Today’s show is brought to you by Wacom — makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One! This week, we discuss writing character motivations. What’s the difference between Want and Need?
Clip Studio Paint — software I strongly endorse for comics production — is on sale for 40% off until Nov. 30. If you’re making the leap from Photoshop to CSP — or if you’re just embarking on digital art for the first time — there are tons of resources at Webcomics.com to help you along the way. Here are some of my favorites…
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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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It’s time to admit to ourselves that comic conventions aren’t what they used to be. And if you’re an independent artist trying to build an audience, sell merchandise, and improve your business, you need to take that very seriously. Convention promoters are counting on your naiveté and lack of market research. Don’t fall for it. Do the math, and prove it to yourself.
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If you use GoDaddy, you should reset your password immediately. They’ve reported a breach that had gone for two months before being discovered. If that makes you mad, this announcement from Wordfence will make matters worse…
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How often are we presented with the image of tortured creative souls, staring plaintively at a the tools of their craft, unable to make the slightest move because of “writer’s block.”
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Last year, I had some advice for people who were concerned about a site that was taking Patreon creators’ exclusive content and posting it in a publicly searchable site. There was an update to the story that’s worth discussing.
Filing a DMCA takedown notice, and the potential problems that may arise
I also wrote this:
These people have a baked-in problem with their scheme. They want to collect exclusive content and place it in a place to be accessed for free. The problem with that is that this creates very large server costs. In other words, sharing free content can get expensive. So, many of these sites turn to their users for donations. Let that sink in… they’re turning to people who are using their site to get paywalled content for free… and asking them to pay. So, inevitably, these sites tend to buckle under their own weight. After all… put yourself in this person’s shoes. They are footing the bill, month after month, so thousands of people can have free content. For a few months, you see yourself as a revolutionary. After a year or so, you look in the mirror and see a schmuck.
Later that year, the person footing the bill for the server in question may have finally found that mirror. They closed the site down because it had become too expensive to maintain. And — surprise, surprise — the people who frequented the site weren’t interested in paying money to defray the costs.
It’s not worth debating why the person decided to stop paying the server costs. The important takeaway is this.
Someone can only steal what you did yesterday.
Your Patreon backers aren’t in it for the archive (although that is be an importantcomponent of the total rewards offered). Rather, they’re in it for the journey. To be part of the experience as it happens in real time.
There’s a reason that I devoted an entire chapter of “The Webcomics Handbook” to Community Building. It’s essential to what we, as webcartoonists, do.
We build a Community.
That’s why I don’t say “support me on Patreon.” That’s all about me.
I say “JOIN US ON PATREON.” That’s about us.
A scraper site can steal your content. But they can never steal your Community.
B.F. Skinner’s research showed that rewards and punishments can be used to alter a subject’s behavior. We can use those same, simple techniques to change how our readers interact with us on social meida.
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