Do artists really need to eat?

[Ghastly McNasty]

Hello people, this is a question for all the chubby artist out there really.

I've started writing a script for a short comic series.

I've based the script on the possible fact that a comic is about 22 pages long (just something I Googled) and I reckon it's gonna be about 8 issues long.

I've been reading loads of post, on this forum and elsewhere, about how to get published and there seems to be 2 recipes:

Sending a sample to publishers and being noticed/getting lucky
or
Self publish and promote AKA slog and flog
 

Now i'm no artist so I would require person/s on cheese board to pencil/ink/colour. I'm not rich chocolate cake either but could scrape together the cash to pay these fine people to create a 6 page sample that could be sent takeaway to various comic companies. Honest days pay etc..

On the wafer thin chance it would be picked up by a comic company, would an artist then be prepared to continue creating the comic (126 pages long in total and i really couldn't afford to fund that) based on some sort of profit share arrangement, a fair slice of the pie, or is that a no-go in the arty world.

I'm not expecting anything for free and appreciate that this is how they put food on the table. I just want to know where I cake stand and what's the best way to get a comic out in the real ale pie world.

Subliminally Yours,

Tim

[CrazyFoxMachine]

weellll *cracks knuckles*

There's a few ways to answer this. I would question the logic of writing a 126 page comic as promotion/attempt to get published thing. What's wrong with submitting to the numerous small press anthologies or even starting one yourself? I see no end of people going this route. It just seems a little suicidal to me. Even 22 pages is a ton to ask an artist to submit to without you even having a plan for where it's going to be sold.

Here is an advert I see a lot on freelance websites:

"Hi - I'm looking for an artist to pencil, ink and colour pages for my 126 page self-published graphic novel. Needs a good turnaround and willing to work for 12 pounds a page."

I envy an artist that has the spare time to do this kind of work.

All I'm saying is: If you're convinced your story IS A GOER then consider making the sample smaller and don't DEMAND they work for a low price. Find out what THEY think is the best price and haggle.

Also consider where this is going to be published, where you're going to self-flog it and how. Get those balls rolling early. They'll want reassurance you've got a plan. Work out your costings and all that.

Until then, think about shorter comic stories. You've Googled "comic length" and you've got yourself a distinctly American answer. That isn't the only way to go.

Think in five page bursts, 2000ad-style.

Bottom line (and this will be my only food metaphor) you can't pay an artist peanuts. Not even a chubby one.

[The Legendary Shark]

Ah, I used to think as you do. Huge story arcs peopled with as many interesting characters as I could shoe-pastry horn in. All I needed was an artist (and to actually write the thing). Alas, whilst widely regarded as subordinate to the writer (at least by writers), artists have other ideas and insist upon believing that they shouldn't waste their talent on untested noobs. I know, this makes no sense, but still - that's the way it is.

The best thing to do is start small, writing one-off 5-8 page scripts for the Small Press (FQP or Paragon, for example) or any one of the magnificent projects gracing this very forum (hallowscream, Dr WTF?! and so on). Once you get a few things published, those pesky artists may start to take note and then you can start planning your mega-epic.

That's my two penn'orth, anyway.

[George Dread]

All the same it's a damn fine cheeseburger pitch. However you're willing to go about it paying someone gets you a better class of results.

[Ghastly McNasty]

Browsing various large comic publishing websites and they ask for short 6 page samples of work fully completed drawn/lettered/coloured plus cover etc. It wasn't that I thought of writing a 126 sample CrazyFoxMachine, its more a question of if that 6 page sample got a thumbs up, would the artist then be willing to press on with the remaining 122 pages knowing they are on a promise. I don't know how that side of the system really works.

I am partially living in fairy tale land with regards to thinking i'm writing a mega-epic that will be snapped up by Hollywood but aim high should always be the rule.   I also realise that everyone else out there is also writing a mega-epic too.

... paying someone gets you a better class of results.

Agreed. Would even be happy to pay more if the artist was right for the project.

Also i'm co-owner/editor of Hallowscream so am on the path of awesomeness already Available to download this coming Halloween!

[M.I.K.]

He's quite bloomin' good at them twisty five-pagers an' all.

[The Legendary Shark]

I'll get me coat...

[locustsofdeath!]

I had a huge sprawling, gothic fantasy epic written as well. When it came to getting artists committed...

I turned it into a novel.

[Ghastly McNasty]

Cheers MIK, i'm still very much an amateur though.

Apart from this lovely site, what other comic freelancer sites are there for finding comic book artists?

[George Dread]

Its becoming more apparent there are. Facebook dragged me into Skills app. When it comes to comic artist, I was up against it with quite a few. Same old beefs about pay and free press but it is active. Linkdin on Google has quite a marketplace too.

Talking of levels of achievement, I'd have bumped myself up from rank amateur to beginner.

[Pauul]

The solution is to aim smaller, write something absolutely amazing and be very lucky.

There are artists out there who might be willing to work for very little (or even nothing at all) but you need to ask why they'd want to work with you?

You need to get the entire script for the first issue written and rewritten (even if an artist wouldn't need to draw the entire thing).

It needs to be so amazing than when an artist reads it, they want to draw it.

Then you just need to hope that you'll run into the right artist for your story. This really is a great site for that, most of the people I've worked with I've met on here.

A lot of artists will say no or wont have time to read your script, but it never hurts to ask.

[Alski]

CLiNT are looking for submissions, and as you say need 6 pages of art with a full script and synopsis.

Do your bit first and write the WHOLE THING. Then send it to interested artists.

I want to submit something myself, but my brain is stuck.

[Nick Shepherd]

I agree.  As an artist I know that 126 pages is a brutally epic task to illustrate and being an only an amateur who still has to work a full time job to put food on the table, it would take years to complete.  I think that you are better off asking the artist to do say a 5 - 8 page sample for publishers and to pay them for it.  This way you have something to hook in publishers and the artist.  It is better to have 5 high quality pages with a relatively high turn around than 126 pages of brutally laboured crap. 
I wish you all the best in your search!

[HdE]

CLiNT are looking for submissions, and as you say need 6 pages of art with a full script and synopsis.

Are they? Really? Because things seem to have gone very quiet on that front.
(Douchebag tone not intended and apologised for in advance if perceived as such.)

Also, point for Mr. McNasty to contemplate: Budget for a letterer!

I've personally worked ona  handful of small pitch packages for writer / artist teams, and in one case completely re-lettered one form the ground up. Good lettering REALLY makes a strip work.

BAD lettering, conversely, can make the most beautiful artwork and most capably told story an absolute chore to read. Think about it - we READ comics. So pixellated or inappropriate fonts haphazardly applied can make a strip quite a chore to get through.

And, coincidentally, there's a few jobbing letterers on this forum. Ahem!

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Good lettering REALLY makes a strip work.

BAD lettering, conversely, can make the most beautiful artwork and most capably told story an absolute chore to read. Think about it - we READ comics. So pixellated or inappropriate fonts haphazardly applied can make a strip quite a chore to get through.

Aye.