How to promote a digital comic

ONCE YOU CREATE your digital comic and upload it to iBookstore or Amazon your job isn't over. It's just beginning. I don't enjoy promoting as much as I should. I prefer to be writing and drawing my comic book. But if you neglect promotion your book will just sit on its digital bookshelf.

Here are some tips to promote your book:

Make it fun. If you are having fun, even with promotion, your readers will too and will share your comic and blog via social media with friends and colleagues.

Go viral. Let your friends and family know about the TELL A FRIEND and WRITE A REVIEW buttons on the last page of iBookstore comics. This is a feature that allows fans of your work to easily email a link to people they feel might enjoy your comic. Amazon also lets people add reviews (and has a LIKE button). They are features that are easy to miss but by reminding people you let them know in a subtle way that you would appreciate a review or a rating. Many will happily oblige.

Keep blogging. You are excited that your book is finally for sale so you might be tempted to stop blogging and reserve your energy for your next comic book. This might seem like a great time saving strategy but try to resist it. Blogging is how you expand your fan base. You have to find a way to blog at least once a week despite a heavy schedule of drawing and writing.

Make a YouTube trailer video. This seems like a lot of work, and it is, but it's one way many writers expand their promotional efforts. You can make your job easier by using programs such as Anime studio and iMovie, both are extremely easy to learn and use (if you are on a budget use Anime Studio Debut, it is amazingly functional for a very low price). 


 

Leverage your fan base. You should have a Facebook page about your comic as well as a Twitter account. I opted to post announcements about The Subterranean via my Twitter account which is synced to Facebook. I post once and both accounts post the same announcement.

Keep it simple. I found that trying to maintain a schedule of writing, drawing, and blogging more than once a week was too much for me. Focus on quality not quantity.

Film A Making Of video about your comic. In coming weeks I'm going to re-edit some videos about making maquettes as a drawing aid for The Subterranean. Such videos expand the story of your project.

If you have any other ideas about how to promote digital comics I hope you will share them in the comments section below. I look forward to your ideas!

Brad Teare June 2012