Posted in: Comics | Tagged: creator-owned comics, entertainment, indie Comics, indiegogo, Kickstarters, small business saturday

It's Small Business Saturday – Support Indie Comics!

Published Sat, 29 Nov 2014 09:00:12 -0600

by Hannah Means Shannon

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Small Business Saturday is a salient reminder for us all that the local businesses that surround us need our support as we enter the holiday season. We can take a hard line on things and say we won't be lining up at major chain stores to spend our holiday gifting money, but that's not for everyone–and I like my dvds and New York Times best-sellers as much as the next person to put under the Christmas tree, if I'm honest about it.

But we make choices every day and there's no reason we can't strategize to make sure some of our support goes to the burgeoning field of indie comics. Even creators who have some more mainstream work are usually freelancers who also have their dream projects on the side and hope to some day be self-supporting based upon finding their own readership in a zone where they can create without constraint of mainstream business strategies.

Here are a few reminders of how you can support indie comics as small businesses and keep the dreams flowing for comics creators.

1. Spend some time browsing Kickstarter, indiegogo, and other crowdfunding platforms. You know the tastes of those who are close to you, and while a Kickstarter can take awhile to deliver, the project that suits them best might say to your loved one that you know what makes them geek out and give them something to look forward to. Support a Kickstarter on their behalf and the gift keeps on giving.

2. Take a stroll through ComiXology Submit titles. I've noticed recently that plenty of Submit titles are entering "collections" phases where you can get a whole run of an indie series or a digital graphic novel collection for very reasonable rates while getting a substantial read and exploring a whole world in comics. It's hard to find presents that are original, and if you're like me, you spend some time wracking your brain to give someone a gift they haven't seen before. That is beyond easy when it comes to the comics on Submit–they are so wildly varied and interesting that it's a world of possibilities.

3. Check out your favorite creators' websites and subscribe to their e-mail lists. There's a good chance that even creators you haven't been aware of launching indie projects have some, and following their personal blogspots, and thence to their Twitter or Facebook accounts is the way to stay up on these projects. You are directly supporting their artistic careers by doing so. You might even find prints, original art, or related items that will help them have a Merry Christmas this year by making some money at the start of the season and giving them some peace of mind so they can unchain themselves from the desk and spend some time with friends and family in a humane way this holiday.

4. Visit small press websites. Plenty of them are having digital bundle sales for the holidays and discounted packages on longer running titles. A majority of small presses work very much on a creator-owned system and the people who make the comics are being directly supported through your purchases and orders.

5. Start planning now for what indie shows you might want to attend and support in the New Year. Dates are always shifting around a little for smaller shows and get a jump on that to make sure you can make cheaper travel plans or get some time off work to turn up in person and support handmade and small press comics right at the source. It's not easy to "gift" shows to others, of course, but when family are together at holidays, it's a good time to make plans if you have other comics lovers in your life.

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