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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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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Ideas are bulls#!+

Tell me if this has ever happened to you. You have a deadline or an assignment is due, and you can’t get an idea — there are no ideas! I have good news for you…

Has this happened to you? You spend all of your time waiting for an idea, when what you really should be doing is choosing the idea you’re interested in and pouring your creativity into it!

by on April 8, 2022
Posted In: Creativity
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ComicLab Ep 224 — ‘I’ve tried nothing, and it isn’t working!’

Cartoonists Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar talk about how understanding self-publishing can make or break your career in comics.

Questions asked and topics covered…

  • Understanding self-publishing can make or break your career in comics
  • Dividing your readers into groups — early vs late… active vs passive
  • Kickstarter conundrum

Brad Guigar is the creator of Evil Inc and the editor of Webcomics.com Dave Kellett is the creator of Sheldon and Drive.

by on April 7, 2022
Posted In: ComicLab
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Be picky when choosing promotion

What if I offered a small promo box that participants could add to their site. The box would randomly generate a small banner and link to comics from other participants. Are you in or out? I think the answer should be out.

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by on April 6, 2022
Posted In: Marketing / Social Media
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April To-Do List

Get out your calendar and start circling dates. It’s time to do a little webcomics planning.

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by on April 1, 2022
Posted In: To-Do List
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ComicLab Ep 223 — Exclusive is not forever

Cartoonists Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar talk about using exclusive Patreon rewards as merchandise. Today’s show is brought to you by Wacom, the maker of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One! 

Questions asked and topics covered…

  • When to turn exclusive Patreon rewards into merchandise
  • Closing loopholes in a story
  • The trials of an Eisner judge
  • Planning a new character design
  • Surviving the ebb and flow of a freelance life

Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Patreon backers at that level will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions — as well as an archive of previous livestreams!

You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patrioneon

  • $2 — Early access to episodes
  • $5 — Submit a question for possible use on the show AND get the exclusive ProTips podcast. Plus $2-tier rewards.
  • $10 — Gain access to the ComicLab livestreamed recording sessions (including an archive of past livestreams), plus $5-tier rewards

Brad Guigar is the creator of Evil Inc and the editor of Webcomics.com Dave Kellett is the creator of Sheldon and Drive.

Listen to ComicLab on…

by on March 31, 2022
Posted In: ComicLab
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Should you participate in a “Top Webcomics List” site?

I was surprised when I received a question about a “top webcomics list” site recently. I wrote advice against participating in those back in 2010, and ever since, the entire topic dropped from my radar. Evidently, sites like this are still out there, and cartoonists are still trying to use them for audience building. I’ll tell you why that’s bad.

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by on March 28, 2022
Posted In: Marketing / Social Media
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Multi-channel publishing

You want to write longform stories that are brisk and engaging, and yet you also want to optimize your comic to use social media to build an audience? It feels impossible to write a quality story and succeed on social media at the same time, doesn’t it? It’s not. Welcome to a publishing method I’ve developed called Mutli-Channel Publishing. MCP helps you to do both.

Here’s how it works…

Click on the image to see an enlarged view. You can also download this handy PDF.

by on March 25, 2022
Posted In: Digital publishing
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