How to become a professional comic artist in China?

The threshold for professional painters in China is very high, but the income is not much. If you want to debut in a serial, you must first have capital and a certain reputation. No one will sign a serial for an unknown newcomer, no matter how good his skills are. I can only submit some short stories to magazine websites or some competitions, and then do some amateur free serialization, and gradually gain recognition from editors and some audiences. Only by accumulating enough capital can it be possible to sign contracts and serialize.

This itself is not easy. Most of those with insufficient ability and talent are eliminated, and those with ability have to struggle for a while. Not to mention how much money you can make. You can’t make much money in the early stages of drawing comics.

Also, being able to sign a contract to serialize comics does not mean that you are a professional author. The income of an ordinary Chinese author from serializing a comic is not high and very unstable. Even if a single comic is published, the income is basically the same as that of workers in third-tier cities. So many serial authors actually draw part-time. Although tiring, it is still achievable for a capable author. There are also people who live a very prosperous life (such as the second generation of rich people) and do not rely on this to make money. There are very few people in China who make a living solely by drawing comics. Because the income from serializing one work is not high, many people have to sign contracts with multiple journals to serialize two or even more works at the same time. Although the income is high, it is also tiring and requires a lot of fame and capital. Otherwise, not many magazines would be willing to use him.

Then there are some comic groups, studios or companies. I also make money from multiple serials, and I also receive other works or commercial comics.

As for those authors who are very famous, they usually rely on years of accumulation or strong backers. If you rely on fame to earn a living, not only will your manuscript fees be very high, but you will also have mature channels, connections, and back-end operations, so you can earn a very high income. But that is naturally only a few people.