Today’s show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One!  Help us celebrate our 200th show at ComicLabCashGrab.com ! We’re celebrating 200 episodes of ComicLab with a special king-sized episode in which we assemble a list of our best advice — and discuss how to best implement them.  If you want the commemorative magnet with all 20 tips, head over to ComicLabCashGrab.com

The 20 Comics Commandments

• Make. A. Good. Comic. Nothing else we talk about will be very effective until you do.
• Own and control your work.
• Ideas aren’t special. The execution of ideas is special.
• You can’t get worse at something you do every day.
• Good writing saves bad art. Rarely does that work in reverse.
• You can’t drive toward your style, you can only see in the rearview mirror.
• Lettering: Nobody will read your comic if they can’t read your comic. And for goodness’ sake, learn the Crossbar-I rule.
• Time is the best editor. So edit…wait…edit…wait.
• If you’re not enjoying the comic, they’re not enjoying the comic.
• The 4-Cs of social media are: Creation, Curation, Commercial, Kindness.
• Don’t compare your blooper reel to someone else’s highlight reel.
• You have the audience you deserve.
• Every day someone is reading your comic for the first time.
• Research your market…not your mirror.
• Never listen to a reader; always listen to your readers.
• The first person to say they want merch is the first person to disappear when you make the merch.
• Crowdfunding: First comes the crowd, then comes the funding.
• It’s easy to be in the right place at the right time…if you’re always there.
• No one will ever care about your career as much as you do, so make your own magic.
• Being an overnight success will take you about 10 years. Your career is a marathon, not a sprint.

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

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