Umojar said:
@Vlad- that is a good point. What you say seems like it should be obvious, but it never occured to me. I never even considered working from home. How does that usually turn out though. Is it good to go that route?
I thought I was the only one who used "@" to direct a comment "at" the person it was directed at. It's a clever way of talking to someone specifically without wanting to have to quote them.
If you're going to do what I do though, I'd suggest putting that part in bold type so it stands out and the person it was directed to will be more likely to see it right away. Although, this may not be necessary if you're not addressing multiple people in the same post.
@ Umojar-, for example.
Anyways, how it turns out depends on your success, your income, your time, and whether you can afford to make this a full-time job. Obviously most people start doing this in their free-time and it may be a good idea to offer your first work for free so that people get to know you and you will get a sense of whether or not people accept you or your work and would be willing to pay for it. If you get a good reception and good and enough feedback, it's a good sign that maybe you should make this your career and start charging.
You are more likely to have job security and perhaps even benefits with a company, though. So somewhere in the middle being a part of a company helps alot of comic and manga artists out and helps them get experience they wouldn't be getting working for themselves. It also helps fund their own projects.
Although, if you work for a company, you draw what they want you to. So your personal projects will either be put on hold or will have to be done in your freetime.
Overall, though, it is quite common for artists to join a company, get their work known through the company, and then release their own material during and after. You have the momentum of a company backing and encouraging you, and the fianancial resources to help.
On the other hand though, it can be very difficult to get into the business. So, it does help to have a portfolio, to help you get the job in the first place.
Really, it depends on what you want to do with your work and whether you want to be making money off of it or not. You don't have to work for a company to make a successful manga thats earning you money.
With e-comics on the rise, this is a virtually cost-free way of getting your work out there and making money without the middle man and without having to print the comics and reserve an inventory.
Since e-pictures can be saved at near perfect resolution qualities, or if they are made completely digitally, you only really need to have one copy of an issue and a backup(s). From that one carbon copy, unlimited ammounts of copies can be made for the customers who would buy them. Supply and demand is not an issue with e-comics.
This is common sense when you think about it, but very few artists take their own art seriously enough to even begin to consider this.
