Estimated taxes are due next Thursday!

Estimated taxes are due next Thursday!

If you pay estimated income taxes on a quarterly schedule, The deadline for your fourth-quarter payment is approaching. Q4 payments...
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ComicLab Ep 491 — Why don’t you do MORE?!?

ComicLab Ep 491 — Why don’t you do MORE?!?

What does it really mean when someone looks at your career and says, “You should be doing more”? In this episode...
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Networking — a guide for cartoonists

Networking — a guide for cartoonists

Since 2013, I've advocated that independent comic artists quit exhibiting at cons. That's nearly ten years. And since that very...
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The 2-2-1 Rule: My Promotional Strategy for 2026

The 2-2-1 Rule: My Promotional Strategy for 2026

At the end of every year, I do something that used to feel a little scary—but now feels absolutely essential:...
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My Predictions and Goals for 2026

My Predictions and Goals for 2026

Every January, Dave Kellett and I sit down on ComicLab and do something that is equal parts tradition and therapy:...
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Comicraft’s New Year’s Day Sale

Comicraft’s New Year’s Day Sale

If you've always wanted to build out your comics-font library, today's the day! Comicraft traditionally holds a sale on Jan 1...
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ComicLab Ep 420 — Predictions and Goals for 2026

ComicLab Ep 420 — Predictions and Goals for 2026

Cartoonists Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar make their predictions for 2026 and share their goals for the new year. Also...
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Q&A: Why are beautiful women so danged attracted to me?!

Q&A: Why are beautiful women so danged attracted to me?!

Here's a question from a subscriber who is inundated with beautiful women on Substack! The same problem happens on Bluesky,...
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Ten resolutions for a better 2026

Ten resolutions for a better 2026

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com We all make resolutions this time of year. Sure, most of us forget about...
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January To-Do List

January To-Do List

This is the perfect time to get organized for a successful year in webcomics. The content you are trying to...
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Cascading Brainstorming

I’d like to share with you a part of my approach to writing that has proven pretty productive. I call it “cascading brainstorming.” In essence, I write in columns, separating the dialogue/action for each panel as I make my way down the page. If I’m not able to see a clear path to the Funny (or a significant plot point, if I’m working on one of my more storyline driven arcs), I start branching out from earlier panels to see it that leads to somewhere more useful to my writing needs.

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by on June 18, 2012
Posted In: Creativity
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Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling

This has been making the rounds lately, and I thought it might be worth discussing here. It’s being called Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling, but I think that’s misleading. It’s not 22 codified rules that Pixar uses to guide its plot development. Rather, it’s a collection of tweets from a young Pixar storyboard artist who passes along “A-ha” moments that strike her as she works with Pixar’s seasoned creators. For example:

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by on June 14, 2012
Posted In: Writing
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4 Comments

Three to get ready Hot Seat: Love is in the Blood, Planes of Eldlor, Trekker

Here’s the next installment of the “Three to Get Ready” Hotseat. The rules are simple. I go to your site, post the three most recent updates below and list one thing I like and one thing I don’t. Members are welcome to discuss the points I make or to add their own thoughts.

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by on June 13, 2012
Posted In: Hot Seat critiques
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11 Comments

Mailbag: Should I take a break?

Q.: I have to juggle my Monday – Friday comic and high school.  As you might know, it’s easy to get burnt out when you stay up until 3am every night drawing. How frequently should a webcartoonist of my level take breaks?  And what’s the best way to tell your readers?

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by on June 7, 2012
Posted In: Creativity
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6 Comments

Philadelphia Comic Con: What I Learned – Booth Display

Here’s another useful tip I learned while exhibiting at Philadelphia Comic Con last weekend. My neighbor, Amber Davis, had a fairly standard PVC-pipe rig to support a horizontal banner above her table. But instead of a free-standing rig, her husband devised a clever way to attach it directly to her table.

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by on June 6, 2012
Posted In: Conventions
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Philadelphia Comic Con: What I Learned

In keeping with my my tradition of sharing my many learning-from-mistakes moments, here are a few things I picked up over the weekend at Philadelphia Comic Con.

Go Big Or Go Home

I showed up at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday to set up my Artist Alley table. This was during the very early hours of exhibitor move-in. Along with my merchandise, I brought my “rig” — two tripods and a crossbeam that I can hang banners from. It elevates quite high, and it has been extremely useful at shows, like New York Comic Con, in the past. It looks like this:
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by on June 5, 2012
Posted In: Conventions
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14 Comments

Mailbag: Digital Download Update


Q.: Are you willing to share how your experiment with making your future content available as a PDF for a price is going? I think it’s a great idea and with a solid readership could make you some nice secondary change. Any thoughts would be great.

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by on June 4, 2012
Posted In: Digital publishing
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June To-Do List

It’s June. Comic Con International is only weeks away. Many of your readers are out of school and enjoying summer. And maybe your own kids are, too. There’s a lot to get to, so let’s get cracking.

Comic Con Checklist

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by on May 31, 2012
Posted In: To-Do List
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