Thoughts on printing and pricing

My goal is to have pages four and five finished this evening. Yes, I'm still working on those two. Condensing the background of the tithe and Moraine's treaty with the fey into a few pages is harder than I expected. I could easily make this bit a whole issue in itself, fully showing the events leading up to the treaty. I think it'd be pretty interesting. Course, that could just be because I like working with Queen Moraine. She was a little hard to write at first, but now she's one of my favorite characters. I'm not sure what it is about her that I like, I just do.

Unfortunately, making this an issue all its own isn't possible right now. The trade paperback of Volume II will contain Issues 8-15 as well as the "Lifts and Liaisons" interlude. That puts the book at 212 pages already, and that's not counting the necessary pages that go into a book (title, copyright statement, etc) or any extras. Also, I was thinking about adding "The Incident" to the trade as an extra, which would bring the base page count up to 237.

While big books sound great from a buyer's perspective, they do cost more to print. So, we'll have to keep that in mind. I'd really like to keep the cover cost of the trades between $15-$18. At the same time, I'd also like to get them into comic shops eventually. Which means, I need to be able to sell the books to distributors at the 60%-70% off rate they require, cover the production costs of each book, and yet make a profit.

Luckily we have time to sort all that out, perhaps even find a printer who can offer us a better price on the trades. Because, to be honest, I wasn't too thrilled with the turnout from Lightening Source (the Volume I trade). The blacks printed a little lightly and the toning looked off.

Speaking of books, the small print run of Issue 11 should be arriving in a day or two. It'll be interesting to see how they turned out from the new printer. Unfortunately, the production price per book is still a little too high for us to get them into stores and make a profit (we need to offer that 60%-70% off rate to distributors, remember). So, we may be raising the cover cost per book. It's something we've been trying to avoid but, to move to the next level we may have no other option. Our turnover rate is still too low for us to do the large 1,000 per issue runs required to get the low printing cost per book. The books don't make enough money to afford that just yet and, to be honest, our house is small and storage space is limited.

Before anyone starts gripping about a price increase, I buy comics too. I know that while the big guys (DC, Marvel, IDW, etc) set their prices at around $2.50-$3.99 per issue, the indy comics are typically between $3.99-$5.99 per issue. We've been at $3.00 per issue for a while now and, to be honest, the profit per issue has been very low due to the printing costs. We need to get CN:H into shops to expose the comic to a wider audience. Our goal isn't to gouge anyone. We just want to keep this business going so we can continue making comics for you all. It won't be a substantial jump in price - even with the increase we're looking at, we're still under the standard indy rates - so no worries about that. It's just enough to allow us to meet the distributor's demands and still make more than a $.10 return per book.

Again, that's something Matt and I need to sit down and crank the numbers over. For now, I've more inking to do and my tea is getting cold. Later.


"Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing with the future; it is a continual calculation, an instinctive exercise in foresight."
-- Henry Luce

Issue 12, pages 4-5 (clean)

Here's the clean sketch version of the next two pages. The newspaper tone across the top will help cut down on some of the inking. Most of it will be covered by word balloons, after all.



I'm going to find some aspirin and an ice pack. Later.


"But worst of all are upsurging floods of hatred for the work itself."
-- Ethel Mary Smyth

Issue 12, pages 4-5

I lost net for most of the day. But, the next two pages are roughed out and ready for the clean sketch stage and some lettering. At least I was able to reuse the seal. That thing was a pain to draw the first time.



These two should be the last of the weird layouts for a while. We'll go back to regular panels here in a bit.


"Where force is necessary, there it must be applied boldly, decisively and completely. But one must know the limitations of force; one must know when to blend force with a maneuver, a blow with an agreement."
-- Leon Trotsky

So, you wanna be a GoH?

Now and then I see people on forums asking how to become a GoH (Guest of Honor) at a con. Or, even just how to be invited out as a panelist. It all comes down to your knowledge and behavior.

First off, if there's a con you're interested in being invited to and you feel you have information that the attendees will enjoy, then by all means, ask them. There's nothing wrong with taking the initiative.

You feel you have something to offer, right? Then let them know. What's the worse that can happen? They tell you they're not interested, that's all. They're not going to ridicule you all over the internet. These people are far too busy to do that. Seriously.

If you're interested in chatting up cons, create a con resume. A con resume is exactly what it sounds like... it's a listing of the cons you've attended and what you did at each. If you've done panels, list them out with a brief synopsis of each. If it's volunteer work you did, list that. Done art that the con used? Slide that in there, too. You can hand this to potential cons, true, but more importantly, it's a record to help you remember what you've done and when.

You could also ask panel attendees and past con staff if they'd be willing to offer testimonials about your work and about you as a person.

Oh, as an aside... don't try to impress upon people how important you feel you are by bringing up your "big buddies in high places." The goal here is to get you in as a guest, not your buddy. The con isn't interested in who you know. They want to know what you know. All you do when you play that card is give the impression that you're trying to puff up your own ego. This is a bad move.

A little pro-tip here, people who can do what they claim never need to puff their ego in that way. The very fact that they are not doing so is a clear sign that they are knowledgeable, confident, and reliable. True professionals know this trick, and can see through your puffing in an instant. They will also, just as quickly, write you off. So don't do it. Be honest about your capabilities and stick to talking about those capabilities.

"But being a GoH will get me respect and stop people from taking over my panels, right?" Not necessarily.

As someone who's been a GoH herself, I can tell you that being a guest won't stop someone from hijacking a panel. I've had it happen to me, and I've seen it happen to others. Here's an unpleasant, but true, fact... if a person has no respect for you and your abilities now, their attitude will not change simply because you're a GoH for the weekend. I'm sorry, people are just not wired that way.

If that ever does happen to you, remember that their behavior is a reflection of them, not you. You haven't done anything wrong. For some reason, they've got something wedged up their nose and they want everyone to know about it.

Yes, a few people may be dazzled by their behavior, but the greater majority will be annoyed. Those people came to see you talk, not the hijacker. And while they may clap at the end because they want to appear polite, they'll also come to your table afterward and gripe about the "rude person who ruined your panel."

So no, being a GoH isn't a guaranteed 'heckler free' pass. It will get you some nice perks, true. It's not unusual to have your table or your hotel room covered by the con. Sometimes the con will do extra things, like invite you to a nice luncheon or leave a gift basket in your room. A few will even cover your transportation out.

It's very important to remember that many cons want something in return, usually in the form of art or advertising. They may want you to drum up interest for the con on your site or blog. Or, they may want you to do some art for the con book. If you are asked to do something, do it and do so in a timely manner. Don't wait until a week past the deadline to do those drawings for them. You want to get invited to other cons, right? Then be a good GoH! If you build a reputation for being a good guest, you're more likely to be a guest again. It's as simple as that.

Until then, build up your con resume, work on your comic/credentials, and remember to treat panelist how you want to be treated. If having someone hijack your panel gets under your skin (which it should) then don't ever hijack the panel of someone else. You're not making friends and influencing people by behaving that way. You're being an arse. Furthermore, you'll be remembered as an arse, not just by some attendees, but also by the con staff. Just ask yourself, is that small moment of stolen glory really worth the reputation?


"If you believe in unlimited quality and act in all your business dealings with total integrity, the rest will take care of itself."
-- Frank Perdue

Fey and devil

Here's a segment from the completed page. More work tomorrow.




"Evil spelled backwards is live. And we all want to live, don't we?"
-- Mok, Rock & Rule

Issue 12, page 2 (inks)

Part of the inking is done. Yes, I take my time with this stuff. I've been drawing long enough to realize that rushing leads to scruffy work and an increase in wrist pain. Been there. Done that.



I'll finish the inking up and get a chunk of page three done tomorrow.


"It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience."
-- Julius Caesar

Issue 12, pages 2-3

Pages two and three are roughed out. I've a lot of dialog to fit in these next few pages, so I'm going to try something along the lines of this. There's a lot to go over in this little story time between Max and the Prince.



I'll do the clean-up here in a little bit. In the meantime, I'm hungry for a hamburger.


"All the ancient, classic fairy tales have always been scary and dark."
-- Helena Bonham Carter

Issue 12, page 01

The first page of Issue 12 is finally sketched. It took a bit to figure out how I wanted the layout to go and to find good resources for various magical critters.

Since there aren't any spoilers (and since I'm pleased with the sketch) here's the full page.



The critters pictured are a deer fey, a unicorn, a gnome, a goblin, and a kelpie.

Lettering, inking, and more research tomorrow. For now, I'm taking the rest of the night off. Later.


"This is a work of fiction. All the characters in it, human and otherwise, are imaginary, excepting only certain of the fairy folk, whom it might be unwise to offend by casting doubts on their existence. Or lack thereof."
-- Neil Gaiman

Seed money

Seed money is the capital you provide a project/business to help it grow. This is usually there at the beginning of a project, but for those of us doing webcomics a lack of seed money from the get-go is not a big deal. Our start-up costs tend to be minimal. All we need is a computer, a sturdy net connection, a good host, materials to make the comic, an idea, and time. Most of these we already have around the house.

Seed money becomes important when you want to take your comic to the next level. You can use it to purchase ads, fund your first run of merchandise, upgrade your hosting, or purchase needed equipment. Seed money is a loan you make to your comic with the intention of the comic paying you back, with interest. (This payback doesn't have to be in money, by the way. An increase in readership works too.)

We've all seen them, webcomics that are new and yet seem to be advertising everywhere. How did those comics make enough money for advertising blitzes so fast? They didn't. The creators of those comics stockpiled money away ahead of time. It's easy to do a marketing blitz, when you have the money in hand.

So, where does this money come from? It can come from anywhere. It could be money you've saved out of your paycheck or cash received as a gift. It could come from donation drives or Kickstarter projects. It can come from ads you run on your site.

Just remember, you want to minimize spending when making seed money. In other words, unless you have money, don't ofter items that are going to cost you money to produce. You're trying to make start-up capital, remember? So, with your donation drive, instead of offering a button (a physical item that costs money to make and to ship) offer a download-able wallpaper/comic instead.

It's also important to remember that this is the business's money. It's not your personal munchies fund, it's money for your business when needed. If you keep dipping into your business's funds whenever your own bank account gets low, your business will have nothing to work on. Unless, your business starts dipping into your private funds. This is something that you want to avoid if at all possible. It's very easy to overspend business-wise and find yourself without enough money for your personal essentials. (We've all had experiences with bills that seem to pop out of nowhere.) This is why it's helpful to keep business and personal accounts separate, something we'll get into another time.

As for how much is enough, that's up to you. The amount of money you'll need depends on what you plan to do with it.

Personal experience:
I said I'd share personal experiences now and then, so here's one. Matt and I didn't start out with money set aside for the comic. This made printing the earlier issues a little difficult. When we got married in 2007, my parents send us a check for $500. There wasn't anything that we really needed or wanted, so we both decided to invest that money in RCSI Publishing. So, our wedding present became our seed money. We then used that money to print books and buy a few things the business needed. Oddly enough, we didn't use it to advertise. We've never really done much advertising, to be honest.

We didn't spend it all at once. Instead, we took chunks out when we needed to. Eventually, book sales started to pay for the printing costs.

We also used the $500 as a sort of minimal line for the business's bank account - if we couldn't keep above $500 in the account after a year, then it would be time to rethink doing this as a business. Businesses lose money initially, yes, but they can't continue doing so over a long time. We saw that $500 as a loan that we expected the business to pay back, with interest. And, it did.


"The basic rule of free enterprise: You must give in order to get."
-- Scott Alexander

Finished - Issue 12, cover

I finished this up last night and didn't get around to posting it until now. The cover to Issue 12 is done. Yay! Here's the finished cover - minus the imprint and title...



ISSUE 12 : RULES TO LIVE BY - 24 pages
There are rules one should follow when it comes to the agency collars. There are also rules to follow when dealing with the fey. When a certain fey from Max's past comes looking for him, will these rules be enough?

Not an elaborate one, true, but it seems to set the mood for this issue. Hopefully, anyway.

I also have the first rough layout of the issue done. Now to go through and start breaking scenes up into pages. This will be the fifteenth issue of CN:H I've done (12 issues plus the three prologue ones) and I still get nervous when starting a new issue. You'd think I'd be over it by now. Oh well, there's nothing to do but get to it.

Later!


"There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one that you dare not start."
-- Charles Baudelaire

Issue 11 off to the printer

We received the proofreads from Joanna this last weekend and the edits were done yesterday evening. There were only three errors this time around. I think I may be getting better at this.

All of which means, Issue 11 is now off to the printer! Matt wants to try a new group this time around. As a result, we're only ordering a small run of twenty copies for the moment. If they do a good job, we'll order our standard run and use them from now on.

They also have a faster turn-around rate, which is a nice bonus.

Issue 11 will be available in the store the first Monday after page twenty-four has been posted on the Supporters side. So, expect it February 14, 2011.


"We have to stop telling people what we are going to do, what we have not yet accomplished, and tell them instead what we have accomplished. Only in this way can we be accountable for our actions. I am not accountable for achievements I have not yet reached, but I am for what I have accomplished."
-- Miles Patrick Yohnke

Issue 12, cover (version II sketch)

While I like the previous cover idea, I think it would work best for Issue 13. There's a lot more Gavin in that one - he doesn't show up until near the end of Issue 12. For this one, I'd prefer something that suggests there's an enemy, but doesn't fully show him yet. So, I've been working on a new design for Issue 12. Here's the final sketch...



I'll have to redo Gavin's shadow and the snowflakes. Need to make sure the lines are nice and smooth.


"It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head."
-- Sally Kempton

Issue 11 is done!

The last page of Issue 11 was finished earlier this evening. Yay! It's now off to Joanna for editing and, once I've made the changes, it'll be heading to the printer. Here's a mini version of all the pages...



The rest of the week will be spent finishing up this issue's recolors. Once that's done, I'll start laying out Issue 12. Work on the next cover will begin Monday. There's always another issue waiting around the bend.

But for now, I'm going to grab some ice water and head to bed. It's much too late. Night all!


"Out of the strain of doing and into the peace of the done."
-- Julia Woodruff

Inking fallacy

I always think bigger characters on a page will make inking that page go much faster. The thing is, with me, the opposite is true. Bigger characters mean bigger curves and less little spaces to hide any wiggles in the lines. As a result, I end up spending almost twice as long inking due to trying to smooth out all the ticks.



I'll have it finished up by this evening, one way or another.


"You know, sometimes, when they say you are ahead of your time, it's just a polite way of saying you have a real bad sense of timing."
-- George McGovern

Issue 11, page 24

Finally, the sketch to the last page of Issue 11 is complete! On to inking in a bit. I need to eat lunch first.

There's not much here, I know. I wanted to end with a dramatic (or as dramatic as I can do) splash. Which, oddly enough, is hard to pull off when the main character in the shot is wearing around fifty pounds of silk, velvet, and taffeta.

Since there's no real spoilers, here's the full sketch...




"Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less."
-- General Robert E. Lee

What's with the wrist anyway?

I've mentioned my wrist giving me trouble often - probably because it often gives me trouble. But, I don't usually go into what caused the wrist pain in the first place. It's a funny story, actually. If anything, it proves that even library work has its safety hazards.

See, when I was in high school, I got a job working as a page in the local library. For anyone who doesn't know, a page is a librarian's assistant's assistant. Basically, they return books to the shelves, face the books (this means making sure the stacks are neat looking), read the shelves (which means making sure the books are in the proper order), weed (remove damaged or under-circulating books from the collection), and do some mild desk work. I loved the job and stayed there throughout high school and into my second year at college.

There was one small problem with the job, though... the mezzanine. You see, the library was one of those old Carnegie buildings and Non-Fiction, the area containing some of the heaviest books in our collection, was situated on a second-story floor that only took up half of the building's floor-plan. In other words, you walked through the front door and could see the Circulation Desk, the Fiction stacks, and up into the mezzanine. Very pretty, but not accessible to wheelchairs, strollers, walkers, or pages with 20-30 pounds of books in their arms.

An elevator was installed to allow wheelchair access to the true second story, where the Children section was, but there was no safe place to install one going to the mezzanine. And while we had a book elevator leading from the basement to the first and second floors, it didn't have a stop at the mezzanine.

So, us pages were constantly going up and down the mezzanine steps to retrieve books for patrons as well as put books away. Not a problem, it was a good workout. Then one day... it happened.

I'd carried my stack of books up to the mezzanine page table - a small, wobbly table where we sorted the books by Dewey number before taking the sorted piles to their proper areas to be re-shelved. Soon after me came Stephanie, one of the other pages at the time. While putting her books down, she rocked the table a little too much and the piles started to fall to one side. Guess where stupid me had her wrist sitting? Yep, two piles of books, around forty pounds or so, landed square on my wrist. There was a loud crash, a lot of shouting, and our assistant director popping up to tell us to quiet down. When we told him what had happened, he brought up a small bag of ice which we taped to my wrist. Stephanie and I set the books back on the table, then went downstairs where he could keep an eye on us for the rest of the evening.

Aside from some swelling, bruising, and pain when I moved it, I didn't think much of it. When the bruising went down I tried drawing again, but things were never quite the same. I used to do a lot of detailed ink work - lots of cross-hatching and such. I wasn't able to do so after, it just hurt too much. So, I started doing more color work instead.

It's been over fifteen years since that happened and it still gives me problems. It cracks all the time. Cold weather makes it stiff and tingly. And that warm, liquid feeling running around the wrist to the knuckles and down to the elbow... bad news! But, I've been able to go back to inking instead of relying on colors to hide my shaky lines. I don't love inking like I used to, but I can do it again. It took a lot of work to get to that point, which is probably why I get rather offended when people harp on about my color work. "This would look so much better in color," or, "color denotes a higher production value." Not always, folks. Sometimes color denotes nothing more than an artist hiding something they're not adept at.

So yeah, that's the deal with the wrist. It's also why I'll never do the 24 Hour Comic Day challenge. I need to still be able to work the next day. With things like the 24 Hour challenge and the "it should be in color" I just have to ask myself, 'why do these people think I need to do this to prove something to them?'

In the end, the only person you need to prove something to is yourself.


"I enjoy the struggle, because the outcome is always better when there is a struggle."
-- Mian Situ

Issue 11, page 23

Page twenty-three is ready for inking. I'm so close to this issue being done! Then it's on to Issue 12 with Max, the prince, Gavin, and Ruby's uncle. I'm so excited!



Inking will start tomorrow morning. Matt and I just got back from New England Comics a bit ago and we've some new books to read through. I finally got a hold of a copy of Cover Run. I've been trying to find that book for months. *squeee* Later!


"Loyalty is something you give regardless of what you get back, and in giving loyalty, you're getting more loyalty; and out of loyalty flow other great qualities."
-- Charles 'Tremendous' Jones