Interview with Nate Lindley of Ashcan Comics Pub/ACP Studios

I love new comic book day.  Wednesdays are the day I look forward to instead of the dreaded hump day.  Walking into my LCS for the conversations, thumbing through my weeks pull list and grabbing any new issues off of the front tables gave me the rare sense of control in a rather chaotic world.  With publication being paused and distribution being halted, many folks are finding different ways to cope.  Some folks are reading old books they've let pile up since they now have time to get to them (guilty), some folks are hunting on ebay, facebook marketplace, mercari etc. for "new to you comic book day" (also guilty).  But, when it comes to needing to do anything with some of these older titles (even if I write the "building my own trades" pieces), I feel a little like this if I'm writing a post on something older:

Needless to say, the first mention of "new comics" got me incredibly excited.  As I was listening to last night's Comic Book Club Live Show, there was an interview with Stonie Williams who was there to talk about his new book "Vala the Beast Heart" which is published and distributed by Ashcan Comics Pub.  As the live show continued on, I found my self digging through their website.  I instantly found myself intrigued by their story on the FAQ page, the comics, prose, and other works they have published, and almost instantly became a supporter on Patreon.

Throughout the night, I spent a lot of time thinking (while watching Tiger King) about how a truly independent publisher is faring under these current circumstances, so I decided to reach out to Nate Lindley, the founder and CEO of Ashcan with a couple of questions, and to my surprise he said yes!  Here is the interview:

CBP = Me
NL= Nate Lindley

CBP: Where does the name Ashcan Comics Pub. Come From?

NL: Ashcan Comics Pub. came about when I learned about little comics that were intended to be works-in-progress.  I decided to focus all my work in this mini-comic format because they are easier to produce, handle nicely, and ship well.  I love the format. We also go by ACP Studios.  We shifted to ACP Studios because we started publishing prose and games as well.  At our heart, we are still Ashcan Comics Pub., but ACP Studios removed some of the confusion for customers since some of our work is not actually a comic book.

CBP: On your about page you say “Marketing and promotion lurked way into the depths and I was saddened to see the crashing waves of indie comics on Kickstarter and Indiegogo.” Can you describe what you mean by this?

NL: When I made my first comic, I was amazed by the number of people hollering out for funding.  What I mean by ‘marketing and promotion lurked’, is that I realized making a comic was only the tip of the iceberg.  Marketing/promotion is the marathon that awaits after production. When I say crashing waves, I mean short-lived crowdfunding campaigns are a ton of work.  I wanted to invest my effort in something with more staying power - I believe that is ACP Studios.

CBP: How does managing Ashcan Comics Pub. either fuel your creative fire or trade off with your ability to focus on your own creative work?  How do you create the balance between Creator/CEO?

NL: Ashcan Comics Pub. is my sole focus.  I don’t pursue work outside of Ashcan unless specially requested to do so.  Why? Time. I am fully vested in building ACP and I pour everything I can into this micro publishing company.  I find inspiration in a lot of areas. Drawing and writing are obvious avenues, but business strategy and vision planning are super creative endeavors.  ACP provides me with more creative opportunities than I can keep up with. Since ACP’s founding, several key contributors have helped me maintain ACP tasks, like editing, book design, and more.

To maintain my own level of creativity, sometimes I need to completely turn off my business brain.  Sometimes I respond to people within minutes. Sometimes I need to focus on a story and produce some art - during that time, I may not respond for a couple days.  But, like I said, I love the art and business opportunities of Ashcan. I do my best to tend to both with equal energy.

CBP: How do you find writers/creators to publish under your banner?

NL: I meet people on social media.  There are so many fantastic artists and authors on social media.  Usually, I send messages expressing interest in their work. If they express interest in working with Ashcan Comics Pub., we usually figure out a way to collaborate.  

CBP: In a world of no wide-scale distribution of new books (because of Diamond’s distribution monopoly) have you seen an uptick in interest because your publishing/distribution model is direct to consumers?

NL: I wish the answer was yes.  Unfortunately, selling indie books is not easy.  People love the big titles because they are familiar.  The hard part of the sale is already done when selling Batman or Spider-Man.  People know who they are and what the book will probably be like. When you try to sell Oath, Vala, The Good Blood, War Priest, Wired Man, D’Khari, Truth, and… well, any great indie title, people are reluctant.  There aren’t decades of production and familiarity backing indie titles. So, while people are not getting the new titles from major publishers, it is still difficult to sell indie books. But, when people do try indie books, they often find fun/entertaining stories and artists/writers who are responsive and accessible.  Indie is totally underrated.

CBP: Are your books found in any brick-and-mortar’s or are all sales through your website?  Is there any interest in scaling up distribution to stores? What are the biggest challenges in doing so? 

NL: Our main focus is direct-to-customer.  Our funding comes from Patreon (www.Patreon.com/AshcanComicsPub).  We have probably the leanest budget in town.  We produce monthly books for just a few hundred dollars a month.  Hopefully we will someday have a budget to reward creators more, but right now it is a trade off.  ACP can’t really offer much financially, so we open the door for networking, collaborations, community, and promotion.

Back to the question about brick-and-mortar stores: once we produce bulk amounts of books, this may be more of an option.  Right now, our books could not be competitively priced. We do, however, have books in a few locations where the owners are fans of our work. 

CBP: Of all of the titles which have been published thus far, which do you feel offers the most unique content/story/art etc.

NL: This is tough, because we publish every genre and we’ve published the work of over 50 people.  I can’t choose one. I will say, there are Ashcan Comics Pub. titles that are developing nicely and that are going well beyond a one-shot.  I’d keep my eye on Oath, Vala, The Good Blood, War Priest, Wired Man, D’Khari, Truth, and Miskatonic High. Some key ACP contributors to watch (just a few of the many) would be Fabrizio Pacitti, Richard Kemp, Stonie Williams, Jay Sandlin, Mike Shea, Ryan Mendoza, Jacob Gratchyk, Travis B. Hill, Alex Jourdain, Cynna Ael, Drew Pritchett, David Clarke, and Nate Lindley (me).

CBP: What’s the one suggestion you may have for a creator struggling to find their voice or a home for them to publish their materials?

NL: To find your voice: start.  Put pencil to paper and go for it.  If your work doesn’t look like someone else's, you found your voice.  Polish it; be proud of it; accept it; don’t give up.

A publishing home:  If you are crazy, try to start an indie publishing company like I did with Ashcan Comics Pub. (ACP Studios).  If you are more interested in the less-crazy-person approach, submit your work to ACP and let’s see if we can work together.

CBP: Finally, Is there anything else you’d like my readers to know?
NL: Fun fact… My first comic book was a Conan comic that my dad gave me.  I wasn’t reading much and he wanted me to read more. He knew I liked to draw.  He gave me a comic. Now I draw comics and write stories.

In Conclusion

I'd like to thank Nate for taking the time to answer some of my questions.  While I think there are great things happening in the comics world right now to help creators and/or everyone's LCS, thinking about small publishers like Ashcan (ACP Studios) makes me wonder if there is a cross section of the comic creative community which is being overlooked.  Last night I read Oath 1 and 2 and Vala (and some reviews are forthcoming), and I thought they were pretty enjoyable! 

​If you are looking for some new books, or have run out of things which are "new to you" you should do yourself the favor of checking out Ashcan Comics Pub. you'll find some stories you love, and for $10 a month on Patreon not only do you get 2 new books delivered to you, but you also get access to their entire digital library, which I think is a hell of a deal!