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Just Make It episodes
- 036: Starting Your Studio | Creating Infrastructure (Part 2 of 6)
Before Mayke Entertainment, we were Arclight Comics! Tune into the re-release of The Arclight Podcast and get insightful tips, info, and advice on how we make comics. We shared everything we learned from 2009 to 2016. Learn how we branded our company, handled legal issues, character design, story development, and more!
Disclaimer: Please be advised, some of the information, advice, and practices may be outdated and no longer be in use by Mayke Entertainment.
Key Takeaways
- If you ignore infrastructure, you’re ignoring the foundation and success of your company.
- Building infrastructure gives everything a foundation. It’s the framework of the entire operation that everything else will depend on.
- There’s an 80/20 rule here. 80% of the infrastructure is cultural infrastructure. 20% is the comic universe infrastructure.
- There are two playgrounds: 1) The playground the team has to play in and 2) The playground your characters and stories have to play in. Both playgrounds and their rules are of the utmost importance.
- Your need and vision are connected to the infrastructure you build. In fact, it should be inspired by those two things.
- Comic universe infrastructure builds the model for the kinds of stories you’re going to tell and the kinds of characters needed to tell them. Arclight’s infrastructure requires we fold realism into our IP, therefore, the universal model invites political and social commentary into our stories.
45 min - 035: Starting Your Studio | Setting the Vision (Part 1 of 6)
Before Mayke Entertainment, we were Arclight Comics! Tune into the re-release of The Arclight Podcast and get insightful tips, info, and advice on how we make comics. We shared everything we learned from 2009 to 2016. Learn how we branded our company, handled legal issues, character design, story development, and more!
Disclaimer: Please be advised, some of the information, advice, and practices may be outdated and no longer be in use by Mayke Entertainment.
Inside Episode 035: Great characters and stories are very important, but if you don’t address the business side of this, moving and progressing forward is going to get really tough. And that’s why we’ve decided to put on this six part series of what it really takes to get started in creating an indie comic book company.
Key Takeaways- You have to discover a need in this market. If there is no need, you will not have a market.
- The need you discover leads to a market. The market leads to an audience. Your audience leads to sales.
- Vision gives the need you’ve identified direction. It’s how you’re going to deliver this to your audience.
- Your fleeting inspiration and motivation may be due to not finding a need to sustain your project enough to convert over to a business.
- Lack of vision keeps you walking around in circles. You have to have an outline/picture of what is to come, then reverse engineer it on how to get there.
59 min - 034: The 5 Winning Steps
Before Mayke Entertainment, we were Arclight Comics! Tune into the re-release of The Arclight Podcast and get insightful tips, info, and advice on how we make comics. We shared everything we learned from 2009 to 2016. Learn how we branded our company, handled legal issues, character design, story development, and more!
Disclaimer: Please be advised, some of the information, advice, and practices may be outdated and no longer be in use by Mayke Entertainment.
Inside Episode 034: Whether you’re an indie creator wanting to build a company or studio, or someone who wants to work at one of the mainstream entities, you need to know what’s coming during your next five years and how to get through them.
Key Takeaways- We’ve officially launched our subscription-based access to the backlog of our podcast archives.
In order to gain access to all episodes, you now must have a subscription.- What we’re creating and building requires money. Lots of it. This is why we’re repositioning our business model and focusing on getting cash flow to produce everything we want.
- We aren’t using crowdfunding to fund Arclight. We want to try something different here and fund ourselves based on products and/or services we offer. Treat our store like a Kickstarter. Support us by purchasing.
- Step One: Establish is all about laying the groundwork and building infrastructure. You have to build your house on solid ground, not sand.
- Step Two: Protect is all about believing in your dream enough to not be discouraged or swayed by the opinions of others. Stand by what you believe in.
- Step Three: Build is all about putting in the work. Just don’t talk about it, be about it.
- Step Four: Execute is all about delivering. You have to execute. You just can’t keep building and get stuck in that routine. Eventually, people will start walking away if they don’t see proof of concept.
- Step Five: Expand & Grow is all about your vision and dream expanding into what you planned in Step One.
58 min - We’ve officially launched our subscription-based access to the backlog of our podcast archives.
- 032:The Importance of Scaling Back
Before Mayke Entertainment, we were Arclight Comics! Tune into the re-release of The Arclight Podcast and get insightful tips, info, and advice on how we make comics. We shared everything we learned from 2009 to 2016. Learn how we branded our company, handled legal issues, character design, story development, and more!
Disclaimer: Please be advised, some of the information, advice, and practices may be outdated and no longer be in use by Mayke Entertainment.
Inside Episode 032: Scaling back isn’t giving up. It’s inviting your vision and ambition into your existing reality and making the impossible possible.
Key Takeaways- You can only talk so much. Eventually people want to see some level of execution. Scaling back allows you to do that.
- Scaling back isn’t giving up. It’s allowing you to take a small step forward towards your bigger vision.
- If you feel you’ve bitten off more than you can chew, that’s a sign you need to consider scaling back.
- Don’t think you need to write an entire issue straight out the gate. Try a 10-page issue, a 5-page issue, or a mini issue to start. Get a process and system in place before tackling the bigger goals.
28 min - 031: Building A Writing Habit
Before Mayke Entertainment, we were Arclight Comics! Tune into the re-release of The Arclight Podcast and get insightful tips, info, and advice on how we make comics. We shared everything we learned from 2009 to 2016. Learn how we branded our company, handled legal issues, character design, story development, and more!
Disclaimer: Please be advised, some of the information, advice, and practices may be outdated and no longer be in use by Mayke Entertainment.
Inside Episode 031: We talk about how to prepare yourself to grind every single morning, what the requirements and cost of entry are for artists to really stand out from our own perspective, highlight how every person responsible in the creation of the comic adds to the story, and some of the sacrifices that need to be made in order to achieve your dreams.
Key Takeaways- Be purposeful and intentional in all that you do be it practice, commissions, client work, etc.
- Showing up everyday doesn’t mean sitting in front of your computer and looking through Facebook. You have to put in real work.
- From the writer, to the artist, to the ink artist, story exists every step of the way. You have the opportunity to enhance and add to it depending on your role in the production process.
- 3 AM and 6 AM are hustle hours. Any later than 6 AM, you’re too late.
- Once your feet hit the floor you’re a storyteller.
37 min - 029: Our Method To Creating an Audience That Sticks Around
Before Mayke Entertainment, we were Arclight Comics! Tune into the re-release of The Arclight Podcast and get insightful tips, info, and advice on how we make comics. We shared everything we learned from 2009 to 2016. Learn how we branded our company, handled legal issues, character design, story development, and more!
Disclaimer: Please be advised, some of the information, advice, and practices may be outdated and no longer be in use by Mayke Entertainment.
Inside Episode 029: In this episode, we examine our intense system and mini issue production process, breaking down the different phases;reminiscing about past issues and how certain storytelling elements came to be; cover art production, lettering and so much more with the release of our newest eGuide: Create. Validate. And Build Your Fandom With Mini Issues.
Key Takeaways- Get the story out of your head, onto the page, and then for all of us to read in a single, one-page issue.
- Mini issues are validation tools. They’re designed and used to help you build an audience around what you’re doing.
- Don’t invest thousands of dollars into something you’re not really sure people are going to like. Produce mini issues to see what’s resonating and what isn’t.
- Mini issues are a fantastic way to discover your brand’s voice, your stories and characters.
- We use a collaboration technique called Plussing. This allows us to develop the best story we can possibly tell together.
- Our process comes in a number of phases for you to follow along with.
1 hr 29 min - 028: Nailing Your Pitch
Before Mayke Entertainment, we were Arclight Comics! Tune into the re-release of The Arclight Podcast and get insightful tips, info, and advice on how we make comics. We shared everything we learned from 2009 to 2016. Learn how we branded our company, handled legal issues, character design, story development, and more!
Disclaimer: Please be advised, some of the information, advice, and practices may be outdated and no longer be in use by Mayke Entertainment.
Inside Episode 028: In this episode we give you some techniques on how to utilize the power of emotion. How to dial up the engagement between you and a listener every single time
Key Takeaways- We want to feel something in your pitch. Don’t pitch the entire story. Get us emotionally invested.
- Think in terms of a tweet or 30 seconds or less. It’s your job to get us invested within those timeframes and you have to be able to deliver.
- Do not use established properties to carry the emotional response of your story.
- Leave genre out of it. Genre makes up about 1% of this pie. Your story and the heart of it is the other 99%.
- Get to the heart of your story. Get to the core truth and core message of it and pitch that.
- If your story doesn’t have a heart, you’re going to have a hard time pitching. It is your obligation to make sure your pitch has soul.
- Get us thinking. Get us immersed. Captivate us.
33 min - 027: Building Your Own Platform
Before Mayke Entertainment, we were Arclight Comics! Tune into the re-release of The Arclight Podcast and get insightful tips, info, and advice on how we make comics. We shared everything we learned from 2009 to 2016. Learn how we branded our company, handled legal issues, character design, story development, and more!
Disclaimer: Please be advised, some of the information, advice, and practices may be outdated and no longer be in use by Mayke Entertainment.
Inside Episode 027: We talk about the benefits of building your own platform; using social media as acquisition channels. We give you platform-building resources and even share with you what to do if you’re an independent artist, writer or colorist and how you can stand out from the crowd by creating an experience and personal brand on your own platform.
Key Takeaways- Yes. You do need your own website. There is absolutely no substitute for your own platform.
- No. You don’t need something huge to start with. If social media is all you can afford at this time that is perfectly fine. But eventually, you need to start building your own.
- We’re essentially renting out these platforms’ backyards. The rules of the game can change at any minute whether we like it or not.
- If social media went away tomorrow, do you have a home to call your own your audience can go to and interact? If the answer is no, you are not insured.
- When you build your own platform you control the experience. You’re in complete control of what your brand is capable of.
1 hr 2 min - 026: Let's Talk Reciprocity & Marketing
Before Mayke Entertainment, we were Arclight Comics! Tune into the re-release of The Arclight Podcast and get insightful tips, info, and advice on how we make comics. We shared everything we learned from 2009 to 2016. Learn how we branded our company, handled legal issues, character design, story development, and more!
Disclaimer: Please be advised, some of the information, advice, and practices may be outdated and no longer be in use by Mayke Entertainment.
Inside Episode 026: You have to start doing something different and start giving something away to get people to care and pay attention. This market we operate in is incredibly crowded, and in order to stand out you need to embrace, adopt and execute on the Rule of Reciprocity.
Key Takeaways- Stop marketing the same way everyone else is. Find a different lane to drive in and own it.
- There are hundreds of people creating noise and spam asking everyone on Facebook to buy and click their thing. Are you going to become part of the noise or take a different approach?
- What content can you start giving away for free? What can you share with your audience? What can you teach them?
- The Rule of Reciprocity says that in many social situations, we pay back what we received from others.
- Get into the value business. What are you giving to your audience that’s valuable in order for them to not only care, but keep caring about what you’re doing, saying, and ultimately, selling?
25 min - 025: We’re Just Getting Started (Special 25th Episode)
Before Mayke Entertainment, we were Arclight Comics! Tune into the re-release of The Arclight Podcast and get insightful tips, info, and advice on how we make comics. We shared everything we learned from 2009 to 2016. Learn how we branded our company, handled legal issues, character design, story development, and more!
Disclaimer: Please be advised, some of the information, advice, and practices may be outdated and no longer be in use by Mayke Entertainment.
Inside Episode 025: We talk about everything from Tim and Neph’s transition from show listeners to full-time Arclight artists; to how our team works and functions from day-to-day; we reflect on past episodes and topics; pitch ideas for newer ones and newer series; explain why we tell the kind of stories we tell in our mini issues; talk about our prequel issue launch; and when the Arclight villains are coming and how we’re approaching developing them.
Key Takeaways- This podcast is all about letting you know what lies ahead as you create your first independent comic.
- Keep in mind: it isn’t as easy as ‘creating superheroes’. You’re responsible for a lot of moving parts. We do our best to talk about the things you’re going encounter and will need to know before you get there.
- Story needs to drive everything you do. From characters to the actual script—even when deciding if new hires are going to be able to create new characters. If you give story priority, everything else will fall into place.
- Be aware: It takes hard work and hustle to make a Kickstarter successful. You have to do some leg work before throwing your project on the platform. Otherwise, the results aren’t pretty.
- Diversity is an industry buzzword. The way you can do things differently is by focusing on the character as a human being and a person, not a minority.
- Arclight tells its stories from the perspective of our own experiences and realities. The stories we’ve told so far are the ones we want to see back in comics. Stories that resonate and connect on a more human and personal level.
- The greatest villains are the ones that believe they’re the hero of the story. Don’t give your heroes so much shine that you forget to develop a compelling villain.
- Arclight’s villains are getting ready to be worked on. We’re changing direction and giving them a priority.
1 hr 33 min
About Just Make It
From the publisher's feed
A team of storytellers and creators strap up their boots and hike the journey of making their own comic studio, universe, and characters. Get storytelling, character development, and more insights…
into the comic-making process!