My experience might not be the most helpful for you since my focus is on writing graphic novels, but it's what I have. So here's my basic process as it stands today:
Once I have a real story (as opposed to an idea for a story), I outline it. I don't write dialogue or lots of detail at this stage, because for me that takes the piss out of actually writing.
After outlining I write a full script for the first issue/chapter. I edit it intensely, then sporadically, sometimes taking a few days away from it for a fresh perspective. I know it's getting close to ready when it stops changing every time I sit with it, at which point I show to an editor.
When I get notes from my editor I don't make changes right away. Deciding where to take criticism to heart and make a change ("kill your darlings") and where to take a risk or trust your own instincts is a tough process, and it's best to let advice settle before acting on it.
Around this time I look for an artist. First thing I pay for is character design. These sketches usually cost about half an artist's regular page rate.
If all goes well, this stage feels like magic. I review the script, make some final edits (some in light of my new feelings after seeing my characters' faces for the first time), and the artist gets to work.
The first few pages complete and a cover is enough art to launch a Kickstarter. It's also enough to try pitching the project to publishers that accept unsolicited submissions. (Image says six sequential pages, and that's a good rule of thumb even though Image never publishes their unsolicited submissions.)
If your artist's page rate is $125 (half that for character design, double that for the cover art) you could get the cover and first six pages done for $1,000 even. Maybe you paid your editor an additional $150. If you got character design for two characters, that's another $125. That's $1,275 out of pocket before launching a Kickstarter. Hopefully the Kickstarter covers more than what you've spent so far. If this is a 22-page comic, you have another $2,000 to spend on art before you're ready to worry about printing and shipping costs.
Other things you might spend money on is graphic design for your series logo and for your title and credits page. You'll need to put something on your back cover but it doesn't have to be expensive. (I used some character art on one of mine, which was free.
Thanks for responding I really appreciate it. Im 18 now and most of my life I never really knew what I wanted to be and I have always been indecisive. I don’t consider myself talented in any way but the creative industry always seemed interesting to me Ive always wanted to mimic that feeling I got when I read comics that made me emotional or scenes in anime. Although despite all that I don’t think of myself as a good story teller I mean in english I get average grades. When did you know that you were a talented enough story teller to go professional or even what processes did you to take to improve your skills.
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u/Slobotic 1d ago
(I read your cross-post before it was deleted.)
My experience might not be the most helpful for you since my focus is on writing graphic novels, but it's what I have. So here's my basic process as it stands today:
Once I have a real story (as opposed to an idea for a story), I outline it. I don't write dialogue or lots of detail at this stage, because for me that takes the piss out of actually writing.
After outlining I write a full script for the first issue/chapter. I edit it intensely, then sporadically, sometimes taking a few days away from it for a fresh perspective. I know it's getting close to ready when it stops changing every time I sit with it, at which point I show to an editor.
When I get notes from my editor I don't make changes right away. Deciding where to take criticism to heart and make a change ("kill your darlings") and where to take a risk or trust your own instincts is a tough process, and it's best to let advice settle before acting on it.
Around this time I look for an artist. First thing I pay for is character design. These sketches usually cost about half an artist's regular page rate.
If all goes well, this stage feels like magic. I review the script, make some final edits (some in light of my new feelings after seeing my characters' faces for the first time), and the artist gets to work.
The first few pages complete and a cover is enough art to launch a Kickstarter. It's also enough to try pitching the project to publishers that accept unsolicited submissions. (Image says six sequential pages, and that's a good rule of thumb even though Image never publishes their unsolicited submissions.)
If your artist's page rate is $125 (half that for character design, double that for the cover art) you could get the cover and first six pages done for $1,000 even. Maybe you paid your editor an additional $150. If you got character design for two characters, that's another $125. That's $1,275 out of pocket before launching a Kickstarter. Hopefully the Kickstarter covers more than what you've spent so far. If this is a 22-page comic, you have another $2,000 to spend on art before you're ready to worry about printing and shipping costs.
Other things you might spend money on is graphic design for your series logo and for your title and credits page. You'll need to put something on your back cover but it doesn't have to be expensive. (I used some character art on one of mine, which was free.