INTERVIEW: COMIXPRESS

Continuing to post the full interviews used for Comic Book Maker, here is the first of two blogs from this week's column on Printing-On-Demand. For the first I talked to Stuart Robertson from ComiXpress about how their services worked and what does it entail.

RYAN MCLELLAND: What does one need when coming to Comixpress to self-publish when publishing a comic book? I would hope that the pictures could be delivered in a digital format...what sort of resolution is best for that? What is the minimum print run?

STUART ROBERTSON: The preferred file type for printing with ComiXpress is PDF. Files should be 300 dpi CMYK for full color pages (and covers) or 600 dpi Grayscale for black and white pages. Digital files can be burnt onto a CD and mailed to comiXpress, or posted to a website or FTP server and the details included in the order form. There are no minimum orders, and comics sold through the comiXpress online store are printed on-demand and shipped directly to the reader when they place an order.

RM: How successful has your company been? What has worked and what have you went back and changed?

SR: We've been incredibly busy since opening for business this past summer. We've printed thousands of comics and have 64 different titles available for purchase in our online store with more being added all the time.

RM: As we continue to grow and adjust to the increasing demand we're receiving we've had to make some adjustments to our prices, but we remain committed to offering affordable low-run, low-cost printing and distribution to comic creators.

SR: To accommodate the increase in printing, we've made some upgrades to our printing system, and look forward to adding perfect-binding sometime next year to add graphic novel style books to the services we can offer comic creators.

RM: What are costs usually associated with printing a comic book? How is this determined and do you save less by having more printed? How easy is this all to do?

SR: Once you've finished creating the files for your comic, you can use our online Comic Printing Cost Calculator ( http://www.comixpress.com/printing/ ) to get an estimate and place your order. We offer the same low prices whether you're ordering one book or a hundred. When we have received your order and files, we will email you an invoice for the total cost including shipping which you can pay directly with PayPal or by Credit Card.

We have technical specifications and downloadable templates for Adobe Illustrator ( http://www.comixpress.com/technical/ ) that help creators get their files setup properly.

RM: Is it true you charge less if you put your logo on the back cover of the book?

SR: ComiXpress is dedicated not only to providing affordable print on demand comic books to creators, but also to selling them for the creators as well. ComiXpress ads featured in any comic serve to show readers where they can purchase these comics online, and serve to increase sales potential for every comic sold through ComiXpress’ online store. For this reason we offer discounts to printing comics that feature Comixpress ads and all pricing is based upon three specific tiers of ad placement: back cover, inside front or back cover, or no ad.

RM: What's been your most successful book published?

SR: We can't really discuss specific printing/sales figures, but we can tell you our current top selling comic is James Patrick and D.J. Coffman's "Lionxor" ( http://www.comixpress.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=29 ). "Timmy Kat" ( http://www.comixpress.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=85 ) by James Grant and Mel Hynes, has also been selling very well since we put it online this past weekend.