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Alterna Comics is a small press publisher who has found a lot of success by printing their comics on newsprint, as comics pre 21st century were regularly printed on, helping keep the cost of their comics down for consumers.  Now, if you’re a comics creator that has a project ready and you are looking to get your single issue comic printed on newsprint, then you will soon be able to piggyback onto the newsprint runs that Alterna Comics produces every week and save a lot of money.

Now, the publisher has opened up their long-awaited printing partnership program, announced last August, and it is going to lower the barrier for independent creators to get print copies of their comics. The pricing will be the same for either black and white OR for color comics and the minimum runs will start at quantities of 500. If your project is a 32 page full-color comic, the price per issue will be 50 cents a piece. That price does not include shipping. There is also a flat, pre-press charge of $50, regardless of page count, to prepare your files for newsprint production.

Estimated shipping will be around $20 per box in the United States, equaling around $0.80 or so per issue for a 32 page full-color comic. It should go without saying that the higher the print run, the cheaper the per unit cost. The program is scheduled to kick off later this month.

It should be noted that Alterna’s Printer Partnership Program is separate from their publishing lineup. The company is not publishing or distributing creators through this program. They are merely offering an affordable option for indie creators looking for a printing deal on low quantities of print runs. I believe that the comic book industry has been needing a disruption to the printing process and Alterna Comics could be the opportunity for indie creators.

Get even more details, instructions on how to participate in the program as well as Alterna Comics News by clicking here.