Join Webcomics.com for only $30 per year!

For a low subscription of $30 per year, you will have access to this site plus the entire Webcomics.com archives, one of the most helpful and supportive forums for creative people on the Web, and many members-only offers. Learn More!

Webcomics Weekly is archived at libsyn.com

Speaking Engagements

Interested in having Webcomics.com contributors talk at your university, convention, or art department about making an independent career on the web?


Wednesday
Apr032013

Open Call: Character Design Hot Seat

A while back, I asked members what they'd prefer for the topic of our next Hot Seat critique series.

The response was overwhlemingly in favor of a series on Character Design.

So, if you'd like to participate, put the following information in the comments section below:

 

  • Your name
  • The URL of your comic
  • A link to a turnaround drawing of your character

 

What's a turnaround?

From an archive post about turnarounds, here's a couple from Scott Kurtz:

Log in to read the entire post.

Tuesday
Apr022013

Digital Downloads -- Finding the Right Price (Follow-up)

Here are the first-day-and-a-half results of my pricing experiment. The results are interesting enough that I want to share them with you now.

I actually ran two experiments with pricing with the April edition of my monthly pre-release comic.

  • I dropped the price to 99¢ (originally $2.99)
  • And I experimented with a "Pay a Fair Price" structure through Gumroad

Log in to read the entire post.

Monday
Apr012013

Who's the Fool?

I was doing my morning trawl around the Internet and I was struck by the number of cartoonists who were making exciting announcements regarding their comics -- movie deals, animation contracts, awards, etc.

And then I remembered that today was the First of April.

So I have a question...

Log in to read the entire post.

Saturday
Mar302013

Saturday Deep Dive: The Buffer

Today's Dive into the Deep Archives of Webcomics.com dates back to April 2009, when we discussed different viewpoints of the webcomics buffer.

Much has been made lately of how large a buffer a webcartoonist needs in order to stay on schedule. Some seem to think a buffer can never be big enough. Others think a buffer of about month’s worth of strips is the perfect size.

The guys who do Penny Arcade don’t use a buffer since they want the strip to be topical. What is right for you? I think it depends on a number of factors and more importantly, what kind of artist you are...

Comment at the original post.

Friday
Mar292013

Friday Archive Dive: "If I Had It To Do All Over..."

Today's Archive Dive dates back to April 9, 2012, when I answered a Mailbag question that centered on how I would have done things differently if I were starting all over today.

Q: If you had a chance to do it all over again (i.e. launch a new strip online from the ground up with no prior experience or name recognition but still retaining the knowledge you've gained over the years), what would you do differently? What would you do the same? (I realize updating frequently and consistently is a top priority, so that goes without saying). What mistakes did you make that you learned from? What do you wish you had done sooner?

If I had it to do over again, I would...

Read the entire post and comment there.