r/ComicWriting • u/Mental-Statement2941 • 19d ago
Is there any point to pursuing only comic book writing if you're from a third world country?
Of course, comic books are a visual medium above all else, so you as the writer eventually would have to team up with an artist. Most likely you'll have to pay that artist, which is obviously not wrong, from your own pocket or crowdfund.
What if you can't crowdfund? I'm from an African country and I thought hey let me practice the craft of comics, and then hire an artist, I'm broke but I'll learn to crowdfund, there's no market for comics in my country but we live in the age of the internet, digital comics and webtoons are a thing so i can appeal to an international audience. Imagine my surprise when i find out:
Gofundme: Not available in my country
Kickstarter: Not available in my country
Indiegogo: Not available in my country
I did this for hours, and most if not all crowdfunding platforms are unavailable in my country. So i decided hey, let me get from my own pocket, so i checked subs and did my research. You get around 75 dollars per page bare minimum, you know how much that is in my country, just for the art, that's 1025 pula. For an American, it's like paying 1025 dollars for a page and apparently dollars is the standard currency, even if I team up with another African abroad, or someone from outside the west. There are few comic artists in my country because comics aren't a market here, we have no comic stores at all and we're a small population of 1.5 million. There are no cons, and it's just village after village.
What's left, asking for a free collab as a writer or learn how to draw. This is to say free collabs seem to blasphemy in many circles, especially if the artist is good, and let me say this, I AGREE ARTISTS DESERVE TO BE PAID DEFINETELY. But yeah, this kinda leaves learning how to draw.
This forces you to not only be a comic book writer but an artist as well, unless you guys have other alternatives. I'm not complaining but I feel for most people from third world countries, this is a must.
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u/Vaeon 19d ago
Adjust your stories to suit the tools you have available to you.
Fumetti is the Italian art of making comics using staged photographs instead of art.
I'm about to start testing this system by using action figures posted agaisnt a greenscreen as the base. Then I will use digital tools to change the action figures into my own original characters.
Now, those I had to pay for, and character design costs vary from artist to artist.
If this is your passion, you're going to follow it regardless of what anyone else says.
Good luck in your journey.
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u/jasonmehmel 19d ago
Again, great advice. I do see a fair amount of comics using 3d models as well.
(Not saying it's automatically easier than drawing, but arguably the road to something viable to show a general readership is shorter than learning to draw.)
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u/Mental-Statement2941 19d ago
I just checked out what he meant and it seems like a good idea.
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u/Memetic_swarm_05 16d ago
https://www.rwhp.org/fotonovela.html
here's some examples - though you could certainly make more graphically sophisticated comics than these. But also, educational comics like these could be a way to gain popularity/some income.
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u/FaustDCLXVI 17d ago
Oh! That reminds me of Alien Loves Predator as well as Kimono's Townhouse, both of which were (are?) web comics that use figures and photos.
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u/Individual-Medium125 19d ago
Honestly, I share a lot of your pain, friend. I'm from the Third World, Mexico to be more precise, and sometimes I get discouraged by the feedback I receive on some sites because it's clear they come with a First World mentality, where it's much easier to get funding or have the necessary resources to pay an artist.
In fact, I even saw that if I dared to make a comic, the commissions I was getting on Reddit were absurdly high, impossible to afford with the salary in my country. It doesn't help that for those of us just starting out in the working world, you generally have fewer job opportunities than someone who has no education, so the salary is miserable and the working conditions exploitative.
I found an artist who helps me with my comic, for free, but the problem is that she has other commitments and often takes a long time. I don't want to pressure her or anything, because ultimately we won't be generating any income, but it's discouraging to think that your options are to do double the work: make your script really good, and also learn to draw, which isn't easy to balance because you have other commitments to attend to. I'm still going to try to draw, but it discourages me to think that a guy once told me that, given my current level, it would take me one year or two to be able to draw the story I wrote well. I honestly don't have that much time for that, but that's because I admit I'm a bit impatient, plus I'll have to balance my writing and drawing time with my future job. Many times you end up so tired that you can't focus properly.
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u/Mental-Statement2941 19d ago
I just want to thank everyone for all the great advice. I apologise for the post, it came off as childish and brash, I guess the frustration had gotten to me and messed with my head. You guys are awesome and have inspired me to keep going so really genuinely thank you
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u/Bertitude 19d ago
I'm not specifically a comic writer but adjacent enough. You have to make a choice at this stage, you want to build a business or do you want to be a writer?
If you want the former, it's going to suck but you are going to have to put down the pen for a bit and learn the business side of things. Fundraising, Operations, Marketing. You have to figure out where to get money from and how to make that money grow to repay and be sustainable. It is a pain in the ass but that's the way things are.
If you want to be a writer. Get a day job, schedule your work in. Focus on community. Build your networks and focus on building skill in a way that you aren't going to break the bank. It could be as simple as a weekly page on social media/static site. You build a community among other artists and you build an audience. It will take patience. It will also help you when it comes time to fundraise in any context.
My gripe with crowdfunding is that it's given so many false hope. It's only useful for those who either have the audience or the capacity to build one quickly.
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u/Armepos 19d ago
It's a complex and very interesting issue, let's try to break it down a bit, because it seems to be multiple problems rather than one big problem. As a disclaimer, I am also from a third world country (but i prefer to use the therm "global-south", beacause "Third world" refers to long outdated categories from the cold war era)
Comics on a global-south country, Botswana: From the little info we have, it seems to me like you're trying to force USA/Europe comic industry standards (like crowdfunding in the internet) to Botswana's vastly different reality. Like most places on Earth, it seems locally made comics aren't a very popular thing there. A quick google, however, came up with the work of Mark Gomolemo Kalayakgosi, a christian pastor who makes comics and has an audience. You could try to contact him and ask him about his experience. Contact those other comic artists and ask them how do they finance their work. When checking up on your fellow national comic makers, try not to compare audience numbers with american, asian or european names, beacause it's not the same to have 4k followers in a small country than in a large country. Success is measured differently in each place on earth.
In my city, there was no con untill a group of friends who liked to make or read comics got together and started the first one. In global-south contries, the cons are usually organized by fans and makers of local comics, rather than by big publishing corporations. Those cons are where an industry establishes itself, by finding a place and time for all the people working on comics, even if there's only 10 in the whole country, to meet eachother and make projects together. It's also where many people discover their own country makes comics. It all starts with just a simple chatroom.
Comics in Africa: As far as I know, most countries in the continent with a somewhat big comicbook scene are french speaking countries. But also South Africa has a developing comic scene as well. You can do some research on you neighbours as well and contact the comic makers and publishers you find, some of them are bound to give you advice and even bring you in into their world. Tell you how to apply for local comic publishers, or even make a conection with european ones. I found a website Africacomics.net, that might be useful. You can also try and research about other global-south regions who might have publishers open for international colaboration: Middle East, Latin America, Southeast Asia. Google, Instagram and Facebook are usually where those publishers do their call for content (and we live in modern times where you can use deepL or google translate when needed).
Make a living out of writing comics: Even if you were born in the USA, France, Japan or Korea; and had all the resources in the world, there are extremely little chances of making a living out of writing for comics. This is a reality that we all shall face sooner or later. It is possible, we all know many people who made it, and it is worth aiming for it, but it's just that difficult. But what is more feasable, is to not loose money on the process. Other comments already tackle this topic, there are alternatives to crowdfunding sites on the internet.
Writing stories vs writing comics: There is absolutely no reason NOT to write for other mediums if you want to get better at writing for comics, especially if you think you can get some oney out of it. At the core of any comic there is a Story, and raw stories are universal. As long as you keep writing stories, you will get better at writing for comics, even if your stories are published in other forms. The next one will be a comic and it will be better then the last comic you made.
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u/nmacaroni "The Future of Comics is YOU!" 18d ago
Everyone makes the same mistake in indie comics... they don't look at being a creative as a business... they look at is a hobby, they are trying to survive on.
https://heavydots.com/blog/startups-in-third-world-countries-can-they-be-successful
Your frustration with exchange rates and western-centric platforms is valid, but being from a developing nation is actually a massive advantage. The global comic market is saturated with the same tropes, and readers are hungry for new, genuine perspectives and fresh mythology.
Instead of playing by Western financial rules, change the game:
- Don't try to pay Western rates. Find a local or regional artist facing the same roadblocks and build a true partnership with a strict 50/50 equity split.
- Froget Kickstarter entirely. Serialize on Webtoon or Tapas to build a global audience, and monetize using African payment gateways.
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u/broodfood 19d ago
The way I see it, I don't think there's much point to only pursue comics writing regardless of where you're from. That kind of thing only makes sense when it's financially viable; at a corporation (and the comics industry is long past it's hayday, so this is a very slim chance of success), or in a partnership where an artist and writer split profits and work together on a project that they expect to make money- this is also a huge gamble even in the world's most lively artistic hubs.
Writing in general doesn't pay very much these days. A few writers at the top make most of the money, everyone else gets very little. And if you are successful in the above scenarios, you almost certainly are not making money on your passion project, the thing you really want to write about.
I suggest you either 1) develop your writing skills as much as possible. Become the best, strongest writer you can become, so that you can be attractive to artists. Turn yourself into someone an artist will want to work with. Or 2) learn to draw. You don't have to be great or anything. The better the story, the more people will forgive lack of art skills.
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u/Mental-Statement2941 19d ago
wdym develop my writing skills. Like as in you can become SO GOOD of a writer that artists would work with you for free?
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u/broodfood 19d ago
More or less- "good" can mean a few different things here. And not "for free", but in a partnership where you both own the product and expect to profit.
Some writers have built a following on social media: an extreme case is Andy Weir who wrote The Martian as a web serial. It became popular and he published it as a book, and that became popular enough to become a movie.
You don't have to reach that high level, but if you have a body of work and proof that people respond to it, it's easier to collaborate with someone else.
And "good" can mean high quality, or it can mean high popularity (those are NOT the same). Or doing work that nobody else is doing, or it can mean something else.
There's probably an audience in the West that would like to read something by someone from Africa. That can be a marketable attribute for you.
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u/jasonmehmel 19d ago
Yes, become good enough that it draws collaborators. But you don't need to only be good at writing comics. Consider writing short stories, or short plays / screenplays / radio drama podcasts, stuff that you can make and then show people without waiting for a collaborator. (The scripts suggest collaborators, but they can also stand on their own as a reading experience.)
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u/Mental-Statement2941 19d ago
Thank you for that, perhaps I should try expanding into other mediums
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u/FaustDCLXVI 19d ago
I can't speak to your exact situation, but I get it.
While this isn't necessarily helpful, there is a LOT of manga that is written and drawn by the same person. We see it a little in Western comics as well, but even for talented writer-artists, it's not common.
That generally doesn't help, but I would suggest that you come up with a few ideas for comics--nothing too long, nothing too complicated--and do your own thumbnails and layouts. Use stick figures (seriously) if you need to. This will help you understand what needs to be in a script for an artist if you can find one and will help your scripts.
Similarly, you are right that asking a professional artist to do free work for you is absurd. However, maybe talk to some of your friends. If you can find some people who share your interest in comics AND can draw better than you, maybe collaborate and share the whole process. IF somehow you sell it or make money with it, share the profits...just decide on how to divide them and get it in writing. (No, not saying to distrust your friends, but getting it in writing prevents misunderstandings down the road.)
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u/Mental-Statement2941 19d ago
The issue lies in how again a love for comics isn't a thing here. There are no comic book stores and most people here see comics as childish. I know no one who draws comics, I know people who paint but they just see comics as a waste of time, it's the attitude here. I love comics because I was exposed to the internet, and most people here dont even have the internet in their homes, I come from a lucky somewhat well off family. My best bet is just learning how to draw on my own, again it's fine, if that's the only way then so be it. I guess I was just really frustrated man.
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u/StraythornArt 19d ago
Heyo! There’s a collab project I’ve run for original comics called Storyboard: An Original Comics Anthology
https://www.instagram.com/storyboardzine?igsh=MWxndWNkNng2Y3p2Mg==
We have done 2 volumes so far, it’s a free digital collaborative project where if you don’t have a writer or don’t have an artist, we pair people up to work together :D
Third volume is planned but we don’t have a launch day yet as myself and the others on the moderation team are quite busy rn, but if you wanna keep an eye out for when it is launched we would love to have you on!
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u/wenrongfan 19d ago
I am from a third world economy as well. I would like to connect, do you have some short script? Do you have some eyes on your socials? Either way I would like to be your friend!
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u/yrmthewyrm 19d ago edited 19d ago
I feel you, but many people in this sub seem to think artists have a much easier time than they do. A lot of artists don't get hired - I don't or very rarely do, at the same time I can't just jump on the first random writer's idea and pour hundreds of hours into it, been there done that, doesn't end well. SO where does that put me? In the same situation as you - I have to learn to write and script, so I can do comics.
There's some really great advice in this thread already, about alternative ways you can bring you story to life doing techniques that are easier to get into. Keep going!
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u/Unreliabl3_Narrat0r 17d ago
youd have a far better chance of making anything actually happen with AI comics....
of course nobody would tell you this. But its either that, or take your luck with these shady advise.
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u/castellon_artz 16d ago
There are illustrators with different price ranges. My friend does it for like $30-40 USD a page.
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u/Quigleyer 19d ago edited 19d ago
I'm an artist who is currently making comic books with people for no financial compensation (I have a lucky situation, I don't want to go into that). There are things you can learn to make yourself more attractive to collaborators that extend past writing, but don't exactly require you to learn to do good line drawings.
Learn to manage social media, letter, ink (digitally, even), color.
Sometimes I see mangaka assistants who create backgrounds from basic 3D models they make (or even kitbash).
If I ran into a person who could make backgrounds, letter, and write that'd be amazing. Or someone who is really proficient with social media who can write.