Fleen: Transcript of Webcomics.com Lightning Round Posted

Thanks to the affable Gary Tyrrell, Fleen has a transcript of the Webcomics.com Lightning Round featuring Robert Khoo, Scott Kurtz and me. The theme of the panel was that people would ask us questions and we would each answer in under 20 second, without repeating a point the other(s) had made. We covered about twenty topics during the 55-minute discussion. Here's a sample.

Question: There’s a certain amount of tension between print comics and webcomics, is anybody trying to do both?
Guigar: It’s really a conflict between corporate comics and vs independent, so by definition nobody is doing both.
Kurtz: The conflict is between between embittered print comics artists and and webcomics artists with a chip on their shoulder, so basically it’s Ted Rall and me. Everybody else is fine.
Khoo: I don’t care about this at all.

Go here for the full transcript.

Using eCPM to gauge Project Wonderful

In talking about ADSDAQ a while back, we came across eCPM as a unit of measure. In researching the topic, I've found that it's a pretty useful tool for comparing how your ads are doing.

eCPM stands for "effective cost per thousand impressions." ADSDAQ uses it, and so does Google AdSense.

eCPM is calculated by dividing total earnings by total number of impressions and then multiplying by one thousand.

It's used to compare how two different ad campaigns are doing, but I think it could have a distinct use for those of us who use Project Wonderful.

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Web hosting compared

When choosing a host for your Web site, you have a myriad of choices and variables to consider. What makes one choice good for one webcartoonists wouldn't necessarily work for another.

To help with those decisions, I compiled a side-by-side comparison of popular Web hosts. Since the ComicsPress plug-in for Word Press seems to be a predominant favorite among the Webcomics.com membership, I made sure to include a healthy sampling of the hosts that support Word Press.

The result is a spreadsheet that compares eight different Web hosts on eighteen variables -- including cost, contracts, amount of storage offered, e-mail services, etc.

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Friday Archive Dive: Making a Media Kit

Today's Archive Dive is from May 5, 2010, when we discussed making a media kit to have on hand during comic conventions.

In this month's To-Do list, it is suggested that you prepare a media kit for the summer convention season. What is a media kit, and why do you need one? A media kit is a folder that contains information about you and your comic, along with samples of your work, recent press releases and other promotional material. It is handed to a member of the media to enable (or encourge) them to cover your work in their publication. In short, a media kit is, as the name implies, the building blocks to the story that you want the world to know. In preparing the media kit, you are giving the journalist everything she needs to tell the story that you want to have told. Here are a few things you might like to consider including in yours:

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Got a question for the mailbag? Send it along.

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Makeshift Book Displays

I've always been jealous of Dave Kellett's book display. He got the brilliant idea of buying plate holders (the kind you use to display decorative dishes) to hold his books upright. They were vinyl-coated and they folded down flat for easy packing. He always carried extra, and I was always bumming a couple from him when we exhibited together.

So imagine my joy at finding these. They're vinyl-coated plate holders, but they also have a hinge on the back to support tall objects (like my books)! And, like Dave's, they fold down flat.

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