How long did you wait to "pimp" your comic?

[RobboAKAscooby]

I've been looking through the depths of this (and other) forums and am surprised by the amount of people who can't wait to advertise their comic before they've barely started and expect massive feedback on three comics (usually including at least one filler). I know here there is a minimum of 20 comics before pitching, however people like to try and sneak it in under the guise of critique/review/help requests.

I personally waited about 50-60 comics before trying any advertising outside of my circle of friends and about 180 before posting on this forum (even more before asking for crits/reviews).
I was just wondering if anyone else waited a while before "pimping" or if you rushed straight into the "look at me I got a comic"?

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

I have yet to pimp mine, unless the little button over there counts, because right now I have... seven strips up in total, I think? Which is something I have not regretted, as I'm still pretty disappointed with my production quality in general, and even if people were to give me advice at this stage it wouldn't do much since there's so much I want to improve on already, and in some ways things I've already improved but which won't be seen in the strip until... shoot, June or so?

That being said, you certainly waited a very long time for yours! You really waited 180 strips, or was that a typo and you just meant to say 80?

I think the people who jump all over showing off their stuff just aren't thinking realistically, nothing more than that really. It's those things that seem obvious but many people don't take into consideration- for instance, most people won't see your comic the very first day you put it up unless you notified them beforehand. You have to wait a while before you have enough product for people to actually judge whether they like your comic enough to want to keep coming back to it (at least in most cases, pretty much in all cases where it's someone's first stab at this particular medium). And you have to wait a realllly long time before you have regulars, let a lone fans.

But some people like to skip past the whole beginning, hard work, waiting around, yadda yadda part and just have a steady fanbase right away In some cases I guess it's a result of being so attached to your own work that you don't comprehend that for the most part people aren't going to see it and right away say OLORD THIS IS TEH BEST THING I'VE EVAR SEEN, BOOKMARK BOOKMARK BUY MERCHANDISE GET TATTOO OF EVERY CHARACTER.

I just realized that by posting this it makes me look like I'm trying to pull a sneaky one to pimp my webcomic... but it's not!! Ahh the seeming hypocrisy!! How do I escape the vortex???


Perhaps I ought to just stop this post.

Though the thought of someone getting tattoos of all eight of my characters makes me cringe for that person's skin and probably their mental health.

[NinjaNezumi]

Well... my comic isn't really the main focus of my website. It's more about the encompassing world of Panada. This includes stories and games and all sorts of stuff.

Yes, I realize my comic is only up to 5 pages, but it also has a 17,000 word short story, and (as of today) a 664 entry/790 web page choose your own adventure ( http://thelibrary.ninjanezumi.com/journeytotokushi ).

I'm also updating my comicgenesis site this weekend with Andrew Colon Space Custodian and another mirror page of pandaking (which is going to be once a month update so I have time to sell my board game and try to self publish and all the other headaches).

So on one end, yes, I'm low on actual webcomic content, but on the other end, I'm very high on a variety of actual webcontent.

Of course if someone wants to be an artist for me, using their own googleads ads and their own paypal donation button for compensation, I'll be happy to give them my completed pandaking script. The art aspect is the big hurdle for me. I would however have to retain copyright.

[McDuffies]

Hm, I guess it depends on a comic, how large one update is and how fast the comic is pacing. One should wait until he has enough to show not only in art but also in writing, until a reader can get some kind of impression of what the comic is like, what genre, whether writing is any good, etc. If the comic is divided into chapters or storylines, then waiting for at least one chapter/storyline to finish is a good idea, and if not, good idea is to introduce main ideas and characters and let the story roll a bit.
I think that smart move is to wait until you have in your archive something that you're particularly proud. Say, if you think that the joke in your 20th comic is the greatest thing you ever wrote, does advertising before it's out put the comic is best light possible?

Well, anyone who's impatient to start promoting, can start by uploading 20 comics at once.

[Cartoonme]

I don't remember how far in I was before I asked for feedback on my comic but I believe it was far past 20. It's hard to get a grasp on a comic's development without a good archive to go through. I've been working on my comic for over 6 years now and I'm still not too pushy on advertising and "pimping" of my comic.

[Pimpette]

What Duffies said - it's always best to wait until your comic's archive is big enough for people to get at least a general idea of what it's about, before you run amok shouting it to the treetops.

I'm not sure how long I waited to pimp mine. I might have waited until its first-year anniversary, but I can't be sure and am too lazy to search old Comic Pitching threads. I wasn't really excited about P&A at first - it was funny to me and I was pretty sure it wouldn't be funny to other people when it started, due to far too many inside jokes. Now of course I just like whoring it out even though the archive is terrible.

[RobboAKAscooby]

What Duffies said - it's always best to wait until your comic's archive is big enough for people to get at least a general idea of what it's about, before you run amok shouting it to the treetops.[/img]

That is obviously my general opinion too.
I certainly wouldn't have been proud of my original first 20 (or first 70 for that matter which led to a massive redraw) and I've had my other creative work (short films/acting/CGI video art) on display before sizeable audiences before so I'm not without some confidence (although I still get nervous every time), and yet I see a lot of utter dreck out there being pimped as if it was the "BEST EVAR!!!!". Oh well at least they've got confidence I guess.

[Redtech]

One year exactly! (~strip 100) To be honest, the first year's stuff is pretty painful to re-read. Actually, I'm considering adding a disclaimer like SSDD has for its archive, if only because I am NOT ashamed of my old work, and there is something of value added by keeping it, but it is not quite honest to judge future work by the past.

[TheSuburbanLetdown]

I don't even remember anymore. I think like a month when I had one story under my belt.

[Necrospawn0]

i promised myself that i would wait until at least 50 comics... right now im at 44, and will finish chapter 1 next week...

after reading this thread, im thinking of pushing it back farther, like 75 or 100... get a better feel for the characters etc

but then, part of me is itching for feedback, cuz my 15 or so readers arent giving me any

[RobertBlake]

I think I was about a month into my comic (20-25 comics by my schedule) before I advertised it.

[MoonFreight3]

I waited about a month to tell my friends and started spreading the word elsewhere by the time I passed strip 30.

[Tarts]

I started advertising my stupid comic about... a year before I actually went around to starting it.

[RobboAKAscooby]

I started advertising my stupid comic about... a year before I actually went around to starting it.

Heh heh heh, that's the kind of thing I was waiting to hear.
Did you do a year of filler or put up a coming soon page?

[Tarts]

Nah, I just told my friends... "I'll do the comic when I have time."
...for about a year or so. Then I saw CG.

[Evil Jamie!]

I think when I had 84 comics I did a couple of adds.

[MSPcomix]

I have no intention of "pimping"/promoting my comic. It's my opinion that, if my work is for a certain reader, they will be able to find it without my help.

[Siabur]

I had 30 strips up and running, which is a month. I waited that long in order to get used to updating daily. Now around 4 pm I get itchy if I don't get an update on time. I don't actively promote either. Not willing to pay for ads, I hate advertising in general. I do put up a sigbanner in the forums. And signed up for the various top sites that's it.

[Bustertheclown]

I'm too damned lazy to promote my comics. Hell, I'm too damned lazy to upload my comics. I suck at this.

[Kirb]

I have never pimped my comic, which is probably unwise in the long run.