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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Clip Studio tutorial: Adding highlights to black hair

Clip Studio tutorial: Adding highlights to black hair

Drawing a person with black hair can be tricky. If you're not careful, you can end up with someone who...
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Webcomics Confidential: “Don’t quit your day job!”

Webcomics Confidential: “Don’t quit your day job!”

"Don't quit your day job" is often used to insult artists and imply that they haven't become successful yet. But...
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COmicLab Ep 360 — New ways to make an old mistake

COmicLab Ep 360 — New ways to make an old mistake

After years of listening to Brad and Dave extoll the virtues of self-publishing, a ComicLab listener signed with a corporate...
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close up photo of survey spreadsheet

Free market research

Steven Spielberg was rejected TWICE by the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Walt Disney’s newspaper editor told him that he ‘lacked imagination and had no good ideas’. A perceived failure often tends to be the gateway to a bigger success. That’s why I think we spend too much time worrying about what happens if our Kickstarter fails.

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by on April 19, 2023
Posted In: Marketing / Social Media, Merchandise
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Tax advice

Next Tuesday (April 18) is the federal income tax deadline. But … what if you owe money and can’t pay? Don’t make a bad situation worse. This could end very badly if you handle it improperly.

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by on April 14, 2023
Posted In: Business
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ComicLab Ep 278 — Practicing to be a pro… or a pro practicing?

A listener asks about doing a practice project — and Kickstarting it later. Also — more than one hundred years of comics history tell everything we need to know about how comics companies treat creators. (And it ain’t good.)

ON THIS WEEK’S SHOW…

  • Practicing to be pro
  • Comic History – corporate comics
  • UPDATE: Brad won the argument on ECCC
  • UPDATE: when 250k viral moment tells you that this is a marathon not a sprint
  • Marking an anniversary with a book
by on April 13, 2023
Posted In: ComicLab
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high angle photo of people

Crowdfunding without the crowd?

We’re often tempted to jump into crowdfunding — Patreon, Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, etc. — before we’re ready. And that can be a big mistake in many ways. So let’s talk about getting our timing right.

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by on April 11, 2023
Posted In: Uncategorized
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“Help! My archive is too big!”

While I was hosting my webinar* on webcomics for the Graphic Artists Guild, a comment came in from one of the attendees. This person said, “I think people avoid reading my comic because the archive is so big.”

I disagree. I’ll talk about why and then discuss some strategies for creators with large archives.

*If you missed it, you can still see it if you’re a member of the Graphic Artists Guild.

The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
by on April 10, 2023
Posted In: Digital publishing, Marketing / Social Media
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Apologies for the email avalanche!

I’m very sorry that you probably woke up to an avalanche of emails from Webcomics.com today. A few weeks ago, all the Webcomics Weekly episodes disappeared, and I sat down this morning to reinstate them. I didn’t realize it was also re-sending the emails until it was too late! I’m ashamed of the oversite.

by on April 9, 2023
Posted In: Site News
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ComicLab Ep 277 — Special guest Karl Kerschl (“The Abominable Charles Christopher”)

We’re talking comics with our special guest Karl Kerschl, who talks about working in both corporate and independent comics, and prepping the Kickstarter campaign for “Death Transit Tanager.”

ON THIS WEEK’S SHOW…

  • Working in both corporate and  independent comics
  • Prepping a Kickstarter
  • Shipping from Canada
  • Launching a Kickstarter on Patreon vs Kickstarter pre-launch notifications
  • Social-media strategy for Kickstarter
  • Juggling multiple projects
  • Pitching a comic to Images Comics
  • Collaborating with another artist on a project
by on April 6, 2023
Posted In: ComicLab
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