During our September meeting, Brian Smith, a former Marvel editor, freelancer for Nickelodeon, and creator of Stuff of Legend and Intrepid Escapegoat, came to talk to Pronto Comics. He offered advice on breaking in, staying in, small publishers, conventions, promotions, and good city colleges to attend. His advice was well received and Pronto was lucky to have him.

On Breaking In

Put your work out there.
Constantly network cause you don’t know where it will take you.
You have to make people aware of your work.
The more you know how to do the better.

On Submissions

Send a letter first, a query letter.
Physical, snail mail letter is best.
Be specific in the editors you send it to, don’t blanket the company
Breaking in as a writer is a nightmare.
They won’t read a pitch, but they will read a comic.

On Staying in

You constantly have to prove yourself.
Everyone is only interested in your last project.
When you’re working with other people, just do your job.
Don’t overstep your role and dictate.
Give your artist things they like to draw.
Be easy to work with, do your best to walk away when it’s done.
Editors are involved, but are hands off.
They’ll help you generate ideas and connect the dots.

On Process

Not-so-good ideas can have merit, if executed well.
Find good, honest sounding boards for your ideas.
As yourself, “Is it as entertaining as something I can buy at a store?”

On Drawing Craft

Life drawing will lead to everything else.
Draw what you see, use books and life drawing sessions
Always look at original art when you can.
You will see more then what is in the original comic

On Work Ethic

Go to work, even if you don’t feel like it.
If you can treat it as a 9 – 5 job, that’s half the battle.
Time is more valuable than money.
If you can put the time in, everything else will fall into place.
You’ll figure out your schedule as a freelancer.

On Publishing

Self publishing and small publishers are a good way to go.
Start with small publishers.
Small publishers are more personal and hands on.
Digital is a good way to go.

On Stores

Free Comic Book Day is huge for small publishers.
Develop relationships with store owners.
They can help recommend you book to customers.

On Conventions

Pick the conventions carefully for what you want to get out of them.
San Diego is a massive show and a tough show to work.
N.Y. is similar, but there are more editors.
Smaller shows are better.
Hero’s con in Charlotte is good, so is Baltimore.

I remember May 31st like it was yesterday. Back in a world where comics were either digital or print and often changed back and forth but were rarely both right off the bat. May 31st was the day DC Comics announced it was going line-wide simultaneous-print-and-digital release and September 7th was the first day that an entire line of superhero comics from a print publishing company was available digitally. The argument as to whether or not this would mark the end of print comics’ profitability, at least in the direct market specialty retail setting, began again in earnest.

I create comics, edit comics, and review comics. The last for www.LongandShortbox.com, the second on a freelance basis, and the first for Pronto Comics, as well as for myself. But I pay my bills by selling comics. I have watched this potentially paradigmatically huge month in the comics industry from the real front-lines: comics store retail. I work at Manhattan Comics & More on 23rd street and Madison avenue in New York City.

I recommended my boss order less considering that a portion of our usual customers may choose to download their DCs to save (a) money, (b) time (c) space, or (d) all of the above. My boss chose not to. He chose to trust DC Comics’ marketing strategy and the potential maximum exposure and buy MORE.

In fact, he was entirely right. Some of the series that a wide swath of the regularly non-comics reading population would lean toward, for example: “Batman & Robin” and “Detective Comics” and some of the series that were unknown quantities but sleeper hits, for example: “Animal Man” and “Swamp Thing” are sell-outs for us.

Comic-books that are available for download at the same price at the same time from the comfort of every customer’s home, and should logically sit on the shelf, are selling out.

SELLING OUT.

Why? Well, I suppose part of it is the ‘event’ nature of it. DC Comics succeeded in putting the word out in the wider media. They even took the plunge into advertising for their superhero line on TV. I’ve been demanding that for almost two years now and I am majorly encouraged to see this! Several of my new customers came in after reading about DC’s big relaunch in The New York Times!

LESSONS LEARNED?

People will still choose print.
People will still come to a retail location.
People will try (superhero) comics.

Whether or not this is a whole new dawn for the print comics industry is yet to be seen. And what it means for small but growing organizations like Pronto is a question unanswerable for even further down the line. But watching DC’s New 52 released titles fly off the sheles day-by-day, telling my customers: ‘Yes, you can download these comics. You can even do it through us with a link on our website!’ and knowing that Pronto’s comics are available both in my store and through various digital channels gives me great hope. Great hope for the future of comics.

~ @JonGorga

It was during our August meeting that DC’s “Answer Man” Bob Rozakis visited Pronto Comics. Bob got his start in comics working on the pro-zine “The Amazing world of DC Comics.” While working at DC he worked on (either as a writer or editor) Superman, Action Comics, Detective Comics, and ‘Mazin Man. Between 1981 and 1998 he ran DC’s production department.

While talking to Pronto Comics, he gave an informative and entertaining talk about the history of comics and graciously answered our questions, while imparting advice to us.

- Currently people are looking for entertainment.

- Better to get one good stand alone issue, then 12 padded issues.

- Tell as story in an issue. Give the audience their monies worth. It worked well for early Vertigo.

- Companies need to pay attention to what is coming up and trending.

- Trends cycle every 10 to 15 years.

- Creator owned independents is the most innovative work.

- The big 2′s mindset is-”this is what we do and that’s it.”

- Pronto is an ideal spot, because we are publishing and getting something done.

- Pronto should build a fan base and show we can sell.

- Try to appeal to younger readers, but make sure you pick your age carefully.

- Kids are interested, but price is a factor.

- Comics have gotten caught up in Trade Paper Back fever.

- Print-on-demand levels the playing field.

- Everything is going digital.

The signing was a product of Pronto’s June meeting that featured Mike Bradley, owner and operator of Collectors Kingdom. Mike came down to Pronto to discuss the best strategies for independent publishers to get into stores. You can read his advice to Pronto in  an earlier posting.

After the meeting Josh and Ben took the initiative and asked Mike about doing a signing at his shop, a few phone calls later and a date was set.

The signing turned out to be a great success for Josh, Ben and System Failure with approximately 30 copies being sold as well as Ben doing sketches for fans. As the signing was happening Mike shared a little more advice about the benefits of signings:

You don’t have to compete for attention with other creators, like at a convention.

All the money made is profit, since there is no overhead for a table and the signed copies were selling for $5.

It is direct interaction with the comics fan base.

Every book sold is to a brand new fan.

To see photos from the signing you can go here, to keep on top of all the Pronto news, job listings and general fandom feel free to like our facebook page, www.facebook.com/prontocomics and as always to read our latest comics go to Prontocomics.com.

Hello. What do you do?

Oh, I write/draw/color/edit/promote/sell comics.

Oh… I love stand-up comedy!

No. Comics like comic-books/comic-strips. Sequential art.

Oh. I didn’t know they still made those things… Do you work on Superman/Spider-Man/Batman?

No, comics as a medium has expanded steadily since the 1960s to encompass a wide-range of content like the medium of television/film/literature/painting does.

Oh.

Actually, you’d be surprised how many comics have important/shocking/moving content about anything and everything.

Oh.

Yeah. I exaggerate. But we’ve all had bits and pieces of that conversation at least once. I know I have. Multiple times. Sometimes with the same person… But that just might be because I’m constantly trying to have conversations about comics with everyone. I brought a reprint of “Amazing Spider-Man” #1 with me on my first day of a Shakespeare summer program in Milbrook Meadow, Rockport, Mass. when I was probably around twelve-years-old. I remember telling my father “I’m going to sit and read it during the lunch break, and maybe someone else who likes comics will notice me!” That practice is pretty nearly how I’ve pushed through every following stage of my life: Bring the comics, see who shows up. Make it as much fun as possible. Convince more people to show up next time. Repeat. Now I bring my comics on the subway and try to start conversations with my fellow passengers about my reading material. I want comics to be more visible, because that’s what the industry may lack most: visibility. I’ve written a great deal about that on The Long and Shortbox Of It.

Ever since I took a week-long workshop class at the Center for Cartoon Studies in the summer of 2007, I realized how tremendously important it is to spend at least some time with a community of other people who ‘get’ it. People who love comics and make comics. People like the people you’ll meet at a Pronto meeting. I discovered that it is absolutely invigorating for a comics creator such as myself. And so I try to make it happen as much as I can. Hopefully, slowly, we will together suceed in expanding our community so that the width and breadth of comics being produced is so enourmous that the width and breadth of comics readers expands with it, creating an even broader base of people with which to talk comics!

~ @JonGorga

He says: “It is gothic, bloody, and full of great opportunities for the artist to use their imagination.”

Post in the comments section below or e-mail me at jonathangorga@yahoo.com to get in touch with Jesse.

And remember that we are here to help you creators connect with one another!