How to Self-Publish a Graphic Novel

How to Self-Publish a Graphic Novel How to Self-Publish a Graphic Novel Crowdfunding the graphic novel on KickstarterKickstarter is a fantastic platform but it's an incredible amount of work. Aside from the lengthy setup, I spent 50 days busting my backside to reach my funding limit, broadcasting tweets, securing guest blogs, sending emails and generally pestering people to help me raise the money. If I could convey any advice on crowdfunding it's not to underestimate the effort it takes to reach your goal.With the help of 166 backers, I was lucky enough to raise  £5,617 for The Written Graphic Novel. As you can imagine I was incredibly pleased, even though the real work was now to begin.The first step was to get the artwork done. This was down to Mike Shipley, my fantastic artist. With the help of a dozen mood-boards, we spent several months plotting out how the artwork could sit alongside the story. After storyboarding each page, all 130 of them, Mike got stuck in.A year and five months after we launched the project, we hit the preparation stage. Eve n though I'm an expert in self-publishing and tour the UK teaching fellow authors how to self-publish books, publishing a graphic novel was new territory for me. As I do all the typesetting for my print books, there was a steep learning curve, consisting of ink densities, DPIs, CMYK versus RGB, PDF compression, and all the other aspects that come with moving from black and white print-ready files to full-color printing. However, it was a rewarding process. It taught me a lot, and I was especially glad for the experience as I was able to pass the knowledge onto the authors that I help self-publish.Formatting and self-publishingNow publishing the print version, even though it took a bit of back and forth with  Ingram Spark, a very helpful and major print-on-demand company, was relatively straight forward. It took a few months to process but by December the paperback was out across the globe in a range of stores. It was now time to turn my attention to creating the eBook version â₠¬â€œ the more technical of the two.With eBook formatting, there are a few more aspects to consider compared to typesetting. There are two major eBook formats, multiple types of eReaders, screen sizes and even orientations to bear in mind. I always recommend working with a professional when it comes to the technical job of formatting. The reading experience is very important indeed, and you want to get it spot on for your esteemed readers. That's why I took my own advice and turned to Reedsy to find myself the perfect technical formatter for the job.You can find The Written Graphic Novel and the rest of Ben Galley’s fantasy books at www.bengalley.com, His is self-publishing advice service can be found at www.shelfhelp.info.  Ben can be found being loquacious and attempting to be witty on Twitter (@BenGalley) or Facebook (/BenGalleyAuthor).Have you ever thought about  adapting your novel into a graphic novel? If no, what's stopping you? Let us know your thoughts, or any que stions for Ben, in the comments below!