Any self publishers out there??

ALANNOLAN

Hey folks,

I'm nearing the end of the artwork on my 24 page story and am hoping to self publish once completed. I want to produce something with a fairly high quality stock, standard American comic sized...not photocopies!

Can anyone with previous experiences give me some info on the people they worked with, it would be a big help!

Cheers,

Alan.

Fysh

Depending on what sort of timeframe you're looking at, the likes of Ka-Blam! might be your best bet. I think the guys who did Sancho have used them before, although the most common complaint about Ka-Blam! is slow turnaround time (though in fairness a good number of these complaints are from people placing orders at the last minute hoping to get several hundred comics ready for a convention, which is kind of like heading onto the motorway in rush hour and then complaining that there's traffic).

In terms of individual printers and so on, you're unlikely to get people posting publicly about who they've used. Unfortunate though it is, people tend to be guarded about sharing this sort of info - partly because of stories like the one about the guys from The Slate not paying their printers for the print run on the last issue, and partly from just not wanting to share info on a good deal in case it becomes unavailable due to increased demand.

Have you thought about the number of copies you want to print up and how you're going to sell them? (ie through comic shops, online, through non-comic shops, at conventions etc)

ztoical

It really depends on the numbers you want to print - for a small print run [anything under 500 copies] a print on demand service like comixpress, lulu or Kablam are best options for affordable hight quality printing. A local digital printer will do a small run but it will cost a pretty penny. For runs larger then 500 your better going with an off-set litho printer. There are some good off-set printers in Ireland like the one myself and Bob used for the Goal anthology and Mr. Amperduke respectively. Normally I'm very up for sharing information for supplies and the like however in the case of local printer I'm slow to do so cus, as Fysh has mentioned, there have been issues with artists sharing a good print deal and having someone stiff the printer for payment or acting like a dick to the printer and it coming back to bite the first artist in the ass.

If you've never published anything before it is highly rec'd that you do a small run to start [under 50 copies] - make a dummy book up yourself before going to a printer. If you can do as much of the pre-press yourself you'll save some money on not having to pay for the printers do it as most will charge around 150 an hour for any work they have to do on files. Smaller runs are pretty good to start as you can check the print run for any spelling mistakes, misplaced pages, colour issues etc [don't think you won't do it, cus everyone does] Also with a big run you'll be stuck with boxes and boxes of comics taking up space in your house, small press sales are small and spread over a long period, unless you planning on hitting every con coming up this season its not worth getting massive print run done.

ALANNOLAN

Cheers folks,

All good info there!

My intention is to run off about 100 copies, not really as a sales item but maybe for distribution as a freebie. If I can generate any form of interest in my stuff then I would consider it money well spent.

Comparing prices on 100 copies between the on-line printers has given me a good idea of what to spend. Both of the big ones came in under €200, which is very affordable, plus there's the option of re-printing (if demand goes through the roof...?).

I suppose, armed with all the info I need, the next thing to do is to get the job done....

Thanks again
Al