When I got into comics, I figured that I knew how to write and draw comics pretty well—I had years of print comics under my belt, after all. But, I was wrong, because presenting a long-form comic on the web calls some special considerations into account.
(Web-to-print, print-to-web, part 2)
I first discovered Jason Overby's comics as printed minicomics. His "Jessica" mini really impressed me when I read it (as have others of his minis). When he ran out of printed copies he posted a pdf of the comic on his website. He's done the same with some of his other minicomics (in the sidebar of his website). Minicomics really aren't about making money (they're about losing money in most cases), they're more about creating an object and exposure. Offering a sold out minicomic as a download is a great way to allow others to read the work (and people are surely more likely to download a pdf then send money for a comic they're not sure about).
Contents of Webcomics Folder in Google Reader for Monday: 1 episode of Lewis Trondheim's Les Petits Riens, 1 episode of John Allison's Bad Machinery (Note to John if he's reading this: Do you realize the only place your name appears on your home page is in the copyright notice at the bottom?), Yeast Hoist #1 by Ron Regé Jr..
Hi, Folks—Scott Story here. You may know my work from “Johnny Saturn,” and if not I invite you to visit and check it out. Before I got into webcomics, I worked for a bunch of different print publishers, such as Amp Comics, Arrow Comics, Blue Line Productions, Digital Webbing Presents, Image Comics, Nifty Comics, Powerful Press, Rogue Wolf Entertainment, and Rorschach Entertainment. "Johnny Saturn" has been used as prop on a Nickelodian show, been reviewed in the "Comics Buyers Guide," and won two awards (1st and 3rd, respectfully) in the Webcomic Readers Choice Awards.
(Web-to-print, print-to-web, part 1)
I've been making webcomics for a few years now (since 2005), but long before that I made minicomics. There is a certain pleasure in having a physical manifestation of your comic, and the turn of page, not to mention the multi-page spread just isn't the same online. So, I occasionally make non-web minicomics. I made a set of three this summer in preparation for the recently passed here, here, and here (Warning: abstract, experimental, and barely narrative comics)). I heard from a few readers that it wasn't the easiest thing to do: you needed to print double-sided, and the margins were such that you'd only get the full artwork if you printed with a laser printer. I ended up uploading a pdf version for screen reading too (at the same pages above). But I do like the idea of downloadable piy (that's "print-it-yourself") minicomics.
I'm not the only one doing such things. I was inspired by Warren Craghead's many piy minicomics, which he's been posting online for quite awhile. If you scroll down on his home page, you'll find links to a number of printable pdfs. Warren's books are often rather complicated to fold and cut (there's one that I never did get working right) but the work is worth the trouble, it's beautiful and mysterious, not your normal webcomic by any means. His latest piy comics is a series called "A Sort of Autobiography", which take the form of a six sided "StoryCube" for every ten years of his life (projected into the future up to 2060). You can print them out and put them together. The site hosting that series "Diffusion" seems to be devoted to different piy books and cubes. They even have a page of instructions and some pdfs you can use to make your own piy ebooks.
Claire Folkman has also been offering printable versions of her webcomics. I found this out when she gave me a copy of her printable mini about making a mini from a single page at PACC. She posts webcomics at her site and often includes a printable pdf version.
Why not try one too.
Hello, I'm the forgotten guest blogger this week. My name's Derik Badman, long time readers may remember the column I wrote here for awhile. I also blog regular at my site Madinkbeard, where you can also find my comics (web and print), which lately have mostly been short and experimental/abstract/non-narrative/poetic.
I'm a structure guy, so I thought I'd give myself a theme or two to work with this week. I decided "web-to-print, print-to-web" would be an interesting topic to discuss, as I feel like I've seen an increasing number of works that transition one way or the other that aren't simply "printed book is made from webcomics series."
Not sure what else I'll write about. Perhaps just a run through the daily contents of my "Webcomics" folder in Google Reader.
Our evening began in Peter Scharro's our comfortable study in his the beachhouse where the glowsticks were just right, the WiFi was in the background and the Red Bull was delicious… Anyhow blogging from the beach this weekend, A big thanks to last week's guest bloggers: Harknell, Onezumi, Sam Costello and Steve Troop.
This week (if memory serves, I lost my notes!) we have Brandon Carr, Scott Story and Derik Badman. I'm going to let them introduce themselves but all have been making comics online and off for quite awhile now and I think you'll enjoy their contributions to the site. (Brandon will be blogging next week actually)
I've been on an undead horror kick lately. Read World War Z, in the middle of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and just knocked off a bunch of The Walking Dead (not totally caught up yet though). Heck I even managed to watch Zombieworld earlier this summer. Any other recommendations for me — comics in particular?
In my recent post I spoke about how guests at cons should think deeper about their relationship with cons and how they can benefit by this, in this article I will reverse this situation and talk about how con staff should view and treat their guests.
I outlined in the previous article the basic economic truth that cons see guests as a monetary investment. Guests are there (theoretically) to draw more attendees and money to the con. So in many cases cons start to see and treat guests as "employees", or even as objects to be sold.
When was the last time you thought that being seen as an employee or as an object inspired you to greatness? Or really made you want to promote or work hard?
If you attend a lot of conventions or simply leave your house, you might find that you get sick every once in awhile. Conventions are huge petri dishes of sickness because there are so many people in a small space. I used to get almost every time after a con. One time, I got such a severe bout of stomach flu, I literally thought I was going to die. All I remember is lying in bed being unable to even dial 911. It traumatized me so much that I made some changes in how I do things. I haven’t gotten sick yet since making those changes, so I’m here to share with you my tricks to reducing the chance that you will catch the con crud.
Stop Relying on Hand Sanitizer: Hand sanitizer cleans your hands, right? Well…kind of. It doesn’t kill viruses. I used to be a hand sanitizer devotee. I used hand sanitizer religiously before I got the stomach flu from hell. I still got the stomach flu because it didn’t kill everything that was on my hands when I went to eat. Since then I haven’t even bothered carrying hand sanitizer. It does help somewhat, but it doesn’t do enough.
Consciously Wash Your Hands: This is a no-brainer, but I do not want to go into how many people I see at the con ROLL ON OUT OF THE BATHROOM WITHOUT WASHING THEIR HANDS. It’s nasty. I thought we learned this in Sesame Street, but geez, a lot of people do this at cons! Wash your hands every time you use the bathroom. Use a paper towel to open the door on your way out so you don’t touch the doorknob where the non-handwashing people have touched – especially if you are about to eat.
Don’t Touch Your Face: Don’t rub your eyes or mouth without immediately washing your hands before doing so. Disease can enter the body via your eyes and mouth. Don’t put the germs inside you!
Don’t Share Communal Bags of Unwrapped Snacks: It’s always the people reaching into the communal bags of chips or pretzels that seem to get the con crud. Guess why? It’s because people who haven’t washed their hands have stuck their hands in there and contaminated everything. Bring wrapped snacks to your con table so that you can open one and eat it without putting your hand on the food before doing so.
Don’t Touch Your Food: Like I said above, bring wrapped snacks. You could also use a napkin to pick up and eat the food. Basically, don’t touch anything you are about to eat before washing your hands.
What I am saying is – don’t rely on hand sanitizer, don’t touch your face, don’t touch food you are about to eat, don’t share communal snacks, and make sure to wash your hands really well before you eat. Doing all of these things are annoying, but it works. Imagine you are doing surgery and your orifices are open wounds. Sure, that’s a bit extreme, but I have not gotten sick at all since I started doing this. The less sick you are, the more comics you can make and the more cons you can go to.
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There are basically two kinds of support webcomics creators need: moral/emotional and financial. Making webcomics can be a tough slog. It can seem, especially in the early years of a comic, that we're working in a vacuum and that maybe no one's reading. But, when you do get that occasional email from a fan – whoa, what a feeling! But when traffic stats are low or merchandise isn't selling or we get a terrible review, we need support and encouragement that keep us going.
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