The One-and-Only Membership Drive Post

So I don't cause confusion, I want to put this right at the top. Your Webcomics.com membership is good for twelve months past the day you first bought it. So if you subscribed in July, you're good until next July.

But I'm going to make this post today because (a) many people (not a majority, but many) subscribed when the site launched in January and (b) I don't want to make this kind of "Membership Drive" post more often than I have to -- and the end of the year seems about as good a place as any for it.

If I knew the first thing about running a subscription site, I probably would run this kind of post once a month ... or even once a week for the next five weeks ... telling you why re-subscribing to Webcomics.com is a good idea.

But, in my mind, every post I've made since that first day in January has done exactly that. And if the posts weren't enough, the high-level, intelligent discussions among professionally minded cartoonists in the Private Forum more than covered any shortcomings. The numerous exclusive member benefits were icing on the cake.

Unsubscribing

That being said, if this site didn't offer you full value for your subscription fee, unsubscribing to the site is simple. When you signed up, you were automatically entered into a renewal plan through your PayPal account. Unsubscribing is a simple matter of following about five easy steps. When your payment is not auto-renewed, your password will be discontinued, and you will no longer be able to access the site. You will also be removed from the list of people who will be able to enjoy member benefits.

Renewing your subscription

To renew your subscription, do nothing. The auto-renew will kick in one your one-year anniversary, and your membership will be extended for a year. If you had previously cancelled your auto-renew -- and if you wish to extend your membership -- simply re-subscribe.

When I launched this subscription site in January, 2010, I promised:

• Frequent updates of news, advice, tutorials and strategies by webcomics veteran Brad Guigar.
• Contributions by webcomics pioneer Scott Kurtz and Penny Arcade's Business Guy, Robert Khoo.
• 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.

Many of you have e-mailed or stopped over at conventions to tell me that this site not only met your expectations, but it exceeded them.

2011 will be no different.

Site Posts

There will usually be at least one new site post a day (including a Friday Archive Dive). Some weeks, there will be more than one per day. Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas may see an Archive-Dive-style post, but there will always be something useful updated on the site.

More importantly, you now have access to a database of webcomics information that dates back to 2008. A simple search of a few keywords will bring up tons of good information and discussion. This is an awesome way to get inside information on a comic convention you're considering, for example.

Finally, our regular contributors, Scott Kurtz and Robert Khoo will be continuing their involvement in the site, adding their perspective and knowlege with members.

Site posts are archived three ways:

• Hit the Search button above the logo and type in a keyword pertaining to the topic you're interested in. Use the Advanced Search to narrow your parameters.
• Click on Article Categories above the Webcomics.com logo for a list of subcategories. These are topics we cover very often around here. Clicking on a subcategory takes you to a listing of all of the site posts under that category.
• Click on Index above the Webcomics.com logo for a full listing of topics, subcategories, tags, and anything else I could think of to throw in.

Private Forum

The forum has become a central strength of the community. People have posted S.O.S. messages about ComicsPress issues that have crippled their sites -- only to have fellow members using their own expertise to get everything solved in record time.

The discussions and debates are passionate, professional and -- usually -- polite. And I work very hard to keep it that way as much as possible.

Exclusive Member Benefits

I think this is where the site really excelled in 2010. Webcomics.com was able to offer its members amazing exclusive benefits. For example, while other webcartoonists were placed on an Artist's Alley waiting list for Chicago's C2E2 convention, our members went to the front of the line -- with a discounted price for a better place on the show floor! Here is a list of the benefits that are still in effect for members:

15% off all purchases at Blue Line Pro

10% off printing at Transcontinental

$79 off retractible banner stands at BannersNStands

15% off booth displays at Formz

Discount on Endicia shipping software/hardware

Bottom Line

The bottom line is simple. I've done everything I could do to make this site the best it could be. If you disagree, I want to thank you for the support you showed me in taking a chance on something that everybody -- everybody -- expected to fail within the first month. And if you've decided to stick around for our second year, I'm going to continue to work my butt off to bring you a site that you can be proud of.



December To-Do List

Tomorrow is the beginning of December. It's a month dominated by holidays -- both preparing for and celebrating them -- and it's the end of the year. It's probably the most challenging months for a webcartoonist, so let's get organized.

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Comic Aggregators

Another Comic Aggregator site has crossed my radar, so I thought I would pass it along to you. I see an awful lot of familiar titles on the list of supported comics, so it might be worth your time to scan it for yours.

Mind you, I'm not advocating emailing the creator of the aggregator script to politely ask him to remove your comic -- although I did, and he kindly complied within the hour.

I don't think there's a right answer to "should I allow my comic to be included in an aggregator site?" I think it's a matter of preference. Here are both sides of the argument.

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Why aren't there more full-time webcartoonists?

This is an essay based on the thoughts I used to kick off Episode 71 of the Webcomics Weekly podcast. I'm running it here for three reasons, it's a pretty important thought and I don't want you to miss it if you don't listen to the podcast. Secondly, there are facets of the argument that deserve a little more attention, and instead of drone on while Scott, Dave and Kris wait patiently, this is the perfect plact to go deep on this kind of subject. Thirdly, judging from the discussion that it generated here, there's still plenty to talk about.

So here it goes: One of the major criticisms of webcomics is "Why aren't there more people making a full-time living self-publishing their work on the Web?"

Here's the thought that occurred to me last week.

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Friday Archive Dive: Selling Prints

Today's Archive Dive comes from December 2009, when a reader submitted a question about selling prints.

I'm about to enter year 2 of my comic, and I've had a few requests for prints. So I'm planning on putting up a buy-this-print button and making it official.

Some specific questions about it:

1) Does anyone use their own printer for this instead of a print shop and find it to be high enough quality and cost effective given the cost of ink cartridges?

2) Poking around the various web comic stores that actually tell you how big the print is, the standard seems to be 11x17 or even bigger. That seems really big to me. Anyone doing standard letter size? Letter size seems so much more convenient and fits in standard flat rate USPS envelopes.

3) For the common, skinny comic strips, do people trim the extra paper off the top and bottom margin or leave it?

4) Do you (and should I) charge more for signed prints? Since I'll be handling these myself it seems kinda silly to charge more for a signature.

5) Do you ship in tubes or in envelopes with cardboard?

6) If you're getting a few orders every week, how often do you process them? I don't think I have time to go to a print shop and the post office more than once a week. How do you handle the customer service aspect of being but one person with limited time? (I'm probably over estimating how many orders I'll get.)

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