Watch the Trailer for Gargoyle By Moonlight, Buy It Digitally

At long last, it can be revealed: the Gargoyle By Moonlight trailer is live and speeding through the Internet pipes to you.

What's more, GBM is now available in several digital formats. You can have your copy of this stunning mini-graphic novel on your screen in seconds. Watch the video for details, or click here to buy your digital copy of Gargoyle By Moonlight.

Thanks to Comics Experience pal and creator of Gutter Magic, Rich Douek for all his help making the promo video. You should check out this fun and inventive tale of sword, sorcery, and sixguns, at Sixgun Comics.

More on Gargoyle By Moonlight, drawn by Brian Atkins, inked and lettered by Jeremiah Lambert, colored by Juan Romera, and written by Tim Bach, is available at Moonrisecomics.com.

Six Errors New Creators Make in Comic Marketing: Words of Advice from Jim McCann

This is Part Two of a three-, maybe four-part series on the marketing advice former Marvel marketer and now writer Jim McCann (Return of the Dapper Men, numerous Marvel titles) shared with the Creators Workshop over at Comics Experience. Click here to read Part One.

Jim McCann says there are (at least) six common errors new creators make when marketing their comics.






1. Going out too soon. Don’t announce or promote until you have something to show off. Jim says, “If you don’t have a final cover to go with the project and some finished pages, you are not ready.” He recommends an info packet that includes the first six pages. Wait until you have those items, then create a pdf you can e-mail around (see point 3 below); use as flier or promo materials to give to stores and at cons; and post on the Web.

2. Not knowing your timing. Make sure you have factored in time for pre-publishing promotion: the pre-solicit announcements, solicits, etc. Know those deadlines and be ready to go. Get your info packet together (see number 1 above) and promote before it’s in Diamond Previews. (Waiting until Diamond comes out is way to late.)

3. Not knowing your audience. Who makes up the audience you are trying to pull in? And more importantly, where are they? Don’t try carpet bomb all the comics sites with your product. Or, rather, don’t count on your story announcement rising above the clutter. Take a minute to consider who is likely to like (read: want) your story and where can you connect with them. Don’t ignore the mainstream comics websites and fans, but zero in on your readers and possible avenues for press coverage.

Are you writing a specific genre story, say, a Western? Contact sites that promote Westerns—and not just comics. Moreover, find people who are jazzed about Westerns or zombies or whatever niche your story takes place in and get them onboard. Just like you will want to pitch your Western comic to an editor who does Westerns, you want to find reviewers and reporters who have shown an interest in your topic. They’re most likely to embrace something they have an affinity for.

4. Don’t wait for them to come to you. Make your own opportunities. Once you’ve found your “targets,” send write them. Introduce yourself and your book, ask them if they like to cover it. Be sure to send them the promo materials you’ve created or, hey, a pdf of the whole book if you really want to get them onboard.

5. Don’t get lost in the news. First, Jim recommends keep an eye on con schedules. You don’t want to begin your marketing efforts the week before, during, or even after the major conventions. The big publishers use up all the oxygen in the news cycle, and comic news sites have tons of material to post. Time your announcements to hit at a time when they might get noticed. It’s true that con season has become an almost year-round marathon, but here’s the major shows that will step on your promotion: San Diego, New York, C2E2, Emerald City, Heroes Con, and MegaCon (I mentioned this in a previous post if you want to read more). (As a side note McCann does recommend new creators attend both Heroes Con and MegaCon, which are great for small creators.)

Second, don’t release your news on a Friday—it’s a bad day for news because no one is paying attention.

6. Don’t be obnoxious at conventions. Offer people your product, but outrageous costumes and stunts are only going to piss people off. (That’s not going to sell books.)

Click here to read Part One.

Jim McCann Talks Comic Book Marketing: Start the Conversation

Dapper man Jim McCann gave the Comics Experience Creators Workshop a primer on comic book marketing last night. I was fortunate enough to be in tele-attendance as for more than an hour, the former Marvel marketer and current writer, gave neophyte writers and artists a fantastic overview on how to get noticed and sell their books.

McCann, a writer of who found his niche writing Marvel's Hawkeye and Mockingbird titles while also releasing (with artist Janet Lee) the very inventive OGN Return of the Dapper Men, told the group that marketing is about starting a conversation. He then detailed several great marketing methods used by the big guys but that can also work for the little guys thanks to the power of the Internet. Turns out, in the end, like a lot of things in life, you only get out what you put in.


Comic Experience Creators Workshop Moderator, publisher of Panda Dog Press, and writer of Animal Control: Special Creatures Unit Rob Anderson posted a great article on last night's session. I've cherry-picked a few of the highlights below, but do yourself a favor and go over to Rob's blog and check out the whole thing. (And while you're there, check out ANIMAL CONTROL: SCU "Breeding Stock," a 3-page preview of Rob's awesome comic.)

Marketing Advice from Jim McCann:
•Get the word out before Previews; but not too early (You should have some finished product to show.)
•Know your audience and your reviewers (Find your niche. Just like in pitching your book to an editor, not every book is right for every site or reporter on that site.)
•Social Media is great-this has been discussed ad nauseum because it's true (Network; introduce yourself--but don't be a stalker.)
•Keep one eye on the calendar (Don't get lost in all the convention news.)

Jim also stressed getting retailers excited about ordering your project--in fact, in every interview, post, whatever, he stressed mentioning the Diamond ordering code or where (e.g., the Web site) people can get the book. But more so, he stressed trying to reach out to retailers, locally and nationally if you can.

As I go through my notes, I'm sure I'll be sharing some more details, but check out Rob's blog for more. I'm sure he'll get around to it before I do.

Thanks to Letterers; Spanish Edition of Customer

Recently, the letterer who helped me tell the story of The Customer Is Always Right, Haas Kage (FairPlayLettering.net), really did me a solid; one that allowed me to go international and bilingual. How you ask? I’ll save that for later. But in backing me up, he reminded me of the collaborative nature of comics and about one the key roles that often goes unheralded: the comics letterer.

I recently had the priveledge of spending a little time learning the art (and it is an art!) from master letterer Dave Sharpe via the auspices of Comics Experience and the Introduction to Lettering and Production Class. A Kubert school alum and a former Marvel Comics full-timer now freelancer, Dave started his career at Marvel lettering comic books just before the digital age. Today, he now works on dozens of books from a variety of publishers. Recently, he's lettered everything from Iron Man: Legacy to Batman: The Return.

Dave is a true craftsman. He was a great teacher. Funny, patient, and passionate about comics, he opened up a whole new world of comics understanding for me. He taught me all about layered essence of comic book production. Literally.

You see, using Adobe Illustrator to letter your comics, you work with an art layer, a balloon layer, a tails layer, etc. I learned about balloon shape and page composition and the thickness of stroke for emotion--and how do do special effects.

I don't know that I'm ready to step out there and do lettering and production all on my own. That's my goal, but I took the class to get a better understanding of the comics-making process. I learned a great deal, but in some ways the intangible aspects of the class were the most rewarding.

Taking the class was a lot like visting the soundstages on the Warner Bros. lot during filming (which is a much more intimate and real experience, as compared to Universal Studios). You get to see how the magic really happens. Dave showed my class how much work is involved in just lettering a comic. There are all kinds of decisions a letterer makes--making him or her a true artisan. Their work has a huge impact on the final product. In fact, many letterers also act as the production department for a publisher. So the letterer may also be merging the colored final pages with their balloon work and performing the pre-press functions for the publisher.

Anyway, the next time you enjoy reading a comic. Stop and turn to the credits. Look up who the letterer was. They literally made reading the book possible.

So how did Haas do me a solid? Well, my collaborator, Tomás, recently contacted me about doing a Spanish version of our story for a book he and some pals are putitng together. I thought this was a great idea--and it's going to happen--but here's where I got stuck. To save time and money, Tomás needed the art from our story with the balloon layer. You see, they could then just put Spanish words in maintaining the same balloons as the English version. Instant story. Except . . .

Prior to taking the lettering class, I had no idea about this kind of thing. I was so green, I only asked Haas for the final art files needed for printing. And he obliged. But now, months later, I contacted him again and he had the files we needed. What a pro! Then, bim, baam, boom, they cross the Atlantic via the Internet and my story is international.

So the lesson here--besides getting your files in a variety of formats from your collaborators--is that your collaborators are important. They can save your butt. Besides, of course, making your story possible in the first place.

Haas, when my copies come in, I'll be sending you a few.

Here It Is: My First Story

Through the ingenuity of Alexander Graham Bell and his mad scientist step-children and their wonderful invention, the Internet, I'm able to present to you, just in time for Halloween, the bone-chilling suspense tale: The Customer Is Always Right.

A mysterious client. Veiled motives. A grizzled mob hit man. Blood and lots of it. The Customer Is Always Right is a dark tale about a young man who goes to hire a hit man—and it doesn’t work out for anyone. With a touch of wry humor, this tense story builds to an unexpectedly bloody conclusion.

If everything is working correctly, off to the right you should see a nifty little gadget that will allow you to read a version of this thrilling tale.

Many thanks to my collaborator Tomás Morón and to Andy Schmidt and my fellow creators at Comics Experience for all the feedback.

In the coming days, I'll have an interview with Tomás as well as many more items--not to mention more stories. Enjoy! And be sure to tell me what you think!