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Mine is a life of pain.
Jan. 20th, 2006 05:09 amJoe Konrath has several several goals writers should accomplish every day if they truly want to be writers. Now me, I'd rather not be strictly a writer since I really enjoy the whole "graphic" part of the graphic novel experience. So, here I am editing that list to suit my needs. And in the hopes that I can start doing more than 4 pages a day but once per week.
Joe says: 1. Write. One thousand words is good. Two thousand is better.
1. I can do that. A picture's worth a thousand words, I should be able to do a whole page per day. Hell, if CLAMP can bust out 120 pages a week, surely I can do 7, right?
Joe says: 2. Update your blog and website. Appearances, new info, contests, games, stories, articles, pictures, etc.
2. I can do that. At least the blog portion. I don't exactly have a lot to promote, but I should be able to update the blog regularly and have a few sketches to post per week.
Joe says: 3. Edit something. Your stuff, or a friend's stuff--either will help you improve as a writer.
3. Crap. Um, I suppose this will need to be combined with the web-presence stuff. Or I'll need to actually look up those comic guys who were having meetings at A+ Comics. Maybe this one will have to wait until no. 5 progresses.
Joe says: 4. Send out a query letter to sell a story or article. Getting published is your best form of advertising.
4. Crap. Once I have something to submit, maybe. I just need to find some places that actually take submissions for comics. Most have closed doors to unsolicited submissions, which is bass-ackwards to how most "real" publishers operate. Oh, Random House doesn't take that many non-represented submissions either, but they don't have a deny-all policy like Marvel or DC. Dark Horse, Image and Oni have their own submission guidelines and policies as well. This may be something that gets nixed if and go through self-publishing/promoting alleys instead. RESEARCH!
Joe says: 5. Expand your Internet presence. Leave messages and comments on listserves, blogs, boards, newsgroups, chatrooms. Trade links. Submit work to writing websites.
5. Eh. There are a couple of places I visit already, but I'm not a high volume poster. This, unfortunately will have to change. I should probably also look into getting a domain and hosting setup more in line with what I'd like to be doing. I think I've outgrown Desperation Studios. Hmm... need to think of a name now...
Joe says: 6. Set up an event. Sign up for a conference, contact a library, schedule a booksigning, speak at your local Rotary club, teach a class---get out there and meet some people.
6. This... I think is a bit beyond my scope right now. Though, I should make it a goal to build up a body of work that would allow me to sign up for a comic/anime convention and sell stuff and showcase to editors.
Wow, so, in the end, I gots to draw a whole page a day (HA!), post some crap here and at a couple forums and basically do a lot of research and networking. I think I'll focus on just the page a day for right now, though, and if I can get that into a routine, then I'll work on the other stuff.
Joe says: 1. Write. One thousand words is good. Two thousand is better.
1. I can do that. A picture's worth a thousand words, I should be able to do a whole page per day. Hell, if CLAMP can bust out 120 pages a week, surely I can do 7, right?
Joe says: 2. Update your blog and website. Appearances, new info, contests, games, stories, articles, pictures, etc.
2. I can do that. At least the blog portion. I don't exactly have a lot to promote, but I should be able to update the blog regularly and have a few sketches to post per week.
Joe says: 3. Edit something. Your stuff, or a friend's stuff--either will help you improve as a writer.
3. Crap. Um, I suppose this will need to be combined with the web-presence stuff. Or I'll need to actually look up those comic guys who were having meetings at A+ Comics. Maybe this one will have to wait until no. 5 progresses.
Joe says: 4. Send out a query letter to sell a story or article. Getting published is your best form of advertising.
4. Crap. Once I have something to submit, maybe. I just need to find some places that actually take submissions for comics. Most have closed doors to unsolicited submissions, which is bass-ackwards to how most "real" publishers operate. Oh, Random House doesn't take that many non-represented submissions either, but they don't have a deny-all policy like Marvel or DC. Dark Horse, Image and Oni have their own submission guidelines and policies as well. This may be something that gets nixed if and go through self-publishing/promoting alleys instead. RESEARCH!
Joe says: 5. Expand your Internet presence. Leave messages and comments on listserves, blogs, boards, newsgroups, chatrooms. Trade links. Submit work to writing websites.
5. Eh. There are a couple of places I visit already, but I'm not a high volume poster. This, unfortunately will have to change. I should probably also look into getting a domain and hosting setup more in line with what I'd like to be doing. I think I've outgrown Desperation Studios. Hmm... need to think of a name now...
Joe says: 6. Set up an event. Sign up for a conference, contact a library, schedule a booksigning, speak at your local Rotary club, teach a class---get out there and meet some people.
6. This... I think is a bit beyond my scope right now. Though, I should make it a goal to build up a body of work that would allow me to sign up for a comic/anime convention and sell stuff and showcase to editors.
Wow, so, in the end, I gots to draw a whole page a day (HA!), post some crap here and at a couple forums and basically do a lot of research and networking. I think I'll focus on just the page a day for right now, though, and if I can get that into a routine, then I'll work on the other stuff.
