The Year I Quit My Job to Create Comics
And on embracing failure, however difficult, however embarrassing.
Hi there,
I hope you all had an excellent New Year’s Eve! If you dozed off at nine in the evening eating leftover Christmas chocolates under a blanket, that sounds excellent.
It’s been a while since I last wrote a newsletter, and I’ve been debating if I should write a year-in-review recap or leave it be. The internet is full of success stories of people who quit their jobs and made a living within a year, or at least had prospects of doing so. That’s not my case at all, and I feel embarrassed. But still, not everything was bad: many good things happened, and they are worthy of acknowledgement. I tend to overlook any success I happen to chance upon, so maybe writing about them will be good.
In December 2023, I left my job to try and make a living creating comic books. My fellow creators will laugh at this, albeit sadly, because they would know what ensued even if I didn’t tell them. The answer is simple: at that objective, in particular, I failed miserably. Most of us do, except for the most resilient (which I’m not). But in the process, I learned that there are art careers that I can try out and that I can use what I learn to continue creating comics. And I will spend 2025 pursuing these careers, even if that means getting a full-time job coding again while I wait for things to work out.
After saying this, I’m not completely sure if failure is the right word. I did fail at making enough money to cover my living expenses, but I learned a lot:
Ran a successful Kickstarter campaign in early 2024, consisting of two books. The first one has been delivered, and I’m working on the second, which will be fulfilled in the first months of 2025. It was delayed quite a bit, and that’s another reason for me feeling like I failed, but the fact that my backers understand the reasons and are still waiting keeps me going.
Learned how to sell my work at conventions in an empathetic way, and have been connecting with my audience much better since then. I’m looking forward to continuing in 2025 and seeing where things go.
Redid my website and put a freelancing portfolio together, which was a massive effort. After a number of rejections that no human being should have to withstand, I learned that what I did was too generic and that I needed to make it better. I had to spend some time studying.
As I couldn’t afford university, I built my own curriculum with mentored online courses in the second part of 2024. I learned a lot about art for animation, film and games and how to create a portfolio. I am now in between a few career choices and have to decide, which will be difficult, but I’m a tiny bit hopeful.
Had the chance to give a small talk about my work to my former teacher’s current students, which was a lovely experience. Thank you so very much, Sarah, for giving me the opportunity.
The Last Day of Rain is in a physical shop, in Harrogate: Destination Venus! They are also in the same building as a branch of Everyman Cinema, which is my favourite cinema, so I’m very happy.
Redid my online shop, and I think it looks a little better now, and it’s easier to use. A massive factor of disappointment here is that I didn’t manage to make a single sale to a stranger online, even though I put some ads up on a few platforms. My guess is that what I sell isn’t interesting for the internet, and I need to learn how to make work that rises above an online world full of bots and AI. I have to admit I’m not sure if I’m quite up for this challenge and I’m not sure if I want it, but we’ll see.
Finally found the courage to gather reviews from customers and friends, which you can also find in the shop.
Put up an Amazon author profile, which you can follow should you want to hear about any new books I release.
Received a lot of compliments on my work, both at events and online. I’m not good at taking a compliment, and I always put myself down, so perhaps this is a sign to do that less.
Towards the end of the year, I overcame depression and started feeling a little more like myself again. And this, for me, was the biggest achievement of all.
In retrospect, I learned a lot about what to do and not to do in business. That didn’t leave me enough time to create as much work as I would have liked to, so I need to find a balance in 2025. The year is already shaping up and keeping me busy, and I’m looking forward to sharing what’s in store with you in future emails.
I keep saying I’m doing many things very quickly because I don’t want to spend ten years trying to “make it”. But I’m certain I’ll still spend more than ten years trying, and it can last forever if I don’t define what “to make it” means.
This year, I’ll aim to be more gentle with myself and celebrate achievements more than failures.
But now, it's time to log off and get to work. There will be a lot of it!
Wishing you an excellent 2025, with good tidings and the strength to tackle all the challenges life sends towards you. We can do this! 💪
– Claudia
Should you be interested in ordering my books or some wall art, you can do so here: https://claudiamatosa.com/shop
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