Many writers and artists spend a lifetime perfecting their skills, and eventually, they create a body of work that is ready to pitch to publishing houses. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to work with publishers, so I started self-publishing as soon as I felt I had enough knowledge. I needed to understand the entire process behind creating, publishing and marketing a graphic novel before I tried to work with others (which I very much want to).
Instead of spending years becoming perfect, I decided to spend my time working on a story of my own. Doing this gives me breathing room to learn and explore without commercial pressure, so I can discover what stories I’m passionate about. At this point, I only need to prove something to myself. That I can finish a graphic novel from beginning to end. It’s been quite the adventure so far, and it’s not done yet. 😅 A big thank you to Emily for coming this far with me, revising the script and drawings together every few weeks.
And maybe in the process, I’ll become skilled enough to land a publishing contract. Maybe yes. Maybe not. Probably not. But what I know for sure is that I will learn a lot along the way. I’m already finding many areas of improvement, both in my artwork and how I approach people and things, and that’s a success!
Part of the self-publishing experience has included attending fairs and conventions. Here’s me, barely awake, showcasing my stuff at LFCC a couple of weeks back, sporting a cheeky Hello Kitty pin from the lovely apshiq:
Events are a big part of being an indie comics creator. Since they’re new to me, I’ve been exploring which ones suit me better and also wrote a small post on the subject.
People see art making and writing as something glamorous but in reality… Working on a graphic novel essentially means sitting on the computer day after day, reading, writing, sketching, drawing, reviewing, redrawing, designing, tweaking, and interacting with social media. It’s knowing that I’ll be at this for the next year and not being sure if anyone will find the novel interesting or if it has an audience.
But I’ve been learning in the process. And it makes me happy.
Those advertising “Artificial Intelligence” as the solution to everything now know nothing about the creation process. You may subscribe to dozens of AI tools, but that doesn’t mean you have THIS. Watching as your brain creates the result of everything you fed it over the years. Being fully involved in something, even if that something doesn’t give you external rewards. Because it’s enough for YOU.
Thank you for reading! For more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:
Instagram (the one I update regularly)
Ex-Twitter (what the hell is going on with that?!)