So... did I mention I'm starting a webcomic? (FAQ Q&A FWIW)

[Askia]

Miller,

1. Relax. My business model isn’t subscription-based. I’m not quite that crazy. The idea for now is just to start doing a kickass strip.

2. Hmmmm. Food for thought. Excellent points. I’ve read some of Scott Kurtz’s stuff, of course, but I may need to read more.

[Sal_Ammoniac]

Okay, I know zilch about the world of webcomics, but these made me laugh, which is what it’s about. I think the North Pole premise is rich, not least for being unexpected.

Keep slogging, you’ve got a lot of talent. (Which your loyal readers here knew, of course.)

[wasson]

Regarding bandwidth (with the disclaimer that I know NOTHING about web comics, but have run insanely high-traffic sites before):

Choose a host who will let you grow. One that offers a bare-bones, $50/year plan with some limited amount of bandwidth but will not shut you down if you exceed that… instead, like cell-phone carriers, they’ll charge you an overage or switch you to a higher plan. You should never be able to outgrow your host.

Again, I know nothing about web comics and don’t read them, but I recently started my own podcast. I struggled with either 1. starting my own site for it, or 2. going with a podcast directory/community. There were pros and cons of each, but I decided to go with my own dedicated site. This means I have absolute control over my podcast, my webpage, my bandwidth, statistics, content, copyright, etc. It does, however, make my job harder when it comes to promoting, finding partners, adding features, etc. The podcast communities/directories have a built-in, pre-registered audience, but you lose a little “uniqueness” going with them.

Good luck, and my offer for free web space still stands (that is, until your site gets too big and I need to start chargin’ ya, in which case you may be better off with a “real” host!).

[essell]

@Askia

essell,

1. That’s impressive. See, if I can count on you to be an annual patron, and 49,999 more folks like you, I can totally afford to quit my current full-time job – the one where I spend all day looking for a full-time job.

2. Thank you. Makes sense. Here’s a follow-up: how often do you read other non-bookmarked webcomics?

3. My current plan is to do at least six weeks worth of webcomic updates in advance to permit me the room to develop my strips leisurely.

4. I need SOMEONE to give me information on bandwidth costs. Maybe I should just call my ISP…

5. Mods, I must reluctantly agree.

1. I get a lot of pleasure from web comics, but that list only represents about 20% of the ones I read. You gotta be good to get my money!

2. Almost Never. All my comics are regular reads. I get new links from friends, this board, (Lore Sjoberg is now on my list) and links on the sites I already read. Once I start reading a comic I don’t really put it down. (Exceptions are Casey&Andy as they stopped and Goblins because I couldn’t follow the story line as they don’t update often enough)

3. Some artists try this but can’t manage to maintain their lead time, others do it really well. (RealLife is a good example of the former, Irregular web comics comes to mind as a good example of the later. so it’s not the be-all-and-end-all)

4. I use UK2.net as a hosting provider. They have almost no support or customer service so you’d better know what you’re doing. They are cheap and reliable however.

5. You character have my attention already. The flow of the panels is a little haphazzard. I’m sure you can clean it up in a technical sence. that’s the easy part.

@Askia

Oh! Here’s a few more important questions for **Miller ** and essell. But anyone can answer, too:

1. I’m only moderately interested in merchandising, preferring as I do to concentrate on improving my online cartooning and soliciting reader patronage. Do you think my lack of interest doing T-shirts and coffee mugs and even printed books will present a problem getting financial support?

2. Right now, I can only accept check and money order donations sent to my mail drop in Atlanta. Would you prefer using Paypal or some other means of sending funds electronically?

1. I personally have no problem donating, and forgetting the merchandise. We’ve only ever bought a physical item from a web comic twice. The rest was either donations or in exchange for wallpapers or other non-tangible items.

2. This is a must for me. Especially as you’re not in the same country as me. You can open a personal pay-pal account and anyone can send funds to you. I don’t expect it’s hard to get a “Merchant” account with paypal either.

[Nzinga_Seated]

Well, I don’t know how objective I can be, since I am already an Askia fan and feels he can do no wrong…but I really do like the comic. Good luck with it.

And I think Veena is extremely sexy.

[Askia]

**Sal Ammoniac, ** thanks! I liked the idea of using the Far North as a setting, too – it allows me to emulate aspects of one of my all-time favorite newspaper comics, Calvin and Hobbes… I loved Watterson’s winter strips. Ironically, while I like looking at and drawing the stark and barren desert-like beauty of the polar region (and I look forward to doing more research about the Arctic region and Northern Europe, Canada and China to make my drawings more accurate) I. Cannot. Stand. The. Cold. Anytime you see Cupid bitching about the climate, that’s pretty much me and my thoughts verbatim.

wasson, your podcast experiences offers a nice parallel to my own with webcomics. I may well end up striking out on my own at some point, (especially if I can get my far more technologically-savvy younger brother Yusef to agree to set up my website for me) but for now, primarily because of costs and a need to familiarize myself with other webcomics more, I probably will end up in a website like Comic Genesis for the first year or so. I also appreciate your insights on bandwidth. Again, I need to talk with my ISP…

**essell, **

1. You’re giving me a high standard of excellence to shoot for. ("This looks good… but is it good enough to get essell’s money?)

2. Thanks. okay.

3. I imagine if I ever get down to say, only three weeks lead time, that’ll light a fire under my butt enough to sit down and draw more strips until I got caught up again. Luckily I have – no exaggeration – over two hundred unexecuted strip ideas for “Season’s Greetings” so I don’t think that coming up with new ones will be that hard until year three or so.

4. As with many purely technical things, I have no idea what I’m doing.

5. I here you on the panel arrangements. I didn’t want to do your typical 3-4 panel gag-a-day humor strip with the static straight line comic, though. My webcomics are a designed to be horizontally-oriented to maximize computer screen space and offer different configurations. The minute I get a handle on what I’m doing I will be doing more challenging panel arrangements. I don’t think it’ll be out of the ordinary to see 6 or 7 panel daily strips from me.

and also

1. Hm. Okay. Thanks.

2. Thanks. Okay. Hm.

Nzinga, Seated
Think of your bragging rights if I attain my 100,000 per week unique reader goal in the next year or two. You and other Dopers can say, “I knew Askia from back when!” Only, y’know, call me Uncle MOE.

[Steve_MB]

@Askia

Okay… Looks like I have to go, but before I do I need to ask a few other questions related to webcomics in general and “Season’s Greetings”…

1. I want to do this, not just because I think I finally want to make a go at cartooning but to supplement my income. How many of you webcomics fans out there have actually donated or purchased merchandise from webcomics sites?

Bought the dead-tree editions and a few t-shirts for Sluggy Freelance and Order of the Stick; intend to do likewise for Erfworld once those items exist.

2. Do any of you have a preference for webcomics sites? Do you prefer to go to those portal sites with dozens of selections, standalone sites, or no preference, or what?

I tend to prefer standalone sites, but it’s not that important an issue.
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[Askia]

Steve MB, thanks for the answers, man.