Pay What You Want

This week, I released my monthly digital comic pre-release on a pay-what-you-want basis using Gumroad. The reader response has been good, but the creator response has been surprising.

@geekscomicstrip @webcomic_alli @guigar went to pay what you can from his fixed prices?That's not giving me a happy feeling.

— Shawn Granger (@MrGranger) May 7, 2013

I wanted to let my numbers mature a bit before discussing this, but when I saw that yesterday, I knew what today's post had to be.

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Character Design Hot Seat: Nathan Nit and Juggles

This is the next in a series of discussions of character design. Rules are the same as all Hot Seat discussions. I'll open up with a few remarks, and then the members at large can take the discussion further. Up first, Nathan Nit, and then Juggles from A La Mode. 

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Self-Employed Mortgage Loan

Today's post comes courtesy of Webcomics.com member John Bogenschutz:

For anybody who draws a comic they have thought about, at one point or another (if not all the time!), wanting to make it their full time job. That’s the goal right? Fortunately, I have been able to do my comic full time for the past year and a half, and I couldn’t be happier.

 

Well, except for the fact that when you are self-employed getting a mortgage loan is even tougher than if you have a “real” job.

 

For the last 5 months my family and I have been trying to get a loan so we can move back to the Cincinnati area, where my family is from and where we will be in a more central location for music education conventions (where I exhibit with my comic). We found out last week that we were denied and told that we should wait another year until we get back our 2013 tax returns (which will show a more favorable return than 2011).

 

I am typing this article for you cartoonists who want to make your living as a cartoonist to help you avoid the same pitfalls I fell into, if you want to get a mortgage loan.

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Saturday Archive Dive: Booth Etiquette

Today's Dive into the deeper archives of Webcomics.com take us to May 9, 2011, when we discussed Booth Etiquette.

There are a few points of booth etiquette that you should be aware of as you’re exhibiting at a convention.

No poaching: You may never — ever — address an attendee while he or she is speaking to another exhibitor. Interrupting a discussion between an attendee and an exhibitor is unforgiveable.

No blocking: It’s important to get as much vertical display space as possible. Placing a tall banner stand behind your chair is perfectly fair. And so is erecting a display that stands above your table. But when you start blocking your neighbors’ ability to see down the walkway you’re treading on dangerous turf. If you have this kind of set-up, you should ask your neighbor’s permission — and be prepared to improvise if they say they’d rather not be blocked by your display.

Stay behind the table: You might think that standing in front of your table, handling out flyers and barking for your table is a great idea, but I guarantee your neighbors don’t. You’re disrupting the traffic flow, and you’re probably causing more than a few people to re-think how badly they want to walk down your aisle. Stay behind the table, where you belong.

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Friday Archive Dive: Load Your Highest-Paying Ads First

Today's Archive Dive is from April 25, when I shared some tips for optimizing Google AdSense.

Here's a nifty trick to get your most best-performing ads -- the ones with the highest click-through rates -- in front of your readers' eyes first. According to Google, this has a noticable affect on ad revenue...

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