Dave Kellett joins me in the studio to talk with the creator of Inktober — and all-around marvelous illustrator — Jake Parker.
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A couple of years ago, I posted a few thoughts on the idea of taking a weeklong hiatus for the Christmas holiday. It featured a guest post from “How To Make Webcomics” co-author Dave Kellett on the topic. The entire thing is worth a read, but I’ll paraphrase:
This is not a 9-to-5 job where you can clock out and forget it… And sure, it doesn’t seem like “work” because you love it so dang much. But you have to call a spade a spade. It’s still work.
That becomes evident after a few years of producing a strip. And especially after you’ve worked on comics through delirious sickness, or while drawing tomorrow’s strip on a cramped airplane, or during the funeral weekend of a deceased family member. You work through those crappy times, because you’re a pro, and this is what pros do. But when you do that a few times, your ego kicks in. You start to think maybe you could do this forever, without a break. That if a flu can’t stop you, or a grandmother’s death can’t stop you, then you must really be a machine. And you start to see how Sparky was able to do this for 50 years. And more dangerously, start to envision how you could do it, too.
But you can’t. Or, as I realized in 2010, even if you can do it… that you shouldn’t. You have to allow yourself a break. A space of time for your brain to recharge. Sure, hard work had gotten me the cartooning life I always wanted, but hard work would be my undoing, too, if I let it.
So last year, between Christmas and New Years, I gave myself a gift I had never previously allowed myself: A genuine vacation. Ten days of time with friends, of reading, of playing games, of stress-free family time, and of unclenching that cartooning muscle that’s always looking for the joke. It was absolutely lovely.
And it worked. That time off not only relaxed my soul and rekindled my relationships. It also sparked dozens of story ideas, gave me new business insights, and planted seeds for bigger projects down the road. Most importantly, I had a sense of joy back in my cartooning, to replace the increasing sense of drudgery that had been creeping in. That’s critical, because joy can be sensed in your strip. And after the vacation, it was a joy again to make.
In the past, I’ve been encouraging members to consider a Christmas break. But, in view of how reading habits on the Web have changed so drastically over the past few years, my attitude has changed.
I think you’re a masochist if you don’t give yourself some sort of winter-holiday break.
First of all, let’s start with the obvious reason: No one is reading webcomics that week. Traffic drops to ghost-town levels. It’s just not a priority for people during that time.
Secondly, we’re working in an environment in which tools like bookmarks and RSS are far less popular than they once were. I’ve been teaching college classes for several years now, and I’m always gobsmacked when my students confirm that they just don’t use bookmarks very often. And almost none of them know what RSS is. Instead, they surf social media and drift from link to link. That’s making it harder and harder to form a sense of Community on our sites. But the silver lining is this — we’re certainly not interrupting any reading patterns by taking a week off.
Thirdly — and maybe this is just the voice of a guy who has been doing this for (good lord) almost 17 years now — the readers will still be there when you start up again. Readers come, and readers go. Some of them are going to obsessively devour everything you post, and others are going to drift and graze. And new readers are joining the pool every day. I’m convinced that if you’re putting the effort in on social media, you’ll be able to direct eyeballs to your site on a routine basis. I spent years obsessing over my Web traffic — “Am I building my audience?” But, in retrospect, it has been my social-media presence — not my daily pageviews or unique visitors — that has been the fuel for the engine of my online business.
Fourthly — and this is definitely the voice of a guy who has lived a little — you need to be nicer to yourself. We all need a little bit more of that these days, and sometimes it starts inside your own head. Take a break. Catch your breath. Play with your kids. Kiss your significant other under the mistletoe. Build a snowman. Volunteer at a shelter.
This, I guarantee… when you do come back, you’ll be better. You’ll have stories and energy and passion and creativity.
It’s the nicest gift you can give to yourself (and your family).
Take a break.
As we continue to make our way through the debate on Patreon’s service fees, I’m seeing repeated retweets of this…
That’s… not particularly helpful. First: that conversation was from June. It has little to do with the recent service fees. Second, the Patreon exec (Tal Raviv, who leads the growth and platform team at Patreon) was making a hypothetical argument about the importance of bringing in creators with large followings. Third, that hypothetical argument? I’m willing to bet that many of you experienced exactly what Tal was talking about. And you were fine with it.
Here’s what I mean…
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Yesterday, Patreon updated its announced new service-fee system with an explanation. And it’s very much worth your time to read if you’ve been troubled about the resulting social-media meltdown. (Scroll down to the “Update” subhead.)
Later, a Patreon user wrote an open letter to the company with some thoughtful ideas on addressing the issues, and I think they’re worth discussing.
Let’s break it all down and discuss what it means to you.
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Audio only! Dave Kellett joins me in the studio to talk about Patreon’s new payment structure that pushes service fees onto the patrons. What does this mean? More importantly, what should you be doing right now if you’re a Patreon creator?
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Audio only! Dave Kellett joins me in the studio to speak with Kevin McShane, supervising producer at BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, improv performer/teacher, designer and “occasional” cartoonist. With all of those pursuits (and more), Kevin’s a great resource for valuable information on time management. We also talk about meditation and the value of allowing yourself time to write. Kevin also reflects on his attempt to launch a print comic during the collapse of the direct market system. We tackle the difficult subject of knowing when to walk away from a project that just isn’t working.
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Patreon will announce to backers tomorrow morning that it is planning to change how it bills patrons for their pledges.
From Patreon’s e-mail to creators…
In the past, a creator’s income on Patreon varied because of processing fees every month. They could lose anywhere from 7-15% of their earnings to these fees. This means creators actually took home a lower percentage of pledges than their patrons may have realized.
A new service fee of 2.9% + $0.35 will be paid by patrons for each individual pledge starting on December 18th. This restructuring allows creators to take home a greater portion of their earnings, which is core to our mission of getting creators paid.
I’m seeing some panicked tweets from creators. Here’s what you need to know…
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In late October, Patreon released a feature that I’m convinced will usher in a new era of webcomics publishing — a ground-breaker, if you will. There was only one problem — it didn’t work very well. After going heads-down for a month, the Patreon developers have re-released their WordPress plug-in. And it seems to be a vast improvement.
Here’s what you need to know:
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November was an excellent example of the tremendous value offered by a subscription to Webcomics.com. My readers got early alerts on issues that would impact their businesses, helpful tutorials, insightful analysis, and meaningful feedback on their work. Here are some samples of what you may have missed…
In a post-advertising webcomics publishing plan, the goal is no longer sending traffic to your site. If your social-media approach doesn’t reflect your understanding of this concept, you’re wasting valuable time and effort on ineffective promotion. In other words, if you’re convinced that Twitter and Facebook just don’t work, take a hard look at what you’re doing. Chances are, the problem starts there.
Patreon Pro Tip — Setting Links to ExpireHere’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…
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Shipping through the United States Postal Service will get a little more pricey in 2018 — by about 2-4%. But that hike will still be lower than the price increases planned by both UPS and FedEx. Those prices will increase by about 5% for each company. Also, holiday shipping deadlines are looming.
Social-Media Promotion: Be a SniperI got a Facebook friend request from a cartoonist, and, as usual, I accepted. Within seconds I got a “thanks for the add” direct message. Friending is not exactly an “add,” but I decided not to split semantic hairs. I sent him a thumbs-up icon as an acknowledgement.
Immediately, he direct-messaged me his business card. (Please read Business Card Etiquette if you haven’t already. It applies to digital business cards, too.)
I unfriended him a few minutes later.
Why? Because he was annoying?
Partly. But mostly I did that for one, important reason…
Webcomics Confidential Ep 36 — PatreConMy friend (and former podcast co-host) Dave Kellett attended PatreCon — a conference for Patreon creators — earlier this month. Featuring workshops by industry leaders and creative professionals, this invitation-only, two-day conference brought creators from all backgrounds together in Los Angeles for an intimate, collaborative, and educational weekend.
Dave learned a lot in those two days, and he joined me on Webcomics Confidential to talk about it…
Back in July, I have you a heads-up to start planning holiday merchandise. Well, surprise! It’s November! In case you need to catch up, here are a few thoughts…
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Kickstarter has announced Drip — a Patreon-like crowdfunding platform for ongoing creator support.
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Webcomics Turn 20With Scott Kurtz tabling at PAX UnPlugged in my home city of Philadelphia, I was able to spend a lot of time with my friend. With his comic, PvP primed to celebrate its 20th anniversary, we spent a lot of time reminiscing about the Old Days of webcomics — with each other and with some of the PAX attendees who remembered mutual projects like Webcomics Weekly. During one of those conversations, someone said:
“During those early days of Print vs Web, you guys spent a lot of time railing against the Old Guard who refused to change with the times. Now, you’re becoming the Old Guard. Does that scare you?”
The question set me back on my heels. I thought about it, and I came to a surprising conclusion…
Webcomics Confidential Ep 37 — Dylan MeconisAudio only! I invited Dave Kellett back to the studio and we talked shop with the inimitable Dylan Meconis. Dylan started webcomics around the same time as Dave and I, but she has charted a much different path for herself. We had a phenomenal discussion about the past (gasp) 20 years.
Patreon Pro Tip: Record a WalkthroughPatreon has proven to be a game-changer for may people pursuing webcomics. But some new patrons have a hard time navigating the Patreon interface to get the most out of their patronage. While I don’t mind seeing “my financial situation has changed” and “I only intended to pledge for a limited time” in my Patron Exit Surveys, I hate seeing “I’m not happy with Patreon’s features or services.”
To be fair, the “I’m not happy…” response appears rarely. But, in optimizing my Patreon approach, I’ve created something that I’m seeing very positive results from…
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Affiliate Advertising During the Holiday SeasonAs we head into the holiday shopping season, you might consider redoubling your commitment to blogging. We often talk about the importance of blogging here — as a way to establish and define Community — but this time of year, it takes an added importance… potential affiliate ad revenue.
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Creators for Creators GrantThe Creators For Creators Grant was first announced at Image Expo last year. This year, they’ve announced a second round of funding. 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.
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Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship deadlineThe deadline for the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship is Dec. 15. Applicants must be students at a 4-year college in the United States, Canada or Mexico who will be a Junior or Senior during the 2012-2013 academic year. Applicants do not have to be art majors to be eligible for this scholarship.
The winner will receive:
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It’s already December. It’s a month dominated by holidays — both preparing for and celebrating them — and it’s the end of the year. It’s probably the most challenging months for a webcartoonist, so let’s get organized.
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