Eisner Awards — Call for Entries
It’s time to nominate work for the Eisner Awards! Here’s what you need to know…
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Comment
Writing ‘beat to beat’
It can be difficult to write a longform story. How much do you need to write before you can start drawing? How do you keep a story moving without getting bogged down in details? Can you write week-to-week without falling […] ↓ Read the rest of this article...
Read more
ComicLab Ep 275 — Special guest Caitlin McGurk (The Billy Ireland Cart...
This week, we’re talking comics with Caitlin McGurk! She’s the curator of comics and cartoon art at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, and she’s got some terrific stories about her work there. ON THIS WEEK’S SHOW… Brad Guigar is […] ↓ Read the rest of this article...
Read more
Inverted word-balloon tales
It’s a part of comics lexicon familiar to manga and manhwa readers: an inverted word-balloon tail indicating that the speaker is off-panel. Should you be using it?
Read more
Patreon Mistakes That Cost You Money
Long ago, Patreon revolutionized how independent artists make a living. But many of us are still struggling. And for some, the reason isn’t the quality of their work. Instead, it’s applying a bad Patreon strategy — and suffering the consequences.
Read more
Pitfalls of paid advertising
Buying advertising for your comic is a tempting proposition for many independent cartoonists. After all — you need to get your work in front of more people, and sometimes it seems as if social media just isn’t delivering the way […] ↓ Read the rest of this article...
Read more
ComicLab Ep 274 — Nobody does thumbnails
Thumbnailing is one of the most often-repeated pieces of comics advice — and yet almost everyone skips this step. We’re gonna talk about it anyway. Also — is there a hidden problem with a “fake it ’til you make it” […] ↓ Read the rest of this article...
Read more“Where should I post my comic?”
It’s one of the most pressing questions in webcomics — where to post. Should you post on Webtoons? — Tapas? Should you stick to the social media giants — or go with the upstarts? And what’s with all this talk […] ↓ Read the rest of this article...
Read more
ComicLab Ep. 266 — Special Guest: Dr. Joe Sutliff Sanders
Today’s show is sponsored by the Lucy Cavendish College, the fastest growing constituent college of the University of Cambridge. We’ll be talking to Dr. Joe Sutliff Sanders, an American scholar of the genre, launching the first world-class collection of graphic novels at Cambridge’s Lucy Cavendish College.
Make a donation to the graphic-novel library.
Get in touch with Dr. Joe Sutliff Sanders
ALSO ON THIS WEEK’S SHOW…
- Finding a good writing class
- Working for a company that asserts copyright
- UPDATE: Comicraft’s “Hagrid Rule”
- UPDATE: Dave’s new apron
- Making style changes
You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon
- $2 — Early access to episodes
- $5 — Submit a question for possible use on the show AND get the exclusive ProTips podcast. Plus $2-tier rewards.
Brad Guigar is the creator of Evil Inc and the author of The Webcomics Handbook. Dave Kellett is the creator of Sheldon and Drive.
Listen to ComicLab on…
Would you hire a business manager?
In a Webcomics.con Poll, we asked: “If I could hire one person to help my webcomics business, it would be a(n)…” The results weren’t particularly surprising. The top response (27%) was “Business Manager.” But here’s the real question…
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Using a URL redirect to promote on social media
It’s one of the most frustrating parts of promoting a Kickstarter — communicating that long URL. Sure, you’re provided a truncated version. But have you ever tried to point podcast listeners to http://kck.st/2HQTXbr? Luckily, there’s a better way.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Q4 estimated tax payments are due
If you pay estimated income taxes on a quarterly schedule, The deadline for your fourth-quarter payment is approaching. Checks postmarked with Jan. 17, 2023 will be considered paid on that date, according to irs.gov. You may also pay online, pay by phone, or use the IRS2GO app.
ComicLab Ep 265 — LIVE at the Charles M. Schulz Museum
To celebrate what would have been the legendary cartoonist’s 100th birthday, the Charles M. Schulz Museum invited Dave and Brad to come to Santa Rosa, California, to talk about the influence Sparky still holds over today’s comics artists.
D&D’s new OGL 1.1
By now, you’ve heard about the proposed update to the Open Gaming License (OGL) that applies to the Dungeons and Dragons franchise. Many of us are concerned about how this might be applied to D&D-adjacent webcomics. Here are some thoughts
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Managing commissions
Offering commissions can be a great way to add an income stream to your business. It can also be an effective Patreon reward. But managing expectations and communicating clearly with clients and backers can be a delicate dance. Here’s how to get off on the right foot.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.
Bad tweets and why they’re bad
Many of us are great at creativity, but when it comes to promotion, we stink on ice. It’s really just a different target for our creative skills, but we don’t usually see it that way. So we throw darts at the wall and hope for the best. (And then blame the algorithm when we miss!) Let’s talk about doing better.
The content you are trying to access is only available to members.ComicLab Ep 264 — Predictions for 2023
It’s the first show of our SIXTH YEAR of podcasts! As we head into 2023, we’re going to make some bold predictions of what the next 365 days have in store.
ALSO — Don’t for get the Comicraft New Year’s Day Sale starts tomorrow!
ON THIS WEEK’S SHOW…
- Patreon will use new features to slowly entice people away from the Founder’s level
- TikTok will be banned in the US
- Clip Studio will unveil such amazing features that no one will complain about the paltry subscription price
- Webtoons will become a major player in print publishing
- Twitter will complete its fade from its position of prominence
- DC comics will implode
- No one will be using Mastodon
- GPT 3.5 will be used for brainstorming and co-writing scripts using AI writing
- We’ll see the first AI writing-art webcomic… and it will be good
- Copyright law will catch up to AI art
- Blockchain is going to be reintroduces with new branding/marketing
- Original art will become more valuable.
Loading ...