Paper vs. digital

IN a recent conversation with a friend and fellow comics enthusiast I realized that the digital revolution has its limitations. As much as I'm enamored with digital publishers such as Graphicly, which posts digital comics on sites such as Amazon and Kobo, after a year of selling digitally I feel that more than ever comic collectors love paper comics.

Recently I've been reading the collected works of Iron Man Vol.1 by Stan Lee and Don Heck. If you are interested in taking a trip down memory lane I can't recommend a better volume. The stories are to the point, often humorously cheesy, and fun as heck (in the tradition of Stan Lee, pun intended).

The stories are delightful but more importantly they reminded me what I love about comics. The stories are succinct but take the time necessary to develop the characters. There are the usual abbreviations, some call them cliches, that move the stories along at a crisp pace. There are no predictable fight scenes nor over-the-top imagery for the sake of visual pyrotechnics. In fact most panels are quite sparse. Whether the characters are off model or not seems relatively unimportant. Upon finishing the volume I wondered if I would have enjoyed it as much in a digital format.

Ultimately it's hard to imagine a true comics aficionado choosing a digital format over paper. Would hardcore fine art collectors find a digital image of paintings by Da Vinci and Van Gogh satisfying? Or would they prefer original art hanging on their walls even if by lesser talents? Just as paintings are best appreciated as tactile, physical objects so too are comics best enjoyed as tangible, collectible books. The more an entertainment is appreciated for its graphic quality the less people will be willing to only consume such entertainment as a digital product. Digital comics seems severed from too many aspects of the aesthetic experience.

When this light bulb went on I realized why The Subterranean project might be stumbling. According to downloads readers are undoubtedly enjoying it but until it is offered as a physical comic I feel SubT will not enjoy maximum success.

The ideal expression of the Subterranean would be a traditional comics format, sometimes referred to as floppies. Each of the five stories are 30 pages and I would want them printed on acid-free newsprint in harmony with the stylistic theme of the project. Such editions would be an ideal vehicle to take to Comicon, or similar venues, in order to attract maximum attention.

If any of you have alternative opinions, sources for printers, or other relevant ideas I hope you will add them to the comments. Many thanks.

Brad Teare August 2013

Fixing typos in a digital comic

MAKING CORRECTIONS with a digital comic is remarkably easy with the Graphicly interface. Several readers emailed me informing me of a typo I had on page 18 of The Subterranean #3 (see corrected image below). I made the correction on my original InDesign document and exported it as a PDF file. I then went to my dashboard at Graphicly and uploaded the new PDF file. I then re-directed the panels. By direction I mean how the panel-by-panel views will read in the final application. For example, on an iPhone the screen is quite small so I have the panel-by-panel view display only half a page of each comic page. On one page where I had a small round inset I directed the page so there were three panel-by-panel views.

Generally, I feel it is best to keep the panel-by-panel views as simple as possible and two views per page seems to do the trick. If you had a different experience with panel-by-panel views, or have insights into artistic ways to use this feature, please let me know.

Currently The Subterranean #3 is ranked 3,156 on Amazon comics (an excellent rating for a new title). Thanks for making that happen!

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