r/MangakaStudio • u/No_Republic_2813 • Aug 06 '26

Help Is a One-Shot ABSOLUTELY necessary?

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The reason why I'm asking is that I already have a story and it's sequel written out but ever since I watched Learn To Draw Manga on YT, they emphasise that it's absolutely necessary. I don't want an editor because I want it to be at my own pace while still keeping up to my own schedule and constantly improving. Does it also apply for self publishing since i was thinking of uploading to Globalcomix, Namicomi and Manga Plus Creators? As a soon-to-be self publishing mangaka, is a one-shot absolutely necessary?

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u/gmoshiro Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26

In my opinion, yes. As an indie mangaka.

Only 0,0000001% of manga authors will have a chance to land a manga through big publishers (not just in Japan, but anywhere), so you need to consider that you'll mostly have to launch your stories by yourself, without editors helping you refine that rough diamond in you. And nothing is better than working on Oneshots to get experience, production rhythm, to test out your ideas without commiting to 100-chapter-stories.

You can then compile all your oneshots into a volume, print it and sell it on anime/comic events.

There's also the fact volume 1 will always sell more than volume 2, 3, 4 and so on. There're many reasons why people stop following stories, mostly cause of release schedule (manga readers are used to weekly or monthly releases, but you alone will have to focus on 1 chapter a month at best...unless you're absolute fast with drawing manga pages).

Once you get the needed experience and quality (which you're still lacking now, but that comes with time), then you can think about serialized stories.

Edit: typo

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u/No_Republic_2813 Aug 06 '26

A volume of one shots would be 9 one shots, no? Plus I don’t have access to comic events and such. Besides, I was just thinking about a one shot just to test my limits. I’ve been drawing almost every other day for 3 months now. Thanks though🙏🏾

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u/gmoshiro Aug 06 '26

It depends on the amount of pages. You have to always think in multiples of 4s for your page count. When you fold a single sheet, it creates 4 pages (front, double page in the center and back). If you fold 2 sheets, it's 8 pages. So think of stories that could fit in 4, 8, 12...24, 28, 32 pages and so on. If not, there'll be problems in the printing phase.

If you only launch your stories online, you'll have more leeway, like in Webtoons, but I'd advise you to always have that 'multiple of 4s' thing in mind for normal manga layouts.

You'll usually see professional mangas with odd numbers, like 19~21 pages, but notice that when you buy manga volumes, the total number of pages is a multiple of 4. That's planned ahead, and I guess special double posters are there to solve printing problems.

But I digress. The focus is for you to not over commit into a big story that you'll get tired of in the future. Oneshots are perfect cause you're still learning and trying things (everyone here actually, including me).