Adapting Your Spec to a Graphic Novel

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  • #16
    Re: Adapting Your Spec to a Graphic Novel

    What I meant by "indie-indie" is truly independent, like an independent film but with a graphic novel. So while DC and Marvel could be considered NOT indie and some people would consider Fantagraphics or Image indie, I would consider

    CVOLANTE'S COMICS (or whatever) to be indie.

    You and the artist team up, make the comic, publish it on Comixology and voila- you're done.

    ***
    I appreciate your comments, Willoughby, and I've had some experiences lately that make me think just getting the work out there indie and skipping the middle man could be the best way, especially if you get the idea it's not going to sell a gazillion copies. (A teacher packet I sold to a teacher publishing company makes me TONS more money when I sell it myself than when I sell it via their catalogue and only get a small percentage... More money in my pocket indie.)

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    • #17
      Re: Adapting Your Spec to a Graphic Novel

      Originally posted by finalact4 View Post

      Couldn't find your GN on Amazon. Can you hit me with the link?
      Heh. Story of my life. It's at:

      https://www.amazon.com/Academy-Villa...=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

      One thing that I've heard universally about it is that the artwork is excellent. I know it's not for everyone, but I have no regrets over 'going pro' for the artwork. Maybe this means when I hang a framed version of the cover on my office wall one day, people will just assume it's something they should've heard of. One can hope!
      "The intrepid Spaceman Spiff is stranded on a distant planet! Our hero ruefully acknowledges this happens fairly frequently." Calvin & Hobbs

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      • #18
        Re: Adapting Your Spec to a Graphic Novel

        I went the adaptation route as the OP describes and I wouldn't recommend it. I am reasonably happy with the result and it opened a few doors for me, but frankly it's a cockamamie way to go if what you want to do is be a screenwriter.

        Now you find yourself in a whole other world -- indie comic publishing, which is NOT screenwriting or film. And after going through the whole long process of getting the book done, if you try to get a company to publish it now you have to go through the same process of querying, and you don't have any contacts or connections in the business. And if you self publish, now you have to do a whole lot of work to market it and drive traffic and sales...a whole bunch of boring stuff that is NOT screenwriting. And unless your book is some kind of super hit, in the end it's just another graphic novel out there, without any heat. At least that was my experience.

        Where it helped me is that now I basically had a 96 page look book, and that's more or less all it amounted to because unless you have a substantial following, visibility, and/or sales, no film company is going to treat it as anything but that. And it doesn't put you really in any better position in your quest be a screenwriter. I enjoyed the whole experience immensely and I don't regret it, but if your goal is to be a screenwriter, why not just write more screenplays, which by the way you can do at no cost to you?

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        • #19
          Re: Adapting Your Spec to a Graphic Novel

          Probably not worth it if you're bent on a zillion dollar film.
          But if you want to get your story out there and you're happy with the way it looked, hey - you made a comic book!

          Some people want a fancy car, trip to a Caribbean island... other people want an indie feature or a comic book.
          Last edited by cvolante; 05-09-2016, 04:47 PM.

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          • #20
            Re: Adapting Your Spec to a Graphic Novel

            Originally posted by muckraker View Post
            if your goal is to be a screenwriter, why not just write more screenplays, which by the way you can do at no cost to you?
            No cost, but not always that much gain. You can write the most amazing screenplay in the world, but who's really going to read it? A few producers, executives, maybe some actors. I've been on feature film sets where no one I talked to had even SEEN the script. This is ON SET.

            With the likelihood of getting a screenplay made so very low, why not pour that energy into something that'll be read by people, even if it might be a smaller number.

            I'm not saying re-direct your energy to try to query a whole bunch of people in a new industry. Maybe just make it and get it out there?

            Just a philosophy, but it's my current one. I'm sick of getting 7s on the Blacklist, having producers like stuff, send it around, blah blah and then nothing. I grow old, I grow old... shall I wear my trousers rolled?

            Sorry, I'm ranting. Once I get all Prufrocky I know it's time to go home.

            Best of luck with whatever you do and trust your instincts.
            Last edited by cvolante; 05-09-2016, 04:49 PM.

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            • #21
              Re: Adapting Your Spec to a Graphic Novel

              Yeah, I hear ya, muckraker. My goal is NOT to get caught in a web of derailed screenwriting. It was a suggestion by a producer as a strategy to sell the movie to studio, since I have a high budget sci-fi epic that is original and not not based on a pre-existing IP that has an existing fan base.

              I was derailed once from writing screenplays for two years, when I came up with this clever idea for a website and drowned myself in html/css coding since I just "have to do it all myself." After two years, I learned my lesson. It was a beautiful website, but damn, I had no time for anything else. I keep the wordpress copy of the website on my desktop as a reminder, don't to that again. The GN might seem doable, but as soon as I started to see "put your team together" I could see the writing on the wall.

              I write movies. That's what I do. If I had the money to have someone else do it for me, I would. I admire those of you who have done it-- and it'd be cool to have one, but for me, it's movies or TV or bust.

              Thanks to you all for you contribution. I appreciate you sharing your experiences.
              "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

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              • #22
                Re: Adapting Your Spec to a Graphic Novel

                Wishing you luck!

                (closing shot!)
                https://www.google.com/search?q=the+...AmH9EzO_leM%3A

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                • #23
                  Re: Adapting Your Spec to a Graphic Novel

                  Nice.
                  "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

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