Do artists really need to eat?

[Hoagy]

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.

I'm especially enjoying my DR WTF story. But am being very casual with it. When's a good time in regards to handing it in for letterers btw CFM?

( Thought I'd ask here like not meaning to derail the thread)

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Final deadline for artwork is February 1st - so any time around or on then. Just not after

[Hoagy]

Ah, I thought it was December 1st. That's why I rudely interrupted. Excuse my impertinence. Carry on the thread detail.

[Ghastly McNasty]

I don't want to sound too much like a comic writing virgin, and you guys have probably seen this 100 times before, but I'm really excited about the idea i'm working on, to the point of it pretty much thinking about it all the time.

I've been looking at Digital Webring, PencilJack, Millarworld, at some of the pitches on there. Plenty of posts saying Need free artist to deliver amazing art for comic that will change the world. I'm not saying i've written something that will alter reality or anything but this feeling of excitment seems to be quite common for people who have had what Steve Forbes describes as their "Great Idea". I'm sure other writers on this forum have experienced that too.

So far, ive writen the first issue of my 6 parter and it's going well. Nice to have some good advice from this site too.

I'd like to do the whole thing properly, even getting a 6-8 page sampler will cost a small fortune though

[pauljholden]

I don't want to sound too much like a comic writing virgin, and you guys have probably seen this 100 times before, but I'm really excited about the idea i'm working on, to the point of it pretty much thinking about it all the time.

I've been looking at Digital Webring, PencilJack, Millarworld, at some of the pitches on there. Plenty of posts saying Need free artist to deliver amazing art for comic that will change the world. I'm not saying i've written something that will alter reality or anything but this feeling of excitment seems to be quite common for people who have had what Steve Forbes describes as their "Great Idea". I'm sure other writers on this forum have experienced that too.

So far, ive writen the first issue of my 6 parter and it's going well. Nice to have some good advice from this site too.

I'd like to do the whole thing properly, even getting a 6-8 page sampler will cost a small fortune though

You've gotta scale it down - unless you're EXTRAORDINARILY lucky, you'll never find an artist willing to commit to 6 issues (and the more likely the are to commit to it, the more inexperienced they are and consequently the more likely they are to flake).

Get some broader experience, file the big massive life changing story in the "Things I'll do after I've more experience" and go for the short story market - there's lots of publishers, and lots and lots of writers - with only a handful of artists willing to commit. But you're far more likely to get a six page strip finished and completed AND published than you are a 126 page strip. (And if that six page strip is a success, a 10 page strip beckons and further until you reach the point that you and an artist will find the stamina to do a multipage strip).

HORRIBLE REALITY: Back end deals RARELY pay anything. An artist is particularly shafted by the backend deal, as "fairs fair" seems to mean a 50/50 split on the backend. Where the reality is (and no disrespect to any writers) an artist can only focus on one job at a time and six issues of a strip can means six months of solid work on one single thing (and, arguably, much, much more than that as they'll often have a day job if they're working for free.)

-pj


-pj

[Ghastly McNasty]

I know you're right Paul, I'm just a bit excited cos my idea is cool as f**k.  I also want it to be amazing if/when it does come out and I know deep down my script writing skills could do with improving. So what better way to get better at scripts than write several shorter ones first.

It's just that I've got a hard on for this story at the moment so will write as much as possible as it's currently flowing out of me at the mo.

More shorter stories first, gotcha, thanks.