Wednesday, January 25th 2012 - 03:43AM :

Making Money with Manga

I was asked to contribute to an article in Imagine FX magazine years ago about 'things manga' and found a document burred away on my hard drive the other day containing a few of my answers. Not that I've ever seen myself as an authority figure in the realms of manga and anime artwork, but for some reason having my name in print gives my thoughts a little more wait than your typical amateur artist and I wont complain

Anyho, the interview went a little something like this:

I’ve answered the questions below. The term “manga” can be used to describe ‘Japanese style comics’ but also a ‘typical Japanese style of comic book/cartoon artwork’. The questions you’ve asked seem to refer more to manga as comic books..? I’ve answered to show replies that could related to both ‘comic book artists’ and ‘freelance artists’. It’s probably worth pointing out I’ve spent my years operating as a freelance artist/illustrator.

Personally, I believe there’s not enough money and opportunity in the comic book side of things. Many manga / comic book artists I know here in the UK freelance their style into other forms of revenue such as magazine spots, advertising, branding and packaging etc. Out of the 1000s of wannabe manga creators, there are a few exceptional UK talents which have made ok money outta their manga by having it printed by American comic book publishers such as Image, Dark Horse and Tokyo Pop. Once they realise they can get 5-10 times their wage acting as a freelance illustrator, the comic book career tends to fizzle out, unless they’re really dedicated to the story side of things or don’t consider other opportunities for their work.

I wouldn’t recommend you printing my opinions above- it wouldn’t give much hope for wannabe manga creators! But this is my own personal view on the current manga scene here in the UK. And I’m sure other artists more geared towards the comic side of things may have a totally different outlook on the situation…


There are several ways to make money with manga art…
The most obvious is to create manga (comics), and get them picked up by a publisher. But the manga style can be applied to other areas in the form of editorial illustration for magazines and articles, book illustration, creating art for movies and animation. I tend to specialize more in character based art and design for animation, games, company branding and advertising.

Unless you’re lucky enough to score a job with a animation, game or multimedia studio, you’ll likely become freelance and self employed.

* What are the most important things someone should work on as a budding commercial manga artist? Is is style, originality, execution, or some combination of those?

A combination of all of the above! To make any kinda money in the art and design industry, you’ll need to be technically talented as well as having ability to think up original ideas and solve problems. On top of this you need to be business minded. From what I see, there are thousands of fantastic manga artists out there wishing they could make money out of their talents, but end up settling for a more mundane 9-to-5 thinking there isn’t any demand for manga art in the commercial world. But what most of these fantastic artists lack is business sense and the right kind of ambition. It’s fine self publishing small print run comics or designing the occasional cover for a small time unsigned local band’s first album while you’re at college or earning a regular wage else where. To make good money, you need to approach publishers that will sell your work in high volumes, freelance for high profile clients, consider editorial work for magazines etc.

* How hard or easy is it to be original in the manga market?

Originality within manga is near impossible! It’s something to strive for, but there’s so much material out there and so many artists pumping out manga work every day that coming up with something completely unthought of isn’t easy. Being original as possible involves looking at adaptin
g existing ideas and well as drawing on your own experiences and influences while creating something you enjoy.

* Any tips on the best places to exhibit your work - on the Net and in 'real life' - to get noticed? Which are the publishers to go for?

Manga galleries in ‘real life’ are far and few between. You could try submitting work to IMAF (International Manga and Anime festival)’s annual art competition. Their festival features a gallery of all works submitted.

On the net, Devianart.com is a popular gallery and community site for artists. The site covers all art genres, manga and anime being one of the more popular themes.

Personally, I’ve found the best way to advertise your work is through your own website. It also looks a lot more professional to potential clients by having a unique, separate online gallery or portfolio opposed to sites like Devianart. Presentation is key, so make it look great and spend weeks advertising the hell out of it so people know it exists- submit site to search engines, link exchange, add it to directories etc. Even consider paying for on and offline advertising if you’re serious about making a career out of your art. Eventually you may get clients start coming to you with job offers instead of you rushing around after them!

If you wanna see about publishing your manga stories, try submitting work to Studio Sweatdrop, Tokyopop or Darkhorse to name a few.

* If you want to draw manga for a living, can you get away with a portfolio consisting solely of it, or do you need to demonstrate other styles too?

If you’ve got the technical skill, creativity and business mind, you can potentially make a good success out of manga art alone. Also a single established style can be great as clients will know exactly what they can expect should they choose to work with you.
On the other hand freelancing is can be very tricky, especially when starting off and it would be a good idea to show clients you can do more than just manga and it never hurts to expand your repertoire of skills and styles to show you’re flexible.

* Any other tips you would give an aspiring manga artist?

Always stick with what you enjoy. Different manga styles and themes go in and out of fashion and it can be good if you can adapt to different markets- i.e. cute stuff for kids. Sexual or violent stuff for adults. But if you have a passion for illustrating teen romance or anthropomorphism- stick with it and let that become your ‘thing’. Going from drawing manga as a hobby to making money out of it can be a stress, so help your self out by drawing what you want to draw and let it help build up your portfolio and reputation.

- Most of that stands true, even 5 or 6 years later since I was first asked all this stuff! Hopefully it'll help give you a little more perspective about 'the industry' and best of luck to anyone wanting to make some money out of their art and creative efforts ^_^