comics online?

[in4pain]

something i was wondering about the last couple of days. say your an aspiring cartoonist whether it be with strips or comic books. And it was your dream to be syndicated / published. Do you think putting your comic on-line would help your chances of syndication or hurt your chances. Does on-line stuff have a downside? I'm developing a comic strip and my ultimate goal is to syndicated. If i put my stuff on-line would it hurt my chances in any way

[Chris Piers]

Go ahead and put it online. It's good practice and if you're lucky and talented, maybe you get a few readers out of the deal.

[in4pain]

i think you are right about the luck thing to. it seems in this biz that is one thing you have to have for sure.

[Paul M.]

www.graphicvault.net was trying to do something like this.

Don't know if its ever gonna get off the ground though....

[Devilman]

jason and bob have good online comics with a solid fanbase. Go to thier sites to see how it should be done.


www.sacredpie.com

www.4seatsleft.com

[sacredbob]

wow- thanks d-man, you beat me to the punch!

i totally agree- putting your comic online can't hurt. it'll help you build up a fan base, which'll help you sell the first stack of comics that you put into print. it's really hard to build up a readership if they have to pay to see your comic- but if you get them hooked first, then go to print- they have no choice but to purchase your book in paper.

or something.

not to mention, you can easily get tons of recognition being strictly online- www.sluggy.com actually has a staff they are doing so well (they probably get 20,000 hits a day from independant readers). because of that huge online following, their book sales have skyrocketed!

some tips if you do go online-
1. make sure your comic can be read by people of all modem speeds (bump down the resolution on your images!)
2. be consistent. sluggy has thousands of fans because they produce daily- not matter what. once you start slacking off on your own schedule, people will stop checking in on you
3. make your site easy to navigate (k.i.s.s.)
4. just do it. i know TONS of people who are "about to put" a comic online, or "have some sketches" from an upcoming online comic. screw that- just draw a few pages, put them up, and make yourself a schedule. even if your first few pages suck, get them up there- you'll get better, trust me.
(one of MY first pages: http://www.sacredpie.com/http://sacredpie.com/sacred6.html - and one of my more recent: http://sacredpie.com/froo1.html )
5. pimp it. go to every comic, fan-boy, nerdy (no offense guys) message board you can find and Pimp Your Comic! Online mags are almost 100% word of mouth, and 10% ad sites like www.topwebcomics.com (though, i suggest hitting up that one a bit, too). also- get your banner on other online comics. web comics work like paper ones do- nobody reads just one title (i mean, c'mon...they're FREE). Most other comics will put a banner up for you, or do a banner exchange (i did some fan art for sluggy and picked up a hundred readers from the link under my picture)
6. sacredpie@hotmail.com (any other questions, tips, etc.- drop me a line anytime; i'd be happy to help out in any way) VIVA LA WEB COMIC!!


-bob

[DeForgeo]

Go for it. You've got nothing to lose, right?

I know Derik Kirk (http://www.smallstoriesonline.com) has put tons of his work online, and now he's getting attention from Alternative Comics and is a contender for the Xeric Grant.

[in4pain]

ill tell ya you guy really do make a man feel like he can do anything. sacredbob thanks for all the awesome tips. a couple i already had I'm mind like the rez and the navigation, but hearing it makes a dude feel better. I'm going to check out these sites! and see what they have to offer. i have seen some negative things about weekly strips as opposed to daily. any truth to this? a daily is not going to be possible at all.

[sacredbob]

weekly's not so bad.

i only update weekly, and i've got a fairly large readershipship. the truth is, though, the more you update, the more readers you'll get. but if you can kick out 3-5 full-on comic book pages week, you'll do just fine.

one page a week won't cut it. just make sure to leave each week's last page as a cliffhanger.

-bob

[in4pain]

the biggest turn off to a comic i think is a comic site that makes it hard to navigate. that and a strip that is not updated when it is suppose to be. if the artist says every week it should be every week. but to be honest if a site is updated every day and it not easy to nav I'm not reading it.

[Inkthinker]

MegaTokyo (www.megatokyo.com) started as a 3-per-week updated strip, got a huge fanbase, and just recently signed a deal with Studio Ironcat (http://www.ironcat.com/) to publish the whole series up to date.

Our very own Amy Ganter, AKA Whibbage, created the ultra-keen Reman Mythology (http://www.remanmythology.com/) and began publishing online, and will soon be published by Antarctic Press (http://www.antarctic-press.com/). If I'm not mistake, Tropical COwboy and a few others 'round here who publish online material are getting gigs with publishers.

I think it definitley is a good move.