WAHOO MORRIS... the return.
Bringing a twice cancelled comic series back into print is an up-hill battle, let me tell you.
I knew perfectly well that both retailers and readers would be hesitant to believe any marketing hype I might give, and frankly I can't blame them. We've all seen too many comic series from the big 2 publishers on down just stop unfinished half way through a story with no resolution. Why would WAHOO MORRIS be any different?
So, when I returned to self-publishing last summer I did so with no fanfare or marketing push. My plan was to put out an issue or two a year as a hobby until the first story arc was completed. Then, once I'd proven I wasn't going to go away, and only then, would I try to make a big marketing push to promote the second story arc and trade paperback collection of the first arc.
After publishing the new WAHOO MORRIS Volume 2 # 1 last year I hit the summer convention trail. At my last convention stop in Baltimore I was invited to join the Comic Book Industry Alliance, a forum for comic book retailers and professionals. I also made my way to Warren Ellis' the_Engine.net, a forum with a large comic creators community, around the same time. It all made for very informative reading and made me reassess my not-so-well-thought-out publishing plan.
I shortly came to the conclusion that my plan to publish one or two comics a year at a loss, until the ten issue story arc was done, was idiotic as it had no chance for growth and would leave me bankrupt in the process. I tossed around ideas that were both sustainable financially and that at least had a chance for growth, and I finally settled on a direct to trade paperback model, supported by serializing as a web comic. Considering I was already serializing as a web comic, then serializing the story again in single comic form was kind of a backwards step as the book collection had always been the end goal.
So, after much thought and many plans finalized then tossed away, the plan I've come to settle on is to serialize my story in 3 trade paperback books. The first will collect the 4 already published single issues, followed by two all-original books. I have some ideas for specials to help promote the series, and I've already got the story arc to follow the first one mapped out. We just have to get past the first hurdle, and that's book one to three.
More on that later....
I knew perfectly well that both retailers and readers would be hesitant to believe any marketing hype I might give, and frankly I can't blame them. We've all seen too many comic series from the big 2 publishers on down just stop unfinished half way through a story with no resolution. Why would WAHOO MORRIS be any different?
So, when I returned to self-publishing last summer I did so with no fanfare or marketing push. My plan was to put out an issue or two a year as a hobby until the first story arc was completed. Then, once I'd proven I wasn't going to go away, and only then, would I try to make a big marketing push to promote the second story arc and trade paperback collection of the first arc.
After publishing the new WAHOO MORRIS Volume 2 # 1 last year I hit the summer convention trail. At my last convention stop in Baltimore I was invited to join the Comic Book Industry Alliance, a forum for comic book retailers and professionals. I also made my way to Warren Ellis' the_Engine.net, a forum with a large comic creators community, around the same time. It all made for very informative reading and made me reassess my not-so-well-thought-out publishing plan.
I shortly came to the conclusion that my plan to publish one or two comics a year at a loss, until the ten issue story arc was done, was idiotic as it had no chance for growth and would leave me bankrupt in the process. I tossed around ideas that were both sustainable financially and that at least had a chance for growth, and I finally settled on a direct to trade paperback model, supported by serializing as a web comic. Considering I was already serializing as a web comic, then serializing the story again in single comic form was kind of a backwards step as the book collection had always been the end goal.
So, after much thought and many plans finalized then tossed away, the plan I've come to settle on is to serialize my story in 3 trade paperback books. The first will collect the 4 already published single issues, followed by two all-original books. I have some ideas for specials to help promote the series, and I've already got the story arc to follow the first one mapped out. We just have to get past the first hurdle, and that's book one to three.
More on that later....
posted by cat at 8:33 AM
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