If you’re lucky enough to be reading this Tuesday morning, you get an epic opportunity to pull up a chair and watch a popular topic of this site — Community Building — on full display.
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This summer, I was asked to make a fictional pitch to the Big Two comics publishers. Instead of asking to be involved in their print projects, I encouraged them to put a greater effort into their Web presence.
Brad Guigar, who publishes the corporate supervillain webcomic Evil Inc., recommends that daily webcomics be the focal point of Marvel and DC’s websites. After all, webcartoonists have a proven track record of updating their sites with regular content and attracting a large, consistent audience. And the webcomics could be paired with digital downloads, giving readers the opportunity to buy comics as they stop in for their daily dose of free fun.
So I listened with keen interest when Jim Demonakos approached me a few weeks later and asked me if I’d be interested in working on a comic that would be used on the Web site for his comic convention, Emerald City Comicon.
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It’s been one of the immutable expectations of webcomics: Never break your schedule. Most of us, as webcartoonists, strive to foster a habit of daily Web-site visits in our readers. And “going dark” — and/or missing updates — threaten to break those habits.
But it may be time to re-think this one — especially when it comes to the holidays.
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So, earlier this week, Scott and I posted an reaction on the PVP site to a contest in which the Grand Prize was placement on GoComics.com (and all of the ad revenue generated there) and an electronic-book-publishing contract. Our message included an offer to work in a consultation capacity with any syndicate or syndicated cartoonist if they’d like to bring their Web strategy up-to-date.
I have to admit, the response caught me off-guard. The focus seemed to be fixed, laser-like, on the tone of the piece, and not on the message that was being delivered. Real business was not done in such a manner, we were scolded. Scott’s being an a-hole, said others. He’s gloating over the decline of print comics.
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Recently, Google Analytics has begun rolling out a new functionality: Real Time stats.
If you don’t see it as part of your Analytics package, don’t panic. This is a beta function, so all publishers may not be set up yet.
If you do have it, you’ll attest that it’s breathtaking.
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At the beginning of the year, I made a few predictions. Let’s see how close I came.
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I received the following e-mail last week from Regina, a Webcomics.com member:
I just wanted to send a quick thanks for the bar code information I came across on your page. I am a high school science technology teacher and was able to incorporate some of the helpful information from your page into a brief class lesson i recently taught on QR codes. I knew my students would appreciate and take interest in the QR codes because three-quarters of them own smartphones! Haha, crazy right?
I’m going to pass along another piece of QR Code material you might want to take a look at!
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Every now and again, I think a cartoonist has to make a very strange choice between getting a point across and being, well, accurate.
I had one of those issues last week, doing the Courting Disaster cartoon.
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It was an amazing year at Webcomics.com. Here’s a look at some of the highlights:
The Webcomics.com Awards were announced
When Howard Tayler received cease-and-desist for his “Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates” comic (and accompanying merchandise), he sat with Webcomics.com for a Q&A of his handling of the issue.
Are you a spammer? Here’s how to tell.
A member shared information on reducing your comic’s load time.
Scott Kurtz shared some thoughts on how he’s approached improving his writing
Great strategies for using QR codes
Noting air fare increases since Dec. 2010, Webcomics.com advised members to book their convention travel as soon as possible to lock in prices that were bound to increase over the course of the year.
Penny Arcade’s Robert Khoo fielded every last question that members threw at him. (Part Two) (Part Three)
Dave Kellett’s address at the Festival of Cartoon Arts
Accessing brick-and-mortar opportunities
Working with a walk cycle to improve your figure drawing
Luggage guidelines for all major airlines
We debated Nina Paley’s ascertation that copying is not theft
The pre-Square guide to accepting credit-cards at conventions
T-shirt tutorial: From spot colors to percentages of each size to order.
You asked Scott Kurtz anything. And he answered.
My story about not listening to well-intentioned advice: “Enjoy Obscurity.”
Adobe InDesign Preflight tutorial
When are the best times to tweet?
Adobe InDesign tutorial: Making PDFs for print
Comic Scrapers: Threat or Menace?
Will Disney/Marvel merger change comic-con commissioned sketch culture?
Art 101: Draw large and reduce
How to share a convention booth
Using Square for credit-card transactions
Making the leap from POD to offset
Disadvantages of a Sole Proprietorship
The Hitch It / Ditch It critiques rewarded each participant for something they’re doing right, and pointed out one area of improvement
Scott Kurtz, Robert Khoo and I announced a special meet-up after hours at Comic-Con.
Empire City Marketing announced its services to help cartoonists with marketing and PR, offering such things as access to Zuda (which had closed shop months earlier) and Act-I-Vate (whose founder had never heard of them).
Encouraging non-monetary support
I experimented with Scribol, and got some admirable results.
The Kickstarter vs IndiGOGO comparison brought to light some very troubling facts about IndieGOGO’s methodology
Brand the comic or the cartoonist?
Mary Cagle offered some critiques on coloring
Tutorial on drawing kids
Jim Shooter: An inside look at comics contracts
We discussed how Assetbar handled its failure
I ticked a whole lot of you off by sharing how much I disliked 24-Hour Comics Day (and discouraging your participation)
Facebinks attacked the sites of several webcartoonists who use ContextWeb to serve ads. After the dust cleared, we used it as a learning moment.
Using Klout to gauge your social-media outreach
Scott Kurtz shared some thoughts on critical self-examination
Adapting on the fly at a comic convention
Training readers to expect merchandise
Tutorial: Creating a gift certificate in PayPal
Kachingle started accepting donations on behalf of owners of Web sites — without the opt-in of those sites! We issued a member adisory
So far…
Member Benny Powell shared some thoughts on how packaging matters
I had a few warnings about participating in a charity
I shared a good idea for next year: Digital Advent calendars
My personal word-balloon journey
I’ve developed a renewed respect for Twitter’s ability to help me promote my comics and strengthen my overall brand. Over the past several weeks, I’ve been experimenting with focusing the first part of my day on Twitter. I’ve seen some very good traffic from the effort, and I think my promotional tweets are much more well-received when they’re included in a larger mix of comments and conversation. Feel free to check out my Twitter feed @guigar to see how I’ve been doing this.
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