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Ask the Right Questions

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Going to conventions is one of the best way to learn about the industry, meet new people and get advice from peers and pros. But often wannabe creators will waste the opportunity to learn by talking about themselves or asking the wrong questions.

“How do I break into comics?” is one of the questions I hear a lot by aspiring creators. The question is not easy to answer in a meaningful manner – and it certainly won’t be a short answer (my best and shortest possible answer is this podcast episode). It also requires a lot of background information on the person asking the question.
When not asking impossible questions like the one above, these creators will try and impress whoever they are talking to, pitch their comics ideas, tell rambling stories about their journey and aspirations – instead of using the opportunity to gain new insights and valuable knowledge. I’ve certainly been guilty of this myself. Becoming a better listener and asking smarter questions is something I would like to improve. So you could say this post is just as much for me as it is for you.
So instead of asking “how do I break into comics?” here is a list of smarter questions you may ask peers and pros alike, when you get a few minutes of face time at a convention or pin them down in a Twitter conversation:
  • What areas of my art do you see needs improvement?
  • What are your favorite cons to go to and why?
  • Who do you think I should meet while I’m here?
  • What is one thing people get wrong about the way the business works?
  • Is there any resource you can point me towards that could help me learn more about X?
  • What’s a mistake you see a lot of beginners make?
And then I also recommend taking notes! Either during the conversation or directly after. You can’t even memorize your Mom’s phone number so I’m willing to bet you can’t remember a key insight from a conversation a week later. It’s one thing to ask better questions but you also need to actually listen to the answers.
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If you have a question for me, leave a comment below!

Case study: THOMAS ALSOP

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I met Chris Miskiewicz at the MoCCA Festival in New York in early 2011. The Devil’s Concubine was set to be published in the US that year but wasn’t out yet. I carried a print-out of the book with me, as well as a sample of my upcoming book STILETTO. I was blown away by the response. I wasn’t used to that kind of praise, and for the first time, people seemed to really GET IT. It felt like I’d been in a box for ten years and now someone had finally taken the lid off. I didn’t know what to expect from the show but I certainly wasn’t looking for work.

I met Chris as he and Dean Haspiel were setting up a booth. Chris and I clicked immediately. He gave me a copy of his Everywhere! anthology booklet he had printed for the show and asked me if I would consider doing an episode. We exchanged numbers and continued to chat for almost an hour. I walked back to the booth this Danish cartoonist had set up in the corner of the con floor and started reading the booklet. I texted Chris 5 minutes after we parted ways: “I’m in.” For a guy who wasn’t looking for work, I was totally failing after just one day in the country.

We stayed in touch over the next months via e-mail and texts. Chris sent me a great script for Everywhere! episode, a heist story that was more or less written with my taste in mind. It was a great experience and Chris continued to bring up Thomas Alsop, a concept he had pitched me on the con floor that first time I met him. I still figured it had nothing to do with me, not ready to commit to anything that major and not sure how to go about it.

Later that year I heard of New York Comic Con for the first time and figured I would try to fly over for that. I’d already been to San Diego Comic Con and did a few signings on the West Coast. I reached out to Dean and asked if I could come sit at his studio for a week or so before or after the con and he said sure. I went and got to know both Chris and Dean a whole lot better.

Scripts and photo references for Thomas Alsop started filling up our Dropbox and we did a little teaser episode for Trip City called The Case of Dead Uncle. Google it, I’m sure it’s still out there. Again Chris was smart enough to lure me in with something short and doable rather than a full script for 8 issues.

Chris had already written the entire 8-issue arc before I even drew a single page. It was crucial to have the ending (and wow, what an ending!) in mind even as I was working on issue 1. Whether it would ever go anywhere was still in the wind, but when Chris spent his own money creating a live action trailer (viewable on the front page of thomasalsop.com) I was floored. It looked like a million bucks! This crazy New Yorker meant business and he clearly knew what he was doing. 

In July of 2013 we pitched Thomas Alsop to BOOM! at SDCC. We’d bumped into a friend of Chris’ on the con floor who introduced us to Matt Gagnon and we chatted for like 20 minutes. Only after parting ways did we realize he was the editor in chief. 

BOOM! eventually picked up the book and I started breaking down the script and drawing issue #2. We did hit a small snag when the publisher suddenly wanted to discuss a key point in the story revolving 9/11. If it had been a minor element we would have probably obliged to change it but since it was in line 2 of the pitch they bought and was a crucial focal point of the whole series, Chris and I stood our ground. We eventually agreed to a add little essays as back matter, making it clear for the readers that Chris was not just some douche exploiting a national disaster but was himself a New Yorker, born and bred. The book went forward and the controversy never happened. On the contrary, the respectful handling of 9/11 in the story seemed to land us an even more committed fan base and the book was dubbed Best Mini-Series of 2014 by USA Today. So even though BOOM! decided not to do a second series due to lack of commercial success, we still have a book we can be proud of out there. And who knows, maybe some day…

Lessons learned:

If I have any regrets in my career, it is not going to a US con sooner. Where the US has an actual comics industry, Denmark does not. I learned a lot from working with Chris, and found out I don’t necessarily have to be the one behind the wheel to enjoy the ride. 

This post is an excerpt from my book SOLO – Survival Guide for Creative Freelancers – Pre-order now on Amazon.

Con fatigue

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Whether you’re a writer, an artist, a musician or a film maker, there’s a good chance you have an introverted personality. I don’t think anyone would call me an introvert but I can tell you for a fact that being “on” for days on end really drains me. I need alone time to recharge.

In Angoulême in 2012, I wrote a blog post on the phenomenon I later started calling “con fatigue”. It was day 2 or 3 at the festival. Sure, I had a hangover. But the hangover was more of a psychological kind as I walked around the exhibition tents that were packed with comics fans in all ages and genders. I should have been thrilled to see all this interest for my field. I should have been enthused at looking at all this great art and inspired by the spirit of the festival. Instead, it all felt overwhelming and my own role in all this seemed completely redundant.

I don’t know everything about how the creative brain works but it does seem to reach a point sometimes where it cannot process any more information and just wants to shut down. Where you can’t look at any more art or meet any more interesting people. It creates a sinking feeling that I suppose is not unlike depression. I say this here, because we need to know it happens – and that it is okay. It’s part of the human condition.

So there I was in Angoulême, feeling sorry for myself, just wanting to go home and hug my kids. I felt like no one was even remotely interested in looking at my work and I completely understood why. It’s useless! Look at all this other stuff! How can I compete, why even try? In other words, I was being a self-centered little cry-baby. Frustrated, I went into a crowded lunchtime café and got a soda at the bar, tried to check my e-mail but couldn’t log on to their wi-fi. Off course.

Then in the door walks Brian Azzerello. 

I’ve been a fan of Azarello’s since his early work on Hellblazer, that was so scorchingly cynical and hardcore I’d never read anything like it. I was working on the layouts for The Devil’s Concubine when 100 Bullets started coming out, and Azzarello’s stark writing and Eduardo Risso’s slick line art blew me away. The pages were so perfectly balanced, the blackness bled across panels and the colors were vibrant and bloody awesome. It looked exactly like my book! It was like they had plugged into my brain and pulled out the look and style that I was unable to put down on paper. Looking at Bullets, I knew how my book should be done. I tried putting it away and I tried to create my own style, but the damned thing had etched itself in my mind so permanently that The Devil’s Concubine in certain places looks like – let’s be brutally honest here – a rip-off.

Bumping into Azzarello like that, I had to shake his hand and thank him. I was able to fumble a book from my bag and give it to him, along with my sincere apologies. I said it with a smile and I hope he took the fact that I was so inspired by his work as a compliment. We had a nice little chat but I didn’t want to outstay my welcome. I just felt honored and privileged to be able to give something back.

As I left the café, I left my inner cry-baby behind.

Later I met writer Joe Keatinge whom I’d recently met in New York, and he was nice enough to introduce me to a couple of French editors he knew. Suddenly my visit at the festival seemed to make sense again. You can’t plan things like these. But if you’re not there, they certainly don’t happen.

Later on in the evening I ended up at dinner with a bunch of comics guys. We discussed the topic of hitting the wall. Feeling so small and useless in a sea of talent, that you just want to pack up and go home. I don’t know if we broke a tabu but it seemed Danes and Americans alike lit up at the reveal that we all at one point or another had shared the same experience. When you hit that wall, you just have to wait for the sensation to pass through you. And it will.

This post is an excerpt from my book SOLO – Survival Guide for Creative Freelancers – Get in now on Amazon.

Con Checklist

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I’m just back from Munich, where I had a table at the Munich Comics Festival alongside other talented Danish creators. This was my second visit and I thoroughly enjoyed both times. Two years ago I made a lot of mistakes though – the main one being not bringing any books for sale! For some reason I’d missed the fact we had a table and only brought copies to show to potential publishers and had to send many interested readers away empty-handed. Instead of selling books I started doing little sketch cards that I sold for 2 euros each. Live and learn, right?

This time around I had made a checklist and came well prepared. I even sent a box of books ahead, so I could avoid lugging too much weight and fly hand luggage only. I LOVE just getting off a plane and whizzing past everyone waiting for their suitcases! 

As I’m sure many of you go to conventions from time to time, I thought I’d share my ideas for packing with you. You can download my one-sheet comic con checklist here:

Let me know if there’s anything I missed, I’m always looking to improve!

Related posts:
https://comicsforbeginners.com/bonus-vid-lucy-bellwood-and-her-100-demons/
http://palleschmidt.dk/top-10-travelling-tips

The Art of Selling – and Selling Your Art

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I recognize the need for an artist to be more mindful of the business aspect. But I’m feeling a lot of resistance to the whole product/market lingo and finding it hard to implement in my own life.

If people want to sell you something, you’ll notice that they all more or less follow the same model of proposition.

First they describe a problem that – maybe – you have. If it’s targeted marketing and not just the random (and annoying) TV or radio commercials, they’ll often get it right.

Then they will tell you who they are and their unique value proposition (USP), what they offer. And ultimately how they solve your problem.

Here’s an example: “Tired of spotty wifi? We here at TeleWhatever have 50 years of experience and a unique global network. We know how annoying it is to not have wifi. That’s why we offer 24-hour wifi for only 9.99 a month, that includes blah blah blah. Make sure you never miss out on an important cat video and sign up today with 25% off!”

This model is used almost everywhere. It is especially gag-inducing when used in selling medicine or insurance, where first they mention all the ways you could die horribly or lose all your stuff in a fire. That would suck, right? Luckily they happen to have a product that will save you from all this disease and disaster. Phew! A plan that most likely ensures their survival rather than yours, but that’s another discussion.

What I want you to take away from this, is this model for selling anything: Problem -> unique offer -> solution.

Whoops, did I say “anything?”

If you are reading this, you are either an artist or an aspiring artist. I’m taking a wild guess that you would eventually like to make money on this and not just have it as a hobby.

And here’s the problem:

Art doesn’t solve any problems.

No. Really. It doesn’t.

As Oscar Wild put it: “All art is quite useless”.

In other words, the sales tactics you can find online or read in books are invalid. You can’t use the above model to sell art.

You can’t focus group art either. Knowing what your customer wants makes total sense in the business world. In the art world I believe the opposite is true. Thinking too much about the wants or needs of the end user derails the artistic process and/or makes for boring art.

I’ve created this little Venn diagram (very marketing biz, right?) to illustrate the three overlapping elements of a creative career. Without the product (your art), nothing to sell. Without the audience, no one to sell to (And I’ve added the passion element, because it’s darn hard to produce art that you’re not passionate about).
What you CAN learn from business, is finding the right people to put your art in front of. I’d start with surveying whatever little audience you already have and figure out who they are and where they hang around online and offline. That way you have a better idea of where to market your stuff.
Art is a product just like any other. But it doesn’t solve a need or a problem. Rather it touches people in ways they didn’t know they wanted (that sounded inappropriate, but you know what I mean). Which is why normal sales tactics don’t really work.
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Any other artists out there feel the same contradiction or dilemma? Let me know how you think about marketing your art in the comment section!

Bonus Video: Lucy Bellwood and her 100 Demons

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I first met Lucy at Periscope Studios in Portland, OR, where I had the great privilege to work from a guest table for a few weeks back in 2014 (you can hear the podcast episode I did with Steve Lieber here). Even then she struck me with her wisdom, despite her young age. I never managed to get a real sit-down with Lucy back then but when I saw her new project 100 Demon Dialogues I jumped at the opportunity to chat with her about dealing with your inner demons as an artist, tabling at cons and having a career as a creative freelancer.

Check it out here and please share with your self-deprecating artist friends!

Links mentioned in this video:

Lucy is @lubelwoo on both Instagram and Twitter