You are a writer, maybe you’re an artist as well. You’ve poured yourself into the idea you have for a new comic book, finally you have enough pages finished for a submission sample. You send it to the big publishers but never hear back or get rejected, you try a Kickstarter but fall short of your goal.
Then, life happens, and you have to postpone even pursuing other avenues while your fans slowly move on. This sounds like a nightmare, but it’s a stark reality that myself and I’m sure many other indie creators have experienced. After a long discussion with one of the writers I work with I decided there was a solution and I set to work creating Tiny Power Comics.
Creating Tiny Power Comics
What was originally going to be a contest, I ended up revamping into an all-inclusive anthology for short stories from indie creators. Any genre and any style of comic between 5-20 pages will be accepted, and if it’s your first book and you need some tips on polishing it up, I will personally consult with you. Each book will have up to 6 stories, which will be followed by another book, and many more hopefully.
I plan to use the blurb to save on printing costs by only selling individually ordered “on demand” print copies of each anthology, at-cost (I’m not marking anything up past what the printer charges). I’ll be handling all of the print formatting myself; creators just need to have high resolution image files ready to go and I’ll make it work!
Digital copies will also be available for free to creators and they can distribute them however they wish. The key concept to take away here is that by bringing your stories together in this anthology, you’ll either be gaining fans by sharing a book with a more accomplished creator who then gets their fans to read the book, or you’ll be a hero helping a dedicated up-and-comer get some exposure by sharing this anthology with your established fanbase.
Not to mention of course the all-important fans themselves! Tiny Power Comics will give readers a convenient, diverse and evolving source for discovering new creators and stories they otherwise might’ve never heard about.
Championing indie creators
I hope there’s some of you out there that share my vision, whether you’re a creator who wants to participate, a potential sponsor feeling extra generous, an avid comic fan who helps spread the word, or if you’re one of those awesome people who run blogs to help boost the signal of folks like me.
To make Tiny Power Comics a reality, I’m asking for a one-time entry fee of just $1USD per page. This will help with printing, shipping and marketing costs and ensure that the brand can reach the right people.
Be sure to visit TinyPowerComics.com and see it’s all about. Read our first submission “The Manna Chronicles” and keep an eye out for the next one. Better yet, you be the next one!
Bio: Gil Murillo is a young, supple, part-time freelance illustrator and founder of Tiny Power Comics hailing from Oregon, USA. You can find his work on DeviantArt/Giltheartist, and also at HyperEpics.com in the form of several short comics. Image, Marvel, DC comics, Dark Horse, all comic book companies who have no affiliation with Gil.
But seriously, just a small fry indie creator with big dreams of quitting his day job to create comics full time and give something back.
The Comic Vault 
This is a really tight post! Respect!🙏🏽
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Thanks David!
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So Gil, where are you on this project? I have some very similar ideas, and was planning on launching a Kickstarter before long, but I’d like to discuss further. I think there is a lot of potential to get some stories that need to be heard, and this is an interesting method. I’ve been involved in multiple projects that were successful and I know plenty of old school and newbies to the industry, but getting that initial title launched can be a struggle especially when cost is an issue. I do have a printer that will allow someone to choose the print run, size, type of paper, colors; practically every option you could imagine. I’ve already thrown too much out there, but I’d like to discuss further. I read everything I can and have for 40+ years, and I write daily. Ive got 3/4 projects underway, and plenty of pitches and titles, but I’m not artists! When I first launched my site, it was to get the press out on indie titles and eventually interview writers/artists and other creators. Best Regards-
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Hi david, thanks for asking!
We are creeping along, I made it free to participate and receive a print ready pdf of the book. Theres still the option to contribute money to get a print copy for yourself in addition to the pdf. However this means no large print runs.
Since each participant will get a print ready pdf, they can print it anywhere and offer it to their fans for whatever markup they can sleep at night with.
So as of this week, we have 4 indie creators participating, which means we only need one more creator to submit in order for me to begin formatting the book (cover, sponsor marketing materials, layouts of course etc).
The entries are wide open, im dead set on approving if not at least working with everyone who is dedicated enough to stick with it and make a professional effort. I have had some pretty rough submissions, and i try to make very specific and constructive suggestions to bring their project up to print caliber, and some people dont reply, but its not a rejection.
For the sake of other creators who have questioned the “all-inclusive” policy in regards to quality control, i do have to implement some objective standards, but still nowhere near what bigger publishers demand.
Perhaps for future books, if everyone contributes, we can do some print runs and i can hit some comic cons. For now i suppose we have to build our reputation first.
Honestly, i wish someone else was doing this so i could submit my story for free, kick back and have them bundle it with other stories and give me a print ready pdf i can sell however i want. Anyone with half a brain can see that is an OUTRAGEOUSLY awesome deal. But noone else is doing it, im doing it, and i hope people will take notice and join in so we can all benefit.
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I’ve been reading everything under the sun since about the age of 6 or 7, and writing as well with two parents who were literature professors. I’ve been a comic and all things related to fandom addict as well, designing sites and apps that have done well. I’ve mentored under some of my all time favorite writers and editors as I’m such a perfectionist and I don’t half step when it comes to my passions. I’ve got notebooks full of pitches, I’ve ghostwritten for Marvel, and I work closely with Vault, Heavy Metal, Boom, AWA, and Bad Idea comics to name a few as I’m preparing to finally start pitching work since I have industry artists who have told me my enthusiasm and talents are being wasted. Refresh me (send link or email) on what your looking for, as I’ve got more ideas, full scripts, and novellas written that I just haven’t put out there yet. My email is davidconine33@gmail.com; if you email, send me your digits, as I’d like to discuss on phone, before sending my work, this is only because I have been done wrong in the past! Kill em with kindness. I write everything, from editorials, to fantasy, sc-fi, myth building, horror; much of my work is genre bending, but I’m interested in discussing further! Best Regards,
David
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I look forward to hearing from you! I’ve been looking to get involved with some indie creators that aren’t already contracted to someone. I also know a ton of publishers, and maybe able to help reduce cost where printing is concerned. No minimum on print run, customer can decide the paper quality, cover quality, binding, colors, etc. I’ve worked with them in the past and they are a stand up group of folks. I’ve helped a few folks get Kickstarter’s pushed through, and I’m just ready to get my work out there! Best- D
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Omigod i just wrote the most eloquent response and wordpress deleted it all because i wasnt logged in when i hit post (friggin facepalm).
Here it goes, shorthand style.
It is going as good as one can hope of a seemingly too-good-to-be-true concept like this.
We officially have 4 great indie creators on the docket for our first book, waiting on just ONE MORE creator to jump in (lookin at YOU reading this…) and close us out so i can start formatting this thing and give it a cover.
Oh and did i mention, it’s FREE NOW. Yeah, you submit a short story, i bundle it with other amazing short stories, format it into a book, and give you a print ready pdf you can sell if you want. I mean come on, that is an OUTRAGEOUSLY awesome deal. I honestly wish someone else was doing this so i could take advantage but idk if anyone else is this cool.
CHECK IT OUT, SHARE IT
TINYPOWERCOMICS.COM
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Just want to update that we are still going strong. We have 2 finished books publicly available now, and have 2 creators committed to the 3rd book, SUBMISSIONS ALWAYS OPEN at TinyPowerComics.com
On a personal note, im starting a new ongoing manga series called Heirs of Ashuradō and you can read for free and subscribe to keep up with it on https://webtoons.com/en/challenge/heirs-of-ashurad%C5%8D-/list?title_no=740380&webtoon-platform-redirect=true
Ill be including part of the first chapter in our 3rd Indie Anthology too.
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