Profit and loss for an anthology.
The Toronto Comics project is about learning how to make comics, and a large part of that education is focussed around dollah dollahs. It's important to us that all our creators can see where money is going, and this info may be useful to you as well!
All prices below are in CDN, and often reflect heavily discounted or practically donated services from friends and suppliers.
Core Book costs
Cover Art, Artist and Writer payments
Creators
We paid
$25 a page, split 40/60 between the writer and artist. Most well-established anthologies pay +-
$50 a page, but we're not yet able to offer that.
Our cover art was provided by the talented
Adam Gorham.
$6,770.00
1,500 Books
12pt glossy 4-colour cover, 70lb Husky Smooth paper, 6" x 9", 280 pages. 3 week turnaround time including delivery.
$5,703.93
100 shirts
Gildan Soft-style with 4 colour screenprint. Sold during Kickstarter and at conventions.
$1,078.42
Editor payments
Editors
Editors need money too!
$600.00
Tabloid Printer, ink + paper
A wide-format printer is invaluable for printing proofs instantly at home.
$225.46
Font licenses
Bemio, Longbow, Dearly Departed.
$119.04
Promotional costs
2,800 Buttons
We hand these out free at conventions as a lure. As a promotional tool they're super effective. Also a KS reward!
$749.19
1,680 6"x9" prints on 110lb cardstock
Buying any of our books entitles a buyer to their choice of prints. Out of deference to the artists, we don't sell these directly. Also a KS reward!
$630.98
Roll-up display banner, table supplies
Double-sided banner stand, a full set of acrylic display easels, etc.
$569.00
200 Promotional Kickstarter pamphlets for Comiccon
Handed out during the March Comiccon to promote the KS. Also distributed to friendly comic stores.
Rapido is very good at printing small-format booklets cheaply and quickly. They can't cost-effectively do much larger than 6x9, but for promotional material they're great.
$357.93
Kickstarter video supplies
Merissa Tse
Covers equipment rental and crew food only. Thanks Merissa!
$254.25
Promotional Kickstarter business cards
We handed these out at Sarnia and the March ComicCon to raise awareness of the KS.
$100.56
Fulfilment costs
Mailing KS orders
A USPS broker is an enormous help in reducing the cost of shipping fees. They saved us $2-6 on every parcel for both domestic and international shipments.
$1,768.50
Shipping supplies
Uline is like the IKEA of Office Supplies. I already had a huge pile of Uline shipping supplies on hand, so our cost for this project was reduced.
Unfortunately, it was brought to my attention that
Uline funds anti-LGBT causes, so I will look for a different supplier next year.
$20.00
All told, the total Toronto Comics: Volume 3 cost is a staggering $19,047.26 CDN.
Nineteen thousand dollars.
And that's not including convention table fees, hotels or travel costs! Even a small-scale indy anthology with a low page rate like ours costs an enormous sum of money.
There are ways we could have cut costs - fewer books, reducing the number of promotional items and cutting out conventions, for example. The shirts were a very expensive experiment as well. In future projects we may print fewer books, but I feel the other elements are necessary for building our brand as an ongoing project.
Revenue Sources
We ran a successful Kickstarter for $12,398 CDN. This paid for the vast bulk of creator and printing costs, but did not offset promotional or fulfilment costs. Without the enormous success of the KS the project would not be possible at all!
$11,310.13
TCAF is simply the best show in Canada. The crowd is intensely passionate about discovering new comics, the staff are incredibly friendly and organized, and I can't recommend it enough.
$3,251.00
Contributor pre-orders
We allowed creators to purchase pre-order extra books at production cost - about $4 CDN a book.
$859.50
While a fun show, I wouldn't recommend it to indy creators, unless their product was a horror or nerd nostalgia item.
$545.00
Very intense and very arts-focussed! Zines, prints and original paintings seemed to sell best at this show.
$250.00
Website orders
I wrote a very simple Paypal cart to take orders, and do fulfilment myself from home.
$421.00
We have a consignment deal with this Indigo location. That means they keep our books on their shelves, but we only get paid if the book sells. Thankfully, ours do!
$340.61
The Page & Panel store is an enormous supporter of Indy comics in Toronto. We give them books and shirts, they sell all of 'em, and we give them more.
$688.50
The Sidekick Cafe is a great comic store and cafe in Leslieville, and a big supporter of the local scene.
$421.50
Paradise Comics are a North York based store, and the friendly local comicbook store of many of Vol 3's creators.
$165.00
This is a very panels and activity focussed event, and alas their dealer's room doesn't see a whole lot of traffic.
$405.00
Fan Expo has very high table prices, but it IS the biggest show in Ontario. If your book has an audience, you can make real bank there.
$1,735.00
Probably the best single-day show in Ontario! Just like TCAF, it's full of hungry readers looking for new books.
$860.00
All told, since the Kickstarter wrapped in March, we've moved 525 books and 73 shirts, and we're 2204.98 CDN in the black. That said, that does NOT include hotel fees and table costs, which are about $4k so far this year. I expect the project to fully break even by Christmas or early in the new year.
If you're looking to start your own anthology, here's my advice:
1) Start small.
Our first project was just 90 pages long, and a far cry from perfect. For that book, the writers pooled together to cover print costs, and artists donated their work. The more small successful projects you build, the more credibilty you'll have when you start something really ambitious.
2) Have deadlines and stick to them.
If you don't have an intended release date for your book, it'll probably never come out. Do some research and talk to artists and writers about how long they think it'll take to finish their tasks, and then build a release schedule around that. Set small manageable goals and pursue them as hard as you can.
3) Plan for failures.
Always make sure that even if half the creators drop, you still have enough to print something. Look for potential points of failure, and try to build a backup plan for them. But most importantly, hitting the deadline is more important than making your first project amazing.
4) Build relationships with your suppliers.
Be on good terms with printers, artists, camera people, and everyone you meet. Being friendly and professional ( and paying promptly! ) will help a great deal.
5) Have an emergency fund.
The long winter will hit, and if you don't have savings you will be forced to sell blood and furniture. I've been there, it ain't great.
6) Be a part of the community.
Connect with fellow creators on your level on tumblr, reddit, Something Awful or the local comics community in your city. Find other people who're passionate about making comics, learn their strengths and go build something amazing!
