.

Step 6:
Prepare a detailed budget of expenses that will occur within your specific production time period.

Step 7:
Make six copies of the application package, including copies of the artwork. Put each package in a separate envelope.

Step 8:
Send the application packages to: Xeric Foundation 351 Pleasant St., #214 Northampton, MA 01060

Tips & Warnings
Xeric Foundation grants are also available for Canadian citizens.

According the Foundation’s web site, “there are no strings attached regarding copyrights, trademarks, etc.”

Be aware of submission deadlines.

Charitable grants are only available to nonprofit organizations in Western Massachusetts

Steve Lieber (born May 19, 1967) is a comic-book illustrator. His best known work includes runs on Detective Comics and Hawkman, the graphic novel Whiteout and its Eisner Award-winning sequel, Whiteout: Melt. He is also the co-author (with Nat Gertler) of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel. Lieber is married to the novelist Sara Ryan. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lives in Portland, Oregon, where he is a member of Periscope Studio.

To the fellow who asked about breaking into comics:

First, don’t even THINK about quitting your day job. Writers I know who’ve
worked in comics and Hollywood have told me it was a lot easier to sell
their first tv or film script than their first comic script.

There is just about no chance for someone without a track record of published
work to break in as a writer without having a close friend in a position
to hire you. This leaves a couple of options– get a staff position at a
major company and start networking from the inside. This means you’ll have to
move to NYC or CA and take a job that won’t pay you enough to live there.
Or, and this is the recommended option, start writing small press comics.
Self published minis are a good start. Make friends with artists with
tastes similar to yours. Get them to illustrate your stories. Send the
stories out as samples. These’ll be read -months- earlier than written
submissions. You can meet artists at local cons, art schools, coffee shops
and, of course, comic stores. Publish your own work. This is how guys like
David Quinn (who was already a produced playwright) broke in to the
mainstream. Start developing your networking skills. You’ll
need them to find paying jobs.

just how much control of the finished product does the writer have?

In the end, none at all. Think of it as a game of telephone. The more clearly
you communicate what you want to your illustrator(s) the more like your
original message the final story will be. Keep in mind that, (particularly
in mainstream comics,) the editor can ALWAYS overrule you and the artist(s)
vision of things may differ from yours considerably- (and you’re always at
the mercy of the color separators and printers.)

I mean, the script is self-evident, but does he or she tell the artist what
to draw, the angles, expressions and such? or is it different for every
artist-writer relationship?

Sometimes the company dictates this, other times the team gets to set up it’s
own way of working.

It’s inportant that you don’t restrict yourself to being a -comics- writer. Be a
*writer.* Write essays, short fiction, poetry, journalism, screenplays, ad copy.
Anything that allows you to develop your craft is crucial, and may open
a door for you down the line.

Above all, be persistent. As you noted it’s a lot easier for an illustrator
to get hired, but DC saw over one hundred pages of artwork from me before they
gave me my first job. If it happens at all, it’s gonna take a long, long while.

And one more thing. Consider looking into starting sentences with capital
letters. Take spelling, grammar and punctuation seriously. They’re the
tools of the trade.

Good luck.

Steve Lieber

Formatting a Comic Book Script

Each page should start on a fresh piece of paper with a notation of how many panels are on the page.

Character dialogue is done all in caps and indented to make it easier for editors and letterers to identify who is speaking. Dialogue starts with the character’s name and then an optional modifier to let the letterer know how to letter it.

“Op” means the character is speaking off-panel.
“Thought” means the words should be lettered within a thought balloon.
“Whisper” indicates that the words should be lettered to show a whisper.
“SFX” is used to indicate any sound effects that should be “heard” within the panel.
“Cap” indicates that words should be written within a caption.

Descriptions of the actions of the characters and settings are described for each panel. These descriptions can be as simple as a few lines or can be several paragraphs. You should write enough information so that you are comfortable that the artist will illustrate what you want to be shown within this panel.

Sample Script Format

SCRIPT FORMAT AND SPECIFICATIONS. Please create your scripts as follows.

WRITER’S NAME (name, address, and phone should appear only on the first page of your script)
Street Address
City, State and Zip
Phone Number

PAGE ONE (five panels) (Begin each new story page on a new sheet of paper, label it, and indicate how many panels make up that page.)

Panel 1. Number your panels. Panel descriptions should be typed in standard upper and lower case. Please do not use tabs, alternate fonts, or any other formatting.

CHARACTER:
The “attribution” (the name of the character speaking) should appear in all caps on a separate line from their dialogue. It used to be that all comics were lettered by hand. These days, much of the lettering is done on computer.

OTHER CHARACTER:
Typing the dialogue in standard upper- and lowercase, flush-left, with no tabs or other formatting makes it easy for dialogue to be copied and pasted onto the comics page.

Panel 2. There is no set limit for how much or how little information should be included in each panel description; generally a sentence or two is enough. If there are specific character traits, objects, or placement of either that you need, make sure you tell the artist. The most important thing to remember: if it isn’t in the script, don’t expect to see it in the art. You’ll get best results if you list characters in your panel descriptions in the order (left to right) that they need to speak in the panel.

SFX:
Sound effects are indicated just like dialogue.

CAP:
Captions are indicated the same way. All dialogue, sound effects, and captions should be listed in the order in which they should be read in the final art.

CHARACTER (thought):
Thought balloons are indicated in this fashion. Captions and dialogue should be limited to approximately 25 words per balloon, and about 50 words per panel, max.

Panel 3. Exact panel layout is usually left to the artist, but if you have something specific in mind, put it in your description. If absolutely necessary, you can draw a sketch of what you want.

CHARACTER (OP):
Characters speaking from off-panel are indicated this way.

OTHER CHARACTER (whisper):
If a character is whispering, the letterer needs to know. Other common indications for modified lettering or word balloons are (small), (burst), and (weak).

Panel 4. For action sequences, you’ll get best results if you limit yourself to three or four panels per page. Remember: the more spectacular your action description, the less room you’ll have for other panels on that page. In comics, space is your major limiting factor. If you have two characters speaking to one another in a panel on a page containing five or more panels, chances are there won’t be room to show something happening simultaneously in the background. Also, except in rare cases, the most “back-and-forth” dialogue that will comfortably fit in a panel is a comment, a response, and a counter-response.

CHARACTER: [comment]
Dialogue that carries over from one balloon, or from one panel to another is indicated by double dashes at the end of the first dialogue section –

OTHER CHARACTER: [response]
– and another set at the beginning of the next. Interestingly, long dashes and semi-colons are not used in comics punctuation. Colons are used only on rare occasions.

CHARACTER: [counter-response]
Double dashes can also be used to indicate a speech that is cut-off by events in the story –

Panel 5. For non-action scenes, you can have more panels per page, but keep in mind how many characters and props are necessary in a scene as you’re writing. The more panels on a page, the smaller each of them will have to be. Trying to cram too much information into small panels will result in a comic that’s difficult to read and visually uninteresting.

CAP/CHARACTER
“– a caption can be used to carry over dialogue from a previous scene to a new setting by placing the speech in quotation marks.”

NEW CHARACTER: underline words that you want to emphasize. Ellipses (three periods) indicate a pause between … sections of a speech, or a speech that trails off…

#1. You must be able to draw the human anatomy.
Allow me to reiterate this one. YOU MUST BE ABLE TO DRAW THE HUMAN ANATOMY, both accurately and stylishly; over-exaggeration gets ugly when taken to extremes. As most stories feature a lead character of some sort, you must be able to make that character look good and, believable. When the graphics are the only description given of a character, ugly means readers don’t like the character, so no second series of the story.

#2. You must be able to tell a story sequentially.
A series of loosely connected single images just doesn’t cut it. Think of a comic strip as a movie and you’re getting somewhere. A panel that looks fantastic is utterly useless if it does not tell the reader what is going on. If you can look at a page and understand what is going on without ever having written a word then you have done your job correctly.

#3. You must make room for the text.
When you’re drawing a panel, think of how much text needs to go on that panel, where it can go, and then compose the shot. There is little more irritating to reader and artist alike than a beautifully rendered, expressive face with a great big, dirty, speech bubble hiding the nose. You might think this would be the easiest skill to master but surprisingly it isn’t.

#4. You must be consistent.
Consistency is essential – practice drawing a figure dozens of times, from every conceivable angle. It’s consistent enough only when it is instantly recognizable every single time. Face it, if you make it into the comic book business, you will be drawing the same characters hundreds, if not thousands of times, and the reader must be able to immediately recognize these characters.

I know that if you are an artist already, these four skills probably seem obvious to you. I’m sure someone has read this article and said to themselves “DUH”. But here is something I would like you to think about. Jim Lee, who by the way, is one of the artists that helped form Image comics, once said that before he broke into comics, he would spend hours drawing and re-drawing comic pages. He drew until his fingers bled, he drew trying to find his style and more important, he drew to hone his skill. If you are going to make it as a comic book artist, you have to be really good and you have to be really fast. So for those out there who think this is remedial reading, I want to remind you that the message here is practice, practice, practice and more practice, because you can never be too good.

“Write and draw what you really want to see as a reader. Don’t try to write and draw what you think others will buy or what others want to see, because if you’re not as interested in the subject matter that you’re telling us about, then that’s going to show. And that lack of enthusiasm is going to weaken your work. You have to care deeply about what you’re doing. If you do, then there will always be at least someone else out there who cares as deeply about it as you. But if you’re trying to sell out, if you’re trying to create the kinds of stories you think other people like, you’re always going to come in second behind others who have a more genuine love for that material. So you might as well just write what you love.”

Biography

McCloud was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He created the light-hearted science fiction/superhero comic book series Zot! in 1984, in part as a reaction to the increasingly grim direction that superhero comics were taking in the 1980s.[citation needed] His other print comics include Destroy!! (a deliberately over-the-top, over-sized single-issue comic book, intended as a parody of formulaic superhero fights), the graphic novel The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln (done with a mixture of computer-generated and manually-drawn digital images), 12 issues writing DC Comics’ Superman Adventures, and the three issue limited series Superman: Strength.

Newspaper reporters and technical writers are trained to reveal almost nothing about themselves in their writings. This makes them freaks in the world of writers, since almost all of the other ink-stained wretches in that world reveal a lot about themselves to readers. We call these revelations, accidental and intentional, elements of style.

These revelations tell us as readers what sort of person it is with whom we are spending time. Does the writer sound ignorant or informed, stupid or bright, crooked or honest, humorless or playful– ? And on and on.

Why should you examine your writing style with the idea of improving it? Do so as a mark of respect for your readers, whatever you’re writing. If you scribble your thoughts any which way, your readers will surely feel that you care nothing about them. They will mark you down as an egomaniac or a chowderhead — or, worse, they will stop reading you.

The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not. Don’t you yourself like or dislike writers mainly for what they choose to show you or make you think about? Did you ever admire an emptyheaded writer for his or her mastery of the language? No.

So your own winning style must begin with ideas in your head.

1. Find a subject you care about

Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.

I am not urging you to write a novel, by the way — although I would not be sorry if you wrote one, provided you genuinely cared about something. A petition to the mayor about a pothole in front of your house or a love letter to the girl next door will do.

2. Do not ramble, though

I won’t ramble on about that.

3. Keep it simple

As for your use of language: Remember that two great masters of language, William Shakespeare and James Joyce, wrote sentences which were almost childlike when their subjects were most profound. “To be or not to be?” asks Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The longest word is three letters long. Joyce, when he was frisky, could put together a sentence as intricate and as glittering as a necklace for Cleopatra, but my favorite sentence in his short story “Eveline” is this one: “She was tired.” At that point in the story, no other words could break the heart of a reader as those three words do.

Simplicity of language is not only reputable, but perhaps even sacred. The Bible opens with a sentence well within the writing skills of a lively fourteen-year-old: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

4. Have guts to cut

It may be that you, too, are capable of making necklaces for Cleopatra, so to speak. But your eloquence should be the servant of the ideas in your head. Your rule might be this: If a sentence, no matter how excellent, does not illuminate your subject in some new and useful way, scratch it out.

5. Sound like yourself

The writing style which is most natural for you is bound to echo the speech you heard when a child. English was Conrad’s third language, and much that seems piquant in his use of English was no doubt colored by his first language, which was Polish. And lucky indeed is the writer who has grown up in Ireland, for the English spoken there is so amusing and musical. I myself grew up in Indianapolis, where common speech sounds like a band saw cutting galvanized tin, and employs a vocabulary as unornamental as a monkey wrench.

In some of the more remote hollows of Appalachia, children still grow up hearing songs and locutions of Elizabethan times. Yes, and many Americans grow up hearing a language other than English, or an English dialect a majority of Americans cannot understand.

All these varieties of speech are beautiful, just as the varieties of butterflies are beautiful. No matter what your first language, you should treasure it all your life. If it happens to not be standard English, and if it shows itself when your write standard English, the result is usually delightful, like a very pretty girl with one eye that is green and one that is blue.

I myself find that I trust my own writing most, and others seem to trust it most, too, when I sound most like a person from Indianapolis, which is what I am. What alternatives do I have? The one most vehemently recommended by teachers has no doubt been pressed on you, as well: to write like cultivated Englishmen of a century or more ago.

6. Say what you mean

I used to be exasperated by such teachers, but am no more. I understand now that all those antique essays and stories with which I was to compare my own work were not magnificent for their datedness or foreignness, but for saying precisely what their authors meant them to say. My teachers wished me to write accurately, always selecting the most effective words, and relating the words to one another unambiguously, rigidly, like parts of a machine. The teachers did not want to turn me into an Englishman after all. They hoped that I would become understandable — and therefore understood. And there went my dream of doing with words what Pablo Picasso did with paint or what any number of jazz idols did with music. If I broke all the rules of punctuation, had words mean whatever I wanted them to mean, and strung them together higgledy-piggledy, I would simply not be understood. So you, too, had better avoid Picasso-style or jazz-style writing, if you have something worth saying and wish to be understood.

Readers want our pages to look very much like pages they have seen before. Why? This is because they themselves have a tough job to do, and they need all the help they can get from us.

7. Pity the readers

They have to identify thousands of little marks on paper, and make sense of them immediately. They have to read, an art so difficult that most people don’t really master it even after having studied it all through grade school and high school — twelve long years.

So this discussion must finally acknowledge that our stylistic options as writers are neither numerous nor glamorous, since our readers are bound to be such imperfect artists. Our audience requires us to be sympathetic and patient readers, ever willing to simplify and clarify — whereas we would rather soar high above the crowd, singing like nightingales.

That is the bad news. The good news is that we Americans are governed under a unique Constitution, which allows us to write whatever we please without fear of punishment. So the most meaningful aspect of our styles, which is what we choose to write about, is utterly unlimited.

8. For really detailed advice

For a discussion of literary style in a narrower sense, in a more technical sense, I recommend to your attention The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White. E.B. White is, of course, one of the most admirable literary stylists this country has so far produced.

You should realize, too, that no one would care how well or badly Mr. White expressed himself, if he did not have perfectly enchanting things to say.

In Sum:

1. Find a subject you care about

2. Do not ramble, though

3. Keep it simple

4. Have guts to cut

5. Sound like yourself

6. Say what you mean

7. Pity the readers

By definition comic book creators are dreamers and their dreams are reflected in their business models:

Here is a very common example:

Step one: Create a comic book.

Step two: ?

Step three: Make lots of money

The vital step two is lost. I’ll admit that step two is not the most fun part. Step two is the part that includes marketing. It’s the step that covers bar codes and publishing companies. It’s the hard step. You really are a dreamer if you think that you’ll be able to ignore this bit. Step two is essential. This series on self publishing comics will be almost exclusively about “step two”.

Why Does My Comic Book Need an ISBN and Barcode?

ISBN: International Standard Book Number

Comic books do not require ISBNs or barcodes. ISBN’s and barcodes cost money. Both of these reasons may explain why you’ll find a million independent comics naked and barcode-free.

Your comic needs an ISBN number and a barcode if you want to sell the book on Amazon.com or if you want a retailer to sell your book in their store. These items are important if you seriously want to make any money selling your book.

ISBN numbers are assigned by a group of agencies worldwide coordinated by the International ISBN Agency in Berlin, Germany. In the United States, ISBNs are assigned by the U.S. ISBN Agency: R.R. Bowker is the independent agent in the US for this system. It’s easy to remember their website: ISBN.org.

You can apply for an ISBN on their Web site – it takes about two weeks for one to be assigned, and there’s a publisher registration fee of $24.95 plus a service fee that starts at $225.00 for 10 ISBNs, no rush service (if you need something immediately, there’s a $125 express processing surcharge). There’s also a $25 annual fee for each publisher, so whether you have one ISBN or a thousand, you’ll have to pay that additional amount too.

All told, for a new publisher to get an ISBN (or ten) will cost $250, or $25/ISBN. Since you can get 10 ISBNs for the same price as one, it’s worth applying for books on your horizon too, rather than just the one you’re about to publish.

One thing to note is that comics have a 5 digit extension to denote issue number “example issue #5 is 00511″ and that ISBN/ISBN-13 use a 5 digit extension to denote price “example a $19.95 book is 51995″.

Barcodes have been around for ages, you have seen them, you have used them and they are convenient in this digital world we now live in. Your barcode works in conjunction with your ISBN. You can pick up a barcode for $10, it isn’t the most expensive part of this duo.

There are quite a few ways of getting your ISBN and barcode. Personally I like the print on demand services like lulu.com or creataspace.com. They make it easy by assigning you an ISBN and supplying a barcode with certain packages. I will be discussing “On demand printing” in a future article, but I wanted to let you see that getting an ISBN wont break the bank.

While researching these articles I ran into this testimonial from an independent comic creator named Shelly that I thought was worth sharing. I have since researched this site and I really like the features they offer along with the fact that they have an 800 number, so I wasn’t stuck sending emails all day, hoping for a response.

For your self published comic book or graphic novel to be sold on amazon.com you will need a UPC bar code that is scan-able to an original UPC or ISBN number. I recommend using www.aardvarkglobalpublishing.com to buy official and legal UPC bar codes. Their customer service is wonderful, and you can have your bar codes in minutes.

A word of caution when shopping around for a bar code service – Be careful of other the smaller and less reputable sites who sell UPC bar codes at a cheaper price! I recently purchased a bar code from one of these “cheaper sites” which closed down within a week. I then connected with folks at aardvarkglobalpublishing.com who were extremely helpful. They are a bit more expensive compared to some sites out there, but it’s worth the money since you can be assured that they are genuine.

I hope that this article helps answer some questions. In the future I will be following up on this series with: How to sell your comic book on Amazon.com; Using on demand printing companies and, Marketing: The art of selling your comic.

I would like to thank Gianluca Glazer over at Radical Publishing for adding a touch of professional experience to this article.

Distributing your independent comic book will most likely be difficult. Marketing and promoting can be rough, but finding a place to sell your book will almost certainly drive you up the wall. I have spent endless hours researching ways to sell independent comic books, and I have to be honest; if you don’t have “Diamond Distribution” listing your new title, you have a long row to hoe. That being said, just remember, all is not lost, there are alternatives.

Today I thought we would discuss one of the alternatives. Amazon.com; how to sell your new comic using the site, setting up an account, what you can expect to make per sell and is this right for you.

How to sell your comic book or graphic novel on Amazon

Anyone can apply to sell their merchandise on Amazon but a book has a few extra requirements that must first be met.

#1. You must have an ISBN and Barcode for your book. If you would like to learn more about ISBN’s please read our previous article “Why Does My Comic Book Need an ISBN and Barcode?”

#2. You will need printed copies of your book that you can ship to Amazon immediately.

#3. You will need to set up an account with Amazon.

#4. You will need to submit your comic and it will have to be approved.

In a nutshell that’s all you really need. It strange to see it written down and stripped to four steps. Each of these steps carry their own share of difficulty. I would say that most independent creators run in to money and time constraints more then anything else. Don’t kid yourself, self publishing is an expensive endevore.

Setting up an account

Amazon has two types of accounts for authors and publishers.

Amazon.com Advantage: The “Advantage account” helps publishers of all sizes sell books directly at Amazon.com. All Advantage titles receive premium availability in the Amazon.com catalog and are listed as “usually ships in 24 hours.”

Amazon.com Advantage Professional: “Professional” caters to the special needs of professional, technical, medical, and nonprofit publishers who have higher-priced titles.

The only account we are interested in is Amazon.com Advantage. Once you apply for an account you will need to submit one or more titles for consideration. If your application is approved, you can list your book in Amazon’s catalog and consign copies of your inventory in the warehouse. When customers purchase your titles, the orders are processed by Amazon within 24 hours and shipped to any part of the world. Amazon monitors your inventory and automatically sends you an e-mail request for additional copies based on customer demand. Listing your book on Amazon.com is a sure way to gain more attention in the world of writing that produces thousands of new titles everyday.

Here’s how the steps breakdown

1. The first step is application to the program. The application may be accepted or rejected based on whether you qualify (Look at the list of instructions and rules on Amazon.com).

2. You receive an email from Amazon confirming the acceptance of your application.

3. Amazon charges a non-refundable annual membership fee of $29.95 for the Program.

4. Then you must identify one or more Titles that you would like to include in the Program. You may identify additional Titles at any time during your membership in the Program. Amazon has the right to accept or reject any submitted title on the basis of the requirements for any product.

5. After your Title has been approved, Amazon will send you an order for the initial quantity. Thereafter, if your inventory of the Title falls below a minimum inventory level that is designated, you may be sent an order for additional units.

6. Amazon determines, at its sole discretion, the price at which it sells your Titles to customers, which may differ from the suggested retail price you choose when registering the Title.

7. In case of insufficient customer demand for your Title, Amazon may choose to no longer carry it in their fulfillment centers. In such case, all the copies may be returned to you at your cost.

8. Payment is issued at the end of each month for copies sold in the previous month. All payments are made in U.S. dollars by electronic funds transfer. If you do not have such a facility, you may have to pay a per-check fee to Amazon.

9. Other than the above, Amazon has other rules and regulations in its agreement that is binding on you till you are a seller on Amazon.

10. Before you start the process, make sure that you have an e-mail account and Internet access plus copies of your title ready to ship immediately.

What can you expect to make per sale

The cost of using Amazon is high. They take 55% of the “official” price (not the sale price but the price you originally determine). That means that even if they discount the book (good for sales), the discount is coming out of their half. But it means you are only getting 45% of your listed price. In addition you pay for shipping books there, and of course for printing them, so the math does not encourage fortune making. Most self-published books are in the “long tail” zone, selling only a few copies per month.

So lets do the math.

Your book retail is $10.00

Amazon gets 55% or $5.50 in dollars

You get 45% or $4.50

I know what you are thinking. What about my printing costs? How will I make any money selling this book? Well, the truth is that you aren’t going to make a lot, if any. But this article isn’t called should you sell your comic on Amazon, it’s called how to sell your comic on Amazon. Don’t get me wrong, just because you aren’t going to fill your purse with coin doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t follow this path. Amazon gets millions of visitors a day. The exposure is worth a lot. Let’s say you only sell 10 books on Amazon but ten thousand people check out your book and like it. Try to get ten thousand people to look at your work anywhere else… It’s a feat, let me tell you. Using Amazon to sell your book opens a lot of doors.

Weather you decide to go the Amazon route or not, I hope this article helped make the decision a little easier. If you have any experience with this, please leave a comment. If I read something great I’ll add it to the article permanently.