Join Webcomics.com
Sunday, January 3, 2010 at 4:57PM Starting today, Webcomics.com will begin charging a $30-per-year subscription fee. That fee is going to be used to help support what this site has become -- and allow it to achieve its full potential.
Webcomics.com has established itself as a tremendous resource of practical information for webcartoonists. By joining today you will have access to:
- Frequent updates of news, advice, tutorials and strategies by webcomics veteran Brad Guigar.
- Monthly contributions by webcomics pioneer Scott Kurtz and Penny Arcade's Business Guy, Robert Khoo.
- Personalized features like a new e-mail-based organizer to help you plan for upcoming conventions.
- Feedback and guidance for your comic and the small business you'll create running it.
- A fully rounded, indexed repository of two year's worth of information that you can use to help improve your work.
- A moderated, passionate, supportive community of webcomics creators.
- Inside information on conventions, vendors and other entities that webcartoonists access to advance their businesses.
- Deals on merchandise.
For a low subscription of $30 per year, you will have access to all of this plus the entire Webcomics.com archives, one of the most helpful and supportive forums for creative people on the Web, and several members-only offers.
Webcomics.com Terms of Service.
FAQ
Most webcomics are based on the free-content model. The "How To Make Webcomics" book is built around it. Why is Webcomics.com becoming a pay site?
Simply put, Webcomics.com isn't entertainment; it's a valuable resource for webcartoonists. It would be difficult to continue offering this site for free in its current state -- and impossible, given the improvements we have planned.
Why not just run ads?
This will be very much a niche site. There will not be as much value for an advertiser as there will be for subscribers.
Why $30 per year?
It's an inexpensive buy-in that almost any webcartoonist can afford. It has an added benefit of keeping out people who may not be as serious about webcomics. It naturally weeds out comments from people who may be passing through, and results in distilling comments to those from people who are committed to improving their comics.
Reader Comments (272)
Does that mean I can call him names for the low price of $30/year? That sounds like a good deal, actually. Don't worry, you won't have to deal with us common rabble for much longer.
@Mark - yikes! That is MIGHTY generous of you my friend. Too generous in fact! I don't know that Brad is set up for that. In any case, you really don't need to do that. :)
Will there be an RSS Feed for the new content? Even if it just has the free snippets in it, RSS was the main way i kept up with what was going on with the site. The RSS feed seems to have stopped outputting even the free articles.
I think the site provides great value and already plopped down my 30 bucks without hesitation. But RSS is a critical feature. It'd be tough to justify paying for a service that suddenly has LESS functionality. Please tell me this is a hiccup and will be remedied shortly.
That being said, the podcast, book, and especially this site have turned me from somebody who read webcomics into somebody who makes them. 30 bucks is not only incredibly reasonable for the content, it's a fitting "Thank You".
Scratch that, I found the RSS Link on the side bar. I feel stupid.
For future reference though, when ending one RSS Feed and starting another, it's generally good practice to put a post on the old one informing of the move. I should have read about this on the webcomics.com RSS feed, not on Fleen's.
Sorry about my earlier comment, I really didn't mean to imply that. What I meant was if you're serious (like me) and want to run your own business around your webcomic. Then $30 is a pretty good investment. I mean I've learnt so much from the Halfpixel guys and Brad over the years that I know I will get my moneys worth. Does that sound a bit better or am I just making things worse? You know what, I'll just shut up. :)
That's okay Tom, I'll forward the money to your Paypal account and you can pay for it directly.
@ScottyA
Awww...dude. So angry. Don't be that way.
Webcomics.com is a blog. That's what it has been for the last year or so. One guy blogging about giving tips and advice to webcomic creators. And that was a very nice thing to do. But as we all know, every blogger's dream is to get paid blogging. And at a certain point, the one guy blogging eventually gets tired of it all and thinks to himself, "this is not worth it. I'm putting all this tine and effort and I'm not getting anything for it. There's got to be some way to get paid for it." Well, here's Brad's way. At least from my viewpoint. Brad seems to be burnt out on doing this for free, so he's trying to get some compensation for his hard work. I understand that if this is the case. And I'm not saying it is. But it's like when you do your webcomic. You do it for so long and realize, "man, this is hard work and I'm not even getting paid for it. Screw it! Im done doing this for free."
Anyhow, that's how I view this. It's a shame Webcomic.com went this way. I don't know if this was Brad's idea or the whole half pixel crew. But if Brad is still the only guy doing the posting. I hope he realizes that he's the one who should be getting paid and forget about the rest of guys. They have not done anything in contributing to this site. Sad but true from what I can tell.
BTW. Sorry Brad, but I won't be subscribing to the site. There's only so much information, tips and advice one can give about webcomics. I think in my own opinion, you've done as much as you could without repeating yourself. And I think you were reaching that point at the end of this year.
I have no really good idea on what the new content will be for Webcomics.com. But if it's the same old thing aimed at mostly the young beginning want-to-be web cartoonist. Then good luck. I hope you succeed in trying to get the cash from the young people just starting out in webcomics. I'm sure they will be more then willing to give you the $30 you need from their fast food jobs and birthday money.
Way to go Webcomics.com
I had to stop visiting the Half Pixel sites, including this one, because I was using precious drawing/writing time to do it. I only came over here because of a post on Facebook about the new subscription wall.
When I can afford to (in about a year when my debt crisis has ended), I'll be ponying up the 30 bucks for a subscription. I'll have (hopefully) got my comic moving forward properly by then so it'll be worthwhile investing in somewhere I can go for reliable advice.
Got your email Mark, thank your for your generosity! I emailed you back. I'll be interested to poke around inside.
Some people have some serious entitlement issues. If you don't think it's worth it, then just don't pay. Why get all nasty about it? What purpose does that serve other than make you look juvenile? It's their site, it's their decision. I still think that 30 dollars a year is more than reasonable... and until I see some of the content they plan to put up, I won't be able to judge beyond that. If you think otherwise, that's totally your prerogative, and if you want to state your reasons, that's fine, but it's NOT cool to get all passive-aggressive about it ("I'm SO disappointed in you! Here I am sadly shaking my head at you!") or turn trollish ("Way to go, halfpixel! You're just a bunch of hypocrites! You suck!").
Ugh! Why do people on the internet have to be such whiny little obnoxious infants about everything? Grow the hell up.
Seeing Brad's new post answers my main bugbear with the whole idea (posted on comment page 5 as just "Matt" by accident) and the only thing I was angry about. Well, that's inaccurate, I wasn't "angry" as such more disappointed that things hadn't been thought and planned through properly, by reputation alone I expected a lot more of Brad. I'm still concerned about the lack of a proper T's & C's and think that should be rectified shortly if he is serious at making this a full long term thing. Like he says earlier in the comments, the way he want's this run is very different from a webcomic model but that's not just an excuse for a payment plan it's a commitment, I'm sure he'll learn the ropes well as he goes.
Do I think that this site is worth $30 for the year? Yes and no. The articles from Brad and others alone, while good, do not justify the $30 for me personally. A lot of the time the things that I want to know how to do I can spend the time and find out how elsewhere, looking here was a mere convenience. The added content from Scott and Khoo sound promising but as a careful consumer in this world I want to see what form they will take and the quantity/quality and true frequency of updates before laying down cold hard cash. The true value of the site for me was always the forums, a space for collaborators to get together and "talk shop". The forums had been gaining popularity again in the last few months and the community growing. It was getting closer to the HalfPixel forum peak but if anything I think this move will kill those forums or at least severely maim them. A community is built up out of many people, the vocal people being just the tip of that iceberg. As is evident from these comments I dare say you'll be looking at at least an 80%+ cut in subscribers. It's always nice when Brad drops in on a topic and adds his opinions but he can't be around for every single point nor is that the point of the forums.
For me I'm, with a very heavy heart, leaving it for now until I know more. It could work and I hope it does but until I see the direction it's going I can't afford to pay $30 to be a BETA tester.
I'm hoping you're aiming for a community of serious like minded creators who will share ideas and band together, if so I'll be back. If you're planning on going for a subscription based blog with a forum then quite frankly you're trying the newscorp route and people will vote with their feet, will the tutorials and editorials be as good elsewhere? No, quite possibly not, but they're sure as hell free.
Just to round off that I do hope it works, I have a great deal of professional respect for the HalfPixel crew (the book is on my desk now and the WW podcasts are ALL on my iPod 5g).
I'll be keeping an eye,
Matt
I think the reasoning behind not telling us that the subscription wall was coming is a little off. Yes, I am sure a big argument (like this one) would have resulted from it, but it would have shown that the members of the site are indeed valued by giving them a "here's what's going to happen" heads-up, and given everybody time to adjust by the time the change was made. Heck, there are several posts here by the same people that start out hating the idea and then warming up to it and then subscribing just in the course of a few posts. I fully understand the reasoning behind it and I don't begrudge Brad at all for this choice, I just feel that if it had been handled a little better and given us all the time to think about it and understand there would be a lot less complaining, knee-jerk reactions, and slight feelings of betrayal here.
It makes me wonder if this will happen in the future. If I decided to subscribe, will there be an assurance to the subscribers that major decisions regarding the site will be at least disclosed before being implemented, if not discussed? I would not like to be a subscriber to have major announcements like this dropped on me without any sort of warning.
My last comment on the subject and last on this site. After reading what you guys have written over the years, I wonder what would have happened if another similar site had done this. I imagine Scott would have been all over them, with name calling included. No hard feelings on my end but really, how would the Half Pixel crew reacted if the shoe was on the other foot? Not well I imagine. They were doing it for free so they will make more even w/ low subscriptions.
Some will subscribe regardless and be glad to. For me though, the Emporer has no clothes.
I just learned of this new development today, but frankly haven't been a "regular" to the site for a while. While I too just paid for Christmas and can't shell out another $30 right now, chances are I will eventually.
But I have a couple things to ask:
1) When I do come back and am ready to subscribe in a month or two, what indication will I have that the site is still being updated? Will there be article "previews" to at least see post titles and teasers? It's a huge leap of faith for people just showing up that something is indeed happening behind the curtain.
2) Anyone remember a thing called Assetbar.com and the PVP "Fan flow"? That was something Scott and Kris were charging for, and at least Scott hasn't updated it since June (unless the box on the bottom of his pages is broken).
So yeah, I don't think this is necessarily bad. I already pay $26 per year for Flickr Pro and Deviant Art, etc. But at least on those sites, you can get *some* good out of it, and get a taste for what you're getting before you pony up.
I'm surprised you didn't go with the "freemium" model, where some of the content is free but the rest is behind a paywall. Going all-in seems like a good way to shoot yourself in the foot, like many sites have done before.
Like maybe each blog post shows up, but is cropped with a "Read More" link, where if you want to read the rest you have to be a member.
Maybe there's an open forum that anyone can read, but to post, you gotta pay.
And maybe there's a members-only forum where the Webcomics.com crew gives personal advice.
To lock the whole thing behind a paywall seems like a good way to drive off potential new members. How will they know what to expect? Are you relying on word-of-mouth? Or are you just hoping you can get enough current visitors to sign up, and as they let their subscriptions expire in a year you'll slowly shut the site down?
$30/year sounds like a good price. Don't Fark and Something Awful also charge? They're just forums, but they still follow the "freemium" model and still attract new members.
Personally, if it's just more of the same (what we've seen over the past 2 years), then it's not worth it. Not that $30 is much money to me, but that I didn't get anything out of this site that I'd be willing to make the effort to pay for (except maybe WebcomicsWeekly, but that's not part of the deal). If there was some guarantee of some frequent and quality postings by the pros, then it might be worth it, but all we've ever seen in the past 2 years are some Guiger posts (of which most were re-posts or links to other people's posts). The non-Guiger posts were some good content, but that will all cease. Who knows if Kurtz and Khoo will write good stuff here since we've seen little to nothing from them?
And does this mean Dave and Kris won't be having anything to do with this site any more?
Wow, this is a surprise. I'm really not sure what to make of it. I trust Brad and the fellas and have nothing but nice things to say about them. They've always been friendly and nice to me when we've met over the years. I wish them the best of luck with their new business model for the site. I don't fault them for wanting to charge for the content, that's the dilemma facing everyone on the internet. Ironically that's exactly what's killing the newspaper business, which in turn has killed the cartooning business. Regrettably I don't think I'll participate for now. Perhaps later on. Best of luck, I miss the podcast.
I'm happy to pay $30 but I have one concern.
Will transcripts/subtitles be provided for videos and podcasts? I am a Deaf cartoonist and it makes no sense for me to pay to be shut out...
@TrentD: "And does this mean Dave and Kris won't be having anything to do with this site any more?"
Let me give full credit to Brad: Aside from one interview I did with Karl Kerschl when Webcomics.com launched, I don't know that I've had any involvement with the site. Brad's just being kind when he includes my logo/link up on the page there: This is the fruits of his labor alone.
In fact, thinking about it now, I don't believe I even have a login for the site! (Hence, no floating head of me next to this post.) So as far as my involvement: I go from being an interested reader alongside you to being an interested reader alongside you. :)
Truthfully, I've already offered all the humble advice I have to give on professional webcomickry in the book and on the podcasts. Now I'm learning along with everyone else with what Brad's been teaching. So, even though I'm broadly against pay-walls, I've found enough value in Brad's work to buy myself a subscription to the site. Brad would no doubt give me a login for free if I asked, but frankly it's a worthwhile business write-off for my corporation...and more importantly, I know that I've enjoyed and profited from Brad's writing.
So it's either the $30 now, or I owe him ten $3 beers at the next convention. I've opted for the former, as his hands get grabby after that many beers. And I don't want to have another conversation with Mrs. Guigar about that.
Scott, Brad, I can't put it into words well. I just feel like if any opinion-based site is full of people who paid to join, there will be no opposing viewpoint. And with no opposition, there's no progress.
I'm writing a whole bunch of stuff and then deleting it... I don't like making enemies for saying things I just feel strongly about.
I'll just try to keep an open mind. If want to discuss it more, well...
The people insisting that webcomics.com should be free because that's what it recommends for webcomic sites confuse me. I'm not sure how many T-shirts, books, stuffed animals, or other merchandise webcomics.com is going to move. And selling Original Prints of the entries also seems pretty optimistic. Frankly, I don't think much of the Webcomic Business Model is applicable to this site at all.
How will paying for access change people's attitude towards things that are discussed on the boards? It isn't as if all the discussion about storytelling, font choice, update frequency, whether someone should shout "he's got a knife!", con preparation and more are based on whether you've paid to take part in the discussion. The only opposing viewpoint will be the "I ain't paying to go in" viewpoint. I can't think of much else discussed that everyone willing to pay would agree on.
And I too agree that this isn't hypocrisy: it's been proven that webcomics don't work with subscription models. But some professional sites (anyone else in National Association of Photoshop Professionals) do fine with membership required (and I know that access to that site is part of the package that also includes a magazine and such, but you still need to shell out money to get access to the meat of the site so let's not nitpick that one).
I can't think of a great analogy... but maybe it's the difference between watching a show on TV and going to a seminar on TV writing hosted by successful TV writers. Errrr... or something like that.
I'm in business, in logistics and supply chain management actually. I am thinking of starting up my own web-comic on the side as a hobby. At work I am frequently paid extremely well for being one person, successful in my field, as proven by not just my success but the much improved success of the businesses that hired me as a consultant. Consultants aren't free, 30 bucks wouldn't buy you five minutes of my time....literally. It wouldn't buy you five minutes of time with legal consulting, project management consulting, and don't even get my started on investment/finance consulting. Here are SEVERAL people, proven successful in their field by the ongoing success of their business. They are offering YEAR ROUND 24 hour/day access to their experience and knowledge pool for thirty dollars a year.....holy crap. Astonishing that so many of you feel so entitled to free information. This is the real world guys, expertise costs money. It's thirty bucks. What did you spend your last thirty bucks on?
Upon further reflection, I thought of something that may be of interest in this discussion.
AIGA, the American organization for graphic designers, also charges a subscription for certain services their site offers. The difference is that a basic membership with AIGA will cost around $200 annually (though they also provide more services such as an annual graphic designer conference and a place to post your resume for potential employers). Webcomics.com could go in the direction that AIGA is going in, which would certainly make every cent for a subscription worth it. It would also potentially solve the problem of getting new subscribers, since new artists looking for advice will be directed here.
Time will tell, though.
What most people don't understand is what Mr. Guigar has already pointed out: this was not intended as an entertainment site. This site was developed as a rallying point (a 'special niche', as he correctly stated) for those of us who are running webcomics or are considering that endeavor for sometime down the road.
The problem here is that people never viewed Webcomics.com as an informational site. Since its inception, they saw it as pure entertainment, a special place for all of the webcomic nerds to congregate and thrive. As such, when the preachers of 'free content', the ones who literally wrote the book on the subject, suddenly came along with a pay-for-the-content scenario, all hell broke loose.
I have no problem with the pay feature and will be signing up when I get my income tax refund later this month (kids need winter boots right now, Brad - sorry). However, there are problems on both sides of this issue that need to be addressed:
FOR THOSE AGAINST THE CHANGE: Paying $30 for the absolute WEALTH of information here, as well as for what's yet to come, is a no-brainer. There is not a single serious webcomic entrepreneur who can look at this yearly investment, a literal investment, and say that it's a waste of money, regardless of how little a new copy of "How to Make Webcomics" is going for on Amazon. If you think that a book alone can help you create and maintain a thriving business, then you need to think again. Any business person will tell you that the more resources at your disposal, especially if they're cheap, the easier the job. Do you realize how much the info at this site would cost you in a school setting? It seems that all of the anger and resistance needs to be tempered with a healthy dose of reality.
FOR BRAD GUIGAR: What did you expect, sir? I don't think it was so much the idea of having to pay for the site that pissed people off, as it was for the way you did it. One day, everyone is enjoying this free paradise, waiting for the holiday hiatus to be over. The next, they're being told, "Surprise! No more freebies! Pay up." I mean, honestly, that's about how abrupt it was. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there was no gradual easing into the new setup. You can't have all of this be free for as long as you did, then pull the rug out from everyone's feet by suddenly charging for it, and expect them to be okay with that. Great idea to have people pay, terrible idea in the way you implemented it.
SCOTT KURTZ, DAVE KELLETT, AND KRIS STRAUB, a.k.a. THE 'SILENT CREW': I call you three the 'Silent Crew', not because I personally know you and have the privilege of wringing you over the coals, but because I've seen how much of this site has solely relied on Brad for a VERY long time, as Mr. Kellett pointed out earlier. Why you have your names on Webcomics.com, I don't know. What I do know is that you all need to make a decision: either make more consistent and meaningful contributions to the site or just leave it all to Brad. In other words, either ride the horse or get off. With all respect, it’s that simple.
Like I said, $30 is a pittance when compared to the daily, monthly, and yearly costs of running one's own business, and complaining about it is absolute nonsense. However, there's every reason in the world to bitch about the way the change was handled. Truthfully, given the business experience of Brad, I'm very surprised it was done in this manner, but that's all in the past. What's done is done, and for the better, I might add. I look forward to giving my yearly stipend to Brad's site and hope that the Silent Crew will start to give us more than just their table scraps as time unfolds.
Thanks for allowing my two cents worth. :)
If I pay $30 can I drop f-bombs without Brad's floating head popping up reminding me to keep it clean for all the kids?