Relying solely on book sales will make it difficult for an author to have a long-term career.
Having published over 30 works with more than 600,000 copies printed, Mèo Mốc believes that instead of relying on a singleoperty (IP) into a diverse range of creative products
Mèo Mốc is the famous main character in the Mèo Mốc comic series, and is also the pen name of Đặng Quang Dũng. Having been involved in writing for over 10 years, Dũng has achieved what many authors aspire to: a large readership, a significant number of book copies printed, domestic awards, and exhibitions of his work abroad.
In a conversation with Tri Thức – Znews , the author of Mèo Mốc shared how to maintain “creative energy,” how to develop the Mèo Mốc IP, and his plans for future expansion.
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“I enjoy bringing characters out of the pages of a book.”
– Dung belongs to a group of authors who write quite consistently, with over 30 books published to date, and a considerable number of copies sold. Does he have any “secrets” to such abundant “creative energy”?
– Actually, I don’t think I have any special “secret.” Perhaps the most important thing is that I’ve made creating comics a fairly natural part of my daily life: I pay attention to what happens around me and the small, everyday conversations I have with friends and family, then I think about how I can turn it into a story. One thing leads to another, and whenever I come across a good idea, I just turn it into a comic.
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Mèo Mốc Black Book Volume 1. |
At the time, I was really eager to finish it quickly so that everyone could read and enjoy it. That has always been my main inspiration for drawing regularly every day, and thanks to that, I’ve produced many works.
Furthermore, the more I create, the better I understand storytelling and how to express that story visually. With each work, I gain more experience to improve subsequent pieces. In fact, even now, I still maintain the habit of occasionally reviewing my old works from the early years of my creative career, and applying my current experience to make further adjustments if needed.
– Not every character has the symbolic and recognizable quality of Mèo Mốc (Mottled Cat). If you had to choose three experiences in creating comics, what three would you share?
– Firstly, it’s about observing real life. I think characters that readers easily like often have very ordinary characteristics. Things that we consider insignificant are sometimes what make readers think, “Oh, I’ve been through that too.”
Secondly, it’s crucial to understand your characters and maintain their consistency. As an author, I need to know what a character likes, dislikes, how they react in different situations, etc. Furthermore, I must maintain the consistency of their established personality throughout the stories. Of course, over time, characters will develop and change in personality, but this must be consistent. Ensuring these things means the character is no longer simply a fun drawing but begins to develop a distinct personality and a life of its own.
Thirdly, it’s important to consider the reader’s emotions while still maintaining my own voice. These are two elements I always balance. On one hand, I always write with the mindset of putting myself in the reader’s shoes to ensure the story is conveyed effectively, creating empathy between the reader and the story. On the other hand, I always remain true to my own feelings, not blindly following short-term trends to please the masses.
– Besides books, Mèo Mốc has many branded products including souvenirs, toys, stationery, etc. What do you find interesting or challenging in these derivative product lines?
– I really enjoy bringing characters out of the pages of a book, because then they can enter life in many different ways. I especially love model toys and games, so applying my own characters to these types of merchandise (branded souvenir products) is very interesting. When I actually started working on it, I realized that creating merchandise is very different from writing a story.
When producing merchandise myself, I have to balance materials, design, cost, and product quality to attract customers; on the other hand, I have to pay attention to “behind-the-scenes” factors such as production costs, packaging, shipping, warehouse management, etc. This is another unique aspect, as merchandise is a physical product with many different costs and risks. Therefore, I think that simply having a famous person doesn’t automatically mean you can produce a lot of merchandise; it requires a lot of consideration and planning.
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A bookshelf in the workspace of author Mèo Mốc. Photo: Provided by the author. |
Leveraging a comic book IP requires more than just a good comic artist.
– People often say that being an author in Vietnam is “difficult to make a living.” Is this true for Dung? How is Dung supporting himself and Mèo Mốc (a cat)?
– That’s absolutely true. I think relying solely on book sales makes it quite difficult for an author to sustain themselves in the long run, especially for new authors who don’t yet have a sufficient number of published works. In the beginning, I also had to work multiple jobs alongside writing to make ends meet.
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The Mèo Mốc card game. Photo: FB. |
After many years of persistent work, I gradually acquired variouserships, merchandise, networking events, workshops, and other activities. TheseeMốc (a Vietnamese comic book series), as well as developing new projects
In my opinion, building an IP is a long-term endeavor, and reaching specific milestones of success requires a lot of perseverance and luck.
For me, profits from book publishing rights remain a very important part of Mèo Mốc’s journey, followed by other activities that provide me with additional re
– Comic books are often considered to have great potential for adaptation into many other creative forms. How do you assess this potential of Vietnamese comics?
– I think comics have a clear advantage because they inherently contain many elements that make it easy to establish an IP brand: characters, visuals, story, world , and a readership. From a comic book IP, theoretically, it can be expanded to publishing, merchandise, animation, games, advertising, or many other forms.
Comics contain many elements that help easily shape an IP brand: characters, visuals, story, world, and a readership.
But to achieve that, it’s not just about having a good comic artist. It requires an entire ecosystem behind it: funding, a production team, a distributor, marketing, copyrights, derivative product development, and more.
Another issue is market size. The Vietnamese market, with its derivative products based on Vietnamese comic books, is still relatively young. Investing heavily in an IP in the current context naturally comes with risks; however, there are also advantages for IPs with a long history. Once a sufficiently large and dedicated readership has been established, further development becomes much easier.
– It seems Dung is focusing more on publishing and writing stories, rather than expanding into many derivative branches of Mèo Mốc? What are your thoughts on venturing into the animation field?
– In fact, Mèo Mốc has collaborated extensively with companies in the mobile game, card game, and board game industries. I’m always open to opportunities to introduce Mèo Mốc into new formats. However, it’s true that I still dedicate most of my time to writing and publishing.
Partly because Mèo Mốc and the other characters first appeared in comics, and to this day still receive great interest from readers. Every day, one of my tasks besides writing is answering letters and messages from readers asking when the new Mèo Mốc comic series will be released, or when the new Journey to the West comic series will be available.
Ensuring the creative process is also a responsibility I want to commit to my readers. Furthermore, I want to build a solid foundation for Mèo Mốc’s world, so that derivative works will have a strong and lasting basis.
If Mèo Mốc ever makes an animated film, I want it to be a seriously invested production, with the best quality possible for myself and my team.
Currently, my colleagues and I are gradually expanding into the Mèo Mốc animation field with short reel videos uploaded simultaneously to the Mèo Mốc fanpage, YouTube channel, and TikTok channel, both to gauge audience reaction and to continue gaining experience for larger projects in the future.
This process will take quite a long time, but I don’t want to rush. If Mèo Mốc ever makes an animated film, I want it to be a seriously invested product, with the best quality possible for myself and my team.
Games and other interactive products require very different specialized teams, and most importantly, they demand significantly larger res of projects requires the collaboration of many different entities
For now, I think the most important thing is to continue creating comics, continue developing characters, and accumulate more experience. Because creating an IP is a long journey that requires perseverance.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Original article
https://znews.vn/chi-dua-vao-ban-sach-tac-gia-se-kho-di-duong-dai-post1688062.html
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