Friday Archive Dive: Direct More Attention to Your Blog

Today's Archive Dive comes from January 12, 2010, when we discussed a strategy for directing more attention to your blog.

Your blog is the heartbeat of your community-building effort. The comic brings your readers in, but your blog makes them feel as if they belong. Unfortunately, it's incredibly hard to jam both into the "first screen" of a typical reader.

We've discussed this extensively in the past, but even the most maximized webcomic sites are going to face a little trouble directing eyes down to the blog.

And let's face it, even if your blog is first-screen maximized, all of the action takes place in the area the comic inhabits. The vast majority of your readers are going to zoom in on the space and then zoom out. Your challenge is to try to catch their attention in that nanosecond between the last panel and their departure -- and direct it to the blog.

Here's a good strategy for doing just that...

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Mark Waid is (not) Evil: Part Two

Last week, Mark Waid announced that he was leaving his position as Chief Creative Officer of Boom! Studios to focus on independent digital publishing. 

This announcement is of special interest to Webcomics.com members who remember Waid foreshadowing a foray into digital publishing in his keynote address at this year's Harvey Awards ceremony. As you may recall, his comments were reported grossly out of context, and Webcomics.com offered a detailed clarification to the misinterpretation. Among the points that he made that night:

• File sharing is going to happen as long as we have the Internet and apps (and whatever comes around next).
• The Internet isn't going away
• Neither are apps
• And there's always a "Next."
• And, as Waid said, "I'm tired of being scared."
• Instead of being frightened of all of this, Waid suggested working together to find innovative ways to work within this new, developing system.
• Waid announced a public forum for this very purpose, and hinted at some projects he's ready to launch that will attempt some new angles on digital publishing.
• We can sit around acting out of fear or we can work together to find a way (or ways) to succeed within the system. Waid advocated for the latter.

Yesterday, Comics Alliance published a fascinating interview with Waid in which he discusses this decision and the ramifications that it may have. We'll discuss that interview and the effects that Waid's decision will have on webcomics in general.

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Mailbag: Making a Profit on a Book

Q. I'm nearing the end of the second year of my webcomic. I've been thinking about compiling my first book. Unfortunately, Lulu, with whom I hoped to publish, says it costs $13.60 for a (pretty weak) 32 page book in color! 

My question is: How could I ever turn a profit with that? Can you recommend any publishing alternatives (self-publishing or otherwise) that might help me? 

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Mailbag: Consistency in lettering changes?

Q. I've been doing my comic for a little over a year now, and during that time I've changed my font once, the font size a couple of times, and most recently... I've decided to go to ALL CAPS for the dialog.

I want to go back through and redo all the dialog and corresponding word balloons, so they still fit the changed text. The reason for this is to have a consistent look for an eventual print product.

Since the comics have been on the web for months, should I also change the copies that are on the web? Should I do it as soon as I've completed the update to the files or would it be better to wait? Is there a good reason to keep the "as is"?

I've gotten better at balloon placement/creation during the course of my comic, so there are some earlier comics that are pretty "meh" to downright dreadful in terms of word balloons.

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Net Neutrality: A Couple Thoughts Before Tomorrow's FCC Decision

Like the Ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Come, it's time for a midnight visit from one of Webcomics' perennial boogie-men, Net Neutrality. From The Raw Story:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was expected this week to vote on a set of so-called "Net Neutrality" rules that some Democrats believed would fulfill a key Obama campaign promise to ensure all Internet traffic is treated equally.

Instead, rules authored by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski would allow for a greater fractioning of the Internet and data rationing on mobile and wired networks, according to analysis of the policies. Major network stakeholders like Verizon and AT&T would be able to sell bandwidth in capped tiers, with overage charges for users who download too much information, and certain types of data traffic like peer-to-peer file transfers could be banned altogether.

Senator Al Franken (D-Minn) has said that if the FCC passes its regulations, "the Internet as we know it would cease to exist."

The FCC probably will, and Franken is probably right. Since this is an FCC ruling, there are no congresspersons to write and no petitions to sign.

Telecom corporations like Comcast and Verizon have a lot of money at stake in this ruling. And they have deep pockets. Their concerns will outweigh any of those from the American people. This should surprise none of you.

It's time to start coming to grips that this is our future. If not now, then next year, or the year after that.

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