Advertising My Story

[BennyJackdaw]

I was thinking of advertising my story by showing pictures of my characters and asking people if they'd have any problem reading a story with those characters. ...But, I'm kind of nervous. I like the characters, but I'm worried about what other people will say. The worst I'm expecting people to say stuff like "Why can't the book be about humans?" My god, I will lose it if I read that. The point of my book is that it DOESN'T star humans. If people want to read a book about humans, they can read anything else. I wanted to make a story that I'd have fun making. I feel like I have a decent story that can do well without humans. ...But I'm also looking for suggestions for maturing the story, and I'm worried what will happen if I make the rule "I will NOT turn my characters into humans/humanoids." ... Should I try showing the characters around to advertise my story?

[Winnona]

As someone who reads, I can tell you that you don't have to worry about MOST people dissing your story because of it's focused species. If most people don't want to read a story about something they just don't, they move onto the next thing. There are plenty of popular series that star animals, such as Warriors or Guardians of Ga'Hoole. So why not show them around? You've certainly piqued my interest.

[Halei-Helai]

Nothing ventured nothing gained, as they say. We are a nice enough bunch, I would hope...

[BennyJackdaw]

Well, here's my first example. And who better than the main protagonist?



On the left is the normal style I've been working with. On the right is my attempt at a more mature style. Which do you like more?

[Winnona]

Well, I think they're both rather good, but the real deciding factor should be which one fits the tone of your story more. Telling us what it's about would likely help to decide the tone.

[BennyJackdaw]

It's about Benny trying to survive in a harsh world much like ours, except with magic and very few humans. But all the while, Benny has to avoid a serial killer with unknown intentions that are explained late in the second comic. His best allies are his long time friend who wields a huge club-axe, and the serial killer's wife, who also happens to be a foot-fetishest. ...Though it's not mentioned very often in the story. The plot is... actually kind of hard to explain without giving too much away, but it's actually kind of dark. However, I might tone the darkness down a bit if I decide to the graphic novel. Like characters get killed in a bloodbath, but they may still die, just not in as gruesome of a fashion.