I read an article by a very distinguished comic creator that ranted about all sorts of issues on basically why they make little money on the web with their comics. I also read a response to that article that basically asked some really tough questions of that creator and their accusations and their excuses on why they thought they were getting screwed.

Now that made me think a little. Ok it made me think a lot. So I’ve decided to talk about why I choose to post my tale online and put my story out there for free, in hopes others will like it and post about it.

As the times change so much the game plan change. The internet if used right can be a powerful tool for the independent comic creators. Independents and small press these days are in a jam. Diamond is not too kind towards them and there are even fewer distribution opportunities for these independents. It is not like the late 80’s and 90’s which were the heyday for independents. The cost for production is just way to high to print 4000 books and pray to be able to sell them so you can just do issue 2. (That to me is old school print mentality).

So what do we do???? What can we do. Well many of the independents have found ways to adapt and that is by providing FREE content online. Posting our stories, in hopes that our audience grows and spreads the word. We are adapting our game in an industry that focus more on mainstream titles. We give up sales to tell our stories, yet we also know that if we keep it up sales do come… It’s a interesting dance.

So how do I approach it. Well I decided to post the whole story online. My friend Jason of remindblog.com and I have talked in length about this philosophy. We want you to keep coming back to our worlds, we want you tell your friends about our worlds and we want you to be part of our worlds. So we as a creators need to be mindful of that and the promises we make with our viewers.

The main key is follow a schedule and don’t deviate. You say you’ll update 2 or 3 days a week, well keep that schedule. If your story is important to you will keep to your schedule. I realize that many independents hold other jobs and have huge commitments, yet you can tell who gets it and who does not.  Some of us are lucky to work for big production houses and other fields in the art world, yet as the game changes and independents and small press gets pushed further to the side, you got to keep trudging. Success happens with time, not overnight, I don’t care how big your name is, if you can’t keep your commitment to your fans the web will be very unkind to you and your rep will crash down a lot faster than in the print industry. So if you cannot commit don’t play the game.

Really, this is a poor mans game to get things started. Yet as in Field of Dreams, if you build it they will come. That truly is the key, building it. The web is a community based entity. You cannot force commerce on it, commerce comes to it. As people find your comic and your worlds they pass it on. As more and more people find you, then the sales come, yet only if you have product to sell and it’s easy to navigate to. This is were stepping up your game is important. First you got to learn how to engage your fanbase. Many love to comment and if you spend a few hours a week talking back, people enjoy that. It makes you real to them. Second, learn to use the web. Make your site easy to navigate and ecommerce compatible. Figure it out, if you can’t figure it out you will be left behind as print slowly goes away. Really it’s all up to the creator on how much they are willing to put into their world and site. If your site looks like something still from 1998 and you are unapproachable well, then maybe that’s the reason traffic is low.

I fully understand, that book sales can be slow at times, especially since the story is online, but it is always growing. I find other baskets in the art world to put my eggs in also. I realize I missed the 90’s where independents and small press where king…yet I am not missing the 2010 era where in a few soon years webcomics will be the norm. I learned to adapt. You see while making an income is important, I also love to tell me story and no matter how many times I fall down, I’m going to get back up.

Is print dead, certainly not. You just have to learn to use it with the web. I still love holding printed books and reading them at my own leisure, that is why I go and buy, when available, collections of my favorite webcomics and comics.  I have found I am not alone either as people pick up my series in print form.

The other thing is I hope people, review, blog, post and talk about my artwork. As an independent, small press creator, I’ll take all the love I can get. I also find that it’s important to give love to other great creators as well. Honestly I am not so stuck on myself that it has to be all about me. There are plenty others, far better than I that need to be promoted and are in the same boat as I. Which is proving that the web is and incredibly valuable tool in marketing, sales, and promotion.

So that is why I post for FREE, that is why I comment all the time. It’s because I enjoy telling a story and enjoying engaging with those that like what I do. I get it, the world is a changing and I am willing to change with it….. are you?

trav

I read an article  that effected me a little today. It was that Webcomics were dying and that nothing new and exciting was around these days. The author of the site has a pay-per-view webcomic site, something that I have been against from the very beginning, because I think you should not charge for something viewed online. If all you have is a failing subscription site than yes webcomics might be dying as for anything new out there … I think one needs to start looking because I have found several, that believe like me, that it is time to raise the bar on webcomics.

Yes, I realize that anyone can just quickly scribble something on a sheet or hit  few buttons and make a webcomic and it seems to be a common practice on how vulgar or how can one push the line. Yet… I also realize that there is some incredible talent out there that have taken this craft to a whole new level. In sorts we have to kind of feed off one another in trying to prove that it is possible to create an incredible tale online and still make some sort of income off of it.

So how do we raise the bar? What will it take for artist and writers to find ways to make webcomics something more when mentioned than just a snicker from people who do not understand what they are about.

First off Webcomics are in the phase that newspaper comics were in 100 + years ago. When the art was not always the best, but they taught the world that art in newspapers could be much more than depictions of current events. From there many artist have found there own. In the 20 to 50’s the art of newspaper comics was incredible and deep, truly a craft that showed that the creators cared about what they were creating. Bill Watterson and a few others tried to bring it back in the late 80’s and 90’s.

So where are the Bill Wattersons of today? I don’t know, but they are out there and they are starting to make a say in how web comics can be correctly done.

What makes web comics successful is the willingness of what the creator is willing to put into it. Like the cartoons of print, most comics creators (who update daily) are not willing to put the time in to make it work. The I want it now success stories are nothing more than delusions. Watterson, Breathed, Walker and many more newspaper comics spent many years just finding ways to build their audience and even then it still took many years before their strips became famous.

Web Comics, even though they are digital media, have the same problem. An audience needs to be built and patience on the part of the creator to let the strip grow. Honestly to expect success overnight is foolish, yet success can happen if and only if you are willing to stick out and be consistent in your updates. (If you don’t update you kill your story, so if you want to make this work you gotta put the time in to do it.)

Art- This is huge for me. If the art is substandard or shotty, I do not stay. If the art is well developed I hang out a bit and look at the next thing which is writing (more on that in a minute). Take time to learn your craft. Put the effort in to improve your art. The best webcomics out there have strong art and strong writing. Learn how to draw backgrounds, environments to add to your basic character head shots. Change camera angles and work on texture. Color is good, but there are some strong b/w out there as well.

Writing, is just as important. The deeper the story, the better thought out gags, the more likely one sticks around. If the story is too diluted with bad character interaction and trying to hard to shock readers, I for one loose interest really quick.

Know your audience or figure out who they are. You want your story to be big, make it accessible to everyone, meaning parents who read your tale will more than likely let their kids see it, if you keep it pg- that way you get a whole other generation and kids have a lot of power over what adults choose to look at.

Take time in developing your site as well. Make the presentation good. There are a wide variety of comic hosting programs. Take time to make the graphics strong and clean, make your navigation easy. It’s not the fans that will kill your comic, you will, especially if the presentation is pretty bad.

So improve your art and writing, be consistent in your updates, learn who your audience is, be willing to be patient and now it is time to work with others who are like minded. There are several other creators that understand this principle, many of them are linked in my links section. You will be amazed on how good their work is and that they tend to follow the similar belief that the bar of webcomics NEEDS TO BE RAISED to be taken seriously or else they will always be the same mentality about them and that is that the artist or writer just couldn’t make it in the professional world and so they came to the web to peddle. Honestly don’t be afraid to give love to those stories besides that deserve it, others will give love back to you. People that read webcomics read more than just one, so I make sure they can find the stories I like, and they will also know the stories I like are set to a pretty high standard.

I am a pro. I am here to help raise the bar, set the standard a little higher and yes still make it possible to support my hobbies through webcomics. You see by willing to show the world my story for FREE, I broaden my audience, who in turn support me by buying the trades or comics when they come out. Print and web go hand in hand. Don’t be afraid to publish your stories even if they are online. They are online to help your world grow so reward those that read with printed material and now with paypervisit websites. If you use the web for your stories correctly and smartly you will find your stories will hit large groups of people who will enjoy your work as many of us enjoyed the work of the great newspaper strips along.

Also do not be afraid to chat with those that support you. Talk to them! The web offers a new dimension that newspaper strips could not do and that is interaction with creators. So if creators need to spend a little more time talking to those that support them, those that support them are more inclined to tell someone else, which only makes your readership grow.

Yet if the bar is to be raised, we need a few more strong comics in the mix. A few more willing to step up their craft and find away to blend strong writing, strong art and consistent storytelling. Yet as it gets harder to get distributed through diamond and others I see more and more good story tellers coming to the web and turning webcomics into the newspaper comics of the 21st century.

If you noticed I chose not to name any webcomics here, but newspaper artist instead. I did this for a reason, the correlation between newspaper stip and webcomic are very similar, your dealing with a daily audience that expects you to put something out on a regular basis, and like I said only you will kill your comic.

So if webcomics are going story the bar must be raised by the creators themselves and we just have to want it bad enough to make it happen. I have no intentions of stopping the bean….I hope those creators of other great comics feel the same. Yet the fans need to let them know they are doing job, buy their books and help support and only then will webcomics get the respect they deserve.

trav

Here as promised is today’s full color update. It is sooo much more sound in color in my opinion and I look forward to catching up to the current 591 page but that is ok- We will day. Your contributions through patreon are helping. Thank you. If you want to help you can donate a $1 per color update. Only 2 a week. Every bit helps, every bit makes it possible to dedicate more time to this incredible endeavor we are embarking on. I cannot do this with out your incredible support. Thank you for those that are lightening this burden so I can create time to one keep the bean free online and 2 create time to get this job done.

Keep creating.

trav