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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ISBN — a beginner’s guide

ISBN — a beginner’s guide

An ISBN is a 10- or 13-digit number used to identify a book from a specific publisher. Once your book...
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How to write a Halloween joke

How to write a Halloween joke

On Substack, a cartoonist was struggling with writing a Halloween joke. He was experiencing a common problem. He was stuck...
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Webcomics Confidential: Size doesn’t matter

Webcomics Confidential: Size doesn’t matter

when it comes to your audience, size doesn't matter. A small and engaged readership beats a huge, lukewarm audience every...
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ComicLab Ep 357 — Innovation fascination

ComicLab Ep 357 — Innovation fascination

Having wrapped up his 16th Kickstarter, cartoonist Dave Kellett shares some insights about setting realistic expectations, avoiding paid advertising, and...
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Adding lettering to improve original art sales

Adding lettering to improve original art sales

Selling original art is an integral part of the business model of an independent cartoonist who works with traditional media...
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Reader retention

Reader retention

Let's face it. One of the biggest hurdles in growing a webcomic is reader retention. That's why I encourage you...
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ComicLab Ep 307 — A sexy, sexy defense of the Ninth Art

Sure, making comics is fun, but do we ever do serious work, like painting, sculpting, or other classical art forms?

ON THIS WEEK’S SHOW…

  • Do we ever do “classical” work?
  • If tenacity is #1, what’s #2?
  • UPDATE: Dave’s booth cost for SDCC ’24
  • UPDATE: NCS networking
  • UPDATE: Alaska Comics Camp
  • Which to work on… popular, fun Series A or almost-done Series B?
  • Black gutters
by on November 2, 2023
Posted In: ComicLab
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November To-Do List

It’s time to get started on (*choke*) the penultimate month of 2023.

If you are planning to offer new merchandise for the holiday-shopping season, get moving now.

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by on November 1, 2023
Posted In: To-Do List
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Webcomics Confidential: ‘You have the audience you deserve’

Many of us are looking for a magic hashtag or “One Weird Trick” to game SEO and drive readers to our work. But I’d like to share a moment of Tough Love when a mentor told me: “You have the audience you deserve.” Once I stopped looking for shortcuts and focused on the quality of my work, my audience began to grow.

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by on October 30, 2023
Posted In: Webcomics Confidential
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ComicLab Ep 306 — Is syndication dead?

The Gannett newspaper chain, which includes USA Today and about 200 other daily newspapers, has selected 34 syndicated comics. Each of its newspapers will be limited to running comics from that list. Any comic that didn’t make the list has been shut out of roughly 20% of the existing market. Not surprisingly, most of the 34 are legacy comics whose original creators are long since deceased. This is the end of syndicated comics.

ON THIS WEEK’S SHOW…

  • The Gannet 34 signals the death of syndicated comics
  • UPDATE: Mastodon Aint it
  • Why no ComicLab website?
  • Relaunch a failed Kickstarter?
by on October 26, 2023
Posted In: ComicLab
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Understanding social media

Social media is among the most frustrating elements of an independent artist’s life. We struggle for engagement, we wage constant battles with “The Algorithm,” we scramble for every last clue to success… and we lose. Time and again, we lose. It’s a little overdue to take a closer look at what’s really happening here.

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by on October 25, 2023
Posted In: Marketing / Social Media
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Webcomics Confidential: How long should it take to draw a comics page?

A person who was starting to do comics asked a question in a forum for creators: “How long does it take you to do one four-panel strip?” They got a wide range of answers — each one of them as unhelpful as the next. They had asked the wrong question, and their creativity would suffer as a result.

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by on October 23, 2023
Posted In: Webcomics Confidential
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