Today’s our last week talking about funding; next week we get to distribution. We’re going step it up a notch starting with the next column, and I’m guessing there’s going to be a lot more buzz about The Hive. Call it a hunch.

First, let’s close the book on funding…

Before we get to the main idea for today’s discussion, I want to throw out a couple of good money raising/saving techniques that’ll help you fund your books. Before I start throwing them out, I think it’s important to introduce the concept of physically separating your money.

Think of it this way: right now you, at the very least, have a roof over your head, enough food in your stomach to be alive, and a computer in front of you that you’re using to read this article. You’re getting by.

The concept of separating your money, opening a bank account specifically for your comic-creating expenses, is going to help you actually use the money you raise for its intended purpose instead of using it to pay for something you normally wouldn’t have that money to pay for. So look into bank accounts with high interest rates; even consider opening a 6-month CD since you won’t need to access the bulk of that money until printing time. This way the money you’re raising to fund your book can work for you instead of sitting in a low-interest checking account, waiting for you to cave and purchase that Japanese import DVD you always wanted.

Ok, so, quick hits on how to raise money:

• Your comic-creating is tax deductible. The software you buy, the trips you take, the office products you use. If you designate a section of your apartment as your office, you can claim that it is being used solely for comic book-creating and you can deduct a percentage of your rent proportional to the square-footage of your office.

  What you’re going to do at the end of the year is take all of these receipts you accumulated, total your deduction, and get some money back for your losses. The thing is, you’re essentially giving the government an interest-free loan with money that you could be filtering into your publishing company. Estimate how much money you’re going to spend on comic creation this year and claim the appropriate amount of allowances on your W-4. (NOTE: This is if you’re in America; no idea about tax law in any other country). You’ll get some extra money in your pocket every month, and you can direct that money straight to your business account you’re opening up. If your 9-5 has direct deposit, I suggest directing a percentage of our paycheck, equal to this extra money, to this business account.

• Discounts are your friends. If you are enrolled in a university, or have a friend in a university, they can get discounted software. Recently I purchased the Adobe Web Bundle, MSRP of $1900, for $530 bucks because I’m registered as a student. You’re going to need software to make a comic book; you shouldn’t have to pay full price for it, though. Of course, the amount you pay will be tax-deductible.

  If your printer wants you to pay cash, ask them for a 2-3% discount. If you’re going to buy the majority of your supplies at a particular store, get a credit card through them, one that offers rewards. Best Buy has a Rewards Card for business; every $600 you spend gets you $20 in Best Buy credit. Whatever you can do to lower your overall expenses you should do; it all adds up in the end.

• You could be an expert, you know. If you live in New York, then no, probably not an expert in comic creating. If you live in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, though, you could be an expert. Go to local schools and offer to teach a class in comic creation. Offer to give talks; comics are cool right now so you should take advantage of that. Even if you don’t get paid for your work, when you release your book it’ll be nice to be known as the “comic guy” in your town. Because if you’re known as the “comic guy”, people in your town are going to buy your book.

  We’ll talk more about this when we get to distribution, but you should start hitting the pavement on your home turf, even if there’s not a comic shop within an hour of where you live. Because a lot of the people in your area, pop culture ignores them. Your book can make them feel hip.

• Donations and loans. Has everyone here read IF CHINS COULD KILL? Great story in there about Sam Raimi going door-to-door and finding people to invest in EVIL DEAD. People who never watched a horror movie in their lives were being sold on the glitz and gold of movie-making, combined with the dreams and aspirations of a local kid.

  You don’t need as much money to make a comic, thankfully.

  One thing I want to advise against, from my own experiences and horror stories from friends and family, is to never take on a partner. It’s almost always going to end badly. If a friend or family member has money they want to put towards your comic-making ventures, always take it as a loan or venture capital. You are a sole proprietor for now, an LLC if you want some liability protection. You are not in a partnership. Please, if anyone has horror stories of partnerships, spill them now, in case there’s anyone reading this considering a partnership who doesn’t believe me.

So those are my quick hits, all of them available for discussion; and now I’d like to move on to the main idea for today. The stuff above, that holds for almost any industry you get in to. But when it comes to comics, we have an advantage that other industries don’t have –- we have a product that’s so hip and stylish that we can get people to pay us to market it.

When I first saw images from Josh and Kody’s PUNKS, the first thing I said is, “I’d buy that shirt.” I didn’t even know what PUNKS was, Josh sent me the teaser image and I wanted that shirt. Because, as we create, we make these iconic, stylish images that can be stuck on a variety of products and sold. The profit from these mini-ventures can be used to fund your comic book.

I was printing t-shirts back in the summer of ‘97. Brooklyn T-Shirt Company, me and my boy Max. We came up with three designs and ran off two hundred shirts, paid 5 bucks a shirt and they looked good. Went down to Brooklyn Heights at lunchtime and sold them for 15 bucks a pop. An hour a day and by the end of the summer we made a $2000 profit. Of course, we spent the money on drugs and alcohol but if I were to do that now -- that’s a lot of books I can print with that money. And by marketing and distributing over the internet I could probably move more than 200 shirts.

Let’s keep talking about PUNKS. I would spend twenty bucks on a Fist bobble-head for my dashboard. You can plaster the teaser image on a lunch box and sell it at Hot Topic for twenty bucks. Christmas Cards featuring the characters would move like nuts at Urban Outfitters. You’re already making the art that can be applied to each of these things. 75% of the job is done. You just need to find someplace to run them off for you and find some way to distribute it. I’m not talking high volume; I’m talking 200 pieces of each item. You don’t want to take too much away from your comic-making time, after all.

Set up a little store on Yahoo and just sell the stuff. Get an ad on Fark; they’re seriously cost-effective. Sell the items locally to small businesses in the area. You can also use your experience as a litmus test; seriously, if you can’t sell 200 shirts (and everybody wears shirts) you’re not going to sell a lot of comics. You’re just not a salesman; not everybody is, and that’s ok. Maybe publishing’s not for you, or maybe you need to hire a little part-time help. Better to know that before going into it, right?

Plus, all those leftover shirts, bobble heads, lunch boxes, Christmas cards, prints, posters, etc. -– that’s con swag right there. They’ll sell better at APE than your comics will.

So, a lot to discuss today, yes?

• What types of merchandise can we print our art and where can we sell it?

• Where can we advertise it for cheap?

• Where can we get it made for cheap?

(And please, nobody say Café Press. I don’t want to go down that road… that “punching you in the neck” road).

Going back to the top half of the column, what other fundraising techniques can we use to fund our publishing company? Anybody know of a bank with a decent, low (or no) fee savings account? If you have the seed money already, I suggest Netbank; that’s where mine is. No local branch to tempt me; I leave the ATM card at home; and better interest rates than most other banks. If your balance is high enough, there are no fees, either.

Next week, we get to distribution. We have our content; we have the money we need to produce it; now we need to figure out how we’re going to get it into people’s hands so that our marketing isn’t pointless.

And go buy a PUNKS shirt; support a great comic and get a hot shirt while you’re at it.