Let People Finish Their Book
This blog post isn’t a specific jab at anyone, but rather the community around comics. A lot of people in this side of comics, treat comics more like they’re CD and DVD movie cases, rather than stories in their own right. They also treat creators who want to finish their comic first, and then market it like shit. And yet they pounce on you before you’ve even finished the thing. It’s a little like stand at someone’s shoulder and watch them play the piano, and expecting them to act like themselves when at the keyboard.
There are crap tons of videos purely about how the comic industry is fading to oblivion, and not enough on the actual craft of comics. Such people also bitch at people for not focusing on their comics, when they’re spending half the day basically breathing down creators necks on how they think you should market your book. As if somehow constantly interupting people while they’re working is a great way to get the job done.
There is only one way to finish your book, by finishing your book first, and then worrying about the market later. If you’re constantly worried about how to market your book, you’re never going to get that book done. You’re also screwing yourself because you’re not waiting patiently for that sucker to get finished, and basing your audience around your finished product. Somehow Twitter as a platform tolerates this kind of disgusting behaviour, and that’s excluding things like them trying to force their politics down your throat.
There is this guy on Youtube, where he spends his entire time basically sniping at other people regardless of whether they’re Mainstream or Comicsgate. But that has the balls to basically tell people that they’re not getting any work done and basically spending all their time touting politics. When he is the very same person trying to shove his politics down people’s throats. This is not the mainstream comics, nore will this ever be the mainstream comics industry.
You will be absolutely lucky if I want to buy any of your books at all, with the amount of time you spend telling other people not to talk about themselves or their politics. Helping them market themselves is not your job. My only guess as to why they’re this way is they can’t seem to admit that not waiting till someone’s graphic novel is finished before barraging them with personal attacks is not only better marketing into itself, you end up actually finishing your work. Which is what should be considered the most important, regardless of whether you end up deciding to go the crowd funding route.
Yes, comic people are your competitors. There is fine line between fair competition, and rigging the market in such a way so your side is the only one that is able to compete.