How Much Money Will I Make From My Graphic Novel?

It’s difficult to predict how much money a particular graphic novel will make. Although graphic novels and comic books remain popular, many variables affect whether your story will be noticed.

Self-publishing is even more unpredictable than traditional book publishing because there is no guaranteed page rate for your work. However, you also get to keep all the royalties from sales unless you’ve worked out an agreement with an artist or other collaborator.

The best way to ensure the most sales possible is to put the work into marketing your graphic novel. Even the most beautiful art and engaging story won’t make its way into readers’ hands unless you ask them to try it.

Pricing Your Graphic Novel

Full-color graphic novels easily run $20 or more, especially if they’re from major publishers with large marketing budgets like Marvel or Image Comics. Volumes of 200 pages or more may be up to $30 for standard comic book size, and even more for magazine size.

Black and white or grayscale graphic novels are usually less expensive than full-color ones, in large part because the printing itself is less expensive. However, the time requirement for drawing these pages is usually much lower as well.

As a  self-published comic creator, you might be able to set your cover prices lower, but setting them too low can wipe out your profit margin. You will also need to keep in mind that higher page counts have higher overhead costs, so a price point that works for another indie author might not work for you.

When pricing your graphic novel, keep in mind that you shouldn’t expect to make a living off of it at first. Keep your first volumes’ prices low in order to attract potential readers. You can increase the cost of future installments, especially as your art and writing improve.

Publishing Your First Graphic Novel

Your very first graphic novel is likely to make less money than future ones for several reasons. First and foremost, you will likely be still establishing yourself as an author. Unless you already have a significant social media presence from blogging about comics, you will need to start from scratch to build up reader interest.

Depending on how niche your graphic novel is and how much you market it, you might only sell a few copies per month at first, and that’s okay. If your goal is to make money, you’ll need to give yourself some time to get noticed, just like the professionals do.

Sequels and Continuations

If you market your sequels and continuations properly, you will probably begin to see an increase in sales for the earlier volumes. Always point readers toward the first book in a franchise when marketing a new volume, especially if the individual volumes aren’t stand-alone.

Keep in mind that some readers won’t pick up a series until it is completed. This may be especially true for indie publishing since there’s a fear that the author might just never finish the series.

It may help to create your first work as a standalone graphic novel that’s left open-ended for continuations. Once you’ve established more of a fan base that trusts you and looks forward to your work, you may see more immediate success with ongoing series.

Starting a New Series

Although fans love sequels, they also usually look forward to entirely new series from authors they like and trust. If you’ve built up a sizable following from a previous series, you may see a spike in pre-orders and sales for your next work.

This doesn’t mean you should focus on quantity over quality, of course, or produce stories in a rush. However, you shouldn’t hesitate to branch out and start a new series even if sales for your previous works were lackluster. Instead of giving up, remember that artists and authors rarely see overnight success, even if they’re working full time in the comic book industry.

Side Projects and Commissions

If your goal is to make money, you should use your graphic novel to promote yourself as an artist in other ways. You can also  sell posters of characters or cover art from your series, especially once you get a large enough fanbase.

Many graphic novel artists also  take illustration commissions on the side for extra money. While this isn’t a direct result of your graphic novel, your self-published works will contribute to how much exposure you get and how many commissions you earn. You might even get hired to illustrate someone else’s graphic novel idea.

Realistic Monetary Goals

It’s important to remember that graphic novels will likely remain a part-time endeavor for you, and you will probably only finish a few pages a week if you’re both writing and drawing in full color. Newer indie artists will rarely clear a few hundred dollars a month. More established ones may hit $1,000 or more per month, but this is usually only possible for major genres like superhero and sci-fi series.

Plus, this revenue stream will trickle off if you stop publishing new works. Constantly creating new content is necessary for staying relevant and visible in social media feeds and word of mouth.

The other possibility is that your indie works may become more in-demand if you eventually get work on a professionally published project. Even if your goal is to work with traditional publishers eventually, try self-publishing as much as possible to build up a base of works that your fans will continue to buy well into the future.

Launching Your Journey

Entering the comic book industry as an indie author is challenging, especially if you don’t have an existing fan base. Fortunately, readers are eager to try new and exciting things and will give your work a chance if you market it well online and at comic cons.

Comix Well Spring is proud to provide  high-quality printing in both full color and black and white. We’re committed to supporting indie authors by making our order minimums as low as possible. Get as few as 25 copies at a time to keep your budget balanced while trying to promote your book.

We allow you to choose from either digital or physical proofs so you can double-check your formatting ahead of time. We even will keep a copy of your design file, so reordering is easier for you. If you have any questions about our products or services, give us a call at  (734) 346-7564 so we can help you out.