A few months ago, I gave a presentation about self-publishing graphic novels at the Loft Literary Center. Daily Cross Hatch correspondent Sarah Morean taped the whole thing, and recently assembled it into a series of web videos, which can be found here:
http://thedailycrosshatch.com/2011/02/04/self-publishing-with-lars-martinson-parts-1-8-of-8/ 

Thanks again to the Loft for having me, and to Sarah for making the presentation available online!

Just a reminder that I have two presentations that are just around the corner:

This Friday, January 28th, 2011, I’ll be speaking at the University of Minnesota about Japanese Calligraphy and how it has benefited me as a cartoonist. All the details can be found here.

Then just a few days later on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011, I’ll be talking at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design about my comics, and my experiences with self-publishing. Details for that one can be found here.

So if you’re in the Twin Cities area, come out if you can!

(Note: I’m running myself ragged trying to finish up these presentations, so there will be no new blog entry this Friday.)

I’ll be giving a lecture about my work at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011. I plan on discussing both the artistic and logistics of cartooning/self-publishing. The event is free and open to the public, so come out if you can!

Presentation Details
What:  Lecture at MCAD with Yours Truly
When:  Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 at 1:00pm
Where: Minneapolis College of Art & Design, Auditorium 150, 2501 Stevens Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404 [Google Maps]

Last Saturday I had a table at the Twin Cities Book Festival. It’s the third show I’ve ever “tabled” at, and was my most successful so far.

This was probably due in large part to the fact that I had a new book to sell (Tonoharu: Part Two). Or maybe I just got lucky this time around. But I think part of it was that I’m getting better at convention sales.

I’ve previously written about my thoughts on selling at conventions here. For this entry, I thought I’d write continue writing about that, with a focus on table presence.

****

At the last convention I did (the Minneapolis Indie Xpo) I took a picture of my table so I could use it for a blog recap I wrote about the event. It wasn’t until I looked at the photo later that I realized how sparse and depressing my setup was:

The empty coffee cup was a good design choice, don’t you think?

So this time around, I tried to jazz up my space a bit more (see image at the top of this post). At MIX, I noticed many exhibitors brought a table cloth to decorate their table. It’s a small thing, but it makes a difference. So I did that this year. I also got little book stands to give the book covers more visibility.

My entire creative output for the last seven years

I only have three books for sale, so to fill up the rest of the space I designed a tabloid-size poster with quotes about the book, to try to pique people’s interest. If you want to closer look at it, you can download a high resolution PDF of it here (file size: 1.1MB, right click to save). Feel free to print a bunch out and hang them up around town, folks! :-)

I also brought framed original art. I didn’t sell any, but they served as good conversation pieces when I talked to people about my work. And again, they filled up the space and made for a more appealing table.

Either end of my table

I also finally got business cards printed up. (Okay, I know; that’s Networking 101, and I should have done it ages ago.) They were good to give to people who were interested in my work, but who weren’t ready to buy. Quite a few people grabbed one as they passed by. Since I had them printed up specifically for conventions, the cards just have my name and website. I figure that’s all most people would want anyway; a reminder of who I am and where they can find out more about my work.

My card

Well, that’s it for now. See you all at my next convention appearance, at the Miami Book Fair on November 20th-21st! (You’re all coming down for that, right?)

Previously: Thoughts on Selling Comics at Conventions (Part 1)

Just a quick note to Twin Cities residents that I’ll be at the Twin Cities Book Festival this Saturday, October 16, 2010.

I’ll be at the Pliant Press table, signing copies of my latest graphic novel Tonoharu: Part Two, a few weeks before it’s available in stores! I’ll also have copies of Tonoharu: Part One, and Young Men of a Certain Mind, and some original art.

Admission is free, so if you’re in the Twin Cities area, Come on out!

Twin Cities Book Festival 2010 Details
Place: Minneapolis Community & Technical College, Downtown Minneapolis
Date/Time: Saturday October 16th, 2010 10AM to 5PM
Admission: FREE!

Further information, including directions and programming, can be found here:
http://www.raintaxi.com/bookfest/

Just this week, I’ve started offering copies of my graphic novel Tonoharu: Part Two for sale on this website. You can order it (as well as my other books) from my store. I’m selling it at cover price ($19.95) plus shipping:
http://larsmartinson.com/buy

You may have heard of this other site called Amazon.com, where you can get the same book at a discount, and get shipping thrown in for free if you order enough stuff. I’ll admit, they offer a pretty sweet deal.

Now: if you decide to order through Amazon (or decide to order it at all for that matter), that’s awesome; my sincere thanks for your support.  But for this week’s entry, I’d like to argue a case for why you might consider buying comics directly from me instead. I’ll do so in the form of the ever-popular Top 5 list:

5 All the books I sell are first editions
Amazon.com will be selling the first printing of Tonoharu: Part Two of course, but they sold out of the first printing of Tonoharu: Part One years ago. All the comics I sell are pristine first editions, perfect for the debonair, sophisticated comic book collector.

4 I offer a better selection (of my own work, anyway)
Right before I started working on Tonoharu, I did a 44-page comic called Young Men of a Certain Mind. I printed up about 1000 copies. I didn’t put a barcode on them, which excludes them from sale at most retail outlets, including Amazon. So the majority of them are still sitting in my closet. It’s the cheapest book I offer at just $4 plus shipping, and is pretty much available nowhere else. It still holds up, I think; it’s the oldest work I’ve done that I can still read without cringing. :-)

3  All the books I sell are signed*
I’ll make them out to whoever you want, and include a doodle. That’s sure to impress your friends… er… right? 
(*Copies are also available unsigned too, of course)

2  Copies of Tonoharu: Part Two from me will arrive sooner
Amazon won’t be selling copies of Tonoharu: Part Two for another few weeks, so if you want a copy sooner than that, I’m your man!

1  Ordering directly from me helps support me
When someone gets a book directly from me, I get more money than if they buy the same book from Amazon.

Why should you care? Well, at present, my book sales unfortunately don’t earn me a living wage, so I need to do other work on the side. The more money I make from my comics, the less time I need to spend looking for money elsewhere. This in turn will allow me to devote more time to Tonoharu: Part Three, which will allow me to bring it out sooner.

So that’s my list. The link to my store, once again, is this:
http://larsmartinson.com/buy

*************

Disclaimer:
All that said, I’d like to mention that I really & truly appreciate any sale, no matter where you choose to make it. I’d also like to make it clear that I’m not trying to vilify Amazon or booksellers or anything. They provide a valuable service, and deserve to be compensated for it. Without them my book wouldn’t have reached nearly as many readers, and for that I am truly grateful.

In fact, let me again mention the link to pre-order Tonoharu: Part Two from Amazon:
Tonoharu: Part Two pre-order from Amazon.com

And a link to my super-awesome distribution partners over at Top Shelf:
Tonoharu: Part Two pre-order from TopShelfComix.com

Thanks!

Last Saturday I had a table at the inaugural Minneapolis Indie Xpo.

MIX is only the second convention I’ve ever sold my work at, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I wasn’t expecting much. My first convention (SpringCon 2010) was an interesting experience, but also quite humbling. Attendees showed little interest in my work, and my sales were in the low single digits.

Since I was lugging books to MIX in my backpack, I didn’t want to bring more than I needed. So I brought eight copies of Tonoharu: Part One and about a dozen copies of Young Men of a Certain Mind. That was 2-3 times as many as I sold at SpringCon, so I figured that’d be enough.

I’m delighted to say that sales were much better than at SpringCon; I sold out of Tonoharu a couple hours before MIX ended, and only had a couple copies of YMCM at the end of the night.

Granted, I was selling Tonoharu at a discount; 25% off the cover price. But I also think that the venue was a much better fit for my work. SpringCon is more about mainstream comics, and sort of has a flea market feel to it. Not the best place to try to sell artsy, hardcover graphic novels.

This is why I’ve decided my next convention appearance will be the Twin Cities Book Festival, instead of FallCon (they fall on the same day, so I can’t go to both). Guess we’ll see how it goes!

Oh, one more note: MIX was just awesome. If you didn’t go this year, I strongly recommend you check it out next year. I was damned impressed with the whole thing. Thanks to organizers Andy Krueger and Sarah Morean for putting together such a great show!

A couple weeks ago, I gave a presentation on self-publishing at the Loft Literary Center as a part of their “Graphic Novel & Comic Writing & Illustrating Conference”.

Daily Cross Hatch reporter/cartoonist Sarah Morean recorded the whole thing, and will be posting it in segments on the Daily Cross Hatch website. Parts two and three are up now, so take a look:

[ Self-Publishing a Graphic Novel (in Eight Hard Steps) Parts 2&3/8 ]

Previous installment: [ Self-Publishing a Graphic Novel (in Eight Hard Steps) Part 1/8 ]

Last Saturday I gave a presentation on self-publishing at the Loft Literary Center as a part of their “Graphic Novel & Comic Writing & Illustrating Conference”.

Daily Cross Hatch reporter/cartoonist Sarah Morean recorded the whole thing, and will be posting it in segments on the Daily Cross Hatch website. The first part is up now, so take a look:

[ Self-Publishing a Graphic Novel (in Eight Hard Steps) Part 1/8 ]

In the interest of good karma, I’ll plug something Sarah’s organizing: the Minneapolis Indie Xpo will occur on August 21st at the Soap Factory. I’ll have a table there, and it looks like it’ll be pretty cool, so check it out! Here’s their website: http://mplsindiexpo.com/ (Warning: The homepage has an autoplay YouTube video, so mute your speaker volume if you’re at work!)

Next week I’ll be posting the cover for Tonoharu: Part Two. Stay tuned!

Next month I’ll be giving a 90 minute presentation about self-publishing graphic novels as a part of a conference presented by the Loft Literary Center and Hennepin County Library.

Details:
What: Graphic Novel & Comic Writing & Illustrating Conference
Where: Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN, U.S.A.
When: Saturday, June 19th, 2010. Conference opens with a keynote speech at 10am, with my presentation beginning at 11:15am
Admission: The event is free but registration is limited, so interested parties should register online or by phone: 952-847-8800

Further details, including a downloadable brochure, can be found here.

*UPDATE* The event is now full. To all those who have signed up, see you there!

Overall, my self-publication of my first graphic novel Tonoharu: Part One went pretty well. But there is one area where I dropped the ball, and it’s an important one: marketing/promotion.

I left for Japan to study East Asian calligraphy the same month my book came out, and between that and a broken ankle that I was nursing back to health, I did next to nothing to market my book once it was released. Books live or die based on how well the authors promote them, so this failure on my part is no small matter. So now that I’m back in the U.S., I’m trying to get back into the marketing that I’ve neglected for the past two years.

It was in this spirit that I attended SpringCon 2010 last weekend. It was my first time at SpringCon, and the first comic convention I’ve ever attended as a “guest cartoonist”. Here are a few thoughts on the experience:

You Have to be In It to Win It
For my first couple hours at SpringCon, I sat hunched behind my little table, and doodled while I waited for someone to come along. When someone came over and looked at my stuff, I adhered to the “don’t speak unless spoken to” rule, and waited hopefully for them to ask me a question or make a comment. No one did, and I didn’t make any sales.

Then indy comics darling Tim Sievert (author of That Salty Air) came along and set up his table. I noticed his sales seemed to be better than they were in my neck of the woods (I guess it’s hard to have sales that are less than none, but you get the idea).

I asked him about his sales technique, and he told me he had learned through trial and error that it’s best to be proactive. He stood rather than sat, and didn’t doodle or read during lulls. He said if you’re just sitting there drawing, potential customers are hesitant to come over and “bother” you (even though you want nothing more than for them to do so). So Tim figured it was best to stand, and to make it clear that you’re ready and waiting to talk to anyone who stops by.

He also said that when someone starts looking at your stuff, you should say something–anything–to them. When Tim first started doing conventions, he originally felt (as did I earlier in the day) that trying to start up a conversation would seem pushy, or might chase people away. But experience had taught him that taking the initiative and starting conversations with people helped his sales, and made the time go by quicker to boot.

So I tried Tim’s techniques, and they did indeed improve my sales, if only marginally. But it could’ve been worse; there were a couple cartoonists across from me that sat hunched over and doodled the whole time, and I swear I didn’t see anyone stop by their tables the whole weekend…

Cheap is Good
The vibe of the convention was very much that of a garage sale. I don’t mean that in a disparaging way; garage sales are fun! But they’re not the best venue to sell fancy $20 hardcover books. Most of my sales came from my $4 comic book Young Men of a Certain Mind; over the whole weekend I only sold three copies of Tonoharu: Part One, and one of those was to a friend who would’ve bought it anyway.

Other cartoonists I talked to agreed that it’s important to have cheap options; people might plop down a couple bucks on a cartoonist they’ve never heard of before, but they’ll rarely risk much more than that. Cheaper comics can act as “gateway drugs”; if the people buy & like a cheap comic from you, they sometimes come back later and buy more expensive ones. I’m thinking I might create a $2 mini-comic to offer at the next convention I attend and see how it sells.

Humble Pie
Before going to SpringCon, I had somewhat unrealistic expectations. I wasn’t expecting people to be lining up to see me or anything, but I figured I’d get a few fans of Tonoharu: Part One stopping by and asking when Part Two will be out and stuff like that.

But really, there was almost none of that. A couple of my fellow guest cartoonists said they were looking forward to Part Two (thanks guys!) but no convention attendees gave any indication that they had ever heard of me before.

Granted, I think SpringCon probably brings in more of a superhero comics crowd, but either way, it was a good reality check. I put out one graphic novel two years ago, and haven’t done anything in the public realm since (other than this blog). It’s only natural that I would still be essentially unknown. So it was a good reminder about the importance of marketing and promotion. I plan on promoting my work more aggressively in the coming months.

Conclusion
Overall, the convention was exhausting, but fun. I met a lot of local cartoonists and reconnected with old friends, and made just enough off book sales to pay myself minimum wage for the fourteen hours I spent behind my table.

I’ll be making a couple more public appearances later this year, so check back for details!

This is the last in a ten entry series of blog posts about my experiences self-publishing my first graphic novel, Tonoharu: Part One. I’m writing this informal “how-to” guide in the hopes that my limited experience might be of some value to aspiring comic book self-publishers.

This guide is offered with no guarantees. I’ve done my best to provide accurate information, but I assume no responsibility for any negative consequences that result from following my advice. For other important disclaimers, please see the first entry in the series. Links to other installments in the series can be found on the bottom of this entry.

Part Ten: The Long Haul / Conclusion
The Long Haul (Speculative)
Throughout this series, I’ve reminded readers about my relative lack of experience, and asked them to take my advice with a grain of salt.

If previous entries in this series should be taken with a grain of salt, then this entry should be taken with a brick of it. Up until now I’ve at least offered advice about things I’ve had some experience with (limited though it may be). The subject of this last entry is making a living as a cartoonist over the long haul, and since my book was just published earlier this year, I can’t yet say if cartooning will be a sustainable reality for me. If things work out well, I may someday rewrite this final entry from experience, but for now, bear in mind that the following is mostly speculative.

Alternative Revenue Streams
As I mentioned in an earlier entry, cartooning is a poor career choice. Even making a living wage is the barest sense is often difficult; only a handful of “alternative” cartoonists are able to make a living exclusively through cartooning. For other cartoonists who aren’t as talented/prolific/lucky, money has to be sought from other sources to supplement the lousy pay of cartooning. Here are a few of my thoughts on places to start.

1) Self-Publish
My decision to self-publish was largely inspired by the bottom line. By assuming the burden of the publisher, I could keep the publisher’s share of the profits, thereby slightly improving my chances of making a living wage through my work. Self-publishing has also had the added benefit of providing me with a crash course on the ins-and-outs of the book industry, and since I hope to be involved in cartooning over the long haul, that’s been very valuable as well.

Self-publishing isn’t for everyone, but personally, I’m glad to have done it. Consult The Self-Publishing Manual and see other entries in this series to decide if self-publishing is right for you.

2) Scholarships/Grants
I’ve already written about the Xeric Grant, and recommend you secure one before you self-publish. But there’s no reason to stop at that.

The competition for art grants is fierce, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get one. Little by little, comics are becoming accepted as a legitimate art form, and once you’ve received a Xeric Grant and published your first book, you’ll have accomplished something to help set yourself apart from the crowd.

At the time of this writing, I’ve only applied for one other source of money in addition to the Xeric Grant; a two-year, post grad research scholarship sponsored by the Japanese Government called a Monbusho Scholarship. I’m happy to say I received it, and am currently studying Japanese Calligraphy at Shikoku University. (If by chance you happen to think that one of these scholarships might be up your alley, I wrote a four-part series of entries about the application process, the first part of which can be found here.)

3) Amazon Associates / Affiliate Programs
If you have a blog and you occasionally mention books or DVDs that you like, you should consider signing up with Amazon Associates. Basically you write about something you like, and include a special link to amazon.com. If the reader who clicks on your link buys anything from amazon.com in the next 24 hours, you get a commission on that sale. For more info about Amazon Associates, click here.

All of the amazon.com links on this website are set up in this way, so if any of you gentle readers click on one and then buy something, I get a bit of money. (Thanks!) I’m pretty small time, so I generally make about $30 or less a month, but it’s better than nothing.

Regarding privacy: I don’t receive any personal details about who buys what, just what gets bought. So feel free to buy obscenity after clicking on one of my links; I’ll never know it was you.

One more note: I’ve singled about Amazon Associates because it’s easy to use, and stocks most of what you might want to plug. But there are other affiliate programs out there too. If you frequently mention, say, imported video games from Japan on your blog, it might make sense to sign up with play-asia.com’s affiliate program, for example.

4) Selling Original Art / Merchandise
Graphic novelists end up with dozens (if not hundreds) of pieces original art. Once this art has been scanned for press, you don’t really need it anymore, unless you have a sentimental attachment to it.

I’ve been planning to offer original art for sale for a long time, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I think selling it through your website, via Paypal account, would probably be the easiest way, and maybe offering some for direct sale at comic book conventions that you attend.

As for merchandise, I’m still thinking about this one. I’m not really sure if Tonoharu has much potential in that direction (although I guess if you can make a Jimmy Corrigan doll, then anything’s game).

A fairly low risk way of testing the waters for merchandise would be to set up an account through cafepress.com. Again, I haven’t personally tried this yet…

5) Related Side Work
The ideal of course is to make a living by doing cartooning only, but if you have do side work, try to find something that in some way relates to / promotes your work.

As of yet, I haven’t had to go down this route yet so I can’t say much more about it, but the side work I’d most be interested in include illustration gigs, speaking engagements, and teaching gigs.

6) Be Persistent / Never Give Up
Okay, I’m moving into the realm of self-help cliche here, but oh well. Fortune favors the bold. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You gotta be in it to win it. Fake it until you make it. Etc. etc.

But seriously; the only guaranteed failure is if you don’t even try. Trying to make a living as a cartoonist is absurd, but if it’s really and truly your dream, you should go for it. Life’s too short to do otherwise. (Ugh, more cliches…)

Conclusion
Throughout these posts, I’ve tried to make it clear that I consider this series to be supplemental to the books I’ve recommend herein. I don’t have the energy (or the knowledge, for that matter) to write a truly comprehensive self-publishing guide, and with books like The Self-Publishing Manual on the market, there’s not really a need for me to do so anyway.

I’m mentioning this again because I want to make it clear that I’ve only provided the barest outline of you should do in regards to self-publishing a book. I hope this guide had been helpful to aspiring self-publishers, but please consult other sources as well. In the very, very least, read The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poytner. (I’ve plugged this book so much throughout this series that mentioning it again is probably more than a little redundant, but it really was that good. Don’t even think about self-publishing without it.)

Since I’ve spent countless hours writing this stupid account of my self-publishing effort, please forgive the following solicitation:

If you found this series useful, please consider supporting this foolhardy cartoonist by either buying my graphic novel Tonoharu: Part One:
[Buy from me direct]
[Amazon.com link]

Or by donating a little money to me through Paypal / credit card by clicking the button below:

(Donations not tax deductable, sorry.)

Thanks!

****
Well, that concludes the entries about self-publishing for now. Maybe someday when I have a little more experience, I’ll revisit/revise this series and fill in some of the numerous gaps… but for now I’m done.

I’m soooo burned out on these long blog entries, so the next several entries will be short and frivolous. Thanks for reading!

****
How I Self-Published a Graphic Novel
1/10 ? Introductions / Disclaimers
2/10 ? Honing Your Craft / Creating Your Comic
3/10 ? Research, Research, Research
4/10 ? Savings & Money Management
5/10 ? The Xeric Grant
6/10 ? Preparing for Press
7/10 ? Working with Book Printers
8/10 ? Distribution
9/10 ? Marketing
10/10 ? The Long Haul / Conclusion

Complete List of Recommended Self-Publishing Books / Resources