Comics and Graphic Novels with Madeleine Holly-Rosing

In this interview, Laura talks with Madeleine Holly-Rosing, writer and creator of the steampunk comic, Boston Metaphysical Society. The comic takes place in the late 1800s Boston. Though people may not think of them that way, comic books are sequential art. There are artists that are great at pinups and do posters but not have the skills to tell a story. Madeleine’s suggestions if you are interested in starting your own comic is to read indie comics. They key is to find the right artist. Art draws you in but the story makes you stay with comics. She suggests going to meetups and connecting others in the industry through friends. Go to comic cons, meet artist, post on comic Facebook groups connecting comic artists and creators. Once you connect with an artist, you should have a contract with a page rate $50 to 300 a page depending on experience. Madeleine met a colorist through a mutual friend and she uses Indonesia Color Labs. She raised the funds through a combination of self-funding and Kickstarter. You will also need an Inker for the cover and she opted not to internally. In terms of where to start, go with a premise first and then start with the characters that work within that premise to create the story with the characters. Build bios and spend a lot of time on them. Then do a page breakdown, take a scene and break it down into pages. 22 pages fits in standard comic length; Boston metaphysical is 132 page graphic novel broken into 6 comic books. A full screenplay, lends itself well into graphic novel. If you are new to comics and graphic novels, Madeleine suggests familiarizing yourself with people and creators, get to know comics out there and go to classes. She started doing reviews for fan-based press and this is a great way to get to know the medium. She noted that good lettering is really important. Bad lettering can really bring you down. Madeleine goes to 10-15 cons a year. She also suggested different cons to go to and how to make your con a successful experience. Interestingly, she pointed out that Kickstarter is one of the main publishers of independent comics. For more information on Boston Metaphysical Society, you can go to http://bostonmetaphysicalsociety.com/. You can also find updates on the podcast by following the Write Hot Podcast on Facebook and follow laura on twitter @thatlaurapowers. For more information on Laura, you can go to www.laurapowers.net to find out information on Laura’s psychic work, you can find her at www.healingpowers.net.