It’s one thing to create an indie comic book, it’s another to get it in the hands of readers and build a fanbase. Each year Comic-Con hosts the panel “How to Get News Coverage” where experts answer questions like what to submit to the press, how to submit it, and why they may not be getting coverage are all topics.

The Comic-Con@Home panel originally aired at 10 AM PT on Thursday, July 23, 2020. Comics journalist Rik Offenberger (First Comics News) moderated the panel of fellow comics journalists, including J.C. Vaughn (Gemstone Publishing Vice-President of Publishing), Martin Boruta (The Hey Kids Comics Radio Show), Peter Breau (Second Sight Publishing), Ed Catto (Agendae), Holly Golightly (Broadsword Comics), Michael Kingston (Headlocked Comics), and Rob Salkowitz (ICv2).

The conversation is wide-ranging, covering the importance of understanding marketing, connection via social media, and laying the foundation for a project so that it doesn’t come out of nowhere. They talked about supporting fellow indie creators’ projects, researching similar projects to learn about their methods, and sharing the artistic process online so that people can watch the project grow.

They talked about ways to find audiences, the merit of offering content for free versus charging, and which social media platforms have the strongest potential to reach and attract readers. The importance of having a website or webpage rather than just relying on artists alley setups was discussed. The pros and cons of getting out there in person and visiting comic shops with finalized products to pitch to the store and make connections was part of the conversation.

Panelists gave tips for submitting requests for reviews in publications or podcasts, like not overloading a pitch with content, rather keep it lean and direct. They discussed the need to make your pitch as easy to cover as possible with a great image for eye appeal, doing things as simple as checking the spelling, making requests to sites with similar content, and using etiquette and professionalism.

Being creative with marketing was also mentioned, such as using your personal experience and style, as well as current events to help promote the book. They talked about being creative with pledge level perks on crowdfunding campaigns like a sketch commission with a video of you doing the art.

This and much more can be seen in the full panel below.