How to record a Patreon walk-through video

How to record a Patreon walk-through video

Patreon has proven to be a game-changer for many people pursuing webcomics. However, some new patrons have difficulty navigating the Patreon...
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The best days to launch/conclude a Kickstarter

The best days to launch/conclude a Kickstarter

While recording an interview for the marvelous Story/Comic podcast, I discussed my strategy for secretly launching a Kickstarter to Patreon...
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Webcomics Confidential: ‘You have the audience you deserve’

Webcomics Confidential: ‘You have the audience you deserve’

Many of us seek a magic hashtag or "One Weird Trick" to game SEO and drive readers to our work....
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ComicLab Ep 362 — Your content is not your community

ComicLab Ep 362 — Your content is not your community

When comic creators try to market their comics, they often confuse what their comic is about with who it's for....
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Remove your first panel

Remove your first panel

If you've been a reader of Webcomics.com for a while, you know how much I loathe "magic number" advice. But...
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Key dates in the upcoming holiday shopping season

Key dates in the upcoming holiday shopping season

From Black Friday to New Year's sales, here's a guide to help you prepare your online store for the holiday...
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Webcomics Confidential: How long should it take to draw a comics page?

Webcomics Confidential: How long should it take to draw a comics page?

A person starting to do comics asked a question in a forum for creators: "How long does it take you...
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Comics Consultations

Comics Consultations

Powered by I will prepare top-down analysis of your comic-based business, including: Art and writing Social media Crowdfunding Marketing/promotion Then...
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ComicLab Ep 361 — Let’s talk about your bits and pieces

ComicLab Ep 361 — Let’s talk about your bits and pieces

When a listener asks about Kickstarter strategy, the ComicLab guys are divided! Dave favors the traditional webcomics approach. Build your...
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Reddit posting strategy

Reddit posting strategy

This is an excellent time to start an account on Reddit — or to dust off a profile you haven't...
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ComicLab Ep 47: Special guest Alex Heberling

Cartoonists Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar are joined by the wonderful Alex Heberling to talk shop! They talk about handling discouragement and burn-out, staying motivated, and taking time for self-care. Then Alex shares the harrowing story of the trepidatious phone call Brad made when he approached her to work on Evil Inc After Dark. BUT FIRST… Brad questions his own judgement when get gets into a Twitter fight over typography.

 Show notes

  • 00:00 — Brad gets into a Twitter fight over typography
  • 07:44 — Introducing Alex Heberling
  • 10:43 — Dave is color blind
  • 14:12 — Handling discouragement
  • 17:19 — The beauty of a quiet readership
  • 23:23 — How to keep motivated
  • 31:03 — Handling burn-out
  • 42:57 — The creative coccoon
  • 44:00 — How to find a good therapist
  • 46:17 — Promoting a new comic with a “Coming Soon” announcement
  • 55:49 — Alex talks about the trepidatious phone call Brad made when he approached her to work on Evil Inc After Dark
by on November 28, 2018
Posted In: ComicLab, Uncategorized
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ComicLab Ep 46 — Are you a webcomics ‘hustler’?

Cartoonists Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar are talking shop! When a Patreon backer asks for tips on hustling and networking, Brad gets uncomfortable. Then, the guys struggle to make sense of demographic data. And finally, they help a fellow cartoonist navigate book distribution.

BUT FIRST, Dave asks… if you could see one statistic floating over people’s heads, what would it be?

Show notes

  • 13:17 — Game show themes for fun and profit
  • 15:27 — Brad thought Graham Chapman did the Monty Python animations — not Terry Gilliam. He is a dunce.
  • 17:12 — Tips on hustling and networking
  • 34:37 — Understanding demographic information
  • 52:34 — Navigating book distribution
by on November 27, 2018
Posted In: ComicLab
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Creators for Creators grant

The Creators For Creators Grant is once again offering $30,000 to a deserving cartoonist (or duo). From the website:

We plan to give $30,000 to a single cartoonist or writer/artist duo in order to support the creation of a new and original work of a length between sixty-four and one hundred pages over the course of a single year. The recipient will be selected by committee according to rigorous criteria.

Creators for Creators is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization intended to encourage, support, and promote original works through grants and education. The grant is a work in progress that will evolve to fit the needs of the recipient and the industry at large. The grant’s founders are, largely, Image Comics creators: Charlie Adlard, Jordie Bellaire, David Brothers, Cliff Chiang, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Nick Dragotta, Leila del Duca, Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen, Brandon Graham, Jonathan Hickman, Cameron Holland, Joe Keatinge, Robert Kirkman, Katie Lane, Jamie McKelvie, Rick Remender, Emma Rios, Declan Shalvey, Scott Snyder, Fiona Staples, Eric Stephenson, C. Spike Trotman, and Brian K. Vaughan

Requirements

Applicants for the grant must be eighteen years of age. They must have never had solo work published by a third-party publisher. Self-published work is acceptable, as is participation in anthologies, but any non-anthology industry publication is unacceptable. Eligible stories for proposal must be between 64-100 pages upon completion. Works may be intended for print or digital distribution of any type, but must be wholly new works—no reprints.

The deadline for submissions is March 18, 2019. The eventual recipient of the grant will be chosen by an anonymous selection committee.

Submission guidelines and applications are available on the Submissions page.

by on November 26, 2018
Posted In: Uncategorized
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The first-of-the-month Patreon dip

It happens every month. You get to the end of the month and breathe a sigh of relief. You’ve made it through another month, and you’ve earned a certain amount of money on Patreon. And then, on the first few days of the following month, a significant number of patrons cancel their pledges! Is it the beginning of a long, steady decline?

Probably not. More likely, it’s part of a very normal pattern of patron behavior. So let’s take a closer look at what’s happening…

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by on November 20, 2018
Posted In: Crowdfunding
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Patreon’s Special Offer

Patreon has launched a new functionality called the Special Offer. According to Patreon’s internal data, Special Offers boost fan engagement, help creators hit higher goals, and increase their earnings. Here’s a walkthrough…

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by on November 19, 2018
Posted In: Crowdfunding
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Comics Media Contact List

From time to time, you may want to reach out to websites and other organizations that focus on news and events in the comics industry. You may be trying to promote an upcoming book — or merely trying to get the word out about your work.

Here’s a spreadsheet containing contact information for many of the most popular comics-media sites.

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by on November 18, 2018
Posted In: Marketing / Social Media
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Site Not Secure? Here’s what to do

Google’s Chrome browser has been cracking down on sites that don’t employ SSL certification. That’s why you may have noticed a red “Site Not Secure” notification next to your site’s URL in Chrome recently. Here’s why they’re doing that — and, more importantly, how to address the situation easily.

The content you are trying to access is only available to members.

by on November 14, 2018
Posted In: Tech, Web site
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Patreon Pro Tip: Setting Dropbox Links to Expire

Here’s a handy pro tip for people running Patreon campaigns. If you’re like many of us, you love Patreon, but many aspects of navigating the Creator Feed are… lacking. And you want better for your backers. So — once their payments have processed — you send out a link to a Dropbox folder so your backers can access the exclusive content outside of Patreon’s clunky interface.

Of course, once that link is out there, anyone could use it to access that content. And that’s a little troubling.

This pro tip is for you…

You can set your Dropbox link to expire on a pre-set date. In your Dropbox dashboard, hover the cursor over the folder or file you would like to share. Click the blue Share button that appears, and select Send link.

Screen Shot 2015-10-29 at 4.42.38 PM

At  the end of the line that starts “Anyone with the link…” click on add expiration.

Screen Shot 2015-10-29 at 4.43.02 PM

Now you can set your expiration date.

I set mine to expire at the end of the month. Then, when the new payment cycle has finished, I create a new link and send it to all of the current members. Anyone who has dropped out, of course, will not receive the new link.

If I find that a user has abused the link (by sharing it, for example), I can always manually deactivate the link. Go to the Dropbox dashboard and click Links on the left-hand column. You will see a list of all of your active links.

Simply go to the link you’d like to kill, and click on the grey X at the far right side of the row.

Screen Shot 2015-10-29 at 4.45.06 PM

by on November 10, 2018
Posted In: Crowdfunding, Digital publishing
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PatreCon Top Ten Take-aways

I attended PatreCon last weekend. It’s a conference for creators who use Patreon. Packed with information, actionable data, and inspiration, it was an absolutely phenomenal experience for me. I took copious notes, but until I get a chance to walk through all of that, here is an overview of my top ten “a-ha!” moments.

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by on November 9, 2018
Posted In: Crowdfunding
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R.R. Bowker divulges unauthorized credit-card charges

As I’ve mentioned before, R. R. Bowker is the only official broker of ISBNs in the United States. Earlier this week, they announced that their checkout page was hacked, and customers who made purchases between May 1 and Oct. 23 this year may have had their credit-card numbers exposed.

Here’s what you need to know:

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by on November 8, 2018
Posted In: Business, Print publishing
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