Posts Tagged: Underdog

Webcomic Success Through Advertising

Posted by & filed under Underdogs.

Carbon Dating has been online for almost a year. It is featured in two national magazines and in the past few months it’s readership jumped from 8k to 25k unique visitors per month. This big jump in readership was not the result of links or interviews, it was the result of a targeted campaign that cost about $200 dollars in total.

I see this all the time, there is some stigma or pride in the webcomic community:

“If you make great art, people will notice.”

“Draw hard for two years, then you’ll start to gain an audience.”

“Word of mouth is how comics get popular.”

like its title. There are several things to consider when choosing a title for a webcomic.

(more…)

So You Wanna Publish A Webcomic? – Part 2

Posted by & filed under Underdogs.

The idea with this series of posts about building and designing your own webcomic site is to really take things from a beginner stage through to something much more advanced and customized. For now, we’re at the beginner level and this post starts us at the basics. If you haven’t read part 1 about using WordPress and ComicPress and haven’t got everything installed yet, go back and we’ll wait… (more…)

CON AT CONS: HOW TO LURE ATTENDEES WITH YOUR FREE ITEM

Posted by & filed under Underdogs.

Okay, you paid lots of dough to have a table at a con because you want your work to be noticed.  But having a table doesn’t mean each registered attendee is going to automatically walk up.  Sorry, but the real world “stumble upon” isn’t as efficient.  Now, you’ve got to get the convention goers’ attention.  And the best way of doing this is offering your free item.  (I will go in depth in another post on free item ideas.) (more…)

So You Wanna Publish A Webcomic? – Part 1

Posted by & filed under Underdogs.

The internet has transformed independent comics and given creators an easy way to get their stories out to the public. There are a lot of different ways to publish your work online, but two of the most popular are WordPress and WordPress running ComicPress. (more…)

How to Gain New Fans at Conventions

Posted by & filed under Underdogs.

So, you got a table at a convention?  At an expo?  A fest?  An artwalk?  Next to some kid’s lemonade stand?  Doesn’t matter.  That’s great!  Now you have the opportunity to gain new fans of the work you’re putting out into the world.  But manning a convention table is not a passive event.  As much as we’d all love to just sit there and “let the work speak for itself”, it’s rather annoying to see artists with their heads down hoping someone will walk up to make a purchase.

(more…)

I’ll Have A Grain of Salt With Those Comments, Please

Posted by & filed under Underdogs.

There are three types of comments you will receive when you start your webcomic (well, four if you count no response at all.): The short affirmation, the critique or constructive criticism, and the nasty remark.

The short affirmation is what you will get most of the time. It is when you ask your friends or family what they think of your comics and is usually only a few words that basically mean, “I like your work and you should keep doing it if it makes you happy.” The short affirmation can also come from fans that read your comics and want to tell you how much they like it. These comments are the most wonderful thing you can receive as a comic artist, especially if you receive one every other day. Cherish them. Whatever you do, no matter how busy you are, you should try to respond to every single one of these even if it is just to say “Thank you.”

Tweet: Whatever you do, no matter how busy you are, you should try to respond to every single one of these even if it is just to say “Thank you.”
(more…)

Panel Layout: The Golden Ratio

Posted by & filed under Underdogs.

Announcing our FREE Golden Ratio Workshop designed to expand on the concepts introduced in the article below!

Excitement would understate how I felt when I read Frank Santoro’s articles on the first appearance of the Golden Ratio in Hergé’s TIntin comic pages. Santoro used grid overlays to explain comic composition with geometric shapes in a way that could be easily understood by a graphic designer, like myself. (more…)

Comic Review Checklist, Part 2: Words

Posted by & filed under Underdogs.

Hi again everyone!  This is the second part of my comic review checklist, which has three parts: everything that relates to the “flow” of the pages, everything that relates to the words on the pages, and then everything else. This is part two!  (more…)

You Have a New Idea! So What?

Posted by & filed under Underdogs.

No one ever says to the surgeon, “You know, I think I’d really like to try performing a kidney transplant sometime.” Meanwhile, there is no professional or aspiring professional writer who has not heard, at least once, upon explaining his or her vocation, “You know, I think I’ve got a novel in me, somewhere.” It’s infuriating. (more…)

Artist Comments: Supplement or Essential?

Posted by & filed under Underdogs.

I have always mistrusted the common practice in webcomics where artists include their commentary directly beneath new pages. Often reading this extra material is comparable to watching a movie or television show with the commentary track turned on… and who elects for their first viewing to include commentary? It does a (sometimes minor, sometimes major) disservice to the work when you don’t allow it to speak for itself, and I’ve seen far too many comics lean on those blocks of text to actually convey what’s going on more than the page above does. This is a dangerous trap to fall into. When a comic simply doesn’t make any sense if I ignore the commentary I usually stop reading altogether. “It’s part of the presentation,” some say. So are indexes in books, and like all supplementary materials they should never be required reading to understand what the supplemented work is saying.

[Tweet “When a comic simply doesn’t make any sense if I ignore the commentary I usually stop reading altogether”]

(more…)