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 season.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.From Black Friday to New Year’s sales, here’s a guide to help you prepare your online store for the holiday season.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.A person starting to do comics asked a question in a forum for creators: “How long does it take you to do one four-panel strip?” They got a wide range of answers — each as unhelpful as the next. They had asked the wrong question and their creativity would suffer as a result.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.I will prepare top-down analysis of your comic-based business, including:
Then we’ll connect via Zoom and discuss the analysis together — leaving room at the end of the conversation for your questions and concerns.
60-minute consultation: $200
$25 for each fifteen minutes past the first 90 minutes.
These conversations have been overwhelmingly positive and constructive, and I’ve really enjoyed working with fellow cartoonists giving them the perspective of my 20+ years doing daily webcomics. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
When a listener asks about Kickstarter strategy, the ComicLab guys are divided! Dave favors the traditional webcomics approach. Build your audience by posting the comic online, then monetize that engagement with a Kickstarter. Brad likes this, but he could also see using Kickstarter’s strengths in Discovery to build the audience through a series of smaller campaigns that lead to a big one.
Summary
In this conversation, Brad Guigar and Dave Kellett explore various aspects of creating and promoting comics, including the importance of audience engagement, the role of webcomics, and practical strategies for using platforms like Patreon and Kickstarter. They discuss the significance of consistent content release versus binge releases, emphasizing the emotional connection built through regular engagement with readers. The conversation also touches on personal anecdotes and humorous references, making it both informative and entertaining for aspiring comic creators.
In the second half of the show, Brad Guigar and Dave Kellett discuss various topics related to comic creation, including the joys of attending the Alaska Comics Camp, the potential of drawing Q&A sessions for Patreon, the nuances of live streaming for community versus audience building, and strategies for overcoming comic paralysis. They emphasize the importance of community engagement, the legal considerations of using names in drawings, and the creative processes involved in writing and drawing comics.
Takeaways
This is an excellent time to start an account on Reddit — or to dust off a profile you haven’t used in ages. With 52 million active users and passionate communities, Reddit can help bolster the engagement you’re losing at Twitter.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.Drawing a person with black hair can be tricky. If you’re not careful, you can end up with someone who looks like a stack of vinyl records melted on their head! This three-minute Clip Studio Paint tutorial shows my method for adding intricate-looking (but easy-to-do) highlights that will allow color to radiate through, giving your character a textured and nuanced appearance.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.“Don’t quit your day job” is often used to insult artists and imply that they haven’t become successful yet. But we need to rethink this advice because — for today’s artists — a day job is not a sign of an amateur. Rather, it indicates that the artist is doing what they must to succeed, and that’s worth celebrating.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.After years of listening to Brad and Dave extoll the virtues of self-publishing, a ComicLab listener signed with a corporate publisher. Poor sales and paltry marketing left them dissatisfied. So of course, they wrote in with one burning question: Who should I sign with next? Also, should you ever explain a joke?
Topics
Summary
In this episode of Comic Lab, hosts Brad Guigar and Dave Kellett discuss the intricacies of publishing comics, publishers’ expectations, and the benefits of self-publishing. They delve into the importance of audience engagement, the challenges of explaining jokes, and the recent trademark changes in the comic industry. The conversation emphasizes the need for creators to focus on their craft and the passion behind their work rather than getting bogged down by negative feedback or industry norms.
Takeaways
With social media on a steep decline, many of us are scrambling to find ways to replace its benefits. One of those assets was discoverability — i.e., finding new readers. A Content Exchange is a great way to address that problem — and bring additional value to your existing backers.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.Building an audience on the web means adapting to the vertical scroll. But that doesn’t mean giving up innovative page designs! You can still feature horizontal panels and even overlapping panels on the page of your graphic novel. You simply need to plan ahead. Here’s a step-by-step guide on doing precisely that.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.