This one has been sitting in my drafts since July and it's time for me to finally post this.
When I got a comment on my SaGia promo post on Threads about starting a comic for the first time, I gave them some small advice (I was typing at night and I was tired). Then I decided to expand on it through one of my long Threads. Even though not enough people saw it, I think it might've been helpful for those who want to start drawing comics. But, after thinking about that Thread for days, I've decided to expand on that topic and also the mistakes and frustrations I went through making SaGia.
It's been a while since I've made one of these "tips" posts.
Before I begin, let me introduce myself. Hi, my name is Arnezia W., author and illustrator of my own original manga series, SaGia. Yes, that's me in the photo.
I will copy and paste what I said on Threads here with some changes and additions (due to Thread's word count limit). Then I will add some advice I haven't said in that Threads post.
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Look at other comics/manga or shows!
My own indie manga’s art style (and my art style in general) is inspired by 80s/90s manga/anime. I’m inspired by Akira Toriyama, Ken Sugimori, and more. I've made blog posts showing off different artists I'm inspired by. I watch a lot of old school anime (and I watch some modern ones too) and it gives me inspiration to write chapters of SaGia or character personalities. Sometimes, I may do over the top expressions similar to Magical Taruruuto-kun’s Tatsuya Egawa.
Practice! Use image references. Draw fanart! And watch some YouTube videos for help.
I’ve grown a following from sharing fanart and while I rarely draw it nowadays, I find that fanart and using references helps me improve. Also, look up some YouTube videos to maybe help you if you’re struggling in some areas. My dad said that social media is a tool that can help you and if you use it for the right thing, you'll learn and improve instead of... I don't know... just looking at videos of people doing stupid stuff for clicks and views.
I have a resource page on my blog if you need it. I try to keep it updated every time I find a new resource that interests me.
Also, I've said something similar in an old post I made.
Life will get in the way. Take a break.
I’ve had times where real life has gotten in the way… mostly with college (which I am almost finished with). Take breaks away from drawing or writing if you hit art/writers block. You won’t be able to finish the entire book in a single day. Maybe work on a page for about 4 hours. Also, you can easily lose motivation which has happened to me… find ways to help you get back into it.
Find your art style!
Like I said with 2, my art style is influenced by other manga authors. I’ve drawn a lot of Dragon Ball and Pokémon fanart which helped develop my art style.
Something I didn't say on Threads:
Get yourself out there.
Yes, I know that there are introverts who are scared to interact with others (including myself!). But getting yourself out there can lead to people checking out your works! I've said this in the same
old post, but join Facebook groups and Discord channels and share your art there (as long as you follow their rules). And it's not just social media; real life too. Join clubs, events, draw for other people... you may get some recognition.
So your comic is shared online to the world... what can I do?
Again, like I previously said, get yourself out there more! Maybe promote it once a week or once a month. Just don't promo too much. Have close connections with people running an event or convention; there's a good chance that they might invite you as a guest! I know original art doesn't get noticed much than fanart (since fanart is filled with recognizable characters), but the more you work hard on them, the more people will begin to love your original characters! It depends on how you write their character.
Interact with people who ask you questions or leave a comment on your posts. Do some livestreaming.
There are some things on the list that I don't agree with, though:
1. Use Twitter - maybe I wouldn't recommend it because the site has gone through changes... it is now known as X due to a certain greedy billionaire and the site is full of hate, which you need to be careful of. If you ever deal with negative comments, ignoring them or blocking the user is best instead of replying to them and starting a flame war.
28. I don't think people use MySpace that much.
32. I don't know about this idea.
33. Not sure about this one.
Here are my social media recommendations:
-Instagram (make some reels showcasing your work)
-Join some Facebook groups.
-Tumblr is a good one.
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Mistakes I made when creating my first comic.
I've gone through some struggles and frustrations when I created my own series. And there are things I either regret or wish I've done instead.
1. I should've done a one-shot instead of a series.
I've heard this when I did research after finishing volume 1 of SaGia; do a one-shot before starting a series. At the time when I began SaGia, I didn't know what a one-shot was. I still love working on SaGia since it's my main series (I'm very hyperfixated on it), but there were times where I felt drained (hitting art/writers block). I am working on a one-shot comic that's not SaGia, but it's being put to the side for now since I'm very focused on volume 2 of SaGia.
2. I regret using Google Translate for some of the Japanese words.
Some pages has Japanese on there and this is a regret for me because some of the Japanese isn't correct... for example, a character named Yamado owns a ramen place but the sign translates to "window" (I think). I still will be keeping it when Yamado appears again in a future volume (maybe I'll make a mini comic poking fun at it) and the Japanese in the SaGia logo will be kept, but the Japanese for the action words/"sounds" will dropped in Volume 2 onwards. I think in my second draft of SaGia, the Japanese on Yamado's sign is correct and I must've forgot about it. I have 0 knowledge with learning Japanese and I wish I learned it at the time or did better research. I would take a Japanese class, but people tell me that it's hard and I don't want to put stress on myself. I can always watch YouTube videos on learning Japanese.
3. I don't know if this is a "regret/mistake", but working at the default iPad size in Procreate for drawing my pages. A mistake though is the DPI and adjusting to the template.
Volume 1 of SaGia is entirely digital and in Procreate, there is a default size option: 12.64 x 16.85 inches (screen size), which is the size of my old iPad's screen. I've heard good things about working at a bigger size and shrinking it down to the template (I think it has something to do with the lines), and when I received my first proof copy of SaGia in the mail, it turned out nice.
However, the default DPI for that default template is set at 132 (I think) and after creating a page, I have no way of changing said DPI. At the time, I didn't know what a DPI was until I got finished working on volume 1 and when I looked at Comix Well Spring's guidelines on printing, I was confused! So I did further research on a DPI. And as it turns out, one of my books that I haven't touched in a while has information on DPI. (
click here; it's a good book! Some stuff may be outdated, though.)
So, I adjust every page to match the manga template in Photopea (a photoshop alternative), I change every page to 300 dpi. But I've heard things about setting black and white pages at 600 dpi. However, I won't be doing that because it's a big file size and I'm concerned about storage, and two, when I tried that with one of my volume 2 pages, it took forever to process. While adjusting every one of my pages, I had to do heavy research to learn what a bleed was.
Yeah, this is one of the most frustrating parts for me when I learned about all of this. Be prepared to do all of this, comic book makers!
4. SaGia was under a different name: SaGa. I changed it to avoid confusion with other titles with the same name.
SaGia was originally titled SaGa (in my first and second drafts), but after learning about a Square Enix game with the same name and a comic with that same name after some research, I changed it. I would do "SaGians" or "Sagians" (named after the aliens in my comic) but I wasn't a fan of the title so I shortened it to just SaGia. I would use that alternative title for a spinoff comic, though!
Do research when deciding on a title for your comic! You don't want to cause confusion or get into some legal trouble.
5. I almost quit creating SaGia.
For my first and second drafts of SaGia, I gave up continuing the story because I didn't like how the story was coming out or my art style.
I know that this is a common thing in the comic community where a series stops after a number of volumes. I'm still working hard on SaGia typing out every chapter but like I said in 1, I felt drained at times. Also, life was getting in the way.
More advice?
If you're in the indie comic book community starting out, I would recommend writing your ideas on paper. Draw out your characters. Talk about your characters to your friends! You want your voice to be heard. Don't hide in your hiding shell; talk to other people who have similar interests as you.
I also recommend copyrighting your comic at the
Copyright Office for some protection; you don't want people stealing your characters. If your comic franchise ends up being big enough, I highly recommend
trademarking. You would want to use https://www.copyright.gov/ for copyrighting and https://www.uspto.gov/ for trademarking; these are legit websites.
Also, if you're trying to get into DC and Marvel (which I'm not doing), build a good portfolio & online portfolio for yourself showing some pages. It's hard to face rejection, but you'll have to accept it and move on.
Since SaGia is a one-person project (all illustrated and written by me), I can't give any advice on hiring people... you'll have to do the research yourself.
Other ramblings and advice.
One last thing is, I said that SaGia is a one-person project: yes that is true, I am the only one working on the comic. I'm afraid of losing my rights to some greedy company and I get more freedom working alone (with some trade-offs such as exchanging my hard work for losing motivation, I guess). I'm very shy and I didn't want to hire anyone to help me work on my comic. I feel like I might put stress on the person.
Also, I am going with the self-publishing route. If you want your comics printed, I highly recommend
Comix Well Spring which I used to get my own manga printed. Ka-Blam (not the Nickelodeon show with the same name) is another option, but I heard bad things about their customer service. Just know that it will cost you a lot of money.
And be careful of scams. When I copyrighted SaGia last year, a random publishing company named Dorrance reached out to me and called me. I refused the offer because I knew something was off... and then they called me again this year with a different number. All they're doing is asking for a lot money. This is a
vanity press...
STAY away from them. Read this article.
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Well, that is it. I reread this post over and over and I feel confident in what I said. Good luck to all of you comic creators out there and keep on creating! I hope this article was helpful.
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