The Comic Book Publishing Process

How does comic book publishing work? How are comics created? Does a publisher simply buy up ideas and produce them, or do publishers only work in-house? How do comic books reach the 2,000+ independent stores scattered around the world? And who prints these books?

If you’re never been through the process, some of these questions can be a bit daunting. After all, most people who get into comic book publishing have never published anything. I’m not going to get into a lot of technical details this time around; we’ll save those for another article. Instead, I’m going to focus on an overview of the process.

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1. The script stage. A comic book generally begins with a rough idea, which is written up as a treatment (a detailed summary of the story) and/or a script. Some comic book companies use an old process where the scripter plots out an outline for the artist and then writes the dialogue once the pages are drawn. Most companies have the writer write out a full script with dialogue, including descriptions of each page’s layout and panel contents. If the dialogue doesn’t fit, it’s edited in the lettering process.

I should note here that most comic book companies do not buy scripts; these are usually developed internally. The supply of would-be comic book writers far exceeds the demand, and few companies hire writers they don’t know. Many writers move into their jobs horizontally after working on something else, like lettering, penciling, or handling business tasks. Also, no publisher that I know of will hire any “creator” based on an idea that has no script or artwork. Oddly enough, at least 30% of all pitches I’ve come across have been for just that — raw ideas, with no development.

Scripts are usually completed far ahead of the production process — sometimes as much as a year! They are the blueprint of a comic book, and the speed with which they’re produced depends heavily on the rest of the people involved in production. Scripts are usually heavily edited before they’re sent off to be drawn, and edited again once the artwork comes back. Often, they are quite different in the final product than they were when they were originally submitted.
2. The illustration stage. Once a script is edited and accepted, it’s sent to a pencil artist, who begins the work of drawing the pages. On a standard comic book, most professional artists can draw 5-7 pages per week; some are even faster. The pencil artist completes the pages and either sends them in to the publisher via a carrier (FedEx, UPS, USPS) or scans them and uploads them to a computer server. The pages are examined by an art director and either sent back for corrections or sent to the next stage in the process.

Sometimes, an art director will ask for layouts and breakdowns before the pages are actually drawn. Layouts show the basic panel positions of each page, and maybe some light character details; breakdowns are essentially rough sketches of the final design. These can actually speed up the process, since they can help the art director suggest changes more quickly and can also allow the editor to see if elements of the script require corrections to fit the artwork.

Traditionally, once the artwork is approved, it will be sent off to an inker, who will draw over the pencils in a thick, black ink to add definition to the design. This was necessary in previous decades because inked illustrations helped define the areas where individual colors should be placed. Recently, however, the process of “digital inking” has become popular with many publishers, especially since it works quite well with the modern digital coloring process and allows for lighter, more artistic illustrations.

Once artwork is inked, it is sent off to be lettered (if it’s for a black and white book) or sent off to be colored. Traditionally, colorists only had 16 colors to work with. Since printing has changed so much over the last twenty years, colorists now have a wide range of colors available and are able to give pages a vivid look and feel with image editing software. Once the colors are complete, visual effects (such as blurs, foreshortening, and so forth) can be added in and the book is ready to be lettered.

Letterers get the least amount of respect in comics, but their job is vital; they work around the art and find ways to fit in all the dialogue and captions. Letterers often handle effects for sound indicators such as “Krak!” and “Boom!” as well. They are also often the last people to touch a book before it is proofed and sent off to print, though with the modern digital process, it is possible to have a book lettered while it is being colored and simply drop the letter layer over the colors. This can save a considerable amount of time.

3. The Proofing and Publishing Stage: Before a book is sent off to the printer, it is proofed by several people, including the editor and the art director. The point of proofing is to look for problems that might diminish the quality of the book. During proofing, proofreaders ask questions such as, “Is the color of the hero’s shirt always the same?” or “Are there grammatical errors in the narrative?”Sometimes, big things get caught, such as characters drastically changing appearance or dialogue bubbles being assigned to the wrong speaker. The credits page can also be easily overlooked; I’ve seen comic books where the credits went to print incorrect because no one thought to check them.

A draft must be proofed and corrected until it is ready for printing. Sometimes, this takes an afternoon; sometimes, it takes weeks. But once it’s finished, the proof can be sent off to the printer to be prepared for production.

Different printers handle books different ways, but most work directly from digital, hi-res proofs uploaded to their servers. A printer will usually set the book using its own software and make a printed proof to send to the publisher via carrier. This printed proof shows the final, printed product as it will appear once it runs through the presses; it is the last chance a publisher has to make corrections before the book is printed. Once the publisher signs off on each page and sends the printed proof back, the printer can begin production of the book.

When the book is printed, it is packaged and either shipped directly to the publisher or shipped to the publisher’s distributor. In almost all cases in the world of comics, this is Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc.

4. Distribution and Retail Sales Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc (usually just known as “Diamond”) has a legal monopoly on North American comic book distribution, and it is difficult to publish a book and convince comic book stores to carry it without their support. In order to convince Diamond to carry a particular title, a publisher must submit a book to them for review. If they deem the book of sufficient quality, they will usually agree to carry that publisher’s products. Diamond almost always insists on an exclusive contract. Diamond also has recent instituted a threshold policy where they can refuse to ship a title that has not met a minimum standard of sales. In my experience, publishers can expect to receive between 40-45% of the cover price from Diamond, but it depends on the publisher’s contract.

As I’ve explained in another article, a distributor’s role is to sell products from suppliers (publishers) to retailers. Diamond has a non-returnable policy, which means that once retailers purchase books, they may not return them unless they are visibly defective. Retailers order books through Diamond’s computer system, and they also order through the monthly printed Previews catalogue, where products are listed between paid ads placed by individual publishers hoping to catch retailers’ eyes. Previews generally lists titles two months before they are available for sale, which means they must have solicitation copy and covers 3-4 months before the catalogue is sent out.

What makes Diamond different from many other distributors is that it stores books and distributes them to two different markets — the comic book market and the bookstore market. Monthly magazine comics generally only hit the comic book market, but graphic novels, trade paperback collections and hardbacks are sold to both. The company essentially sells books on consignment, sending publishers their checks after a set amount of time once the books are sold. This can be quite useful for a small publisher with no ability to distribute a book on his or her own.

There are many controversies about Diamond that I won’t take the time to discuss; for the time being, they are the only way to distribute a new comic book title, and they are certainly a good company to work with where most publishers are concerned.

Once retailers receive a title, the title is considered “sold” as far as the publisher is concerned. If a title is successful, or if it’s requested, a retailer may attempt to re-order the title through Diamond. If Diamond has the book on hand, it will ship the books out immediately. If Diamond is low on the book and needs additional copies, it will wait until it has sufficient orders to request them from the publisher. Sometimes, if it will take too long for publishers to get this order, they’ll attempt to order it directly from the publisher. Diamond generally frowns on this, but it does happen from time to time.

5. Reprints and Collections: Generally, once a comic book has reached the four or six issue mark, a publisher will repackage the book into a trade paperback or hardback collection and offer it to both the comic book and book markets. These can be quite lucrative (since they are reprints of book that have already been paid for), and their format means that they will be more widely available since they will have an ISBN. The books also generate more profit per title (in my experience, the publisher receives 45-55% of the cover price, depending upon Diamond’s payment policies) and can be kept continuously in print.

One drawback is that these books are much more expensive to print. Another is that the bulk of these books will be sold to the returnable book market. Thus a publisher should be careful about producing these collections, since low orders can spell disaster if the publisher overprints.

As for individual comic book reprints, from what I have seen, it is better to release new editions of books (with new order codes) than to reprint old editions, because Diamond charges a re-order fee to retailers, making them less likely order more issues of a first run unless it’s a hot title.

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So, there you have it! The entire process of publishing a comic book. Tomorrow, we’ll discuss the costs of creating comics, and after that, we’ll discuss the process of submitting a comic to a publisher.

Writing Scraps

by Sean J. Jordan