This series of blogs is wonderful, and considering that I am prepping to self publish soon, it’s exactly what I need.

I’ve long been quite the classic dreamer, my heart aching to create and print a real comic or GN that I could hold. Over the years I have started many comics that I couldn’t finish because I was too wrapped up in the “cool factor” that has plagued the comic world for as long as I can remember. In this day and age there are millions of artists creating bucket loads of awesome, favoring technical wizardry over story. As soon as I “started” to understand storytelling, I stopped beating myself up for not “getting my comic out there” and “following my dream”. I knew that I would eventually mature enough to develop something that I was passionate about and hopefully contribute to one of the greatest storytelling mediums.

I guess what I’m rambling about is that self publishing is a huge risk, (as was made clear in Colleen’s post) but I think the biggest problem is intention.. Why are you printing your book? Is it because having your very own comic book would just be soo amazing, or do you have a unique and interesting story to tell? I can’t help but to imagine that being genuinely passionate about your project plays a wee role in its success. Colleen’s point about people jumping into comics hoping to hit a gold vein sums things up pretty well. If that’s why you’re interested in comics, your missing something that people like Jeff and Colleen have….. A love for the medium that shows in their work and a heart that brings their characters and worlds to life.

I know I have much to learn, but I’m forever grateful for the ground you guys have broken, the effort you have put into keeping the comic medium alive and the information you are willing to share.

Thank you all.

Varuna Darensbourg

http://adistantsoil.com/blog/?p=2333

I don’t want to promote the idea that self publishers were the first or even the best at getting GN’s into graphic novels and libraries, but here’s what I wanted to add:

“However, the very fact that some “little nobodies” (heard that one a lot), and “fanzine publishers” (heard that one a lot), and people who were praised for keeping “up the fair work” (thanks), were able to do these things effectively, and, in some cases, more effectively than companies with much larger resources…this made larger publishers take notice. So, when I write how Bob Wayne and Paul Levitz praised us with, “You guys were the first. You showed us the way,” I mean that we proved going to the “real” mainstream trade bookstores and libraries with graphic novels could be done effectively, even by little schmucks like us.”

Thanks.