The tally has been counted. I have officially filled my 3rd magazine box of illustrated blank comic book covers! The count is 177 plus a few in a 4th box. Yay me? Now with this tower of boxes I am forced to ask myself the dreaded question, What now? I have no personal attachment to these original illustrations. It’s a reason for me to do some fan arting. I have to sell them. Here in lies the age old artist dilemma: How much? What if no one cares?
If no one cares then it’s easy. 1,000,000 dollars because if no one would buy it for 1 dollar they won’t buy it for 1,ooo,000 problem solved.
The thing is I know people would buy these, so I am faced with a value of worth. How am I going to do that?
Well, I’m thinking like this: How much did I pay for the material. )mainly the comic and ink if colored, packing materials ect)? What is the retail of the blank cover comic itself? How long did I spend on the illustration (including reference and composition research)?
What level of an artist am I, meaning how many hours have I spent drawing. This is the hard part because there is what I want to think and the honest truth. If you think some of these aren’t very good, it might be hard to believe that there are many I threw in the trash because they were bad even to my low standards.
All these things considered, What do I do if no one wants them? If I go lower in price will someone maybe want them? If someone wants to buy multiple do I cut a deal?
Where do I sell them? I haven’t quite figured that out. I have a bigcartel store (link to plug here) but It is an island and difficult to get visitors. Other community sales sites like etsy have a built in audience and a search engine for buyers that bigcartel does not. However it’s easier for a cave dweller like me to navigate to do commerce on.
Like most artists my work is not flying off the shelves. I’ve learned the hard way not to make my living trying to sell original art. This provides me with the confidence to be more conservative and say no to many of these questions.
What if no one wants them for the price I ask? I hate to say it, but I either throw them in the trash ripping them to shreds, or if I personally dig it, I hold on a little bit long for conversation piece at a show.
Discount for multiples? No. I’ve done this before and felt like and asshole. It’s not a commodity like underwear or Tina’s burritos. It’s not mass produced. It makes me feel cheap. I’ll wait until I’m completely homeless to feel that way. Believe it or not I have a homeless plan. I’ll save that for another article though.
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