Q&A with Scott Kurtz (Part Four of Four)
Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 5:00AM This is the last of a four-part Q&A session with Scott Kurtz.
Q) I have a totally different business model than webcomics in that I sell my cartoons to people for usage in presentations, newsletters, books, etc. Business is good, but of course I'd like to expand my reader/customer base. I don't have recurring characters or story lines, so there's not that sort of thing for readers to connect with. Any suggestions?
Q) I'm currently working on a webcomic that'll be a fantasy adventure geared towards younger audiences, though will still hopefully be appealing to older ones as well. One issue I find myself dealing with when it comes to building the world, characters, and story elements is trying to avoid clichés of the fantasy genre. While I already have ideas on how to keep things interesting and put my own personal spin on the genre, I was curious; what do you think are the big three fantasy clichés that I should avoid to keep my comic interesting and unique? Thank you very much for your time!
Q)You have cultivated yourself a very distinct public personality. How much do you feel this plays in to your continued success and/or popularity?
Q) A while ago you tweeted that you were almost done with freelance jobs on the whiteboard. What sort of freelance jobs do you do these days, and why do you do them?
Q) You are an outspoken proponent of owning your work (it's created by your effort, and you want to keep control of it). However, the Internet is essentially the world's biggest copy machine (if copies of data couldn't be made, it literally wouldn't work). My question: what is your opinion of Creative Commons licenses, if any? Ordinary copyright has worked very well for you, but are there any circumstances under which you would consider using one of the Creative Commons licenses, and trust your audience to spread your images -- and support you financially -- by letting them actually use your comics, themselves?
Q) Do you like printing your books with Image? Would you recommend other webcartoonists look for willing publishers like Image or Dark Horse before trying to self-publish work, or is self publishing fine if you don't mind the logistical hassle?
Q) What do you do in those times of doubt, when you can even wonder if you want to be doing this at all?
Q) My question is if you have any tips or suggestions about transitioning from traditional (pencil/pen & ink) to working with a Wacom tablet (I know you've got the daddy of 'em all with a Cintiq)? I know like any new medium it takes time to get the hang of it, and just wondered if you had any words of wisdom to share with Wacom newbies?