Fund Your Comic's Printing & Publishing Costs From Your Bio

A comic creator can fund printing and publishing costs by setting a Goals goal on their Brillay page: readers send cash toward a stated total — a print run, ISBN, or binding cost — and watch a funding progress bar, with no all-or-nothing deadline, reward tiers, or shipping handled by Brillay. A Goal is one named goal with a progress bar: followers make one-time contributions and every contribution is yours whether or not the goal is reached — no deadline unless you set one, and nothing to ship.

No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate. pricing

Printing a physical run of a webcomic or graphic novel is one of the few costs an online creator pays upfront, before a single copy sells. Readers who already support the story digitally are often willing to help cover that print bill directly, without a creator building a full crowdfunding campaign around it.

How do you fund a comic's printing costs without a Kickstarter?

A comic creator funds printing without Kickstarter by posting a Goal: supporters make one-time contributions toward a named total — a print run, ISBN registration, or binding — tracked on a visible progress bar, with no campaign deadline, no reward tiers, and no all-or-nothing cutoff (how it works). Each contribution counts toward the print total the moment it arrives, and there is nothing to ship.

A goal suits a creator who already has an audience reading the comic for free and wants to fund the leap to print without opening a new storefront or logistics process. Readers contribute toward the named printing cost, while you choose the printer and handle any book sales or shipping yourself.

A goal also works well alongside Tips: a supporter can send a smaller one-time thank-you on the same page.

What does it cost to print a comic book or graphic novel?

Per-copy print cost follows a published formula, not a flat price, and changes with trim size, page count, ink type, and marketplace. Amazon KDP's printing-cost page gives the formula as fixed cost + (page count × per-page cost), and lists a black-ink paperback of 110–828 pages on Amazon.com at $1.00 per book plus $0.012 per page.

Worked from that published rate, a 110-page black-and-white comic paperback prints at $1.00 + (110 × $0.012) = $2.32 per copy on the Amazon.com marketplace, and a 160-page one at $1.00 + (160 × $0.012) = $2.92 per copy, before shipping and tax (Amazon KDP — Printing Cost). Color interiors, non-US marketplaces, and hardcover binding all use different rates on the same page, so a comic creator should re-run the formula for the exact edition being printed rather than quoting a single industry number.

A per-copy figure is only part of the bill. A creator funding a physical print run is also typically covering proof copies, an ISBN if the book will be sold through retail channels, cover file preparation — sometimes bottlenecked by a creator's own render hardware, which is why some digital artists fund a GPU or 3D printer upgrade as a separate goal — and, for an offset run rather than print-on-demand, a bulk minimum order that has to be paid before any copies exist. Bowker, the official U.S. ISBN Agency, states that a publisher needs one ISBN for each edition and format of a book, and that an ISBN is required to sell in bookstores, on Amazon, and in other online stores; a single ISBN is priced at $125.00 and a block of 10 at $295.00 ($29.50 each) on its MyIdentifiers storefront (MyIdentifiers — Buy ISBN).

What does a 100-copy comic print run goal add up to?

A 100-copy print-on-demand run of a 110-page black-and-white comic totals about $364 out of pocket — $232.00 in printing, $6.96 for three proof copies, and $125.00 for a single ISBN — using Amazon KDP's published per-page rate and Bowker's published ISBN price. A $430 goal covers this sample only if it is paid in one contribution; if readers contribute in many smaller amounts, set the target higher because each card payment has its own processing fee.

A $430 goal paid in one contribution leaves $395.73 after a $21.50 platform fee and a $12.77 card-processing charge, which clears the $363.96 subtotal. Because Stripe's published US card rate adds a flat $0.30 per successful charge on top of 2.9%, many small contributions cost slightly more in total fees than one large one. Shipping, sales tax, offset minimums, and any paid lettering or editing are excluded from the sample above and should be added as named lines before the goal is published.

How does Goals compare to reward crowdfunding for a print run?

Reward crowdfunding funds a large print run in one timed launch, but adds a deadline, an all-or-nothing threshold, tiered physical rewards, and a platform fee. Kickstarter collects a 5% fee from funds collected when a project is successfully funded and collects no fee when a project misses its goal, per Kickstarter's own fee page.

"Kickstarter uses an all-or-nothing funding model. If your project doesn't reach its goal, then funds don't get collected, and no money changes hands." — Kickstarter Creator Handbook, "Funding"

Kickstarter's help center adds that its payments processor, Stripe, collects a variable card processing fee of roughly 3–5% on the full payment including any taxes, on top of the 5% platform fee (Kickstarter Support — "What are the fees?"). Kickstarter's Creator Handbook also caps a funding period at 1 to 60 days, so a print-run campaign has to be scoped to a fixed window.

The category itself performs well: Publishers Weekly, reporting on Kickstarter's 2024 comics category, found that more than 67% of comics projects were successfully funded — the highest success rate of any Kickstarter category — with a median successful comics campaign raising roughly $17,500 (Publishers Weekly, "Inside the Brave New World of Kickstarter Comics").

What should a comic-printing goal include?

A comic-printing goal should name the edition, the print quantity, the total being raised, and what happens once that total is met, because readers are contributing toward a defined cost rather than buying a product. A goal titled simply "help me print" gives a reader less confidence than one that itemizes printing, proofs, and ISBN.

Useful goal details:

• What's being funded — a specific print run, an ISBN, or a reprint of a sold-out edition.
• Rough total — the number the progress bar is counting toward, ideally itemized the way the 100-copy sample above is.
• What happens at the goal — when and roughly how printing will start once funded.
• What isn't included — for example, shipping to individual backers isn't part of the goal.

Goals collect contributions toward a named funding target, while the creator handles printing and any distribution separately, off-platform.

What other publishing costs can a goal cover?

A goal can cover any one-time publishing cost the creator names clearly: an ISBN priced at $125.00 for a single number from Bowker's MyIdentifiers storefront, a professional cover file, editing or lettering help for a print edition, or a reprint of a sold-out run. One stated total plus a progress bar works for each of those.

A comic creator who also tables at shows faces a similar upfront cost on the convention side — see how to cover artist alley table fees for that version of the same funding approach. You can keep several Goals open at once; give each one a specific name and cost breakdown so supporters know exactly what their contribution supports. Creators sometimes fund the printing itself through Goals while selling the finished book, or a numbered limited-run print of a single page, as a separate priced item once it exists. Selling an already-printed piece is a different transaction — see how to price a limited-run fan art print commission for that pricing approach.

Do readers get anything back for funding the print run?

Not automatically. Goals collect one-time contributions toward a stated goal, with no reward tiers and nothing to ship. The creator chooses and fulfills any acknowledgment — a name in the book, early digital access, or a shoutout.

A creator who wants to combine funding with an actual reward can pair a goal with a separate offer, such as a Personalized Video thank-you for larger contributors, while keeping the printing fund itself simple and reward-free. Mixing funding and rewards into one listing tends to create the same fulfillment overhead that a plain goal was meant to avoid.

What if you don't reach your printing goal by launch day?

Missing the target does not automatically refund or forfeit contributions; supporters' payments stay with the creator unless a refund is separately issued. A goal has no all-or-nothing deadline, so contributions already made stay with the creator and the goal keeps collecting until it is closed or reaches its stated total. Kickstarter's model differs: an unfunded campaign collects no funds at all.

"Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing. No one will be charged for a pledge towards a project unless it reaches its goal." — Kickstarter Support, "What are the basics?"

A deadline-free goal means a creator can set a realistic printing total, keep it open indefinitely, and decide independently when to commit to the print order — rather than betting an entire launch on hitting a number by a fixed date. A creator should still be explicit that a goal is not a guaranteed ship date, since funding pace and printing timelines are decided by the creator, not by Brillay.

Why does funding printing directly matter for comic creators?

Paying for a print run before any copies sell is a real cash outlay, and typical arts earnings are modest. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $55,290 in May 2025 for craft and fine artists, the Occupational Outlook Handbook profile that covers SOC 27-1013, "Fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators."

"The median annual wage for craft and fine artists was $55,290 in May 2025." — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook — Craft and Fine Artists

That classification is the closest federal occupation code for comic illustrators rather than an exact match: the BLS publishes no separate comic-artist or webcomic occupation, and SOC 27-1013 also covers painters and sculptors (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Craft and Fine Artists). It is general labor data, not a Brillay earnings figure — but it explains why fronting a ~$364 print bill out of pocket is a meaningful ask, and why letting readers fund it directly, without a campaign's overhead, can matter more than it might for a creator with larger reserves.

Frequently asked questions

Does Brillay print or ship the physical comics?

No. Brillay processes the funding contribution toward a Goal. Printing, proofing, and shipping the physical comics remain entirely the creator's responsibility, handled off-platform with a printer of their choice.

Is there a deadline to reach a printing goal?

You may add a target date to a Goal, but it is only a countdown, not an all-or-nothing cutoff.

How much should I set a 100-copy comic printing goal at?

About $430 for a 110-page black-and-white paperback. Printing 100 copies costs $232.00 at Amazon KDP's published Amazon.com rate of $1.00 + $0.012 per page, three proof copies add $6.96, and a single Bowker ISBN costs $125.00, for a $363.96 subtotal; a $430 goal covers that after a 5% Brillay fee and Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30.

Should I fund a print run with Goals or sell prints individually?

Use Goals to raise cash toward the run itself before any copies exist. Once printed copies exist, selling a numbered, limited-run print as its own priced item is a separate transaction — see how to price a limited-run fan art print commission for that pricing approach.

What does Brillay charge for a goal?

There is no monthly fee; the platform fee on a goal is the one stated in the fee line near the top of this page, taken only when a contribution is paid. Card processing is separate — about 2.9% + $0.30 per Stripe's published pricing — and there's no follower minimum required to enable a goal.

Create your free Brillay page and let readers contribute without creating an account. Each contribution is one-time, not a membership; Goals, Tips, and your other offers can share one link, with creator payouts available in 41 countries.