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

[Redtech]

Because there is nothing to promote if you have less than 20 pages, simple as that.

Woah, hold off the flames, I'm not on the menu! I was speaking in favour of the limit!

Anyhows, to get to the off-the-point chatter; really we need a larger community before we can truly start complaining about "noob-bashing!" as it is, the problem is that we may be too small and most of us are well established in what we do, rather than a broader range of experience levels.

[PLR]

OK, I need to concede something here... I've been reading alot more what people are posting around about their own comics.
I'm seeing a lot of:
"I started a web comic and lost interest..."
"I could only get three pages done..."
"I got bored with it..."
"I just to it to have something to do..."

The list goes on. Honestly I am surprised by the general lack of commitment. Thus some of my comments may have been 'hasty'...
To give you an idea of where I'm coming from. I mapped out my first year and have roughly 40 pages story boarded out, just need to complete the final artwork. I believe that this attitude is in minority among web comic people. Part of the problem is how easy it is to just throw something together, but that's another topic.

The fly by the seat of your pants type of thing I can understand getting very old for the people that have been on here for a while, and thus the restrictions on pitching. As well, the lack on interest in helping out new people who just show up...

So while I stand by most of my comments, I am very quickly understanding the perspective of the more senior people on here.

[RobboAKAscooby]

Words that everyone should read!

You are now my favorite Newbie*** <3


***Edit: though I see you've been here almost a year, I hadn't ever noticed you posting before. So any apologies, if the word Newbie offends.

Well I am relatively new to the forum, only been posting regularly since March-ish, I preferred to focus on just doing the darn comic.

[Komiyan]

Because there is nothing to promote if you have less than 20 pages, simple as that.

Woah, hold off the flames, I'm not on the menu! I was speaking in favour of the limit!

Anyhows, to get to the off-the-point chatter; really we need a larger community before we can truly start complaining about "noob-bashing!" as it is, the problem is that we may be too small and most of us are well established in what we do, rather than a broader range of experience levels.

That wasn't a flame

[K-Dawg]

OK, I need to concede something here... I've been reading alot more what people are posting around about their own comics.
I'm seeing a lot of:
"I started a web comic and lost interest..."
"I could only get three pages done..."
"I got bored with it..."
"I just to it to have something to do..."

The list goes on. Honestly I am surprised by the general lack of commitment. Thus some of my comments may have been 'hasty'...
To give you an idea of where I'm coming from. I mapped out my first year and have roughly 40 pages story boarded out, just need to complete the final artwork. I believe that this attitude is in minority among web comic people. Part of the problem is how easy it is to just throw something together, but that's another topic.

The fly by the seat of your pants type of thing I can understand getting very old for the people that have been on here for a while, and thus the restrictions on pitching. As well, the lack on interest in helping out new people who just show up...

So while I stand by most of my comments, I am very quickly understanding the perspective of the more senior people on here.

Let me tell you the story of another guy who decided to plan out his webcomic. He sat down and spent months planning out this glorious comic, he had over 10 chapters planned out, this comic would be epic, everyone would love it. He made sure to cover everything, this was going to be awesome...the comic ended after 16 updates. No one could tell me this person wasn't motivated and dedicated to their webcomic, they just honestly grew out of the idea.

All I'm saying is I can believe everyone is dedicated to their craft but in this medium we have seen so many who just give up quite early because they want fame or they realize soon afterwards their idea sucked.

I'm not trying to rain on you or anything, I actually do hope your comic does do well and you become extremely popular with it. Like you've realized we have dealt with these type of people before that's why you can see how we're pretty jaded about the whole thing at this point.

And would you like to know who this person was who had such a great planned out comic and failed?





It was ME! Long ago, now 10 years later and 4 comics later I am finally finding something I actually enjoy to draw.

[Komiyan]

It was ME!

Biggest twist ending since the Sixth Sense

But yeah Dawg's right, you never know these things are gonna turn out. Just go for it and have some fun

[Kirb]

KOMI STOP FLAMING

[VinnieD]

Waiting to have 20 pages up isn't all that bad. Chances are if you advertise or not, you're just plain not going to have any fans outside of people you already know within the first year. In fact, no matter how good your comic is, expect no one to read it until you've got a few years of archive. 20 pages is just enough for a reviewer to get a taste of where you're going. You won't get any fans with 20 pages unless you're already established from another long running comic.

If it's really so bad, you can do what I did and prepare more than 20 pages before launch. In my case I uploaded them to update gradually in order to give myself time to work on future pages, but you could in theory backlog them and launch on the 20th page thus having a built in archive. It's not like anyone will miss anything since they can go back in the archive and no one will likely find your comic before you have 20 pages up anyway. Though even the most niche of comics can have a loyal following if the artist has enough dedication. No matter what it is, there is someone out there who will like it, and in time they'll find you if you stick to it.

There is also the effect of archive binge and withdrawal. When someone gets hooked enough to binge your entire archive, by the time it's over they'll want their regular fix. Though there is a point at which an archive creates archive panic such as the first time someone sees the archive of Sluggy Freelance. "This comic is ten years old....and it's a daily." If you watch someone closely when introducing them to an archive like that you can actually see the moment they lose the will to live.

[CJBurgandy]

Let me tell you the story of another guy who decided to plan out his webcomic. He sat down and spent months planning out this glorious comic, he had over 10 chapters planned out, this comic would be epic, everyone would love it. He made sure to cover everything, this was going to be awesome...the comic ended after 16 updates. No one could tell me this person wasn't motivated and dedicated to their webcomic, they just honestly grew out of the idea.

Stop ragging me about Action Po-

It was ME! Long ago, now 10 years later and 4 comics later I am finally finding something I actually enjoy to draw.

-rn..... oh, you're talking about your comic...

Sorry, Carry on.

[Mango]

I don't think I ever did pimp my comic... not here at least. Huh. Completely slipped my mind...

[Killbert-Robby]

I've found in my experience a lot of people who complain about not being able to advertise their comic right now usually end up quitting said comics pretty early. Usually because they don't have dedication, kinda ironic.

Maybe part of that is not getting feedback or much interest. It's a possibility anyways...

Maybe its because people who comic for themselves end up being more satisfied than people who comic because they're garnering for the acceptance and praise of others...

[TheDeeMan]

To answer your question. I wouldn't ask for a review of my comic until I had 20-30 pages to show of it. But pimping? Hell, from page one.

Infact, my partner and I started "pimping" our upcoming comic "The Continentals" with a behind the scenes comic called "Making The Continentals" back in january--And The Continentals doesn't actually come out until august!

And "Making The Continentals" has gotten it's own following since we started it in january, with one site even linking to it. Which is exciting to my partner and I, because if the "making of" comic interests folks the ACTUAL comic really should grab them.

Look. There are a buh-zillion and one webcomics out there right now and even more being planned and whatever you do to get yours noticed, hell, I say more power to you. Pimpin' ain't easy. So pimp what you got like it was a Times Square 'ho with a quota to fill. Because if you don't, more likely then not folks will go elsewhere and read something else.

My 2 cents and about all it's worth.

Dee

[Bobadventures]

Yeah, I actually didn't do it until my comic ("The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob!" You should go read it now!!!) had been up for over two years. I'm not recommending everybody wait that long, but that's when I did it.

[McDuffies]

It was ME!

Biggest twist ending since the Sixth Sense

But yeah Dawg's right, you never know these things are gonna turn out. Just go for it and have some fun

Comics sure look easy enough to begin with, like a nice and easy hobby that doesn't ask for much commitment. That may be the reason why lots of kids start it. But then something else, like the new game or woodcarving lessons, draws your attention from it and there you go. I think it takes special kind of attachment to the medium to stick to it.

"This comic is ten years old....and it's a daily."

But don't worry, 1/3 of it is filler.

[Cope]

"This comic is ten years old....and it's a daily."

But don't worry, 1/3 of it is filler.

That sounds like a perfect reason to worry!

[BionicDance]

Well, heck, I certainly WANT to pimp my comic now...and I have enough pages to do so technically.

But of the 35 pages I've made, my release schedule has only dumped out four; this is on purpose, because I'm leaving myself a nice buffer zone in case I reach a difficult point--be it writer's block or artist's block or some sort of technological snafu--so it'll be, like, a good month or two (okay, five weeks for the bare minimum of 20 on my Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday release schedule) before I can reasonably pimp my comic...

...but you know how it is when you're excited about something, neh? You wanna find someone--anyone--as excited about it as you, yanno?
And patience isn't exactly one of my virtues.

Ah, well.

[Corgan_dane]

I waited until it had stopped making me money as a high-class legitimate escort.





Okay, so seriously, I don't remember. I don't know that I ever really pimped my comic a lot (or will in the future). I just participated in Keenspace (and then Comicgen) community jams and such, and people started reading. Sure, I had up voting site buttons, but only because the cool kids had some.

I could be wrong. Maybe I whored out my comic early. Don't remember.