A POST I JUST HAD TO SELF-PUBLISH...

A completely unrelated pic to the topic, drawn by me in 1983/'84

Back around the time The DANDY was just about to breathe its last, someone facetiously asked me why, as I could "draw a bit", I didn't self-publish something and show everyone how it was done.  Put-up or shut-up basically.  Self-publishing has never really interested me, simply because I don't feel the need to prove anything, nor am I filled with an all-consuming desire to see my name in print.  (Never say never though.)  Also, it's unlikely to make me (or anyone) rich.

Self-publishing exists either because there aren't enough comics around for creators' work to appear in - or because nobody else will publish it.  (Or perhaps it's merely a hobby or a vanity project.)  Some folk claim to self-publish because it gives them more creative control over their characters, though in the case of reprinting old strips, just how much control is that?  It sounds to me like mere rationalisation - or 'faulty reasoning' as certain individuals like to call it.

Nah, folk are more likely to self-publish out of vanity, or to try and make more money, or because not enough of their time is spent earning a living from mainstream pursuits.  (Not that they're all mutually-exclusive.)  Whatever their reasons, it doesn't bother me in the slightest, but they really shouldn't insult our intelligence by offering up their efforts as evidence of a thriving comics industry.  It just isn't.

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And to the lickspittle aiming kicks in my direction, did it never occur to you that your hero might be behind schedule in his self-publishing ventures not because of 'all' his mainstream work as you assert, but because he's at weekend events instead of getting on with it - or for any one of a dozen other reasons?!  Your assumptions 'prove' nothing - as usual.

(Thanks to those who put me 'in the know'.)