Day 2 Results

I didn't get a whole lot done last night. I opted to join some friends at our pool, eat pizza, socialize; I guess it is a fine line I'll have to walk to work being a comic artist into my lifestyle. It's tough. Plus, I've no real deadline, outside of what I've given myself, so this surely doesn't help. It's nice to have the flexibility of time for sure, but at the same time, the longer I take to write/draw, the less money I make.

I wrote two additional pages last night. I didn't start until almost 10pm, and wrote for about a hour before going to bed. I'm happy with what I have written so far, but I would like to be faster. Perhaps with time and repetition, I'll get the speed I need to be successful.

Believe me, I have no delusions of how deadlines and time work with drawing comics. I know it is hard work, and if you want to make money, you have to produce output; a lot of output. I may be delusional in thinking that I can pull this off and still have a life, but not about the hard work. I've heard all the stories. It's tough when you know you have to go to your "real" job for 8am the next morning, so I hesitate to stay up late. The real job is my bread and butter.

Sure, time might seem flexible now, but my publisher wants to get first issues out in January. And, I could be wrong, but I think he wants to do monthly (though I am going to try to convince him for every 6 weeks, unless he gets me help). So, come December, I mean, shouldn't we have a few issues in the can before the first issue even comes out, to ensure timely release dates? Nothing, and I mean nothing pisses off stores and customers more than late comics. Maybe Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image and other larger publishers can get away with it and fans just grumble a little, but for a new publisher just coming out of the gates, with no well known creative talent, no way. Once you lose that confidence from the store owners, you're done. At least, this is my humble opinion.

Just because you offer something to people, doesn't mean they will buy it. You need their trust, their support, and their willingness to give you some of their own hard-earned money. It's a tough industry. Especially done on the cuff.

Update again tomorrow.