Do You Think You Can Help Me? #5

[slg_news]

Whoops, I almost forgot about this week's "Do You Think You Can Help Me?"! I was just finding putting together that trade paperback so fascinating, I guess. If you don't know what DYTYCHM? is, you'll soon realize that it is an advice column about working in independent comics. If you want to get involved, email your question to slgchief@gmail.com.

Comments

[kiomia]

"And you're right -- selling a series of GNs is going to be much harder than selling a single graphic novel. What if the first one flops? Is a publisher going to want to make a commitment that could end up costing them thousands of dollars?"

The story that I am preparing may be longer then 1 volume, would this be something I would be required to tell you in the synopsis? Also would having a story with more then one volume lower the chances of being accepted? Will that thought change if you are very impressed with the presentation of the project, characters, and the over all theme?

It may be some what hard for me to be able to do a story that is only one volume long so this has been on my mind.

[slg_news]

Yes, a multi-volume series of graphic novels is harder to sell than a stand-alone graphic novel. You should absolutely tell a publisher you are approaching that your project has more than one volume. They need to know that.

Maybe you should start out with a shorter project to approach publishers with. Not only will it be a project they'll feel more comfortable taking a chance on, it will help you to hone your skills before you tackle a large project.

[pirate_club]

I completely agree with Jennifer, I started out with a 10 issue series, and while not an OGN series, it still ended up being the length of 2 144 pp. OGNs and I gotta say, I wish I'd started smaller. Although I am very happy with how Pirate Club turned out, I know that if I'd started smaller, with a 90-120 page story perhaps, it would have been easier to focus/manage for a newcomer.

[slg_news]

I wouldn't consider that presumptuous. I would say, "Thank you for letting me know, and congratulations!"

JdG

[ttallan]

Thank you. :-)