COmicLab Ep 360 — New ways to make an old mistake

COmicLab Ep 360 — New ways to make an old mistake

After years of listening to Brad and Dave extoll the virtues of self-publishing, a ComicLab listener signed with a corporate...
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Content exchange: Cross-promotion made simple

Content exchange: Cross-promotion made simple

With social media on a steep decline, many of us are scrambling to find ways to replace its benefits. One...
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Incorporating an oddly shaped panel into a vertical-scroll comic

Incorporating an oddly shaped panel into a vertical-scroll comic

Building an audience on the web means adapting to the vertical scroll. But that doesn't mean giving up innovative page...
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Webcomics Confidential: Draw larger

Webcomics Confidential: Draw larger

I took a question on Twitter recently: "Would it be wrong to draw my comics on A4 paper? I find...
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November To-Do List

November To-Do List

It's time to get started on (*choke*) the penultimate month of 2024.If you plan to offer new merchandise for the...
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ComicLab Ep 359 — Should your readers be your writers?

ComicLab Ep 359 — Should your readers be your writers?

BlueSky is beginning to feel like Twitter did ten years ago! Engagement is up, conversations are genuine, and follower counts...
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Understanding social media

Understanding social media

Social media is among an independent artist's most frustrating elements. We struggle for engagement, wage constant battles with "The Algorithm,"...
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Writing humor

Writing humor

Writing comedy is a challenge that is made even more daunting by the fact that humor itself is completely subjective...
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CMYK vs RGB

CMYK vs RGB

If you're saving your comics in RGB mode, you may be making a potentially expensive mistake. The content you are...
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ComicLab Ep 358 — “Help! I’m not funny anymore!”

ComicLab Ep 358 — “Help! I’m not funny anymore!”

Cartoonists Dave and Brad share some thoughts with a young humor writer trying to find their Funny. Also: Is BlueSky...
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Webcomics.com Poll: The End of the Schedule?

The latest Webcomics.com poll indicates another huge sea change in the webcomics business model. The question was simple: On which day(s) does your webcomic update. A surprising number of people indicated something that would have been spelled instant death a few years ago.

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by on June 8, 2016
Posted In: Business
4 Comments

Using ID tags as part of your social-media and SEO strategy

Lately, I’ve been re-doubling my efforts towards blogging. There are two reasons. First, with two updates a week, it’s not only more important to take that opportunity to try to get my messages across, but it’s much easier than when I was doing a daily strip. Secondly, now that my business has shifted from a ad-supported to a subscriber-supported model, it’s crucial that I try to make that blog a bigger part of my outreach.

What I have found is that I have been able to use my beefed-up blog as part of a greater social-media strategy as well. And it’s all thanks to a very simple HTML tag.

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by on June 8, 2016
Posted In: Tech, Web site, Web Site Design
1 Comment

Patreon’s “Charge Upfront” Feature

Patreon is rolling out a “Charge Upfront” payment feature in which patrons get charged immediately when they pledge — and then at the first of the month every month thereafter.

This is an attempt to counteract “ghost pledging.”

I was invited to beta-test upfront charging. Here’s my take:

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by on June 7, 2016
Posted In: Marketing / Social Media
└ Tags: ,
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Hot Seat critique

Hitch It / Ditch It: Open Call

It’s the most popular of the Hot Seat series, so let’s launch one more “Hitch It / Ditch It” critique before the end of the year.

The rules are simple: I go to your site and point of one thing you’re doing well, and one thing that might stand some improvement. The discussion goes on from there are the members join in with their thoughts.

To participate, please give me the following in the Comments below:

• Your name

• Comic title

• Your comic’s URL

by on June 7, 2016
Posted In: Hot Seat critiques
8 Comments

June To-Do List

It’s June. Comic Con International is only weeks away. Many of your readers are going to be out of school and enjoying summer. And maybe your own kids are, too. There’s a lot to get to, so let’s get cracking.

Comic Con Checklist

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by on June 2, 2016
Posted In: To-Do List
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Syncing Clip Studio Paint (ie Manga Studio) between two computers

You don’t need a subscription to read today’s post!

If you’ve ever been curious about the kind of information, tutorials and advice that you’ll get as part of your subscription to Webcomics.com, this is a good example.

If you’d like to join the site, you can get a 12-month subscription for $30 — or you can get a one-month Trial for $5 … with no obligation after your 30 days expire.  For less than three bucks a month, you can get a steady flow of information, tutorials and advice targeted towards your webcomic business — plus a private forum to discuss issues with other professionally minded cartoonists.

Two of the of the strengths of Manga Studio is the ability to create page/strip templates and save image “material” to use again later.

But what if you use the software on two different computers — for example, one in your studio and another at home?

Relax. There’s an easy way to sync everything up.

• Go to your Documents folder.

• You’ll see a folder named “Smith Mirco“

• Make a copy of this on Dropbox, Google Drive, or some other back-up system.

• When you get to your other computer, drag this folder to the Documents folder of that second computer.

You will have all of the templates, materials, etc. from the first computer available to you on the second computer.

Now, whenever you add something to your library of materials, remember to drag that Smith Micro folder to the back-up and manually sync the other computer at your first possible convenience.

 

by on May 27, 2016
Posted In: Art, Tech
└ Tags: ,
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Wizard World Releases Artist Alley Warning

After a discussion of the legal implications of comic convention fan art last year, I posted a piece in February that asked whether we were reaching a tipping point in unlicenced merchandise at cons.

We may be edging closer still.

It started at the Puerto Rico Comic Con last weekend, when Invincibles artist Ryan Ottley spied some veeeerrryy familiar art at the table of an artist working under the name of “GingerZap.”

Screen Shot 2016-05-26 at 4.00.03 PM

As is the custom, he took his concerns to Twitter.

Today, with their Philadelphia show only days away, Wizard World e-mailed Artist’s Alley vendors with a review of the rules — notably:

Screen Shot 2016-05-26 at 3.48.18 PM

Here’s what that means to you, as an exhibiting artist…

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by on May 26, 2016
Posted In: Business, Conventions
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Marvel/DC Trademark Over “Super hero” Challenged — Successfully

Marvel and DC Comics have asserted joint-trademark ownership over use of the word “super hero” for several years. They forced the creators of “Super Hero Happy Hour” to change the name of their comic to “Hero Happy Hour” in 2004. And they imposed similar restrictions on the creators of other “super hero” products.

But, according to The Telegraph, one businessperson refused to flinch.

Graham Jules was about to publish his self-help manual “Business Zero to Superhero” in 2014 when he got a letter from Marvel and DC Comics claiming the word infringed their jointly-owned trademark.

But modest Mr. Jules fought back and even rejected an offer of ‘a couple of thousand’ to change his book title.

Rich Johnson, commenting at Bleeding Cool, claims:

The legitimacy of the claim by Marvel and DC has often been challenged by commentators and many believe it would fail now.

By dropping the case, Marvel and DC avoid any judgment that others could then use against Marvel and DC. But it does also suggest that all someone has to do is let the case go to an official body and they’ll win.

Or even, just take the money when it’s offered. It’s possibly worth doing just for that.

Here are my thoughts…

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by on May 26, 2016
Posted In: Uncategorized
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Mailbag: Are Ratings Systems Trademarked?

mailbagQ.  I tend to draw things rather simple, colorful and a bit more “cartoony-expressive” than realistic, but they still have adult themes at times. My comics are mostly PG-13 type stuff. I was wondering how I would go about putting a rating system on the cover of my graphic novels? I feel that it is good to be upfront about this sort of stuff like movies, video games and music lyrics do. I did some research aon the ratings used by DC and Marvel. Marvel used a G-PG-R system until the Motion Picture Association of America complained, as it holds a trademark on such classifications. Marvel thus switched their system.

So… my question is… Does DC and Marvel hold copyright (or trademark) to these rating systems? Did Marvel choose their rating system so that they wouldn’t get in trouble from duplicating DC’s? Do I have to come up with some unique system of my own for my comics? Don’t video games use the exact same ratings as DC? Wouldn’t every single comic creator have to develop their own system? Wouldn’t that be hard to do and completely insane for EVERY author to make their own rating system? Would I get in trouble for duplicating theirs?

Or would a simple listing of the controversial things be sufficient. A small blurb somewhere that says…. “This book contains brief nudity, profanity, and adult themes.”

A. There’s way more here than meets the eye.

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by on May 25, 2016
Posted In: Uncategorized
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ComiXology Unlimited

ComiXology has just released ComiXology Unlimited, a monthly subscription service ($5.99 a month) that enables subscribers to access a large catalog of comics. Marvel and DC content will not be part of the offering. However, selected titles from publishers such as Dark Horse, Fantagraphics and Image will anchor the service. According to Entertainment Weekly:

…Comixology Unlimited will eventually cycle titles in and off its catalog in the future, though it already starts off with thousands of issues from dozens of different series. This could allow users drawn to a flashy name — such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the comic book continuation of the beloved TV show — to eventually find their way to lesser-known comics likeUmbrella Academy, My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way’s surreal twist on the superhero tale.

Will webcartoonists who currently publish through ComiXology Submit be able to participate? And what will the royalty structure be? I put out some inquiries and got some interesting answers…

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by on May 24, 2016
Posted In: Business, Digital publishing
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