Advice on self publishing a graphic novel

Dark Spider · Post by **Dark Spider** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:29 pm

Hello everyone,

I'm really anxious to put my name and my comic ideas out into the world, so I decided that I want to do a graphic novel. I did some soul searching and figured out that my strength is in writing and creating more elaborate 100 page-ish comics at a more relaxed pace. So besides doing my webcomic, I'm also going to work on a graphic novel on the side (when time permits). I researched my self publishing options online and I believe I have a shot.

I was wondering if you guys have any advice when it comes to graphic novels and self publishing in general?

Bass Master Fei · Post by **Bass Master Fei** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:44 pm

If you're just looking at getting your stuff printed, might I recommend comixpress as the cheapest place I've found so far? I haven't tried them out personally (I had a doujinshi printed awhile ago at Dreamweaver Press instead), but you do have the option of getting a proof to make sure everything is okay :). There are some other places out there like Lulu, plus Your Neighborhood Friendly Print Shop.

Not sure what kind of tips you're looking for... make sure to read the directions, and go for perfect binding?

Kirb · Post by **Kirb** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:49 pm

Eh, I was wondering about this myself. Was Dreamweaver Press okay? How did that go? Would you recommend it?

BrassyDel · Post by **BrassyDel** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:14 pm

I did comixpress and the quality of the comic was okay, not fantabulous or anything, but... they didn't like to ship orders people paid for and their customer service is crap.

I kept sending emails asking why I had fans complaining that they paid a month ago and hadn't received product and *never* got a response. One fan finally got his comic just a hair over 2 months after paying them, and they sent him an email saying they had had some printer problems and they refunded his money but sent a comic anyways. Now, that sounds reasonable to a point. You have printer problems? That sucks and I can be understanding. Not TELLING me? I'm not so understanding about. Refunding because of problems? That's kind of cool, and he still got his comic, but seriously. Two months without any explanation is ridiculous and unprofessional. There were other orders who waited about 4 to 6 weeks to finally get theirs and had no refund and no explanation of why their orders took so long.

Also, you supposedly get told in July how many sales you had for the preceding 3 months and get your commission but I never got one (not even the email), and I know I had sales beyond the one that they refunded.

So I don't really recommend comixpress based on my really frustrating and crappy experiences with them over the last 3 months. I'm going to go with Ka-Blam next time I think, although they haven't started doing graphic novel sizes yet due to binding issues (you can only print comics up to 52 pages with them). However, they do print in RGB, which is far prettier than the CMYK that comixpress uses.

Bass Master Fei · Post by **Bass Master Fei** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:19 am

Does Ka-Blam work with saddle stitch, or perfect binding? I'm thinking the former, since they have a page limit at 52 (in which case I'd have to go with Comix). On the off-chance it's the latter, though... oy, what a deal :).

Rather than have anyone sell my comics for me, I'd go to a nice con and hawk them or sell them and mail 'em off myself, which gives printers a lot less room to make errors... the trick is finding how many copies to use :P.

As for Dreamweaver, they were swift and cordial in their dealings. I'd definitely recommend it for that reason, although I think they're more expensive.

KODAMA · Post by **KODAMA** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:36 am

Bass Master Fei wrote:If you're just looking at getting your stuff printed, might I recommend comixpress as the cheapest place I've found so far? I haven't tried them out personally (I had a doujinshi printed awhile ago at Dreamweaver Press instead), but you do have the option of getting a proof to make sure everything is okay :). There are some other places out there like Lulu, plus Your Neighborhood Friendly Print Shop.

Not sure what kind of tips you're looking for... make sure to read the directions, and go for perfect binding?

It took them (comixpress) like 7 weeks to get back to me.

I could barely remember contacting them by then, and the even that I needed the books for was already over (otakon 2005). If time is not a problem, do go for them. They are indeed the cheapest way to get printed other than a publisher, who might publish your stuff for free.

...but be weary of publishers, like many free things. A publisher took one of my stories, printed it, and I never heard or saw anything from them again :/

Bass Master Fei · Post by **Bass Master Fei** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:14 pm

Who took 7 weeks, Comixpress or Dreamweaver? Either way, was it during normal operations, or did they post a message saying they were busy? I do remember both sites were overloaded with work in the past (I believe Dreamweaver stopped taking orders for awhile).

What publisher was this?

BrassyDel · Post by **BrassyDel** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:50 pm

This is the first I've heard of Dreamweaver, so I'll put them on my list to check out since someone else used them and it turned out okay.

One thing to remember about time frames is that 7 weeks is just a long time, *and* their auto email message when you send a query says they'll email you back in 2 days. I don't think I've ever been emailed back by comixpress in 2 days. Also, I still haven't been paid for my comics which they sold to my fans (the comics that took FOREVER to get delivered). Ka-blam is very similar priced to comixpress, but they are planning on bringing out perfect binding/TPBs by the end of the year so you can't do it yet. However, they say you can get payment whenever instead of quarterly (when you sell through IndiePlanet) and the customer turn-around time is about 3 days. Not 3 months. Comixpress is a freaking train wreck.

Business is all about relationships. Your POD printer needs to communicate with you, and just *tell you* if something is wrong with the printing, and communicate with customers, as opposed to making everyone upset. I... really dislike having unhappy fans. You cannot control the printer, but if you sell with them it does reflect upon you as the comic creator. So choose carefully.

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:58 am

I found a printer at the local university that prints for roughly the same price as Comixpress (and without ads). Check out the sampler PDFs.

http://thedoom.be/samplers/

They are meant to be printed on 8.5x11 paper with a color cover. These can be printed on your home printer then copied or however you want to do it. A print on demand service is nice, but if you're willing to keep some inventory, it might be worth looking into a local printing service.

Bass Master Fei · Post by **Bass Master Fei** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:26 am

Wish we knew if the person who did the OP wanted a service where people could order an arbitrary number of copies for themselves, or just wanted to have someone print a bunch of copies of his books and sell 'em himself.

Has anyone had any good experiences with comixpress, or any of these other places?

Edit: Awesome, I killed my first thread