The Gallery

The Art of Self Publishing

We're taking a break from artist profiles this week for a little something special - let's get right to it, shall we?

Our special this week takes a look at two groups that decided to forego applying to publishing companies and produce their own artbook compilations. They join us today to talk about their experiences, the hassles involved - and all the little details in between.

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First Blossom - Celsa, Mugeno

Self publication has an interesting history with relation to anime and manga fandom in the United States. One of the first things anime fans in Northern California did after organizing in the 1980s was publish their own magazine, Animag, which featured contributions from a "who's who" of people that would eventually end up working in the anime industry to support the hobby they loved. Coincidentally, Animag also featured some of the first fan art that ever made it to print in the United States. Considering this history, coupled with the embrace of self-publishing by anime and manga fans in other countries and Japan, it was perhaps only a matter of time before artists in North America also began to look into self-publishing their own work. However, self-published manga and artbooks in North America are up against a very different and unique set of challenges when compared to their Japanese counterparts. For starters, while Japanese conventions are centered around the sale of such materials and fan-focused stores in Japan actually sell fanart and self-published original works at commercial venues, North American fans often resort to selling their work via the internet and at conventions where the Artist Alley is just one part of a larger convention experience. The publishing process itself can also be a hassle; while numerous Japanese publishing and printing companies are acclimated to publishing manga and compete for business from fans (which can keep costs down), many American printing companies are less familiar with the format, and costs can be high. These challenges can be daunting for most cash-strapped artists, but in the face of a recession that has North American publishers scaling back on supporting original content, the concept of self publishing an artbook, manga, or compilation to get your work into the public eye has become more attractive than ever before. I spoke with Jeannie Park and Shi Yuan Kuang, two artists who draw in a manga style that produced artbook compilations with their respective artist groups, about their experiences producing their own artbooks. Their stories reflect the difficulty with publishing your own work, but also reflect how the close-knit manga artist community has banded together to get their work into the public eye.

Something Colorful

For Jeannie, her group's art compilation, Something Colorful, was the result of a chance meeting between a group of artists at Anime Expo 2006. "I was invited to a sketch jam with Hans Tseng," recalls Jeannie. "A bunch of us ended up hanging out together after that, and eventually we decided that we should try to produce an artbook." Early concept work for the volume was tricky, since the group didn't want to use a title that seemed too pretentious or egotistical. After agonizing over the title and look of the work for weeks, Jeannie said that she wanted the title to be "something colorful" to reflect the light, fun nature of their group. Ironically, the title stuck quickly and became the theme for the volume as well, with different colors used in chapter introductions to identify each featured artist. "The friendships and links that we all shared in the project were the main reason we launched the project," says Jeannie, adding, "we weren't trying to publish it to build up our portfolios; it's just something we wanted to do together." Beyond using Colorful as an excuse to socialize, Jeannie admits that the project was also an opportunity for the artists in the group to create something other than fan art and commissions: "One main point for our artbook was that it would be 100% original art - both to give ourselves an excuse to draw original art, and to have original art to sell at our [Artist Alley] tables. I'm really proud of that!"

Mugeno

Although Artist Alley is often stereotyped as a place just to get fan art, giving artists an outlet to produce original work was also a motivating factor for Shi Yuan, the organizer of the artbook Mugeno. The title, which is a play on the Japanese words for "infinite" and "the first" refers to what Shi Yuan calls "an infinite number of beginnings" - in other words, giving artists a chance to promote their unique styles on a larger scale. "I wanted the artists to bring a blend of skill and originality to the book," says Shi Yuan, who handled all editorial and book design work for Mugeno. There is a definite element of "community" in Mugeno as well; however, unlike Something Colorful's ties to an art group, the Mugeno artists were brought together because of their presence on Deviant Art. As a result, the art book boasts entries from more than eighty artists from all over the world, all of whom contributed original content for the artbook. Shi Yuan's initial inspiration for bringing the project to life came when he saw the enthusiastic fan response to the artbook compilations for the Street Fighter video game series that Udon Entertainment released in 2008. "I just wanted to help out the artists and help them find that kind of attention."

Not surprisingly, the production process for both volumes is tied to the ways in which they were created. While Jeannie had no trouble getting artwork for Something Colorful from her friends, Shi Yuan's quest to get artwork for Mugeno presented a few challenges. "I'm not as well known as other artists on Deviant Art," admits Shi Yuan, who first advertised for the volume on his webpage. Needing a little more attention, he began reaching out to artists directly, eventually finding that most artists were happy to contribute. "You really have to build these projects up - you can't assume you'll have any particular response until you give it a shot," says Shi Yuan. Something Colorful had another advantage in early production: Jeannie's father knew a broker for printing companies in South Korea, which helped her secure a discount on the printing - a nice addition to the already lower-than-US printing prices. For Mugeno, Shi Yuan went with an American company, and although the page quality was good, some of the volumes arrived damaged. He admits that if he could do the process all over again, he would get a proof of the finished product first - a service which most printers provide standard.

Skyline - Jessica Chang, Something Colorful

The creation of the actual volume was another story. Shi Yuan's experience with an array of programs for desktop publishing, such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop for touch-ups, helped make the volume a reality, and since the page format for Mugeno is rather straightforward, bringing the volume together was not too difficult. On the other hand, Jeannie and her friends had a few more problems, working solely in Photoshop on a tight schedule. "Deadline night became deadline week," Jeannie recalls. "Taking every file and making it ready for the printer was a pain. In the end, it took three of us one week to get everything ready." Bringing their respective artbooks into the public eye presented another set of challenges for Jeannie and Shi Yuan. Something Colorful has mostly found sales during conventions at the Artist Alley tables of artists from the group. The sales style fits the character of the volume well, since each section of the book is geared towards introducing the reader to both the artist, their history, and their body of work. In the case of Mugeno, which is centered mainly on presenting one or two works by an artist, Shi Yuan has used postcards and convention flyers to promote the volume in an attempt to get it distributed to as wide an audience as possible.

First Lesson - Mou-s, Mugeno

Regardless, the artbooks have succeeded in getting the work of the artists they feature into more hands, and for both Jeannie and Shi Yuan, that makes the experience worth it. "I don't regret doing it, although you have to be careful when you work with friends," admits Jeannie. "Everyone is different, and projects like this tend to bring out a lot of stress. You have to delegate [responsibilities]. But in the end, as long as you have a product you can be proud of, that will make the experience worth it." Since Shi Yuan handled production on his own, he avoided some of the stress that can come with a group project, but admits that working solo has its own disadvantages. "I thought that people would think the project was cool and flock to it," recalls Shi Yuan, "but even though finding artists was tougher than I thought, the artbook still gave a lot of talented artists a chance to prove their skills. Everyone needs that chance." Not surprisingly, both Jeannie and Shi Yuan have ample advice for other artists and creators who might try to publish their own artbook. "Get a proof of your work," says Shi Yuan, "and remember that no project starts out with a following. You have to build it up." Beyond the realm of promotion, confidence and drive are just as important. "My advice to people is to just do it," says Jeannie. "You have to do [an artbook] based on how you feel the material should be presented - and that can be different for each artist." Something Colorful and Mugeno certainly won't be the last self-published artbooks by manga-influenced artists, and although the production process can be complicated and time consuming, it is safe to assume that the library of self-published artbooks made by the North American manga fan community will continue to grow. To those that may self publish in the future, Jeannie offers this simple bit of advice: don't just look at what's come before, but consider how you want your work to be presented. As she puts it, "If you decide you want something made, you can make it. It's simply a matter of how much you want it to exist."

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The Artbooks at a Glance
Year of Publication:
2007	2009
Copies Printed:
1,000	1,000
Tools used for organizing the volume:
Photoshop	InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator
Featured artists:
9 + 2 guests (Mojgon Vatanchi, Hans Tseng, Stevie Lewis, Tanya Hioe, Christie Tseng, Eastwood Wong, Bing Lin, Jeannie Park, Carli Squitieri, Jessica Chang, Christine Vu)	85 (list here)
Available from:
e-mail jeannieparc [at] gmail dot com	Anime Deviation

Something Colorful page sample

ANN: What do you think is the most compelling aspect of your respective artbooks and why?

Jeannie Park (Something Colorful): Probably youthful energy. That was the big drive behind it - wanting to stay light-hearted.

Shi Yuan Kuang (Mugeno): As the the person behind the Mugeno project, the most compelling thing for me was getting feedback and comments from the contributing artists in regards to the opportunity of getting their artwork published. For many of the artists in the Mugeno artbook, it was the first time that their artwork was published in print. The feedback/comments I received were (please excuse the mushy choice of wording...) heartwarming and full of life/excitement. It really made me feel like I'm helping a fellow artist out and further solidifies my belief deep inside that I'm doing the right thing. Although the number of artists featured in Mugeno might seem like only a small drop in the bucket as compared to the whole art community, I truly believe that every little bit helps, and that nothing really just happens "overnight."

Therefore, I feel that this aspect of Mugeno is the most compelling and will serve as my driving force to promote it, and to try my best to make it a success.

Love at First Sight - Cos22, Mugeno

ANN: What other projects would you like to work on in the future, and how has this experience (publishing an artbook) affected your outlook on that project?

Jeannie: I'd like to do more self-published works...not necessarily just illustration collections or comics, but things like experimental novel/comic hybrids, visual novels, things that you could never find an actual company to back you on. The artbook has taught me that books don't really come floating down from a secret panel of publishing worthiness- if you decide you want something made, you can make it. It's simply a matter of how much you want it to exist.

Shi Yuan: My interests span wide and I find myself wanting to do many things (maybe this can be classified as some sort of attention deficit, or just that I get interested in things too easily!). In terms of major future projects, I don't really have one at the moment. Currently, I'm still buried deep in the midst of the Mugeno project as I try to carry out my side of the agreement to sell, and to get as many people aware of the Mugeno artbook as possible. I guess putting together and publishing the book is one milestone, but the battle that lies ahead I think will be a major challenge in itself. So I think putting it in those terms, I shouldn't really start a new major project until I tie up the loose ends with this current project. :)

Something Colorful page sample

As for how publishing an artbook has affected my outlook on any future projects I might have, I think the major thing as I mentioned somewhat in the interview is that the "Build it and they will come" kind of thinking will not really work. I think that goes for any type of project ... unless you're some kind of major company that has a major fan following or something along those lines. I think the phrase should be something more along the lines of, "Build it and they will come ... but only if they know it has been built" and of course attach a disclaimer about how "your mileage might vary." (laughs)

From this artbook project, it also reiterates the point of doing more research and shopping around more before placing my bets, as the goal of any company out there is to sell you their product and will therefore make their product sound like the best thing out there. I guess next time, I would need to look deeper for customer reviews and feedback, and "sample" out a small order from companies before jumping into the dark abyss. And unfortunately, the all too often used disclaimer "Past performance doesn't guarantee future results" did hold quite true in my particular case in regards to the print company. Live and learn, as they say...

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Just in case you didn't catch those links above:

To get a copy of Something Colorful, contact Jeannie by e-mailing jeannieparc [at] gmail dot com. If you'd like to pick up a copy of Mugeno, visit Shi Yuan's page here.

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Are you an aspiring manga artist looking for some extra page views? Do you have a friend or loved one who draws extremely good original manga but needs a boost? Don't just sit there! Submit two links to your work, including one original piece (no file attachments please! File attachments will be deep fried in 100% trans fat free oil and served with an HFCS-free sugar prune dipping sauce for the low low price of twenty dollars), to evan [at] animenewsnetwork dot com, and you could be featured in a future Gallery column!

All works © their respective artists.