A popular topic in conversation in the comics online world lately has been personal finances. The dearth of money in comics, and particularly independent comics, has been a subject of banter every since I’ve been in comics. However, in the midst of a long recession, for some of us, what was a bit of a joke now has become very serious.
I have been hesitant to reveal a lot about my financial situation as a comic book professional, mostly out of respect to my employer. But here is the reality: The only reason I have been able to work in comics as long as I have is because my husband’s salary can support us, especially since my hours were cut in January 2009.
Now I work at home—reading scripts and laying out books while my son sleeps or is in the mood to entertain himself—at dramatically reduced hours. I call it “semi-maternity-leave,” and it’s much a choice as a necessity: childcare would actually cost close to as much as I earn.
It’s not an ideal situation, but I am trying to make it work. Comics has that hold on me. I’ve spent all of my serious professional working life in the industry and have enjoyed the medium all of my life. While I have considered working in another area where my English and creative writing degrees might qualify me, such as public relations or advertising or teaching, I don’t want to leave an industry to which I have given so much of my time and effort—and for which I have made sacrifices.
Fortunately, having a master’s degree in creative writing means that I was prepared for the possibility that my vocation might not be a living. One of the required seminars was called Materials and Methods of Literary Production, and its message was clear: don’t count on your fiction or poetry to feed you, so learn to use your skills in other way as well. “Sell every idea three times” was the mantra. My fellow grad students protested that it wasn’t right to expect that we wouldn’t make money with our “art,” but I knew it was the stark reality.
Ironically, though, it’s my regular job that needs to be supplemented with my writing. Besides this column, I have been working on revising my prose novel for a publisher and a graphic novel script for another. I’ll admit, like so many people who get into editorial work, my real desire has always been to do creative work, and I’m using the opportunity to finally do it.
So many people have been forced to rearrange their lives and work in these difficult times. The last couple of years have been challenging, but I am going to try the best I can to stay in comics. If anything, I am grateful the situation that created the need to diversify my work means that I’m finally able to do more creative work—and that I have been able to take care of my son full-time. I read comics to him comics almost every day. The future of the industry—and, thus, my professional future—depends on new readers!
