Complete Guide to Self–Publishing Comics, The

Husband-and-wife comics creators and self-publishers, Comfort Love and Adam Withers spent nearly a decade as professional freelance illustrators and graphic designers while also teaching at Kendall College of Art and Design. In 2008, they took the leap into self-publishing with their comic The Uniques. For their efforts in the trenches of self-publishing, Love and Withers have received many accolades, including three Harvey Award nominations and a Shel Dorf Award nomination. Their comics have appeared on multiple 'Best of the Year' lists, and they are frequent guests on comic podcasts such as Comic Geek Speak, TGT Webcomics, and the comic creator's how-to podcast Paper Wings.

1. Concept 5
What Are You Making and Why? 6
Research 10
Designing Characters 13
Designing Your Setting 21
2. Writing 27
Anatomy of a Comics Script 28
The Writing Process 31
The Writer’s Trinity: Plot, Story, and Character 36
How to Write Dialogue 46
Life as a Writer 49
3. Drawing 57
Anatomy of a Comics Page 58
The Drawing Process 62
Creating Interesting Pages 66
Bringing Characters to Life 76
Life as an Artist 82
4. Coloring 89
Introduction to Color Theory 90
Getting Comfortable with Photoshop 95
Coloring the Page 101
Special Effects 113
Life as a Colorist 125
5. Lettering 131
Understanding Lettering 132
Getting Comfortable with Illustrator 136
How to Letter a Page 141
Sound Effects 155
Life as a Letterer 167
6. Publishing 171
The Modern World of Publishing 172
Print Publishing 178
Digital Publishing 188
Distribution 194
7. Marketing 199
You Are Your Product 200
Targeting Your Audience 203
Mastering Your Web Presence 207
Conventioneering 214
Afterword 225
Thanks and Gratitude 227
The Adventure Continues Online 229
Index 230