Going Around: Darryl Hughes, Paper, And Ink

First, a reminder from Barb:

I'm trying my hand at writing manga, just because I respect the comics' emphasis on characterization and storytelling over photorealistic art. However, that's not to put down manga art. I like manga art a lot. But, I also like how manga's art is there to support and to tell the story, not to overwhelm it or substitute for a story. Trying to write manga has been fun and challenging work, as manga style writing is very different than how Occidental comics traditionally are written. Just imagining panel layout is a challenge in and of itself. Compare a couple of pages of Kare Kano to, say, Superman to see what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I now have so many manga proposals ready that I could really use a manga-ka (i.e. a manga artist) or three right now to draw the proposals and be co-owner of anything that gets published.

So, if you're a manga artist, contact Park and me.

Thanks in advance---

Barb

And now back to me, for today's feature:

I've known Darryl Hughes of GAAK since we were all throwing ourselves fruitlessly into the hands of any start-up company that came down the pike... We've both learned a lot since then. We've learned to pick our allies a lot better, and Darryl's decided that he'll try comics as a rugged individualist (with an artist). We're seeking out those with the secret arcane knowledge of self-publishing and telling everyone how they did it. Come and hearken to the story of Darryl Hughes...

Park Cooper for SBC: Well let's get the easy stuff out of the way…Tell us who you are in exactly 42 words... contractions count as 1 each…

Darryl Hughes: I'm a hard headed, hard hearted, head strong, arrogant as all hell freelance writer from NYC set on world domination. How's that?

SBC: Next... Influences.

DH: In comics? Or general?

SBC: General. I'm tempted to say "and you can't use the letter K" but I think I was mean enough making you count your words... this isn't an obstacle course, after all...

DH: Dashiell Hammett. I’m a noir guy first and foremost. Stephen King. Because I love a good "Boo!". Tennessee Williams. Mark Twain. David Mamet and Edgar Allan Poe. Frank Miller. Ugh...I'm on the spot and losing my mind.

SBC: I should have forbid you the K. Tennessee Williams?

DH: Hell yes Tennessee Williams. I'll tell you why: Tennessee used the same techniques in his writing that the noir guys used--Layered language. I love layered language

SBC: Was GAAK your first comic?

DH: My first completed comic. It's that whole burned by flaky artists thing.

SBC: Okay, now, here we go... What I'd really like... Well we'll take it slow.

SBC: Now we've gone back in time.

DH: Ok.

SBC: How did the public at large first get to see GAAK?

DH: Ugh. That would have been in the single issue released through S---- Comics in 2002. November. It was supposed to be a 4 issue graphic novel mini but Smash went belly up shortly after issue one came out. Bank troubles.

SBC: Gee, what would I know about that story...

DH: LOL.

SBC: Now, let's tread slowly. Did you get any public feedback from that issue?

DH: Yeah, folks bought it at the one Con that Smash went to at the time and folks who bought it there followed me and Monique (MacNaughton) when we went online in November 2003. Plus Rick Olney of ORCA (Organized Readers of Comics Associated) and the Mighty Mini Con caught it and proclaimed himself the world's #1 GAAKster. LOL. He's been a big supporter

SBC: Okay... what did you sell it for and how many pages was it

DH: Ugh, $4 even if I'm not mistaken. And each issue was 60 pages long.

SBC: My, my.

DH: …Long winded.

SBC: Okay, So how did you decide to go online the next November?

DH: Just to point out, GAAK was originally thought out as a GN and broken up into issues. Monique and I got tired of submitting, being told a good all ages comic was just what the industry need, but being turned down for publication in the same breath. Plus...

SBC: And why do you think you got turned down, then...?

DH: We were getting nowhere with a start up subscription called Creature feature Comics which folded and left us kinda floundering after 6 months of effort, so we decided to show the comic to date online finish it, and then self publish it.

DH: That's easy--Hard times out there moneywise. And that's for all concerned...

DH: So to take a chance was a Vegas odds gamble on something that wasn't a sure thing in the age of Manga, X-titles, etc.

SBC: And how exactly did you decide to go online

SBC: There's online and self-publishing... what made you go for online first?

DH: Ah. The old "build your audience online, then sell the audience the print version" scenario. Monique and I figured that once folks saw it they'd like it. Folks tend to buy what they like.

SBC: Okay now. So how'd you decide how you were gonna go online

DH: Monique isn't just the GAAK artist, she's a creator in her own right . She creates UNA-Frontiers for Graphic Smash. But both it and her other creation "Arrowflight" started off at Drunkduck.com. She found it, liked it, told me about it, and like 3 weeks later GAAK was there too. It's a creator community feeling at DD. Good folks all around

SBC: Okay... briefly... then what happened

DH: Ugh, honestly? Folks took to GAAK immediately. I think it was the nostalgic feel of it. Through one of the drunkduck creators (Chris "The Asylumantics" Cantrell) I heard about lulu.com. After a brief sidetrack through 01Comics and that mess, I decided to self publish GAAK through lulu.

SBC: Mess?

DH: Mess. 01 Comics wasted 6 months trying to color GAAK because Barry Gregory (who had been reading GAAK at DD) only wanted to have color comics on 01 because they sell better. Ever seen one of those Ted Turner colorized movie classics? Apply same principle to GAAK and stir

SBC: Okay... So. Lulu. When was that exactly

DH: Monique and I publish GAAK through lulu in Oct '04

SBC: Okay... and elaborate for our readers a little on exactly what that means

DH: Lulu.com is a POD. A print on demand publisher through which aspiring self publishers can publish their creations (comics, literature, music, poetry) at minimal out of pocket cost. It's absolutely free to do

SBC: Might I ask how minimal?

DH: The extras are extra. If you just want to publish the book and make it available for sale through the lulu website--It's free. The printing cost and lulu's fees are factored into the sale price. The extras like ISBN numbers and expanded distribution are extra. But, like I said, minimal in cost. It's about $35 to get an ISBN number to make your book available to book stores through...

SBC: So... why isn't everyone in the world doing this?

DH: Bowkers "books in print". The ISBN Plus expanded distribution is $150 which gets your book into online and retail bookstores like Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, etc, through Ingram Book group. The cost of the Basic ($35) is deductible from the expanded distribution ($150)so your total cost is bout $130 bucks. But it more or less pays for itself with added sales.

DH: I think that PODs like Lulu will be a tool that more and more indy creators will use in future

SBC: Made a bet with myself what you'd say, and you said it: "They will"

DH: It's just starting out. And new POD methods like comixpress are offering a variety of options.

SBC: In any event... So you published GAAK through lulu in Oct of last year... what's happened since then

SBC: uh... briefly

DH: Oh. We've gone into expanded distribution in February, which means we are available to online and brick-n-mortar retail book stores. We've been picked up by about 25 stores including Amazon, Barnes&Nobles, etc. Sales have been modest at best to date. But once I can get some review copies out and raise our profile, the 50/50 split will kick in.

SBC: 50/50 split?

DH: The 50/50 split is my idea of the ingredients to success. Success is a 50/50 split: 50% production, 50% promotion. If you build it they will come only works in Kevin Costner movies. Once you've made something, whatever it is, you then have to go out and get the people and bring them back to what you've created. That means publicity, promotion, good reviews, etc.

Next time: Darryl Hughes, the conclusion...

And now, as we end every column...

--Hey kids-- look what I realized I can do-- syndicate the most recent page of Gun Street Girl right here in the column.

Of course, to read anything that happened before this page of the story, you gotta go to Graphic Smash and log into the archives.

Except of course for this story-- you can go read it right now with just one click:

http://www.graphicsmash.com/series.php?name=gsg&view=toc&toc_view=freesamples