Yes, this is the post where I tell you the long kept secret to breaking into the industry. All you have to do is read this post and then you’ll know how.
You don’t believe me, do you? Good.
There is no Crowbar
So, people have started to ask me how to break into the comics industry. I guess that’s something of a milestone, it means that at least some folks consider me to be on the inside. Neat.
Maybe it’s because English is my second language, but I’ve always thought of it as a strange expression. Break into the industry. As if the industry is this building with barred windows and guards outside that you could crowbar your way into if you only knew how.
I’m sorry, hon, but it doesn’t work like that.
You see, there is no breaking into the industry. There is no big fortified factory somewhere where the comics people stand at the assembly line making the comics and you have to have an employee pass to get in.
The comics industry is mostly made up of people working freelance, or working temporarily as part of organisations on particular projects. The individuals that make up the industry are in flux, moving between different publishers, projects and work styles: full time, part time, in your spare time, guess I’ll be a cubicle monkey for now time, bye boss I’m off to draw a novel time and oh, hey, there’s a shiny new project time.
It’s not like you can just pass this one interview and get hired by someone and hey, you’re in, and you can relax. It’s not about blagging your way into the country club.
It’s about —
- having your shit together,
- knowing how to market yourself and your work,
- learning new skills and keeping up to date, and
- building connections with people who believe in you and send you work / buy your stuff.
In future blog posts I will waste words on each of these points, probably more than a few words. For now, I just want to point out what this means.
It means there is no fortress/factory you have to crowbar your way into. And that means there are no gatekeepers, either. There is no one keeping you OUT of the industry. There’s just you. You and your brilliance, and an infinite number of ways you can make that brilliance work for you.
All you need to do is get rid off the crap in your head that’s holding you back, and work hard every day so you can allow your natural brilliance to shine like a crazy 500 watt lightbulb. You don’t need anyone else to give you permission, or tell you you’re good enough. You are. Now do it.
Related (because it’s one place to start): Manga Jiman Competition Announced
{ 7 comments }
Interesting post, on one hand it must be nice to be thought of as inside the industry… but on the other hand it kinda requires you to give out advice like this. By which I mean sensible advice that nobody is going to like. Because its tough news if you’re starting out and have the kind of hopes you describe. Like any form of what is basically self-employment the principles of ‘having your shit together’ and ‘working really, really hard’ are two things that most people (myself included) find hardest. In short, comics writing is not for
****weaklings and****cowards, its real hard work, and that’s gonna scare a lot of people and piss off others. Telling the truth is a****lady dog man.Willie: Sorry Jhanni, taking your language down just a tad. ^_^ I take your point though, it IS hard. What is it you get stuck on most?
It’s not like you can just pass this one interview and get hired by someone and hey, you’re in, and you can relax. It’s not about blagging your way into the country club.
Unless you’re Rob Liefeld of course…
http://progressiveboink.com/archive/robliefeld.html
Well, this isn’t very helpful, actually. I want to do manga, but I don’t even know where to start. Where I live, we don’t have competitiions like that, so, what am I supposed to do?
To Violetta: start by drawing? That always helps.
Start?
draw. Draw, write (if you want to write), draw, look at art, study anatomy, study comics, read comics, analyse comics, read critical analysis of comics, draw. Then do some drawing.
Draw outside your comfort zone. Draw from life. Seek every resource you can find about drawing (google is your friend, but so are local life drawing classes and art courses). Join art communities where REAL critique is available and encouraged. Take their advice to heart, even if it hurts. It will make you better.
Can you WRITE? this is important. Talented artist you may be, but can you create compelling three dimensional characters, involving plots, genuine emotion and (if appropriate) truly funny humour? If you can’t, there’s no shame in it, but don’t pretend you can, because you’ll end up with something pretty but unreadable. Find someone ELSE who can. In the west, the majority of comics are a TEAM effort.
Create comics.
are your comics good? genuinely good, not “your mum put up a picture on the fridge” good?
Get them out there. Go to events. Expos, small press events, general comic events. Talk to small presses, in person. Hell, talk to the bigger ones if they’re there.
Join forums. comic forums, small press forums, art forums. Make friends, not just to wring for information so you can get ahead, but to share and develop your artistic and professional skills. NETWORK.
Find open-entry and international competitions. Or, look for more general “comic” competitions, not just specialised Manga ones.
If you want, build a website, and publish as a Webcomic. If it’s popular, it can be worth printing up collections for existing fans to buy. If it’s REALLY popular, you might find a publisher who wants to do this for you.
Don’t expect to make a substantial amount of money at this stage (you’ll probably lose a small amount of money, but be very wary of vanity publishers). It’s a lot of hard work and grind, honing your skills and, just as importantly getting them noticed.
I’m sad you’re not taking submissions, I was actually crafting something with Itch in mind as a lot of the publishers out there aren’t accepting submissions–especially submissions solely from writers, or the type of material that I’m looking to put out there. (Non-super hero, vampire, magical girl fluff.) I guess I’ll have to wait until you’re capable of handling more submissions or hope I come across someone willing to take a “writer only” seriously.
Or try to find an artist on your own?
Finding an artist is difficult, but it’s difficult for me too, or any publisher. I hope you’ll do what you can on your own, rather than waiting.
Comments on this entry are closed.