Not really a quick A for this though.
About How much would cost for getting a one off - stand alone color comic book/graphic novel published?
Depends on the amount of pages (this for working out how much it will cost just to do the creative side as well as the publishing side) and the size of said pages (mostly publishing side).
a) How much for the Artist?
What kind of artist?
Generally a comic has a penciler, an inker, a colorist and a letterer. Depending on the quality of their work, and where you look, you can find the above creatives very easily, and offering ANY kinda page rate will seriously up your chances of finding someone to work with.
I would say (and these are ball-park, based on MY looking in the past...)
- Penciler - $40-$120 per page
- Inker - $20-$80 per page
- Colorist - $20-$50 per page
- Letter - $5-$20 per page
BUT, if your script/concept is strong enough, you CAN get a full team for free.
OK, not really free, you work out a deal where they get paid when the book sells. However, to stand a chance of finding people who are good, you should plan to pitch the book to a publisher when the pages are done.
FWIW, I recommend self-publishing as a LAST option. If you have the quality, there are lots of indie publishers who will be open to pitches.
b) How much for design/layout?
If you mean basically setting the pages, your artist will work on the pages and then send you the files. You pass the files to the printer/publisher. They should do that.
If you mean cover, logo, etc. Then the art team will do the cover (at an aditional fee) or you can get a guest artist to do the cover. The logo, you can work out with the art team OR hire a graphic designer to do that. If you go to a publisher, they may well help here.
c) How much for printing/publishing?
If you want to get an idea of the cost of self publishing check out
comixpress. You get get a pretty good breakdown of the unit costs.
If you go with a publisher, they will cover the costs here. A decent set up will maybe do something like a 50:50 split. They cover the costs, then take half the costs out of your share when sales roll in. You will of course, be sharing the rights here too. If you don't wanna do that, then self publishing is the only way.
If you self-publisher, you will need to print out a large amount of comics before you come close to breaking even and will, likely as not, lose money.
If you self-publisher, I would basically assume that whatever you pay is lost money. You will never see it again. You won't sell a single issue.
That isn't as defeatist as it seems. Rather, I would consider that money invested in my career. Since I expect to make no money from sales, I am then free to give out my book as a sample and get my name out there. If you sell any, it's a BONUS!
You want to advertise/promote your book. This again can be as cheap or expensive as you deem worth your investment. Fliers, postcards, mailers, posters, banners, web-ads, t-shirts, the list goes on.
I would also seriously recommend tables at Cons. And while it's a chunk of change and a logistics pain in the rump, attending the bigger ones is gonna be much more worthwhile. Small cons are OK, and a good way to get some local buzz and support, but if you really wanna make some waves, you need the Wizard Cons, or San Diego. And again, if you are resigned to losing money on your book, you can get a small booth at one of these cons and sell at a massive discount or even give away freebies, and get your book out. Never underestimate the value of giving something away free at a con.
Different cons have different costs, including travel, hotels, shipping your stock and promo stuff, as well as the booth itself.
But having people come to YOU at a con is a MAJOR step forward.
e) About: Grand Total?
I am just wanting to find out about the costs for now.
How long is a piece of string?
There are so many variables, and your own mindset (what you want in return) that impact the bottom line. If you want to make some money, you'd be better off buying a powerwasher and cleaning people's driveways. If you want to break into comics, and have a long term plan, it can be seriously worth while. Even, at the end of the day if you just want to have fun, share a create experience with some other creatives, it can also be great. What you want out of it also dictates the investment and the payoff for that.
Not sure that helped a great deal.
