Howdy everyone, it’s Max West here and I’m going to show you another handy tool for getting your name out and letting people know about your comics. But first, make sure you check out the new Facebook page for Sunnyville Stories. And you can still purchase a copy of Sunnyville Stories #2 over at Indy Planet if you haven’t done that already. I hope to have Sunnyville #3 ready in the first quarter of 2011. Now onto our regularly scheduled programming.
You’ve created a great print comic or graphic novel. But you want people to know about it. You want others to know about so they’ll buy it, read it, and tell all their friends. So what can you do? Why, you put out a press release of course! What’s that? You don’t know what a press release is. Well, sit down now and I’ll explain.
A press release is usually a page full of information designed to inform the press and general public about your creation. You can email them, fax them, post them up to forums, blogs and newsgroups, and even print them out and give them to traditional media outlets. Your press release should have something that grabs the attention of others. Examples of attention-getters could be the content and/or the creative team behind the work. Hmm…lemme get an example here. Here’s a sample press release that I’ve sent out myself –
For further info, contact Max West, info@sunnyvillestories.com
SMALL PRESS COMIC, BIG WORLD
New creator debuts a well-written comics series
Comics writer-creator Max West announced the first print release of Sunnyville Stories, a comics series in development for nearly two years.
Sunnyville Stories is a slice-of-life comic centered around the small idyllic hamlet of Sunnyville. The town is home to families of anthropomorphic animals dressed in traditional clothing – males wear suits and females wear dresses. The series itself revolves around two feline teenagers: a silver tabby recently moved into town named Rusty Duncan and a butter cream furred country girl named Samantha “Sam” Macgregor.
The second episode of the series, entitled “Multiball Madness”, is now available as a 40-page magazine-sized comic. The plot involves Rusty being challenged by local rich girl Rose Von Straussen after hearing him brag about his pinball playing skills. Can Rusty triumph over Rose when they play their game? Or will Rusty see his fledgling reputation shot amongst the town’s youngsters?
The second episode continues to build upon the rich universe of Sunnyville, introduced in the series’ first episode. The series pilot episode “Beginnings” is available for free, currently being serialized through the creator’s blog.
“I was taught to write what you know,” Max West says, “And what I know are my own personal experiences of having to face a challenge and of showing others what I can do.”
The clean, straightforward line art of Mr. West’s comics evoke the feel of traditional newspaper comics and the work of Expressionist painter/draftsman Paul Klee – both of which Mr. West has cited as artistic influences on his work.
Max West resides in New York and holds a degree in creative writing from Baruch College. He has also trained at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, receiving training from experts in the comics field. At the time of this writing, the third episode of Sunnyville, an adventure story called “the Train Robbers”, is being inked. It is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2011. Sunnyville Stories #2 is currently available through IndyPlanet.com and ComicsMonkey.com at a retail price of US$ 2.99.
For more information, please visit the official Sunnyville Stories web log for weekly updates by the creator at http://www.sunnyvillestories.com
The above press release of mine is just an example. Putting the phrase “for immediate release” at the top along with contact info such as your name, email and maybe even a phone number would also help. Try to keep it to a page long and put information into the press release such as the title of your comic/graphic novel, what’s interesting about it, when it’s coming out, and technical details such as the price, when it becomes available, and where you can get it from.
Okay, so now you have your press release – but what do you do with it? Send it out! Email it, fax it, send it through the mail. You can send it out to publications such as Comic Buyer’s Guide and Comic Shop News. You can send it to comics news websites too like Newsarama and Comic Book Resources. You can also post it to newsgroups and to forums that cover comics. Be sure though to do what I do – in the title header, put in brackets the word “hype” – [HYPE]. Why? You might piss off regular users of the newsgroup who may view you as a spammer. If anyone insults you or your work, don’t engage them – just ignore them. Of course, if you get a lot of people who are openly hostile to you for posting your press release to a newsgroup or forum, then take a hint and move on.
Don’t limit yourself to venues just with comics. If your comic/graphic novel involves a certain subject like gambling, basketball, politics, goldfish, a certain historical period, or quantum physics, then try sending your press release to some publications, forums, experts, newsgroups, websites, etc. that cover that topic.
Releasing your press release once may not be enough. Follow up with the same press release soon after or try doing another one.
That’s it for this week. I’ll have some more cool stuff up next week so until then, bye-bye.
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