Webcomics: the Future of Print vs Web

[Xaq]

So, I dunno how many of our fans here are into the whole "webcomics community", but I've been absolutely fascinated to follow a multi-location web debate that's going on right now about the future of Print and Web comics (thinking strip-type rather than comic-book-type comics) and how comics in general can in any way remain a profitable business in the years to come. It all started from a panel discussion involving R Stevens of Diesel Sweeties (Link) and Ted Rall of the Universal Press Syndicate (Link). This resulted in the creation of a thread of over 80 comments over on Fleen (Link), which in turn led to a thread of over 200 comments on the Daily Cartoonist (Link), and finally to a recorded conference-call which was broadcast on the Webcomics Weekly Podcast (Link, click on episode 29 - Print vs. Web).

Has anyone else here been following all of this? It's fascinating stuff, and it really does make one wonder how to go about monetizing a comic like Weregeek. Alina has been planning her first book release (the first 100 strips plus some new content) as well as more T-shirt designs and other merchandise, but we really have no idea what our fanbase would be interested in buying. Would people buy original art from the strip? Would they buy signed prints? Books? Shirts? Toys? We have no idea... we're only just starting to offer some of these things, and there hasn't been much response so far. Turning a comic from a hobby into a business is not an easy thing to do.

So I'm curious... what are your thoughts on the future of comics on the web? Will cartoonists abandon the dying newspapers, only to find that earning a living on the web is no easier/more plausible? Or will webcomics become more lucrative as the industry grows?

[Narf the Mouse]

The most popular webcomics will make money off of merchandise, including print versions.

Eventually, all comics will have a web presense; the popular ones will also have a print presense. (This is already happening)

Publishers will change to/sprout up to (Happening) offer the best of the best for purchase in both web and print forms.

End result? Look at Baen books, in my opinion. You can buy your books in all sorts of formats, from print to html to plain text.

But then, I'm a Baen fanboy.

[Thunderhowl]

I'm a fan of the compilations in book form that Alina is doing, and I've alreayd called dibs on a copy.
I think that as each webcomic grows more successful (due in part to their interactions with their fanbase) they are better able to market their products. T-Shirts and books seem to be the easiest place to start.

Take a look at PvP's Scott Kurtz and Penny Arcade's Gabe and Tycho. They are very active with their fans and both are seeming to do ok. John Kovalic and Aaron Williams of Dork Tower and Nodwick fame have gone the comic book route as has Kurtz, and so that's something to consider too.

I think you guys are on the right track, you just have to be patient. You offer a quality product, and as word gets around, the fansbase (and therefore your customer base) will grow.

You can always count on my money and mad pimpery.

[Tom the Fanboy]

I will buy a book.
I don't buy that much webcomic merch really, some CRFH!!! comics here, some Conscrew Manga there, a bunch of Diesel Sweeties shirts, Maybe a commission or two.

I can definitely say that I will buy a Weregeek book. I might be interested in other merch too, maybe a new T-shirt design at some point. Then again... I have way too many T-shirts....

[Xaq]

Oh, don't get me wrong... we know YOU guys will buy stuff. That wasn't the point of the thread. And besides, we have to finish the merch before anyone can buy it anyways (books are due around April 21st, new t-shirt designs are in the works, etc). That wasn't what I was getting at. I'm just fascinated with the debate over the future of comics, both in print and on the web. Apparently, a number of webcomic artists are currently earning their living doing this, but the point being made by some of those in print (like Ted Rall) is that as newspapers and magazines go away as sources of revenue for cartoonists, those revenues can't be replaced by the web. They maintain that the available pot of money in webcomics is not sufficient to replace what syndication was able to supply. I'm not sure that I agree (at least, not completely), but I'd love to hear other opinions.

PS: Diesel Sweeties has some very awesome t-shirts.

[Jkandra]

I had wanted to do a comic strip for years. When I finally got an idea I thought was different enough to bother doing I put it up on the web since I figured it was not worth trying to sell to a syndicate. It wasn't "Garfield". I get the feeling they are circling the wagons and the Calvary ain't coming.

I've been thinking long about this topic (I'm listening to the webcomics weekly podcast as I type). For me the question is do I have enough time and energy to create enough interest in the strip and other merchandise on my own to make it possible to earn money from my work? As the syndicate and newspaper/print model dies and/or evolves, it seems to me that a successful web comic creator has to take on all the work previously done by the publishing industry. Becoming successful will be a more personal Darwinian test going forward. The old model brought the possibility of great income with a successful strip shackled with the loss of total ownership. The evolving model brings total ownership and freedom with the burden of total responsibility and an embryonic cash flow system.

[Thunderhowl]

I don't think I agree with the money disappearing with the fade of the printed mediums. The Web as a medium reaches more people than printed mediums ever did, with the only challenge being how can you make money off it. The money is still there, you just have to learn how to fish it out of the ether. The obvious answer is merch, but that's not a really steady income, and you have to worry about whether or not people will like what you are selling. The nice thing about the web and it's huge audience is that if a million people see your comic and chuckle, you can count on at least 1000 being willing to buying your book, or t-shirt, or whatever and that can add up pretty quick. There's got to be something to webcomic-ing, since I can think of three off the top of my head that quit their "day jobs" to webcomic full time in the last 5 years, and I'm sure that any three I name, 3 more can be named by someone else.

I agree, it's an interesting topic.

I still think you guys should add the bumper-sticker mentioned in one of the Shadowrun strips.

[Jkandra]

The nice thing about the web and it's huge audience is that if a million people see your comic and chuckle, you can count on at least 1000 being willing to buying your book, or t-shirt, or whatever and that can add up pretty quick.

The trick is to get a million people to see your comic.

[Thunderhowl]

True, but steps can be taken, right? Ads in other popular webcomics, LiveJournals and other popular blogs, Facebook and other popular social networking sites can spread a webcomic's fame with surprising speed, and for low costs. At least half of the comics I read I found through comics I was already reading, and I tell my friends about them so we can all enjoy the jokes or storylines. Time=readership since word spreads like a zombie virus outbreak. Heh. Viral marketing is a powerful and kind of scary tool.

Even saying that it sucks means you're still spreading it's name...

[Tom the Fanboy]

Clicking on ads is how I found Weregeek.
I think it was how I found One Small Step as well.

Sluggy, PVP, Schlock Mercenary, and Penny Arcade I got to from word of mouth.

I believe that my personal Jesus, T Campbell can say anything in this discussion better than me.
http://www.tcampbell.net/
(PS read Fans!)

[Xaq]

One of the main reasons that I found that discussion so interesting was the fact that these syndicate cartoonists really tend to be disparaging of the webcomic model of commerce. No matter how many times people like Dave Kellet and Howard Tayler chimed in to point out that they have 6-figure incomes, the print guys kept saying "there's no money in webcomics". To me, it seems more like desperation. Those who have made it through the lottery of syndication and won the big prize (a syndicate deal) can't stand the idea that some shmo with a stick-figure comic can make more money than them. That seems to be the bottom line... "there's no money in webcomics" is the delusion being held up by syndicate cartoonists so they can pretend they're still the Elite of the cartooning world.

It's nice, however, to see that there are SOME syndicate cartoonists who realize that making money on the web is both possible and necessary for their survival, as newspaper sales continue to plummet and the funny pages remain glutted with the same handful of long-running, tired old strips, limited in size and content so that growth of the medium is impossible.

[Jkandra]

Raffiki says "Change is hard."

I think the amount of syndicate cartoonists who earn high six figures (and are not Jim Davis or Scott Adams etc.) is dropping. I remember hearing somewhere that you needed 200 newspapers to make enough to quit your day job. I don't know if that is true, but if it is, I feel newer syndicated strips have a lot of trouble getting to that point. The legacy strips have hold on much of the retreating real-estate. The days of landing the syndicate contract and living on easy street are done (if they ever truly existed at all, 50% share? c'mon!). I agree with the observation from the podcast that a syndicate contract these days is just a lottery ticket that might pay out. The web seems a more long term bet. But you have to do it all yourself and only a few people have been able to get to a self sustaining level.

So, will anybody buy a t-shirt or book if I make them?

[Vaporisor]

Hey, newcomer to weregeeks as well as an informal writer/geek. Anyways, doube that there will be (at least any time in the near future) A complete replacement of digital media over that of paper. The ability to just carry around a book and read wherever. Mind you that there are digital media sources that can adequately displate a comic in colour fine, the inability of it to form comfortably to how a person wants to hold it is a drawback. Until they build a digital media that one can read lying on a couch and bend however you want without eye strain from contrast, books will be around.

However books are only feasable if you can convince a market to purchase before hand or impress a publisher enough print to market. Webcomic however allows a fan base to develop with little or no initial cost imput, depending on media mind you of your art. After a fan base is developed, then one can market to book and allow a better read free of borders/ads and eye strain from hours of catchup reading. being a book, it allows for sharing more readily as well, promoting the spread of ones work. It is easier after all to find a story you want to read browsing a section in a book store than it is to find anything online.

I think that biology can play a big part as well. I can grab one of my manga series and read through them again on an ugly weekend. However, when working with computer, I need to take breaks every hour or so for a while just because of eye strain. Makes it hard to get engrossed in a good series when always stopping or hitting ">>" and having to load EVERY page.

[Xaq]

Oh, don't get me wrong... I'm not talking about books! Book printing is the only way most webcomic artists make any money these days. Although projects like WOWIO exist, they aren't a complete replacement for print collections. I'm talking about the debate between newspaper cartoonists and webcartoonists about the future of the comics medium. Newspapers are dying... that's the bottom line. And the world of print comics is shrinking rather than growing, while the old guard has relinquished no part of their stranglehold on the funny pages. So how is it possible for there to be any future in print? NEWSprint, that is. Several people, including Ted Rall, think that the model is salvagable, but I think it's going to take some significant changes to the way syndicates think in order to make that happen. Which is why it's so awesome that Scott Adams has taken Dilbert to the web! Check out his new site: http://www.dilbert.com

I presume that he's managed to negotiate a VERY different deal with his syndicate than he used to have.

[Vaporisor]

Oh, I got you know, the strip style. Yeah, online medium is the only way to go. Main reason is that it allows a person to catch up on the story if they go away or are new to the series. I imagine that most people who are big fans of a series online didn't get into it until a couple years after the start. If somebody wasn't able to get caught up, they probably would not develop an interest in it. Combine with the reduction in regular readers of newspapers or any other daily/weekly publication, makes those types of print a bad choice for those serious in developing a comic business.

A good example is "For better or for worse" Excellent story and been around many years, But never really was able to truely get into it because I was not able to read it every day. I would really like to get the published books some day however.

Athough I believe that the way of the stand alone strip all together is starting to die out. One needs to link it as a story nowadays, even the per day style ones. I think that is what really makes the difference. Make the reader curious and engrossed in the story.

There is one last thing that online really offers to daily strip publications, and that is communal sites like Keenspot and this comic genesis site. It only takes 15 seconds to read a strip, so people browse and often choose several to read. Since most artists support eachother, even new artists and writers can become popular very shortly. Again though, you end up being limited to the sites around the one that which you first read and thus goes to large scale printing to expand even more.

sorry if I reiterate anything said earlier, I speed read when taking breaks from my own work and sometimes misinterperate or miss altogether previously stated thoughts. I apoligize xaq, I missed the portion about newspapers in your primary posting.