How to Fund a Comic Book (or Any Other Creative Enterprise), Pt 1: The Ties that Bind

Firstly, I should point out that the title of this blog entry is more of a question - I don't really know. But I do have some thoughts.

Any independent creator making something for themselves is likely to face the financial conundrum: how to make a living whilst doing what you love. There seem to me to be two main options: treat your project as a hobby, or find funding. Let's look at the first option.

Option (1): Do it in your spare time. You have a job, and evenings and weekends you spend developing your dream project. This is fine, in terms of security, but takes a heavy load on your energies, time spent with family, etc. The other downside is that progress will be slow. You're unlikely to have much spare in the tank once your main job is finished for the day/week, and your family will eventually begrudge you spending all your time away from them (as much as my family may resent being described as 'ties that bind' perhaps...). Nate Simpson's comic 'Nonplayer' is a good example, here. It's been in development for about 5 years, in which time he's published a single 32 page issue. Admittedly, Nate works in excruciating detail and is a perfectionist, but his struggles are fairly typical of those faced by people trying to fit their project around their day job (read his honest and inspiring blog and see his amazing work here).

There are sub-options within this option: you could take on part-time work. However, unless your PT work is well-paid and can be contained into set times (it doesn't spread into the week), then you face other problems. However, unless you're lucky, PT/casual work tends to be less well paid (requiring you to supplement it with other work - which defeats the point), or can spread out into the week (irregular shifts) - the fact that it's PT/casual tends to suit the employer (especially with the advent of zero hour contracts...). However, if you can find PT work that is both well-paid and self-contained, then this might make this option viable. In my experience, though (and this is my current financial model), it seems to be increasingly difficult to find this type of work.

So, in conclusion...

Pros: security. Cons: slow progress, fatigue, toll on family and personal life.

Next time - Pt 2: Finding funding...