A Fork in the Road for Marko Man

SO!

I've been reading some things, and I have come to the conclusion that as is, the Marko Man series probably won't get published on some official publishing house level. I'd have to push it independently.

Which I have no problem doing if I choose to do so.

But there are an interesting number of choices. Once I finish doing all the reading I want to do, then I will have to make a choice between the following.

A) Independently publish the series as is.


Why this is Awesome: With this option, the Marko Man series is ready to go. I could literally start it today and just go on with the 50+ books that I have, as well as any additional content that I may want to add to the series as I please.


The Glaring Issues: Exposure. It has never been my strong point. Otherwise, I'd be famous by now. I'd have to learn a trick or two about gaining an audience, and potentially having that audience grow. Also, this route might be a bit expensive...

B) Re-do the series foundation such that it has a higher chance of getting published.


Why this is Awesome: With this option, I get more money (albeit not as much as I would think I should unless it gets real, real big), and it would be a true dream come true. I would have to cut out quite a bit more stuff than I already cut out, but it would actually serve for better quality stories...

The Glaring Issues: ...Or would it? With cutting out more than I feel is necessary to have the series at its best, will it really be at it's best? In a perfect world, the series as I have set it up for the future would get published in a heartbeat, but with the way the publishing industry works, it's definitely not getting published. But let's say a few stories gets published, but then they don't want to hear about the rest of the series. Do I lose my characters? My publishing rights to my own stories? Do I have to cut a bitch?

PS: Team Ultimate gets severely crippled if I go with this option. I've been thinking about the further innovations that I'd have to go with if I used this option, and Team Ultimate... I don't know, it just isn't the same as I imagined it. The Team Ultimate portion of the series is probably the most distinct of the entire series, even with everything else I ever planned for it. As far as I can tell, that distinction goes right out the window with this option.

C) Try and get the Marko Man series published as a comic book series.


Why this is Awesome: What's hilarious is that even though I wrote novels, everyone thought of them as comic books anyway. And with good reason. Many a time, the stuff that I write doesn't fit the mold of a novel. It's action packed, it doesn't care for highlighting themes or other literary elements that they tried to teach you about in school, and ultimately, if a kid did a book report on one of my books, it'd be dead on arrival. Making the Marko Man series a comic book series would actually be a really cool fit with all the action that goes on.

The Glaring Issues: So originally, I thought that I would have to learn how to draw in order to go down this road. Apparently, writers and artists are two different things. While I didn't know that, I feel like I should have. Regardless, finding the right artist would probably be difficult, and apparently you have to pay the artist out of pocket... Furthermore, I had dedicated a reasonable amount of time in learning how the publishing industry for novels work. I haven't the slightest clue how it works with comic books... not that I can't learn but... still, it's all very brand new territory.

I would also have to modify the series a bit, but for the most part, nothing gets crippled in the way Team Ultimate gets crippled if I go with option B. 

D) Go for making Marko Man a web comic.


Why this is Awesome: I would have complete control over the comic (I'd have complete control of the independent novel publishing as well), bringing my creation to the website of my choosing. I could hire and artist, or I could learn how to draw on my own (which I have been looking into all weekend). I don't think that my art would have to be top notch... just cool enough to generate some traffic.

The Glaring Issues: I mean... I can draw, but... I need work. Tons of work. I can do scenes pretty okay, but as far as humans and other figures, like animals and whatnot... needs plenty of work. Plenty. Of Work. Like I said, I have been working on it over the weekend, and I learned something important about drawing humans... bones are important. Who knew? Also, there's the concept of generating traffic. I feel like at the end of the day, that is the biggest issue for me when it comes to taking either independent route.

I would also have to modify the series a bit, but for the most part, nothing gets crippled in the way Team Ultimate gets crippled if I go with option B. (yes, copy pasta'd)

E) Quit Marko Man completely.

This isn't actually an option.

Mark, if you had to choose an option right now... like RIGHT NOW!, what would you go with?
Option A. It pretty much keeps the series as I imagined it and allows me to get started on it right away... like RIGHT AWAY! I feel like I could start with option A right now... like RIGHT NOW! if I wanted to.

But of course, I went in. And I found these possibilities. And I don't know which way to go...

Yet.

But I will in due time... or maybe not due time. I should have an answer by the end of the summer though. I still have tons of reading of all types to do before I make a final decision.

Gosh... getting Marko Man off the ground is taking longer than I thought.... good thing I didn't wait until 2013 to try and get it off the ground.......