Reaching Beyond Comics

Comics limits itself by deciding that it shouldn't or can't reach beyond comics even though there's no reason for this limitation.

This is one of my biggest frustrations with the industry.

We have so many tools and resources at our disposal now to let us easily reach past this artificial barrier, but we don't use them. Even the major publishers today are at fault of drawing their audiences solely from preexisting readers of comics.

If you want to be successful I sincerely believe that it's completely necessary to change our ways.

As a creator, you should be proud of the work you're doing. So, ask yourself, is that work better defined by the fact that it's a comic or by the world you create, the values at stake, and the characters you introduce your readers to?

There's no reason someone wouldn't enjoy your comic just because they don't generally read comics.

While the first piece of the framework I utilize is meant to illustrate some basic audience components, this next piece is really meant to help creators looking beyond comics.

All it takes is understanding how readers choose to read - or how people choose to consume media - and applying it to your own comic. These are Precise Fans - they're characterized more by their interests, than whether or not they read comics.

Genre

The first profile I recommend exploring is genre. It's one of the core ways readers choose to read. For example science-fiction fans often seek out great sci-fi. This holds true of romance, thriller, and countless other genres.

Whatever genre your book fits into, provides you the context you need to introduce it to people who already like that genre. Now, they don't have to be fans from the same medium. Your science-fiction comic, can easily appeal to a fan of sci-fi movies. Or sci-fi prose. Don't limit your opportunities artificially.

And when you don't fit firmly into any one genre, that can actually be an advantage. For example, if you have a time-travel thriller that can not only appeal to fans of thrillers, but also to sci-fi fans compelled by the time-travel hook.

That's true whether they're fans of science fiction comics or anything else that might be sci-fi.

Theme

Next up is theme. Whether it's a bloody revenge story or the motivating tale of an underdog, themes can draw an audience to a story.

While it's hard to target for fans of a certain theme upfront - few people go looking for a great underdog tale - you can target against fans of other movies, books, or comics that employ a theme your project shares.

This is part of the reason why I feel so strongly about creators being involved in marketing. You know your comic best. While marketers bring craft and practical experience to the table, you can't expect them to do the work well without your input or involvement.

Also, while I don't think it's generally necessary for every creator to do their own marketing - and that publishers can play a very important role in this function - it does seem to be a necessity in the comic industry, today.

Topic

And then, there's the broad category of topics. Any number of topics can attract an audience to your work.

If you have a comic about Star Wars, it's not just people who like comics who'll read it. Sound familiar? Of course, they're benefitting from a specific, established fan base, but other areas can work off the same principle, too.

Your comic about aviation can draw a whole slew of fans more interested in your topic than the medium of the work. This is the same principle non-fiction books and documentaries work off of, and it can work for fiction, too.

I'm not saying that if you make a comic about sushi it'll automatically sell, but it gives you context to introduce your work to people who like sushi and it opens doors for you to then do the marketing work you need to succeed.

The same goes if you're making a comic where the main character is a veteran, and is impacted by that background. Even in an unreal fantasy setting, you have a good chance of satisfying a lot of readers with similar backgrounds.

As a note, I do consider art style a topic. Whether your comic is a little more animated, or more realistic, you can use that to narrow the audiences you try to target.

Those three pieces - Genre, Theme, Topic - are the core of this framework. For each one, you should try to come up with at least two elements from your comic.

I know that's quite a lot to digest already, but it's what it takes to market your comic properly - and we're just getting started.