How to Self-Publish Your Own Comic Book
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V0.9.8.20.19//1//How to Self-publish your own Comic book V0.9.8.20.19/2//Tony C. Caputo Front cover illustration by Tony Caputo and Jeff Butler Cover design by Jay Arming TONY C. CAPUTO IS THE PUBLISHER OF HUNDREDS OF COMIC BOOKS, INCLUDING SUCH WELL-KNOWN TITLES AS SPEED RACER™, ASTRO BOY™, THE TERMINATOR™, THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS™, VESPERS™ AND THE GREEN HORNET™. FROM 1989 TO 1994 HE SERVED ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COMICS MAGAZINE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (CMAA), AND HAS WORKED AS A PUBLISHING CONSULTANT FOR A VARIETY OF COMPANIES, INCLUDING DISNEY PUBLICATIONS AND WALTER JOSEPH COMMUNICATIONS. HE HAS ALSO PRODUCED OVER 20 VOLUMES OF SPEED RACER™ HOME VIDEOS AND GIFT SETS, AND HAS COLLABORATED WITH SUCH LEGENDARY INDUSTRY TALENTS AS HARLAN ELLISON, NEAL ADAMS, JIM STERANKO, MIKE BARON, AND JEFF BUTLER. V0.9.8.20.19//3//How to Self-publish your own Comic book Page 2 (frontispiece): Inked art for Vespers #1. Penciled by Tony Caputo, inked by David Mowry. Copyright © 1997, 2020 Tony C. Caputo First printing, 1997 (Watson-Guptill), eBook release, 2020 (Tony C Caputo) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Caputo, Tony. V0.9.8.20.19/4//Tony C. Caputo How to self-publish your own comic book / Tony Caputo. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8230-2455-5 (paperback) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 First Printing 1997, Digital Printing 2020 V0.9.8.20.19/A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR/5/A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR/How to Self-publish your own Comic book A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR I was born in Chicago, the first of three sons of Italian immigrants. Because reading (at least in English) wasn't a very popular activity in my household, I didn't really discover the joys of reading until I was about 11 years old. it was a DC Comics special edition, which I begged my parents to buy for me, that first caught my eye as a young boy. it was full of color, creativity, fantasy, monsters, villains, and heroes—and, it was fun to read. That's what I learned from comic books—that it is truly enjoyable to just read. In my years of publishing comic books, if I've introduced that same joy to another person, then I feel I've done my job successfully. Today, the comic book industry is an entertainment business not unlike Hollywood. Just as there are popular actors, there are also the star comic book creators, writer, and pencilers, who attract crowds of hundreds— sometimes thousands—of eager, autograph-seeking fans at every comic book convention they attend. And, Hollywood producers and other executives are now interested in developing comic book story lines into movies, making comic book publishing, potentially, a very profitable business endeavor. So, in this exciting industry it's not unlikely for a creator to come up with a story, publish it as a profitable comic book, and, a few years later, find it on the big screen as a major motion picture. And it's the unbridled creativity and minimal production expenses of the medium that can enable all this skill to end up in the hands of the right people at the right time. It's a tidal wave; you just have to ride it at the right speed with the right knowledge, product, business savvy, and resources, and eventually, you'll make it to the beach. This book gives you all the tools you'll need to publish a successful comic book. It shows you how to avoid the mistakes and miscalculations that countless others have experienced and go on to become a successful publisher. The information provided here reflects over a decade of comic book publishing experience and history, including analyses of what makes a comic book successful, discussions of the numerous changes in industry trends, and an examination of market gluts. When I look back 10 years ago, V0.9.8.20.19/6/A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR/Tony C. Caputo I remember how I was forced to learn firsthand from my errors and oversights, as well as my successes, and I remember thinking, "I could really use a comic book publishing course or a how-to book, and there isn't one." But now, there is! Tony Caputo V0.9.8.20.19/A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR/7/A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR/How to Self-publish your own Comic book Table of Contents A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR CONTENTS 1. GETTING STARTED WATCH WHAT YOU SAY IN PRINT! 51/49 PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY 2. TRADEMARKS, COPYRIGHTS AND LICENSES PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY 3. COMIC BOOK CREATION 4. PRINTERS AND COLOR SEPARATORS 5. CONTRACTS 6. COMIC BOOK DISTRIBUTION AND SALES TIMING IS EVERYTHING AN EXAMPLE OF THE NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTION PAYMENT SYSTEM THINK GLOBALIZATION PAID ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES DON'T BUY THE "I'M-YOUR-BIGGEST-FAN!" ROUTINE 7. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGIES 8. PROMOTIONS, ADVERTISING, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS V0.9.8.20.19/8/A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR/Tony C. Caputo 9. BUDGETS AND BOOKKEEPING 10. CAPITAL AND INVESTORS SELLING YOURSELF, AS WELL AS YOUR COMPANY USE THE INTERNET 11. SECONDARY RIGHTS APPENDIX: RESOURCES V0.9.8.20.19/1. GETTING STARTED/9/1. GETTING STARTED/How to Self- publish your own Comic book 1. GETTING STARTED The single most important thing a new publisher must have to succeed is commitment to a project. It's nice to know all the finer points of art production, pre-press, distribution, and promotion, but without the constant drive and vision throughout, the dream will not become a reality. —Marc Hansen, creator and publisher of Weird Melvin and Ralph Snart Adventures In any situation, if you're genuinely dedicated to your goals, you have a better chance at attaining them. When starting a business, it is also important to keep in mind that if you aren't adequately prepared for what lies ahead, you will be more likely to fail. In order to be successful in your business endeavor, you must research and analyze the market that you plan to enter. You must be committed to your dream and also committed to gathering as much useful information as you can. You should evaluate any growth opportunities and the products already out there, and then identify and examine the niche you hope to fill. This book will help you do this, as well as show you how to create and sell your unique product. It provides invaluable tips to help your comic book thrive in a marketplace filled with competition, and will enable you to understand every channel of distribution and every avenue of promotion and advertising, and how to exploit them for maximum sales. Armed both with knowledge and dedication, you will be prepared for success. Researching current market conditions requires footwork and a keen sense of foresight. To learn everything you can about the comic book industry, read trade publications, and ask numerous comic book store managers about current sales as compared to a year, or even two years, ago. Ask them specifically what products are selling and at what quantities. Comic book conventions are also a gold mine for market analysis. (For a list of the nation's largest shows, see Appendix, page 169. ) Dealers are never shy in exploiting the latest "hot" trend, and you can also discover the failures by scanning through any bargain boxes. If your concept is similar to a bargain- V0.9.8.20.19/10/1. GETTING STARTED/Tony C. Caputo box title, consider it a hard-sell item—one that will be difficult, but not impossible, to sell. Quite a few of today's hits were yesterday's low-order titles. Don't immediately discount your own concept because similar ideas ended up in the bargain box; those titles may be missing that one tiny element of success that yours contains. THE COMIC BOOK INDUSTRY In any situation, information is a weapon, and so, as I said above, you should arm yourself with as much knowledge about the comic book market as you possibly can so that you have a better chance at success. This is an exciting industry, and in recent years comic book sales have exceeded $4 billion worldwide. Approximately $800 million of that was generated in North America. The huge Japanese comic book industry alone is estimated at about $3 billion, with the remaining world markets adding another $500 million dollars. The foreign comic book markets have, traditionally, been dominated by foreign publishers, with American publishers accounting for only a small portion of total worldwide sales. In the United States in the past five years there has been a continual fluctuation in comic book sales and profits as the industry struggles to expand. These market changes can be viewed as growing pains, and as a result of these efforts, the country can now boast a serious business with "big-money" investors who demand returns on their investment interests. These investors see huge comic book hits that seem to pop up out of nowhere, and they want that kind of success, too. In the past year the industry has received a dramatic face-lift, and the strong will continue to become even stronger while the weak will give up and wither away.