Features

Surreal Estate

MHPayne Leave a Comment

I tend to stick to my comfort zone when it comes to webcomics. Reading about a new one here or on one of the other review sites, if I’m not familiar with the creator or if it doesn’t sound a little like something I already read, I’m sorry to say that I’m not all that likely to go and take a look. Unadventurous: that’s me.

So I’m very glad I took a chance three-and-a-half years ago and signed up for the Daily Grind Contest. It’s introduced me to a whole group of comics from my fellow competitors that I doubt I would ever have known about otherwise, and I’d like to mention three of them at some length here — Trains of Thought by Stephen Burrell (his Livejournal page is at http://stephenwastaken.livejournal.com), Tartpop by Phil Redmon (his Livejournal page at http://destro-simpson.livejournal.com), and Young Adventure Friends by Billis, a.k.a. Bela Whigimill.

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Is This A Comic? Closure and Synthesis (Part 3)

marvelouspatric 1 Comment

For the past couple of columns (part one and part two), we’ve been examining "closure and synthesis" — the third of my "four criteria" for a new definition of what is a comic.  Closure was defined as "the phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole" while synthesis is defined as "the process of the human mind to take the elements provided to them in a work and to create from the Continue Reading →

A Burgeoning Apparatus

MHPayne 1 Comment

In the eternal struggle between "story comics" and "gag comics," I tend to come down on the side of the long form.  Yes, a little chuckle is good, but I’d rather follow characters through an adventure, even if that adventure is just them trying to return a library book or attending a "meet the tenants" party in their apartment building.

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The Road Less Traveled: Selling the Book

Oddjobs 7 Comments

Most people, like me, are not very good at selling things.

But according to what I’ve learned, there’s really only one true thing about selling your book: You have to do it –  one on one, one at a time.

Unless you’re John Grisham, you’re not going to get a marketing budget, a promotional manager or personal assistant. You’ll have to do it all on your own.

First things first – you’ve got to track your money. Only you know how much it makes sense to spend on things like conventions or advertisements, but to know that you have to have hard data. That means get in the habit of saving your receipts and maybe even setting a budget. Purchase a financial program. But know how much you’re spending – you can use that knowledge to test what works and what doesn’t.

Here’s where you’ll spend that money:

Conventions

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