I love your YouTube it's how I found your stuff. Then I went to read your short manga Dream Root, on Mangadex and I loved it! Very creative and unique page layouts and a story structure that sucked me in. The adorable doughy characters were pleasant to look at [reminded me of Girl's Last Tour]. I'd be ecstatic to see more stuff like this. But I completely understand the frustration of wanting a different style and finding it hard to break into [Don't want to diminish your feelings on that]. Also, I'm very curious because OEL manga publishers don't seem to get much publicity which is supposed to be the biggest pro of a publisher: does starting a serialized story without one appeal to you differently? I try to be a lurker and not leave lengthy comments but as a fellow creator I knows how it feels to wonder if the wheels are just spinning. Hopefully, whatever you make in the future can get more traction by people funneling from your YT to your other work like I did.
As for OEL manga publishing, it's such a wild west out there. If we're looking at OEL-specific companies (I'm thinking saturdayAM, noir ceasar, shrine comics) I assume it's more about it being a networking opportunity and rolling the dice: if one of the comics under your publisher hits it big, then that rising tide will raise all ships. Manga is a tough field, and having allies makes it easier. But you're right-- its not like any of these publishers are going to give you an immediate, enormous boost. Everyone's too small right now.
I saw my time at lumebento as an online "writing club" and only have good things to say about the team, but I was hesitant to run a serialized manga with them. It felt too time-consuming and risky. If my work couldn't stand on its own as a webcomic, I didn't have the confidence that Lumebento, being the little startup it is, would give any push to my mangamaking career. Not trying to be mean! But that's true of every OEL publisher at the moment.
I chose to self-publish Dream Root while working with Lumebento since I wanted to keep it on a flexible schedule, and-- this is a bit embarrassing, but Lumebento asked for basic plot outline, character details, things like that. I was able to outline book 1 of PolyMonFur just fine, but Dream Root I was having trouble putting it into words. What could I say-- "In the upcoming chapter, the protagonist cries a bunch." This is going to sound very full of myself but I wanted the story to be about the moment-to-moment experience
Hopefully that answers the question about OEL manga publishers aaaaa 🫡 Really this whole field is so individualized and everyone's art journey is going to be different, so I can only really speak on what I've experienced or noticed
First I wanna say thank you so much for the support, please don't feel obligated to leave comments, lengthy or otherwise 😭 I completely understand being a lurker, there's people who I've followed for years and not a peep. The support is felt even if nothing's being said
But thank you so much for seeking out Dream Root and the kind words on that 😭 that manga means a lot to me but it's a bit difficult to pitch, and it makes me so happy to hear it compared to Girls Last Tour hahaha, I love that manga!! Thank you
I absolutely get how it feels, it's hard to commit to something when it becomes more of a chore and less fun. Been there myself. Continuation of good luck with the Youtube endeavor just like you had so far and hopefully you keep enjoying making content for it! It helps that unlike making manga and light novels, a Youtube channel's content can be really flexible in the sense that you can change content all you want if it just stops making you feel alright working on it.
I hear you there. I am a little scared by the flexibility of YouTube but it's been easy to course correct. My movie reviews haven't done particularly well, but oh well, just have to try something else. Figuring out a niche has been really fun. I've bounced around with genres in manga but the feedback in YouTube is a lot more immediate.
Ride whichever current carries you. I support your non-commit lifestyle 🐬✨
I love your YouTube it's how I found your stuff. Then I went to read your short manga Dream Root, on Mangadex and I loved it! Very creative and unique page layouts and a story structure that sucked me in. The adorable doughy characters were pleasant to look at [reminded me of Girl's Last Tour]. I'd be ecstatic to see more stuff like this. But I completely understand the frustration of wanting a different style and finding it hard to break into [Don't want to diminish your feelings on that]. Also, I'm very curious because OEL manga publishers don't seem to get much publicity which is supposed to be the biggest pro of a publisher: does starting a serialized story without one appeal to you differently? I try to be a lurker and not leave lengthy comments but as a fellow creator I knows how it feels to wonder if the wheels are just spinning. Hopefully, whatever you make in the future can get more traction by people funneling from your YT to your other work like I did.
As for OEL manga publishing, it's such a wild west out there. If we're looking at OEL-specific companies (I'm thinking saturdayAM, noir ceasar, shrine comics) I assume it's more about it being a networking opportunity and rolling the dice: if one of the comics under your publisher hits it big, then that rising tide will raise all ships. Manga is a tough field, and having allies makes it easier. But you're right-- its not like any of these publishers are going to give you an immediate, enormous boost. Everyone's too small right now.
I saw my time at lumebento as an online "writing club" and only have good things to say about the team, but I was hesitant to run a serialized manga with them. It felt too time-consuming and risky. If my work couldn't stand on its own as a webcomic, I didn't have the confidence that Lumebento, being the little startup it is, would give any push to my mangamaking career. Not trying to be mean! But that's true of every OEL publisher at the moment.
I chose to self-publish Dream Root while working with Lumebento since I wanted to keep it on a flexible schedule, and-- this is a bit embarrassing, but Lumebento asked for basic plot outline, character details, things like that. I was able to outline book 1 of PolyMonFur just fine, but Dream Root I was having trouble putting it into words. What could I say-- "In the upcoming chapter, the protagonist cries a bunch." This is going to sound very full of myself but I wanted the story to be about the moment-to-moment experience
Hopefully that answers the question about OEL manga publishers aaaaa 🫡 Really this whole field is so individualized and everyone's art journey is going to be different, so I can only really speak on what I've experienced or noticed
First I wanna say thank you so much for the support, please don't feel obligated to leave comments, lengthy or otherwise 😭 I completely understand being a lurker, there's people who I've followed for years and not a peep. The support is felt even if nothing's being said
But thank you so much for seeking out Dream Root and the kind words on that 😭 that manga means a lot to me but it's a bit difficult to pitch, and it makes me so happy to hear it compared to Girls Last Tour hahaha, I love that manga!! Thank you
I absolutely get how it feels, it's hard to commit to something when it becomes more of a chore and less fun. Been there myself. Continuation of good luck with the Youtube endeavor just like you had so far and hopefully you keep enjoying making content for it! It helps that unlike making manga and light novels, a Youtube channel's content can be really flexible in the sense that you can change content all you want if it just stops making you feel alright working on it.
I hear you there. I am a little scared by the flexibility of YouTube but it's been easy to course correct. My movie reviews haven't done particularly well, but oh well, just have to try something else. Figuring out a niche has been really fun. I've bounced around with genres in manga but the feedback in YouTube is a lot more immediate.
Thank you for stopping by
No problem! As a huge fan I will always stop by