sammyborras:

A friend of mine stopped doing the small press comics circuit in 2015, and it’s made me think a lot about how we need to be more careful about ‘encouragement posts online’. You might say something that would kick yourself into action, but there’s actually people out there who don’t respond in the same way, and it can actively discourage them. So yeah, I think it’s important to tell you about what happened (because other wise you’d just never find out about this stuff, right?) ….

So it started with arguments over fan art which caused the scene to get sour and hostile to new people. To me it highlighted a divide in attitudes. Relaxed ‘zinesters’ who believe in using self publishing to make whatever you want, whatever the quality VS. those pursuing a professional career, striving for the very best they can achieve and ultimately trying to use self publishing as a stepping stone to greater things. 

At that time people would say things along the lines of ‘if you can’t afford to table at a convention without the fanart, then your work isn’t good enough to be here.’ … I think the thought behind this was to encourage people to ‘STEP UP YOUR SMALL PRESS GAME.’ but it’s completely without context right? You know if you’re not trying your best and it’s ok to tell yourself to up your own game. But we’re all coming from wildly different backgrounds! You don’t necessarily know who is working full time with 3 kids and drawing comics whenever they possibly can, and who is working part time with no responsibilities to anyone. What if I’m already regularly crashing from the work load and I can’t work any harder? my comics could technically be at a high standard, but the ideas aren’t mainstream enough (we are self publishing them in the small press after all.)  (this is also ignoring that both comics and illustration industries have fashion styles which change over time - you could just be unlucky with how you prefer to draw)

My friend responded to the situation with ‘well if I’m not good enough, I guess I’ll stop self publishing comics and zines then. I’d be making a loss without the fanart anyway.’ … my heart broke a little bit.

And this unhealthy ‘STEP UP YOUR GAME’ attitude towards work seems to pop all all the time online. People beating themselves up over not working hard enough. Kicking themselves loudly in public (online) and everyone agreeing with them. Reinforcing this weird idea that we could all always be doing more and that we definitely have to become some sort of crazy obsessed comics machine that does nothing else. Sell your soul to the comics gods or GTFO.

I’m actually guilty of doing this myself. I’ve mellowed out over the years though. When I was being treated for an unrelated anxiety disorder, my therapist pointed out that I was regularly working myself up if I thought any amount of time had been wasted rather than used efficiently. We’re people, not machines and we don’t have to work all day every day, it’s perfectly ok to take breaks. In fact it’s probably healthier to regularly take scheduled breaks than to work until you burn out.

My friend read some more posts recently which have lead them to quitting freelance comics and illustration work altogether. Which is just crazy because they’re very skilled at drawing (better than I can draw). I think we need to remember that you can’t just write something like ‘be prepared to give every ounce of your being to your comic project or you may as well just give up right now’ without considering that someone with a different disposition to you might read the same thing and think ‘Welp. OK. Bye.’

Keep kicking yourself into action if it works for you, but consider whether or not you need to air it publicly? And choose words carefully if you do decide it’s important to you to share it.

I really hope that my friend ends up coming back to the small press world some time in the future. But until then - please be kind to each other - AND TAKE BREAKS <3
Sammy

I’ve chilled out a little bit on this, but I’m still of the mindset that if you cannot afford to make a loss then perhaps self-publishing isn’t for you. And that’s not a “you should step up your game” kinda thing, it’s more “if you can’t afford to do this luxury hobby of yours because it’s making a loss, and are unwilling to bend your work to appeal to the audience, then maybe stop the self-publishing”. But also, people buying your work is not a litmus test of it’s quality. Quality is incredibly subjective. So if you don’t sell well, you may just be in the wrong place at the wrong time - your work isn’t appealing to that audience for whatever reason. Your choice is either to take the loss on the chin or change it up a bit - either change your work or change where and how you try and sell it.

It’s a double-edged sword how accessible it has became to make and sell your work at events. On one hand, everyone can get involved. On the other hand… everyone can get involved; regardless of whether it’s the right time in their art evolution or at a time when they’re financially sound or in the right headspace to deal with possible critisism/shitty attitudes from customers or the repercussions of taking a big gain/loss at an event (I’ve seen people freak out over both scenarios). I feel like a number of people do it just because they *can*… with little regard as to whether it’s a good time for them. “I made a comic NOW I MUST SELF-PUBLISH IT because that’s what you do with comics, right?”. Wait off a while, put it online, promote yourself and gauge interest before you sink £100s into getting a print run done and buying tables and hotel stays. Sell it online instead of at expensive conventions, maybe build up a catalogue of work… Do you have anything else to sell? I’ve seen people with their one, single comic, a few prints relating to it, then the rest of their table filled with fanart… And when people buy the the fanart instead of the comic, then comes the inevitable; “waah, I can’t break even without fanart!” (of course you’ll make less money at an event if you take away the 50%+ of your stock that is fanart even if your remaining stuff sells well; less stock = less money, this shouldn’t be a shock to anyone). 

And I’m not saying “if you can’t afford to table at a convention without the fanart, then your work isn’t good enough to be there” - their work could be plenty good enough (see above; quality is subjective), but it could also be untried, untested, unedited, unrefined, under-promoted, of low-volume and it may be being sold to the wrong audience. It’s just, urgh, you don’t need a business degree to do this, but you need a bit of nous understand that just printing your work isn’t gonna bring in money and fame or whatever it is people are seeking when they get sore about bad sales. It really sucks to make a loss. It hurts to put yourself out there and invest a lot and not get much back in return… but you should learn from it. Change things up a bit. Reel yourself back from events if you have to and reassess your priorities.

If you need to do events for the money or as part of your career, you have to appeal to the audience and that may mean doing populist work that isn’t necessarily from your heart. If you’re doing events for fun as a hobby to share the niche work you’ve created from your heart, then don’t be surprised if you make a loss. Never expect your niche, heartfelt, personal works to make you big bucks. If they ever do you’re incredibly lucky. And remember that the amount of work you put into something is not always proportional to the value others put on it - again, it’s all ~subjective~! How many times has an artist lamented at their 5min doodle being more popular than the 20+ hour masterpiece they did the day before? 

And the part about people being in different circumstances but still drawing comics… I don’t understand. Sorry. My art is the first thing to take the chop when I’m in hard times - it’s a luxury hobby that takes up a huge amount of time and effort and is also my least reliable source of income. It’s supposed to be fun! If you have to squeeze it into your day and have a miserable time doing it, reassess the situation. Look after yourself first and foremost. Get food, housing, regular work etc. Don’t bust your spleen trying to please faceless asswipes on the internet or gambling a lot on creating a comic that may or may not make you a profit at the next big event you go to. Do what you can in the time you have. Stop if it’s not fun or if it’s causing you to compromise your living standards. Always remember you don’t have to be eating, sleeping, living your art to be an artist. There’s no shame in being quiet on the creative front. You don’t have to share everything your create. You don’t have to print and sell your comic to be a legit comic artist. It’s okay to create in your own way and share it however you want. If art is your job then the situation is very different. I tried and failed at the freelance artist thing; it’s incredibly hard, isolating and emotionally draining to keep drawing when you really don’t want to but have no choice if you wanna pay your rent that month. I have nothing but respect for peeps who manage it. Personally, I’m much happier earning my bread in my day-job with art as a hobby I can drop when times are rough. I feel no shame in this and neither should anyone else. I’m enjoying the break I’m having right now to experiment without the pressure of posting things online or preparing for events and hope that happiness will show when I do start creating things for public consumption again. 

If your hobby is making you sad… just… pause a bit. This art shit is supposed to be a fun, creative outlet, not a massive source of anxiety. 

Take care of yourself and remember to do your wrist-stretches. x

(via faisdm)

I’ll be in the Comic Village on the far right-hand side of the hall as you enter (take a compass, go west! You’ll find my table there~!), and I’m at table C7 and half of C8 (second isle of the Comic Village) - sitting next to my fabulous friend pinkapplejam trying to make that row the most colourful at the event! Please come and say hello to both of us, we’re terribly friendly! :D

Apologies I have no fancy graphics to advertise myself. I’m extraordinarily organised like that and only remember to post about events and things when I’ve already got one foot out of the door! *weary thumbs up*

Take care, and travel safely! See some of you this weekend! <3