I am thinking about starting my own YA novel series. Should I seek a publisher or should I do a webcomic?

[Michael Angelo Go]

I have decided to rebrand myself as a comic book illustrator as opposed to an illustrator for children's books. I have an idea for a story I would like to adapt as a TV show. But since I have absolutely no means of doing that I thought it might be great for it start out as a graphic novel.

Should I seek a publish? Self-publish? Or even share it free as a webcomic?

[Melissa_Bailey]

@Michael-Angelo-Go first of all, it’s great that you’re finding your illustrating niche! Knowing what is the best fit for you and your art is a valuable first step.

Regarding your question about how to go about publishing your book idea — YOU are the only one who can answer that question.

You know your circumstances, your assets, your strengths and weaknesses better than we would on this forum. Research all of those publishing routes to decide which is the best fit for you.

What I can do is recommend some resources to help you learn all you can about publishing:

• SCBWI - Their annually-updated Guide to Publishing (AKA The Book) has great information about publishing. They have also come out with a self-publishing version. I’ve learned SO MUCH about traditional and independent publishing from their webinars. (Children’s books aren’t just picture books; graphic novels for older kids and teens are also included in children’s book publishing.)

• The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) — This is a UK-based worldwide organization to support self-publishing authors. They offer many benefits and opportunities for learning to their members.

• Check out this Writer’s Digest article about the Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishing Vs. Self Publishing.

• Talk to traditionally published and self-published authors. They’ll have firsthand experience about what it’s actually like to publish, either traditionally and/or independently, and will be able to give you practical advice on what it actually costs (monetarily, physically, emotionally, and in other ways).

Hope this helps. Wishing you all the best!

[willicreate]

@Michael-Angelo-Go Brian Lee O'Malley, creator of the Scott Pilgrim series, offered an honest timeline on how he started his career. The TMNT Turtle Power documentary is a good watch; you might learn something from Eastman and Laird's zine publishing days.

Lastly I would say, write out the script/story first before contemplating anything else.

[lpetiti]

With self publishing, your book would go out into the world and that's great. I've published three books with a local author through Amazon and they become available both through Kindle and the physical book. The problem with self-publishing is you have to hustle. Constantly, I'd say a couple of times a week, find some way to promote your book via socials, because trust me, it will get buried among the masses of other graphic novels or children's books. The author I'm working with makes a little announcement about her book every once in a while, but it's usually on FB so only her friends see it. I promote on my socials which are public. Even then, my last book is ranked #5,120,208 in children's books on Amazon and #6,448 in children's book on boys' and mens' issues (which is a weird category...).

Traditional publishing, as I understand it, is a whole different ballgame of challenges but I can't speak on them as I have yet to go that route.

One last observation. You mention that you someday you'd want to turn this into a TV show. If you are serious about making that a possible long time goal, just keep in mind that writing for the screen is way different than writing for books. Even between film and tv there is a mass amount of differences in what to write. I'd recommend studying up on how to adapt a book to the screen. I realize this is a long term goal that isn't feasible right now, but if it's something you're at all interested in, research research research.

[Michael Angelo Go]

@lpetiti Okay, politics have no place in this forum but is it a weird category because your book has nothing to do with those political issues or is it weird because you don't think it needs to exist?

[lpetiti]

@Michael-Angelo-Go my statement wasn’t meant to be political at all, I was actually surprised you mentioned that until I read it again and got your meaning. I’m just aware of the book I illustrated and it seemed like that was an odd category for it to be placed in. I might have chosen a category related to literacy or learning to read. I have no idea how categories are picked though. My original reason for making that point was to emphasize the difficulties that can come from self publishing

[Melissa_Bailey]

@lpetiti & @Michael-Angelo-Go — replying to your question about book categories on Amazon:

A lot of self-publishers choose niche book categories for their books so that they can try to get a #1 ranking in that category to say that they have a #1 ranked book on Amazon. Those strange categories don’t have many books in them, so it’s easier to get a #1 ranking. It’s a sales and marketing strategy. And some are playing fast and loose and choosing categories that don’t really match their book’s theme or content.

However, Amazon is cracking down on this and authors/publishers now must choose categories that match their book’s content, otherwise they risk having their KDP account suspended or terminated.

[lpetiti]

@Melissa_Bailey that helps a lot! I’m still really surprised my author chose that category. It IS a story about a grandpa and grandson but it’s about the boy learning to read, something I don’t consider to fit in the listed category

[Griffin McPherson]

I have not attempted to get any of my graphic novel ideas out there yet but I’ve read into it a lot so you can take this all with a grain of salt. From my understanding it seems that going through a publisher via queries is the hardest way to get a graphic novel published. If you have an agent who reps graphic novelists like yourself this would be made a bit easier, still no cake walk though. Self publishing is more doable because it’s all in your hands but that’s also what makes it challenging. Writing and illustrating a graphic novel is a massive task but now you have to find a printer, figure out distribution and how you will finance all of it. Lastly is the webcomic route which seems to me to be one of the best ways to get your ideas out there. You’re doing this because you love it and want to get your story out there so a webcomic is the quickest way to do that. If people really like it it will gain traction which means you could maybe start a kickstarter. It’s also not uncommon for publishers to pick up a webcomic once it’s proven to be popular with viewers.

All of that being said, I wouldn’t worry about making those decisions until you’ve written your script. If you haven’t already I would recommend checking out Nathan Hale’s SVS course on graphic novels.