You are viewing [info]bardsworth's journal

Bardic Musings [entries|archive|friends|userinfo]
bardsworth

[ website | Bardsworth ]
[ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ]
[ archive | journal archive ]

Links
[Links:| Bardsworth My Personal LiveJournal deviantART Page ]

Not Totally Dead [Apr. 7th, 2010|12:40 pm]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Mood |busybusy]
[Current Music |Daft Punk]

Just wanted to say to you guys that Bardic Musings isn't totally dead. My goal is turn Bardic Musings into a WordPress blog integrated with the Bardsworth site. However, part of the project will be to transfer the older Bardic Musings posts over to WordPress, so creating MORE to have to transfer over is rather ridiculous.

So bear with me as the blog takes a bit of a break before evolving into the next phase.

Thanks for your patience.
Link2 comments|Leave a comment

The Process: Part 5c - The Characters Page [Feb. 17th, 2010|11:11 am]
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Mood |awakeawake]
[Current Music |Nightwish]

Characters - unless you're doing a random gag-a-day or experimental strip, you can't survive without them. They are the ones driving the story and telling the jokes. And they deserve a little page to call their own.

Why? Well, for a couple of reasons. When deciding whether or not a webcomic is worth his or her time, a reader might want to a brief overview of who is involved within the story (which they already read about on the about page). Or perhaps a reader had to take time away from reading the comic and needs to be reminded who's who. Or maybe you have such a large cast of characters or switch back and forth between different sets of characters for such long periods of time that it helps to review the character page to remember who's who.

Character pages should be simple - a visual of the character and a very brief bio. If you want to get a bit more stylistic than that, go for it, but make sure that it fits with overall theme of your comic. For example, you can give blood type and DNA imaging showing up on a computer screen if you're doing a sci-fi comic. But details like that won't make sense if you're just doing a comic about college kids. Conversely, if you are doing a comic about college kids, you could list the courses each one is taking.

Personally, as a reader I don't care about the details that don't make a difference, and as a webcomic creator I like to keep things simple. I'm happy with a headshot and a brief bio. I also put a disclaimer at the top of the page warning of possible spoilers. It's best to warn people.

That's really all you need for a character page. Nice and easy, right?
LinkLeave a comment

Drawing Conclusions [Feb. 12th, 2010|04:05 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Music |Sasha]

After some... "interaction" with a reader today in my shoutbox, I felt the need to post this. When I write about my characters, their actions, their reactions, the things they do, and the things they say, these are all drawn from my personal experiences and experiences that I know other people have had. They are exaggerated, for the sake of the story and for the sake of comedy, but they have a basis in reality.

In the current story, when Crystal set up the dance between Mike and Professor Merrit, it was mischievous fun on her part. Sure, there was a twinge of jealousy, but it wasn't "I'm going to kill you!" jealousy. I thought that given her history of teasing Mike and being related to Danyel that it would be clear that there was no harm intended. Because, really, what's the worst that Mike will suffer? A bit of embarrassment? But at the same time getting to dance with a hot teacher?

Anything that is interpreted character-wise beyond what I've stated here is purely in the mind of the interpretor. Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content recently apologized for conclusions being drawn in one of his strips that were not intended. He believes that because people did not get what he meant that it was his fault. While on one had I admire Jacques for apologizing, a larger part of me can't help but think that it wasn't his fault, but the fault of the readers who read too much into what was being presented. I believe he did a fine job of telling the story, and the people who took offense to it are the sort of people who will be offended by something down the road anyway.

I will not apologize for wrong conclusions drawn in regards to my content. I am confident enough in my story-telling skills to know that everything is there for you to draw the RIGHT conclusions; you just might have think about it for a bit and not take things at face value.

And on a side note, if you want to debate aspects of my comic with me, for crying out loud, don't use my shoutbox to do it. Use the forum. You can be more articulate in there than you can in a shoutbox. Or, if you don't want it to be public, email me.
LinkLeave a comment

The Process: Part 5b - The About Page [Feb. 10th, 2010|10:06 am]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood |happyhappy]

I don't know about you, but when I visit a webcomic for the first time, this is my order of actions: Read the current comic, read the newspost, click back a few comics to get a feel for it, and then click on the about page. If there's no about page, it's almost a guarantee that I won't be on that site for long and that I probably won't be coming back.

Why? What's so important about an about page?

For me, it boils down to this - we are curious beings. We want to know as much about something as we can before we dive into it. I don't buy a book based on the cover; I read the description on the back before deciding. So by putting information about the comic and about yourself in view of a potential reader, we can satiate that curiosity and hook them in easier.

I'm sure a good number of you will probably disagree with me and say, "If the comic is good, I would keep coming back." And that's fine. That may even be a shared sentiment among the majority of webcomic readers. But if you make sure you have an about page, you can grab the attention of the minority as well as the majority, increasing your readership. Isn't that worth the extra effort?

So what is the about page? There really isn't any set rule for what goes on there. I've seen pages with short blurbs about the comic and pages with an arist's entire life story. In some cases I've seen FAQs, although unless people are actually asking these questions, don't bother to put one up.

Once again, I'll use my site as an example. Here's what I have on my about page:

1.) About the Comic. This is a brief paragraph giving the pitch for the comic. Don't give away too many details! Your new reader will discover those details as he or she reads. Just give enough to entice them into reading your story. I've also included the technical aspects of creating the comic (which I now realize I need to update, having made the switch to 100% digital). A common question that does surface is "How do you make your comic?" and so I figured I'd get this one out in the open.

2.) About the Artist. You'll hear me say this over and over again, but one of your jobs as a webcomic artist is to make yourself more than a name on the website. You don't have to give out every detail about yourself, but a brief "This is who I am" will give your new readers a sense of who's behind the comic. Creating that personal connection helps in maintaining reader retention.

3.) A Manifesto. This is an idea that I borrowed from Kel of Sorcery 101, who has a "Promise to the Reader" on her site. I really liked the idea of telling the readers what my intentions are, as it not only gives them a sense of what my purposes and goals are, but it keeps myself in check. It's completely optional, and I've not really seen it done any any other sites, but feel free to add one to your own about page.

Like I said, if it's warranted, you can add an FAQ. You can add pictures (I plan on having my photo up there someday). You can do the page in an interview style. There are number of things that you can do with your about page to make it fun as well as informative. And if you can work in a style that reflects the theme of your webcomic, even better.

Whatever you do, though, leave the character descriptions out of the about page (except for brief teasers in the "About the Comic" section if you'd like). We'll be discussing the character page next time.
LinkLeave a comment

The Process: Part 5a - The Main Page [Jan. 27th, 2010|11:13 am]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood |sleepysleepy]
[Current Music |Big Wreck]

Let's pretend that you show up to a fancy dinner party at someone's house. You're wearing ratty jeans, a faded t-shirt, and old sneakers. People take a look at you and then look away, finding someone else to talk to.

What's the lesson we learn? Well, there are several. One, first impressions are very important. Two, aesthetics count for something. And three, for crying out loud, get a new pair of sneakers.

Okay, you can disregard that last lesson, but the other two carry over into what we'll be talking about today, and that's your webcomic's main page, also known as your home page or your index page.

( Cut for length )

It's a lot of stuff, but as I said before, this is your most important page. You want to provide your product (the comic), easy-to-use navigation (your buttons), a chance to make some money (donation button, ads), and interactivity with your community (social networking links, shoutboxes/comment fields). Put more effort into your main page than you do any other page.
Link1 comment|Leave a comment

The Process: Part 5 - The Website Overview [Jan. 20th, 2010|04:18 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood |happyhappy]
[Current Music |Arcade Fire]

We're into the nitty-gritty of webcomic creation, now! You've got your first X-number of strips, you've got a place to host them, and now you need a way to display them. Easy enough, right? Well, it would be if displaying them was the only thing you needed to worry about.

If you take a tour of most webcomic sites, you'll notice quite a few similarities. You've got your main page where the comic is displayed, certainly, but what are all those other pages? Typically, you have an about page, a character page, a store page, and a links page. Ocassionally you'll see someone with an archive page or a gallery page to put up miscellaneous artwork.

That's a bit overwhelming if you're new to the game, but each one is important. For this post I'm just going to briefly go over each one, and then I'll do a series of posts breaking down each page further. So let's start at the first page your potential reader will land on...

1.) Your Home Page. Easily the most important page on the site for obvious reasons. And because it's your most important page, you want to A.) make sure all your important information is on there, and B.) make it look pleasing to the eye. By "important information" I mean that in addition to your comic and a news post, you want to make sure that contact info is provided, social networking links are available, and links to your pages are easily findable. Making it pleasing to look at is a matter of playing with your layout and graphics. There is a typical layout that I'll go into further in the next article, but if you wander about and look at other webcomics, you'll get the general idea.

2.) The About Page. This one tends to get overlooked sometimes, but I personally feel that it is an important page to have. Typically, this is used for giving a brief summary of what the comic is and/or some information about yourself. Sometimes, if an artist gets enough questions to warrant one, you'll see an FAQ up. Don't bother to post one unless people ask the questions, though; if they aren't asking, they don't care.

3.) The Characters Page. Less important if you do a gag-a-day strip or one-off strips, but very important if you do a story-heavy strip. The characters page is a good place for beginning readers to get a feel for what kinds of characters populate your strip. It also helps people remember who's who if they come back after being away for a while. And if you have a lot of characters, it certainly helps a reader keep them all straight.

4.) A Store Page. You wanna make some money off of your comic, don't you? Then a store page is a must. However, that being said, you won't make many sales - if any at all - your first six months to a year doing the comic. So don't be one of those people that opens up a CafePress store in their first couple of months and expects to see a bit of money trickling in. Spend that extra effort on maintaining and improving your comic. Worry about the store later.

5.) A Links Page. Certainly not necessary, and some comics just list a handful of links on their main page. However, lots of us artists are also webcomic readers, and as such we like to share our reads with other people. Not to mention that a links page can also be a place for your links. See, sometimes someone who likes you will want to link you, and providing a small button or banner makes it easy for them.

6.) An Archive Page. Depending on whether or not you use a CMS (content management system) and which CMS you may be using, an archive page may be handy to have. While I don't have much experience with ComicPress (a plugin for WordPress), I believe that it archives pages by way of a small calendar of links. If you are designing your site from scratch, though, it would behoove you to set aside (and update) a page with links to each of your strips, or at least to the beginning a certain storyline, so that people can access your archives in a user-friendly manner.

7.) A Gallery Page. We're artists. We like showing off. So why not create a page to show off some of your artwork, either comic-related or not? It's not necessary in the least, but some readers like to see what else you can do. Plus, it's a good place to put downloads like free wallpapers and avatars.

As you can see, it's a lot of work to put together a webcomics site. What you need to do is determine is what is important to you to have on it and how you want it put together. In the next post, I will give you a typical breakdown of a home page. Stay tuned!
LinkLeave a comment

Ask the Author - Conventions [Jan. 19th, 2010|02:25 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood |busybusy]

Been a while since I did an Ask the Author post, and this one was asked a while ago, so I apologize for the delay. It's a multipart question by shoutbox regular Cuerva, who asked:

"What was your first Comic-Con? Did you go as a visitor or a seller/panelist/whatever? What is your favourite Comic-Con? Is the San Diego Comic-Con worth spending several hundred dollars in plane fare/gas money? Have you ever had a really profitable Con?"

I'll handle this one in pieces.

"What was your first Comic-Con? Did you go as a visitor or a seller/panelist/whatever?"

My first con experience was actually as an artist, which, looking back on it, was probably a bad idea. I should have attended a few cons as an attendee first to get a feel for them, but I digress. I was an artist at Sacanime, a small 2-times-a-year convention in Sacramento, CA. It was still a pretty good experience for a first-timer like myself, though.

My first experience as an attendee was actually not too long after my first Sacanime experience, and it was at the San Diego Comic Con. I'll expand upon that later.

"What is your favourite Comic-Con?"

Hands down, it would be ConnectiCon in Hartford, CT. I've gone the past two years as an artist, and it's a fantastic experience. It has the energy of San Diego Comic Con without being as huge and overwhelming. It's also one of the few cons that isn't category specific, meaning it's not solely an anime con or a comic con or whatever. It's a pop-culture con, so it has everything. Going to ConnectiCon has become the highlight of my year.

"Is the San Diego Comic-Con worth spending several hundred dollars in plane fare/gas money?"

I was lucky in that I was only a couple of hours away from San Diego for a while, so factor that into my answer if you will. My answer is a "Yes... but..." answer. Yes, I think it's worth the money to go, but only once.

I went three times. My first time was my first time as a con attendee ever, and it was amazing. I had never been to something that big and overwhelming. There were countless artists and writers, celebrities and emerging talents, events and panels, and without being there all four days I'd never get to see it all (every time I went it was on Saturday only). I walked out of my first Comic-Con experience feeling that way, that I didn't see everything and that I'd need to come back the next year. So I did, and I still had fun, but I realized it was kind of the same thing as the year before, even though I was seeing new stuff. The third year that I went I took Katie because she hadn't gone in previous years, and I realized that after that I was done going. I didn't start to not like it, but it started to not be worth the money to go anymore. Everyone should go at least once to experience it, but beyond that I don't personally see it as something I would need to do every single year.

Now, if I went back as an exhibitor, that'd be different, but I don't see that happening in the near future (or, indeed, ever).

"Have you ever had a really profitable Con?"

No. The closest I came was last year's ConnectiCon, where I pretty much broke even on most of my expenses. But I've never walked away with a surplus of money. And that's okay, because each time I learn a little something more that helps me the next time around. Not to mention that if a con is not profitable in the financial area, but profitable in other areas like networking, meeting new people, and having fun, then I consider it a successful con.

I hope that answers all the questions! Until next time - ask me anything!
LinkLeave a comment

My Thoughts on Webcomics.com [Jan. 5th, 2010|12:36 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Mood |cynicalcynical]

As usually happens once every six months or so in the webcomics community, a rather large storm has gathered and begun to rain onto the community. This time, however, it is from someone from whom it be least expected - Mr. Brad Guigar. Brad has been the sole contributor to Webcomics.com, a repository for information on creating and maintaining a webcomic, as well as a gathering place for creators both aspiring and veteran. Webcomics.com was born from the ashes of the Halfpixel site, which at one time included not only Brad, but Scott Kurtz (who occasionally piped up on Webcomics.com), Kris Straub, and Dave Kellett.

I was a frequent visitor to the Halfpixel forums, and when it shut down I spent some time away from the site. When I finally went back, it redirected me to Webcomics.com, and I began to visit that daily. It was nice to see new information, as well as reinforcing what I already knew. It became a regular read for me, a part of my long list of places to stop during the day.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday, when I visited, I was greeted with a message that said Webcomics.com was now requiring a $30/year subscription to access their content. At first I thought it was a joke, I really did. This was happening in the wake of the Keenspot debacle, something that happened very suddenly and out of the blue, just like this was. It was also happening in the midst of yet another war between web and print artists, and part of the war has always been about the success of pay sites. So I clicked on the "Join Now" button, fully expecting a Guigar-esque punch line of some sort. Imagine my surprise when I was taken to a PayPal site ready to deduct $30 from my account.

Imagine further the firestorm that erupted from the community.

If you're familiar with the philosophy of the Halfpixel guys, I'm sure you can figure out what the first comments were - cries of hypocrisy. The Halfpixel crew have long been arbitors of free content and abhorers of subscribtion-based business models. However, Brad was quick to justify the difference; Webcomics.com wouldn't be providing entertainment, but business advice. To this I could only shrug my shoulders. I don't necessarily agree with the attempt at the justification, as it seems the progression was "Against it, against it, against it, BUT WAIT THIS IS DIFFERENT WE'RE FOR IT NOW", but it's their business and their call. However, my disdain at the switch - and many others agree - is how the whole thing was handled.

First of all, they dropped it on us like a 16-ton weight in a Monty Python sketch. Boom, the fun is over, start paying. There was no warning. Brad made a comment that even if he had given warning, people would have still complained, and that he thought it would be better to do it like ripping a Band-Aid off. Very few people (if any) have agreed on this, and my personal opinion is that the shock to our systems was worse than slowly lowering us into the icy cold water. At least then we could have had time to warm up to the idea, and more to the point, Brad could have sold us on it better. He's a good salesman; I know, I've seen him at work at conventions. I don't understand why he would throw away that chance, since he's essentially throwing away $30 per person that gets pissed and storms off.

Secondly, there is no preview of what will be given* or any terms of service. On the front page is a laundry list of things that we'll see if we give up that $30. And after a recent couple of posts from Brad concerning "promised services" and a lack of terms of services on a site called Zingerding (a post which I cannot link to because it is now behind a subscription wall), this glaring lack of either seems hypocritical at best and a poor business move at worst. What happens if someone isn't happy with the site? Or if the site has to stop updating? Will refunds be given or is it caveat emptor? We don't know, and that's a scary thing at $30 a pop.

Third, the lack of response from Brad is a bit unsettling. He showed up a few times in the beginning, but has not shown up to address any of the problems cited. Scott has piped up a few times, unsurprisingly, but really hasn't done much either (except for one major declaration, which I will get to in a moment). I myself have been waiting for a reply to a fairly important question, and one that has been echoed by a few others. The question is in regards to the value of this investment to those of us who do long form comics, as the Halfpixel crew has long contended that short form comics fare better as money-makers. I think this is an important bit of information for a good number of artists out there.

Today, as I was reading the comments that cropped up yesterday evening and early this morning, I run across a post by Scott that has me scratching my head even harder. From the horse's mouth:

"While I would never EVER put content behind a pay wall, nor would I advise anyone at this point in time to put their content behind a pay wall, this is NOT what Webcomics.com is doing.

We’re essentially offering a paid correspondence course in webcomics. With “lectures” and interaction with myself, Brad Guigar and Robert Khoo."


What concerns me is that this is not immediately apparent in the description on the front page of what you'll get for $30. Why would they not make that clear in the first place? It seems as if - and I'm not accusing, just inferring from what I've seen - Scott is merely justifying his position in a moment of defense. The backlash has been strong and he needs to salvage the situation. Again, whether or not that's what's happening, I don't know, but that's the way it looks. And what exactly is Scott's definition of "content"? Aren't articles considered content? If you're putting articles behind a subscription wall, you are putting content behind a subscription wall.

One thing does tempt me and many others to throw in our $30 - Robert Khoo. If you aren't familiar with that name, he is basically the force that made Penny Arcade the money machine that it is today. Khoo is known for his amazing business sense and is very widely respected in the webcomics community, as well as outside of it. However, the "laundry list" states that it will only have monthly posts from Khoo. Do I dare put my faith into him if I'm only getting advice from him every 30 days or so? I honestly don't know, and at that point the $30 becomes less of an investment and more of a gamble. I'm not good at poker, blackjack, or even slots, so why would I gamble on this?

And in case you think I'm just a nobody with an opinion that doesn't matter, allow me to point out that several legitimate figures in the community have already expressed their doubts that this switchover will be successful.

The bottom line is that this is a legitimate venture handled in a poor manner. Regardless of what I say or the scores of scorned Webcomics.com usuals that have walked away in anger, there are already people signing up. These are the people that really feel they need this advice and/or the people who so look up Brad and Scott that they can't tear their gaze away from them. I respect the two (albeit less so after this debacle), but I gave up my fanboy badge a while ago. They aren't gods. I have no doubt that they can help people, because they are two of bigger successes in the community, but they aren't sacred to me because of that.

I sincerely wish them good luck on their venture, and I wish good luck to the people jumping on board with them. Knowing my luck, these are the artists whose businesses will probably surpass my own webcomic business and become bigger successes than me because of this. And good on them. I'm a stubborn son-of-a-gun who needs a kick in the butt now and again. But this whole thing feels wrong to me, and I'll be steering clear of it for now.


*As of today (1/5/10) there is a "stub" for a blog post, showing that we will regularly get a very small taste of what's behind the wall. However, the question remains: will this be enough info to base a $30 decision on?
Link4 comments|Leave a comment

Resolutions [Dec. 29th, 2009|11:30 am]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Mood |determineddetermined]
[Current Music |Edenbridge]

Inspired by a post over at Webcomics.com, I thought I'd list some Bardsworth-related New Year's resolutions. I decided to put them here rather than participate at Webcomics.com because, to be honest, I would rather you, my readers, witness these resolutions, since you are the ones being affected. So here we go!

1.) Get back to a Monday/Wednesday/Friday update. This is the most important resolution to me, and the one that I will be trying the hardest to achieve. If you've only just joined the ranks of my readers this past year, you probably don't know this, but Bardsworth was once on a three-day-a-week update schedule. However, last year I had a lot of life changes that took up much of my time (including a daily round-trip commute of almost 2 hours), and so in order to keep the comic going I switched to a two-day schedule. I haven't been able to catch up since then. I made the recent switch to all digital in hopes that it would help me get back on track, but I made the switch right when I got hit with a time-sensitive commission, and then the holidays came and made it further impossible.

So, blah blah blah, fast forward to the new year. 2010 is the year I get back on track. I will work hard and sacrifice what I need to in order to start making Monday/Wednesday/Friday deadlines. I owe to the long-time readers as well as the newer ones, as well as to myself.

2.) No more colorless updates. This kind of goes hand-in-hand with my struggle in getting back to a three-day update schedule. I will be working towards building up a buffer of comics so that I shouldn't have to do colorless updates, or late updates, or skipped updates, or - God forbid - a hiatus. I'm so sick of having to do that to you folks, and I will be trying hard to get to the point where I won't have to. Again, I will make necessary sacrifices to do this.

3.) Increase my readership. This one doesn't really affect you folks so much as it does me. My readership numbers - after a small decline after my forced hiatus this summer - has stagnated, and I really want to draw in new readers. I haven't been very good about advertising, mostly because all of my ads are old and outdated, and I haven't had the time to put new ones together. But one of my goals is to create a batch of new ads and to start promoting myself a lot more.

4.) Finish the second book. This is the long shot in the list. I really want to finish up my file for the second book. Whether or not I'll still have to do the e-Book route when I finish is yet to be determined, but I want the book to be released in some form before the end of the year. If I can accomplish the first three items on this list, then I will work hard at this one.

-----

Can I do all this? Yes. Is it going to be easy? No. But I know you guys will give me support because you're awesome. So here's to the new year!
Link3 comments|Leave a comment

The Process: Part 4 - Giving Your Comic a Home [Dec. 9th, 2009|12:49 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood |calmcalm]

It's time to make that comic of yours a "webcomic". How do we do that? Simple - by putting it on the web! Well, okay, it's not so simple if you don't quite know what you're doing. So let's rectify that.

If you've never ventured into web design/coding territory, it can be a little daunting. And I'm not going to go in-depth on any of this stuff, because A.) that's a whole different series of articles, and B.) I don't want to scare you folks away. But I can nudge you in the right direction.

The first thing you need to do is to have a place to put your comic. There are several options available for this, and each has it's pros and cons. The pros and cons I list are my opinion only; you may feel differently, and that's totally understandable. So let's take a look at our options, shall we?

Free Webcomic Hosting Sites
These are the friends to the young and thrifty webcomics just starting out. These fine websites are dedicated to hosting webcomics free of charge. Some of these sites include Comic Genesis, DrunkDuck, Smack Jeeves, and Comic Fury.

PROS: It's free! Beyond that, most of these services come with easy-to-use content management systems (or CMS) for posting and archiving your comics. Not to mention that the networking factor is a big plus; being hosted on one of these sites automatically puts you in the midst of a pre-built community. I also believe, unless I'm mistaken, that some of these sites also provide templates and/or easy-to-use website builders for non-code-monkeys.

CONS: From what I can tell, you don't have complete control over your site design. That may not matter to some people, but I'm a complete control freak (as I have mentioned before), and I like to have 100% control over where things are on my site. In addition, that "free" hosting is not without it's price; these services will place ads on your sites in order to bring in revenue for them.

If you don't mind the ads and not having 100% control of the design, these are wonderful places to start your webcomics.

Paid Hosting Sites
These are the traditional hosting sites. You're charged for the space you have and whatever other fees may be incurred. A couple of typical hosts that webcomic creators use are 1&1 (the host that I use) and Dreamhost.

PROS: You have complete control over your website. Most hosting companies also provide website builders/templates, free software and scripts, email accounts, and databases (which are required to use things like forum software or WordPress blogs). Most of the time the packages will include a domain name as well (for example, www.yourdomainname.com).

CONS: It's gonna cost you. You can get really cheap hosting, but remember that you usually get what you pay for. Make sure to do a little bit of research on the companies first. Also, since you do have complete control over the site, it makes it almost mandatory to have a very strong knowledge of web coding (and database knowledge helps a lot, too).

Basically it comes down to your pocketbook and preferences. Do you want to pay and have total control, or free space and less control?

Alternative Sites
I've seen other alternatives over the years, too. I've seen people use Blogger or LiveJournal to post comics, as well as deviantART. I guess you could even use something like Flickr to post your comics. All of these sites are free, but keep in mind that none of them were built to specifically support webcomics. Not to mention the control you have over them is very limited, which hurts you when you are trying to brand yourself. I wouldn't suggest these sites, but they are there as alternatives if you need them.

Once you've chosen where to put your stuff, it's time to start designing your site! But that particular article is a biggie, so we'll stop here for now and continue on later.
Link2 comments|Leave a comment

navigation
[ viewing | most recent entries ]
[ go | earlier ]