By Gamal Hennessy

This is a modified excerpt from a book I’m working on called The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing. It explores the economic realities of working as a freelance comic creator (FCC). While this can’t be taken as legal or financial advice, it can help you take a realistic look at your personal situation and adapt to inevitable downturns.

Different people have different life circumstances, which require different levels of income. Every city has a different cost of living, and since comics can be produced from anywhere in the world, FCC can take advantage of cheaper cities without losing the ability to find clients. A person trying to rent an apartment, pay off student loans, and raise a family in midtown Manhattan needs a different level of income than a person living debt-free on their own in Bangalore, India. Because every FCC will be in a unique economic position, there is no one income that can satisfy every situation. This means you need to understand your financial needs to help you understand what to charge your clients, where to set your monetary goals and allow you to track your performance over time.

The common challenge that all FCC share is managing regular expenses with irregular income. FCC don’t have the stability that comes with a regular paycheck coming in at a pre-determined interval. Sometimes there will be too much work. In other periods the work may dry up. But bills keep on coming no matter how much work you get. This post will help you figure out your personal level of expenses, tactics for dealing with slow periods of work, and help you understand if you can make a living as an FCC.

What Are Your Monthly Expenses?

The first step in figuring out how much you need to earn is understanding how much you spend. In the United States in 2021, the average monthly spending was more than $5,300 broken down into the following broad categories. The links are offered to show where these numbers came from.

• Rent/ Mortgage:                                   $1,462

• Food:                                                      $350

• Transportation                                       $820

• Utilities:                                                  $170

• Healthcare:                                            $430

• Recreation:                                            $240

• Savings                 :                               $200

• Taxes:                                                   $1,200

• Student Loans:                                     $460

These categories don’t include various types of insurance outside of healthcare, childcare payments, other existing debt, or the costs of running an FCC business, and again, these are national averages for the United States in 2021.  Your situation will (and should) vary in one or more categories.

How Can You Survive Periods Without Work?

Despite your best efforts, there may be periods when the amount of revenue you generate as an FCC is less than your expenses for a given week or month. You may not be able to control the inherent instability of freelance work, but there are five steps you can take steps to reduce the negative impact it can have on your finances.

1.     Diversified work: Two of the major benefits of freelance work are flexibility and the freedom to work in different industries. Taking advantage of these conditions can help you offset slow periods in your comic book work. Many of the creative and business services you offer to comic book publishers have value for other types of clients and businesses. By searching for clients inside and outside of comics, you can protect yourself from a lack of work in any one sector.

2.     Standard payments: There is a temptation as an FCC to spend big when the work is flowing and to live off ramen packets when times are hard. An alternative involves withdrawing the same amount from your business account every week, regardless of how much business you have in a given month. Let’s say you take out $1,000 per week from your business account. If you control your spending this way, it won’t make a difference if you make $10,000 in a month or $10. You’ll always have a steady flow of income to satisfy your debts.

3.     Emergency funds/Savings: You may run into a situation where your FCC income runs out and there’s nothing to draw from in the business account. Before that happens, it helps to set aside some cash to pay the bills when work is scarce. The amount that you save for a rainy day has to be realistic for your present debt, but some experts suggest savings anywhere from 15-45% of your income to cover periods without work.

4.     Reduced costs: If you reduce the amounts that you spend, then you reduce the amount you need to make to cover your expenses. This could be something minor, like lowering your recreational or food costs, to a major change like giving up your car or moving into a cheaper living arrangement. But while it makes sense to reduce costs to match your income, in many cases it is not realistic to instantly eliminate a cost that you need to pay in order to live.

5.     Side hustle: An FCC with bills to pay may need to find work outside of comics as they build their business. Generating revenue as an FCC is not like working freelance with Uber or Task Rabbit and a long-term career as an FCC does not happen instantly. It may take months or years to build this business, and it be more prudent to work outside of comics until you can establish your client base and build up your safety net.

Can You Make a Living Just Making Comics?

Even if you get a handle on your expenses and develop strategies to have money when work is tight, you still might not make enough money from comics to survive.

According to the 2020 census, full-time American workers earned a median salary of $56,000. In 2017, the average comic book artist earns $36,500 per year, or about 33% less than the national average salary. If these numbers are accurate, and if the cost of living for both the comic book artist and the full-time worker are the same (about $63,000 per year), then the comic book artist has a consistent deficit of more than $27,000 per year. There have been stories of prominent creators working on conglomerate properties who made it very clear that they would not be able to sustain a career in comics without a supportive spouse or alternative source of income.

These facts should not discourage you from pursuing a career as an FCC. They are meant to show the importance of diversifying your work, charging realistic fees and reducing costs wherever possible.  

Have fun with your comic.

Gamal

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If you have questions about the business or legal aspects of your comic book publishing and you'd like a free consultation, please contact me and we can set something up that fits in with your schedule.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE AN ISSUE WITH YOUR COMIC PROPERTY, DISCUSS IT WITH A QUALIFIED CONTRACT ATTORNEY OR CONTACT C3 FOR A FREE CONSULTATION