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
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
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
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?
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
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 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
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!”
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
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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Webcomics Weekly — The Return
After a long hiatus — more than a year — the Webcomics Weekly crew is back! Due to the overwhelming Kickstarter support of The Webcomics Handbook, Scott Kurtz, Dave Kellett, Kris Straub and I will do four new episodes of our popular podcast. This is the first of that limited series. Kickstarter backers of the Handbook got it first, and now Webcomics.com members have semi-exclusive access to it before it goes public. Enjoy!
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
On The Spot Hot Seat: Snapped Controller, Blow the Cartridge and Everything is Embarrassing
The rules to the “On The Spot” Hot Seat are simple: I go to your site and discuss your site/comic/social media on that day. I don’t dive into the archive, and I don’t take into account anything other than what’s happening at that moment. I like this critique series because it emphasizes the need to continually be working with the mind that we’re making first impressions every day. My comments are only the beginning of the conversation. Members are encouraged to check out the sites and add their thoughts.The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
About.me
Self-promotion is an ongoing challenge for webcartoonists. It’s an important part of what we do — and it comes naturally to few of us.The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Best of Webcomics.com – February 2014
If you’re not a member of Webcomics.com, here’s some of the information and tutorials and you missed.
For only $30, you get access for 12 consecutive months of information, tutorials, critiques and intelligent discussion among serious cartoonists. (And you don’t have to wade through a couple dozen lame self-promotional pitches every day to get to the good stuff!)
Of course, you can always buy my new book based on this site — finally available in print! The Webcomics Handbook is the sequel to How To Make Webcomics, and it’s based on some of the best information from Webcomics.com, and you can read it right now. Of course, members of the site can get the digital edition for 50% off.
Best of the site
Do you have your EIN? Here’s why you should.
The Hitch It / Ditch It Critique series ended…
… and the On The Spot Hot Seat critique series was launched
The U.S. Postal Service changed its pricing structure/delivery options. We walk you through the most pertinent developments
Usage rights: Are you familiar with the different usage rights that apply to your work — and what they’re worth?
Kickstarter Hacked: As soon as Kickstarter released information that their popular crowdfunding site was hacked, Webcomics.com updated with a post alerting members to this fact and telling them what they could do to protect themselves.
Mailbag: “Can I put your comic on my site? A member asked a seemingly simple question — How to respond to an Internet “reprint” or “syndication” request. The answer isn’t quite as simple.
Sales tax guide: Sales tax varies from state to state, and it’s something webcartoonists need to be aware of — whether they’re merely selling goods on the Web or traveling to out-of-state cons. We provide a handy guide to navigating the issue.
Covers designed to sell: In a guest piece, Webcomics.com member John Bogenschutz discusses a finer point of book-cover design — one he uses to convince people to buy more books.
Facebook advertising: Does it do more harm than good? An engaging and thoughtful video demonstrates how paying to boost a Facebook post might actually decrease your ability to reach your fans on Facebook.
Klout scheduler: Social-media analytics app, Klout, has developed new functionality for their users. We talk about what it is, and we identify how you could use it to better reach your readers.
Negotiating a price: We give you solid strategies on getting paid the most for your hard work.
WordPress back-up to Dropbox: This handy plug-in could save you a lot of heartache.
Best of the Forum
What are the first steps to building a Web site? The members weigh in on hosting, CMSs and branding.
Patreon rewards and milestones: Members discuss best practices and brainstorm strategies.
What’s your favorite thing about creating a webcomic?
Header image: A member was having trouble getting his header image to display correctly on his site. He got help in the forum.
WordPress plug-in recommendations: Members offered to plug their favorite plug-ins.
Hand-outs at conventions? Are you allowed to distribute flyers and other freebies is you’re not buying a table at the con?
March To-Do List
Get out your calendar and start circling dates. It’s time to do a little webcomics planning.The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Friday Archive Dive: DBA
Today’s Archive Dive comes from Feb. 11, 2013, when we discussed the DBA.
A DBA is an important part of establish your business as a standalone entity. The acronym stands for “Doing Business As,” and it is a legal document that says, “When you see XYZ on a form, that’s really John Doe doing business under that business’ name.”
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
WordPress backup to Dropbox
No one loves Dropbox more than I do. It’s completely changed the way I do … well, everything.
Same goes for WordPress.
Anything that brings the two of them together? Pure heaven.
And that’s why I love a new plug-in called WordPress Backup to DropBox.The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Negotiating a price – the Variables Method
It’s something we, as professional artists, are often called upon to do: Name a price for our work. And, for many of us, it’s one of the most daunting challenges we face.
When I was teaching my weekly class at Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia, I asked my class, “What’s the worst thing you can hear from a prospective client after you’ve quoted them a price?”
“‘That’s too high,'” offered one student.
Incorrect, I countered. That’s actually a very good response. So what’s the worst thing you can hear?
“Yes.”
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Klout scheduler
Longtime readers may remember my endorsing a Web app called 14Blocks for scheduling social-media messages to hit when its data predicted the greatest probability of the largest number recipients. Unfortunately, they updated their offering, and, in so doing, disabled most of the features I liked best about the software.
Now Klout (which we first discussed in Oct. 2011) is expanding its social-media analytics functionality to pick up where 14Blocks dropped the ball.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
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