We’re well into the second half of the year, believe it or not. Now’s a great time to start planning the rest of your 2018.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Webcomics weirdos Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar talkin’ shop! When a listener asks how to recover after a failed con, Brad launches into a discussion of the gambler’s mentality of comic conventions. And Dave launches his newest character, Susanne MacTaggart, inspirational speaker. THEN, if a key to success is making good comics, what should you be focused on learning and doing to make that happen? NEXT, looking back over his decision to launch a NSFW comic series, is there anything that Brad would have done differently? AND Dave mentions the sweet perfection of the title of Danielle Corsetto’s new comic — “BOO! It’s Sex!” FINALLY, what size should your original art be — and why?
BUT FIRST… When doctors say, “STAT!” on medical dramas, what does that mean? And why isn’t it just was cool for copy editors to yell “STET!”
Show notes
Last week, I shared some on my strategies for achieving a Frequent/Consistent/Significant posting schedule for my Patreon backers. For me, this amounted to daily Patreon posts each month. As I implemented this approach, I found that I had actually generated even more opportunities for Patreon rewards than I had originally set out to create.
Here’s how that worked.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Once you’ve established a routine of regular posts for your Patreon backers, I suggest you break that routine — not by missing scheduled updates — but rather, by replacing one one of those updates (or even supplementing it) with a bonus reward.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Offering an original illustration inside a book — as part of an Artist Edition — is a tremendous way to drive sales and/or Kickstarter pledges.
But… have you ever tried to do a decent drawing on the inside cover (or an inside page) of a book? It’s not easy. And — depending on the coating you used on your cover/pages — the ink doesn’t always take to the surface very well.
There’s got to be a better way…
I built in a special Artist Edition page into a couple of my graphic novels. This was a page, labeled appropriately, that had a big white space for me to draw in. Not only did that make it easier to process the Artist Editions, but it encouraged people who had already bought the book to bring it to a convention appearance so I could sketch inside it (and sell them another book).
But there are a couple of drawbacks to that approach. First, if you. like me, are scaling back significantly on convention appearances, it has dubious use. Second, it’s only functional for the small percentage of buyers who got the Artist Edition or who pursued you at a con. for everybody else, it’s a big, fat, blank page. Finally, when you’re paying for an offset-print run, your total number of pages must be a factor of four. My chain of Artist Edition pages ended the minute I was faced with paying for three extra pages in order to get the one page I needed. After that, it seemed silly to start it up again.
However, that didn’t solve my other complaint — drawing a decent illo inside a book is just… hard. It’s not the best conditions under which to work.
I’ve never been a fan of book plates. I’ve always been a bit of a purist. I felt as if the illustration had to be done directly on the inside cover — or a blank inside page — of the book itself. But facing down a list of nearly 100 Artist Editions cured me of that. If I waited until the books arrived to start the illos, those backers were going to get their books much later than backers who had spent much less.
That’s not a good way to reward generous backers. (Even though, in my experience, the backers who complain the loudest are almost always the ones that spend the least.)
So, I had to face down my prejudice. After all, the Artist Edition book is simply an extension of an autographed book. It’s a way of owning something that had a special connection to the author. Why was a drawn-in illo better? Was it the permanence — the fact that the illustration was indelible? And, if so, wasn’t a bookplate that had been glued into the book almost as permanent as the ink? Certainly, one could try to peel the plate off the page — but it wouldn’t end well — and the only likely outcome would be to decrease the value of the book itself. It would be the same if someone scribbled out the autograph.
As with many things, there’s a high-end and a do-it-yourself approach to book plates. Many cartoonists I know endorse Book Plate Ink. This company prints personalized book plates on high-quality, acid-free, self-adhesive* paper.
From their pricing page, their typical turnaround time is three weeks. You can order rush delivery for an extra $25:
Our bookplates are typically 4 inches high and 3 inches wide, printed on self-adhesive paper* with a peel-off backing, and custom imprinted with your name or the text of your choice. Our paper, adhesive backing and ink are archival quality and acid-free. Bookplates from the black and white gallery are printed on a cream-colored paper unless requested otherwise. Color designs are printed on white stock. Other sizes are available upon request.
*That’s a fancy word for “sticker.”
The unit price starts at about $2 per sticker for an order of 50, and the unit price drops as low as 28¢ for an order of a thousand.
If you’re not as concerned about using acid-free paper, buy a package of printable mailing labels, print a design on them, and get drawing. You can get different sizes, print them to your own specifications, and reduce the cost to pennies.
No matter which path you take, consider the following elements as you design your book plate. First, it should have a frame or border of some sort. To my eye, it’s a more professional aesthetic — even if it’s simply a basic line. If you neglect this, your illustration might look as if it’s just… floating… on the page. And that might not be the best presentation. Secondly, it would be great to include a little branding. This could be the logo for your comic and/or your own name. Finally — and most importantly — if this is part of a limited edition, include the following notation: Limited edition # ______ of 250. Of course, substitute for 250 the actual number of editions in your limited run. You will fill in the blank — in ink — when you complete the illo.
Webcomics warriors Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar are talking about making comics. Several webcartoonists hosted on LINE Webtoons were nominated for ‘Ringo Awards. Is it the new hotbed of webcomics talent? THEN is there any value to being “syndicated” on GoComics? NEXT. what should you look for in a contract? And FINALLY, the guys talk about how to write a journal comic better.
BUT FIRST… Brad has been watching “House M.D.” and if that show can be “What if Sherlock Holmes was a doctor,” then he wants a new medical-mystery series — “Dr. Columbo.”
Show notes
Frequent / Consistent / Significant was the closest we ever came to having a “magic formula” on Webcomics.com. In countless posts, that was my suggestion for webcomics creators (in addition to “do a good comic”):
But that was a formula that was designed specifically for an advertising-driven publishing approach. Now that webcomics have turned to crowdfunding for the lion’s share of their revenue sources, does it still apply?
I’ve found that it does. I’m posting at least one exclusive Patreon post per day, on average. And I’m not producing much more work than I did under an advertising-revenue business model. To find out why I do this — as well as detailed guide to how I do it — keep reading…
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Merry Christmas — and Happy New Year!
Set down the sunblock, and step away from the pool. It’s time to start planning for December and January.
I know it’s hard to get into the spirit, but this is the time to start working on merchandise for the holiday shopping season. In recent years, webcartoonists have offered an increasing compliment of holiday goodies that have ranged from specialty T-shirts and mugs to holiday-themed greeting cards. And let’s not forget to add calendars to that list. Those will start appearing in stores by November — at the latest!
So, let’s take a closer look at some of those specialty products, and how we can start working now to be ready to compete when the snow falls.
I’ve been pretty dour on calendars as merchandise in the past, and, truth be told, I’m still not a huge proponent of the practice. As I’ve stated before, calendars have a very limited shelf life. Few people buy them after January. That means you either have to have a very strong, dedicated readership to pitch to or you have to go Print-on-Demand (POD) which brings the unit profit way down.
I am a fan of the calendar-creation tool at Lulu.com, and Redbubble.com seems to have a pretty snazzy set-up for calendars, as well. So, as long as I don’t invest too much time on it, I can usually justify putting out a POD calendar.
Lulu gives you a choice between two sizes: a large-format calendar that measures 13.5 x 19 inches and a standard-sized one at 11 x 17 inches. The Redbubble calendars are 11.7 x 16.5 inches.
For a step-by-step walkthrough of Lulu’s calendar-creation tool, read this archive post.
The large-format calendar (like the sample on the right) has a spiral-bound spine at the top, holding sheets of 13.5 x 19 -inch stock.
Dates: Are you confirmed on any convention appearances for next year? Semi-confirmed? Put it on the calendar! (Just make sure to be clear if any of these are tentative dates.) Other dates to note:
Pricing: Lulu allows you to set your own royalty, but try to keep the final price as close to $20 as possible (for the standard size). $30-range for the larger version.
Of course, you could buy a larger number of calendars for yourself, driving the unit cost down, and then try to sell them for a larger profit on your own site. You can do this through your POD vendor or you could invest in an offset print run. However, you risk buying too many and then being stuck with them in January when sales dwindle.
Of course, you can always use them as a loss leader to drive sales to your store later in the month.
When I released my 2010 calendar, it was November. And, truthfully, I figured this was plenty of time. One of my readers was very upset with me for releasing it so late.
I was perplexed. I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to purchase a calendar before November, and yet, there was clearly a segment of my readership who had already completed their calendar-shopping for the year — and given the choice, they would have chosen my offering if it had been available.
So, this year, I offered my calendar in early-October. And my sales have been brisk.
But my new recommendation is to release your calendars at the beginning of September! I’ll get into why in a moment.
I realize that this advice is coming to you too late for this year, but you can put it in the back for your head for next year. (I’ll try to have a Friday Archive Dive on this post next year to remind you!)
But there’s an even better reason for having your calendar out early: Conventions!
How did I overlook that?!
I brought 20 calendars to New York Comic con this year, and I was sold out either Saturday night or early Sunday. They flew off the table.
Calendars have an edge on the convention table:
If I had those calendars on my table in Baltimore the month before, I’m convinced that I would have made a killing.
About midway through the convention in New York, one guy who was buying a calendar asked for a sketch inside it — the way I do with books.
How did I overlook that?!?
Thinking on my feet, I asked him what month his birthday fell in. He said “April,” and I flipped the calendar open to that month and did a special sketch, with one of my characters delivering birthday wishes.
Every calendar after that had a special sketch on purchaser’s requested month.
Even if you’re not planning to attend conventions in September, October or November, you should still plan to have your calendars prepped and available by September because if you do, you can order yourself a small stack and offer them on your Web site as Artist Editions.
Most storefront solutions include a way for the purchaser to communicate with the merchant. In PayPal, it’s “NOTE TO MERCHANT.” Advise your readers to indicate the month they want the illustration drawn in — and any birthday messages (if this is a gift for someone else, for instance) — and you’ve got a rock-solid early-Fall merchandise offering.
And your sketches could be simply your characters, or they could deliver birthday wishes, or they could contain references to the person’s astrological sign… the possibilities are endless.
Heck, you could do a very limited number of calendars with sketches on each day and sell it for a premium price.
A few years back, I launched a couple of Christmas cards and the response was so overwhelming, I vowed to start earlier the following year so I could take advantage of this opportunity better.
Designing Christmas cards — and let’s note here that the term “Christmas card” is being used as a catch-all phrase for all of the holiday cards that get purchased during the winter holidays — is a lot like designing T-shirts.
No one is going to buy one with your character(s) on them. No one is going to buy them with your strip re-printed on them (unless maybe it’s a single-panel comic).
What they are going to buy are cards that express your unique sense of humor or your identifiable illustration style. It’s perfectly fair game to swipe a punchline from a strip. And it’s perfectly OK if the card has little-or-nothing to do with your comic.
Take the this good advice about designing great T-shirts and apply it to your Christmas card concept.
Like I said, I produced two that year. Both are posted a little further down. The first one is related directly to the theme of my comic, but had content that had not appeared in the strip (yet). The second one was completely unrelated to the comic. Both sold well, although the one that matched more closely the “Evil Inc” theme sold a little bit better.
When you think about it, designing a greeting card is very similar to creating a two-panel comic. The cover is the first panel and the inside can be the second panel.
In fact, it’s an incredibly effective two-panel comic because it’s impossible to look ahead to the punchline and ruin the build-up. You can build a nice amount of suspense that will charge the pay-off nicely. For example…
Of course, you can also approach it as a single-panel comic — with a nice, themed message on the inside.
The usual online printers are already offering specials for people printing greeting cards for the holidays. PSPrint has offered as much as 60%-off. Overnight Prints has offered 50%-off on holiday-related printing.
Make sure appropriately-sized envelopes come with the order. If not, buy some, and factor that expense in to your final price.
Remember, you’re shipping off someone’s greeting cards. They need to arrive in good shape. I bought these cardboard boxes from Uline last year, and they performed beautifully.
Cartoonists Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar talk about making comics! In a previous episode, both artists came out against re-working old comics… until one of Dave’s “Drive” readers pointed out that he had done it himself before the first “Drive” book was released! THEN a listener asks how to ensure that every page ends on a story beat. NEXT, we talk about the positive effect that Patreon has had in establishing close-knit communities. If Patreon changes, will this disappear? THIRDLY, a reader is concerned that comics are being replaced by memes. And FINALLY, a cartoonist is worried about allowing their drawing style to mature. Will they lose readers? And how DO you pronounce “mature” anyway?!
Show notes
What can Netflix teach you about administering your Patreon rewards? Plenty.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Loading ...