How Much Money Can You Make From A Graphic Novel?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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While ZipRecruiter is seeing annual salaries as high as $137,000 and as low as $16,000, the majority of Graphic Novel Artist salaries currently range between

$30,000 (25th percentile) to $59,000 (75th percentile)

with top earners (90th percentile) making $83,000 annually across the United States.

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Can a graphic novel make money?

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. … You might even get hired to illustrate someone else’s graphic novel idea.

How do I sell a graphic novel?

  1. Fundraise to cover costs. Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter can help with the financing if you decide you’d like a little help from a team of freelance designers or with covering the costs of publishing itself. …
  2. Format your work for print. …
  3. Grab an ISBN. …
  4. Publish.

How much does a graphic novel cost?

When you look at revenue from graphic novels, the picture changes a bit. Graphic novels aimed at kids (and that includes most manga) tend to be priced in the

$10 to $15 range

, while superhero and literary graphic novels can range from $15 to $30 (or more).

Do graphic novels sell?

Graphic novels are

sold in the direct market

and also to trade book stores, with consumer sales tracked through the book industry standard system Bookscan, now owned and managed by media metrics firm The NPD Group.

Can you make a living as a graphic novelist?

Graphic novelists working for mainstream comics publishers like Marvel and DC create material using characters owned by the publisher on a work for hire basis. The mainstream publishers break down production into a series of distinct tasks with page rates for each task. Pencil artists earn $100 to $250 per page.

Are graphic novels a good investment?

But it’s not just the older books that are valuable. Comics from the last 20 years are also becoming collectible. … This makes investing in

comic books a potentially lucrative investment choice

. And smart comic book investors can make money off of comic books, but only if they treat it like any other serious investment.

How many pages should a graphic novel have?

Anthologies often employ a different writer for each story. GRAPHIC NOVEL Original graphic novels (OGNs) are generally perfect-bound and of

at least 64 story pages in length

. Some writers and publishers define a graphic novel as anything beyond standard comic length.

How much do publishers pay for graphic novels?

But when working through a publisher such as Image Comics, the publisher is entitled to a percentage as well, anywhere from

12%-17.5% of the cover price

. This leaves the creative team with approximately 17.5%-23% to be divided amongst the writer, artist, inker, colorist, letterer, etc.

How long does it take to make a graphic novel?

The Bottom Line. Everybody’s creative journey is going to look differently, and the process of creating a graphic novel from idea to finished product varies. Especially because graphic novels are collaborative, it might take anywhere from

one to three years

.

How many words should a graphic novel be?

Graphic Novels:

20,000 – 75,000 words

.

Do graphic novels sell better than novels?

Nope, they’re not at all tougher to sell. There is no ‘issue’ about whether they cost a lot more to produce or not.

Graphic novels aren’t books

. Just like you wouldn’t take your Cessna down to your local Ford dealer for service, you wouldn’t take your graphic novel to a book publisher to sell.

Where can I publish a graphic novel?


BookBaby

is the easiest way to publish and print a graphic novel or manga. Authors producing their very own custom graphic novel care about one thing: superior quality. The experienced technicians at BookBaby know how to deliver everything from perfect color accuracy to crisp, gorgeous black and white pages.

Are graphic novels still popular?

Graphic novels (another name for comic books) have become increasingly

popular with children, teen readers, and adults

. The boom in the last 10 years in this category is due to the popularity of Japanese comics with young readers.

How much does it cost to hire an illustrator for a graphic novel?

Generally, you’re looking at spending from

one to two hundred per page

at the lower end of the market, with it going up exponentially from there. Your best course of action is to contact the illustrators you’re interested in working with and ask them what their rates and conditions are.

What makes a successful graphic novel?

The great thing about graphic novels is

the emotive response and connection between the reader and the novel

. You no longer have to use your imagination to create an idea of the mise-en-scene and character profile as a graphic novel illustrates every emotion, struggle and physical changes in the characters.

Do illustrators make graphic novels?

Comic illustrators create

images for comic books

and strips. The comic or graphic novel genre employs visuals in a series of sequential panels to tell a story.

Which comics will grow in value?

  • Batman #436 $8. …
  • Captain America #360 $13. …
  • Convergence Superman #2 $16 From 2015. …
  • Daredevil #270 1st Blackheart $15. …
  • Detective Comics #608 1st Anarky $10. …
  • Fantastic Four #558 $10. …
  • Iron Man #219 $9. …
  • Journey Into Mystery #622 $7.

Is the comic industry dying?

The Billion-Dollar Comic Book Business Continues To Boom

According to Publisher’s Weekly, sales of comic books and graphic novels topped $1.28 billion in 2020, an all-time high. It’s no fluke. With a few exceptions — sales fell a little in 2017, for example — comic book sales have been rising consistently for decades.

Do comics go down in value?

As a general rule,

most comic books will go up in value

. How much they go up can vary greatly. That can depend on many factors such as rarity, condition, and popularity.

Do Webtoon artists get paid?

Webtoon Artist can make anywhere between

$100-$2000 a month

from posting their comics as a Canva or Featured Creator on LINE Webtoon. According to an interview with JunKoo Kim the base pay for featured LINE Webtoon artist was $2,000 a month. Creators can earn 50% from ads displayed on their series!

How long is the longest graphic novel?

The largest graphic novel is Romeo and Juliet: The War (Limited Collector’s Edition), measuring

63.18 cm (24.875 in) by 83.82 cm (33 in) by

5 cm (2 in) and published by 1821 Comics in Los Angeles, USA, on June 6, 2012.

Are graphic novels genre?

“Graphic Novel” is

a format, not a genre

. Graphic novels can be fiction, non-fiction, history, fantasy, or anything in-between. Graphic novels are similar to comic books because they use sequential art to tell a story.

How do graphic novels make money?

  1. Self-publish a comic book. …
  2. Build a comic website. …
  3. Draw comics for newspapers. …
  4. Curate comics for customers. …
  5. Work for an established company. …
  6. Bonus tips for making money with your comics.

How does Image Comics make money?

Image Comics’ policy on profits consists of

taking a flat fee (which used to be around 2000$ in early 10s) to cover their expenses and make profit

. Everything else goes to the creative team, where it is split between writer, artist, inker, colorist and etc. However, the fee may eat entire profit.

Should I write a novel or comic book?


Novels

are typically more detailed and thorough in requiring writing skills than comics–as comics support lot of expressions, visuals, etc, that you would have to write pages after pages for. With novel, you can get into “writer’s block” more often than a comic.

How do you start a graphic novel?

The first few pages of your graphic novel should

tell the reader who and what the novel is going to be about

. Open with a scene that shows your main character in action in the setting. Or begin with dialogue and images that tell the reader a bit about the conflict between main character and another character.

How much money does it cost to write a book?

Authors spend an

average of $2,000 to $5,000 publishing

their own books. Some spend much less, while others spend upwards of $20,000. Here is how the costs of self-publishing break down: Professional editing: There are several different levels of editing your book might need.

How do you pitch a graphic novel idea?

  1. Title Page. Your document should begin with a title page. …
  2. Overview. This section is super important. …
  3. About the Creator(s)
  4. Character (+Setting) Descriptions. This is where we meet the people and places that make up your book. …
  5. Sample Pages. …
  6. Sample Script. …
  7. Synopsis.

How much do graphic novelists make a year?

Annual Salary Monthly Pay Top Earners $107,500 $8,958 75th Percentile $69,000 $5,750 Average

$60,033


$5,002
25th Percentile $38,000 $3,166

How much do comic book artists make?

The median comic book artist salary

is $36,500

, according to Payscale. But it’s rare for a comic book artist to land a salaried position and it’s far more common for these gigs to be project-based. That means you need to be efficient.

Can anyone publish a graphic novel?

Instead of relying on literary agents, query letters, and submission guidelines, writers and

artists can simply publish the story they want to

, without any editorial changes from a comic book publisher.

How long should comics be?

An ideal comic page count could be

32 to 48 pages

and could be more or less as the creative process goes and as long as the pages are in multiples of four. Sometimes, smaller page counts are commonly between 22-24 pages. Comics also usually run for 4 to 6 issues.

How many panels does a graphic novel have?

There is an

average of 5 panels per page

, but you can have as little as 1 panel (called a splash page) or as many as you can realistically fit onto a page (comics rarely go more than 9 panels per page).

How much does the average comic cost?

According to comic book site Newsarama, the average price of comic books is

$2.99

, with larger issues priced at $3.99 or $4.99 depending on the size of the issue.

Are comics profitable?

Yes, but not from single issues alone,

most of the profit comes from back issues

, graphic novels, special editions, TPBs and associated Merch. It’s more of a long term investment. If these companies weren’t profitable, they would be around anymore.

Are comics still popular 2021?

The world of comics exploded as never before in 2021, with top Marvel and DC creators finding new creative outlets, graphic novels thriving in

bookstores

, and several blockbuster series reaching their long anticipated and epic conclusions.

How many adults read graphic novels?


11% of all adults

surveyed read graphic novels.

Why do authors make graphic novels?

Graphic novels have many advantages:

The images give an overview of the story

, which encourages the child to read the whole thing. By looking at the images they can get a sense immediately of what is happening, particularly good for kids who are really turned off books.

Rachel Ostrander
Author
Rachel Ostrander
Rachel is a career coach and HR consultant with over 5 years of experience working with job seekers and employers. She holds a degree in human resources management and has worked with leading companies such as Google and Amazon. Rachel is passionate about helping people find fulfilling careers and providing practical advice for navigating the job market.