getting a webcomic out there

webofink

Hi there, long time listener, first time caller. I have a two part question:

1) What are your recommendations and/or advice in regards to promoting a new webcomic. Is there a good webcomic forum I should join? Some way to link exchange with other webcomics? Should I take out some billboard ads? By which I mean spraypaint the URL over existing billboard ads?

2) Is it kosher for me to create a thread on the PA Forums for my webcomic? I'm the writer, so I'm thinking the Writers Block? I don't want to break the rules and have everyone hate me, so if that's generally a bad idea, let me know.

I want to get it out there, but I don't want to bug the crap out of people or be massively pushy. Should I just put a link on my facebook on update days, and hope for it to trickle out to a wider audience?

So yeah. Not too sure what to do or where to start. Link to the comic is in my sig. I guess that's a start.

Fyndir

Genuinely go to the SE++ Webcomics thread (here), I don't recommend shilling your own comic, but just post and talk about the other comics with the fans there, and they might take a look at yours, there are at least two or three other webcomic creators that post in there fairly regularly.

Don't be surprised if people criticise, constructively or otherwise, if they do look at your comic.

amateurhour

Link exchanges are kind of pointless unless one of the bigger webcomic authors wants to put your link on their site, and that's a rare occurrence.

The best way to get your comic out there is to submit it to reddit every time you update. Reddit loves creator owned content and has no problems with you putting a link to your comic up in their /r/webcomics section when you update as long as you aren't just spamming daily. (I.E. make ONE POST for each new strip only, don't just make a post saying "hey, check out my comic!")

Using reddit you can easily pick up an extra 50-1500 readers for a comic depending on your title, and the number of up votes/down votes you get.

Once you've got 30 or so comics look into project wonderful. It's a great way to make a few extra bucks hosting ads on your site, and you can make ads to host on other sites. I'd recommend sticking to the free and .01 cent ads to start. Even if you manage to save up $140 to put an ad on Questionable Content, it may only be up for 15 minutes before someone outbids you.

There is no get rich quick way to getting your comic out there. The only way to build an audience is to put out quality material on schedule for a long time and the readership will come.

Another good thought though is to contact Kurt Sasso. He runs the TGT (two guys talking) Webcomics podcast and likes to give new creators a shot to promote their work. He's a cool dude.

Personally, I'd stay out of the SE++ Webcomics thread unless you plan on doing exactly what Fyndir said.

It's not a bad idea to submit your writing to the writer's block, or to have the artist submit the comic to the art forum, but if you do so, understand you're going to get feedback, and you need to take it, because they know what they're talking about in there.

GOOD LUCK!

acadia

I'm a semi-regular on the PA:AC. If you post your webcomic up, you're doing it for critique in there. We're not a promotion machine, but we ARE genuinely interested in helping you better your craft. Since you're the writer, I'd recommend not doing it yourself, but having the artist come and post HIS work (with your words) would help. As for 'getting it out there,' I can't recommend enough the bigger webcomic hosting sites out there. They've done a pretty decent job of building a community, and if you get active in that community you'll find that you suddenly have more and more readers (most of them creators themselves, but who cares?). Drunkduck, SmackJeeves, ComicDish, all those are pretty solid. I got my start on Drunkduck ages ago and got relatively big for a while (a few thousand readers a day, no big *sniff*) but laziness and inactivity doesn't breed loyalty. If you truly want to 'succeed' in that world, you have to be dedicated enough to set, AND FOLLOW, a schedule for updates. There's nothing more frustrating to new readers than a promising new comic that updates sporadically.

webofink

Fyndir wrote:

Genuinely go to the SE++ Webcomics thread (here), I don't recommend shilling your own comic, but just post and talk about the other comics with the fans there, and they might take a look at yours, there are at least two or three other webcomic creators that post in there fairly regularly.

Don't be surprised if people criticise, constructively or otherwise, if they do look at your comic.

Alrighty, but everyone in there is weird and scares me. I pretty regularly read the webcomic threads, but don't think I've ever posted in one. (p.s. it's great to see how the suitcase avatar has evolved).

amateurhour wrote:

Link exchanges are kind of...

...WORDS...

GOOD LUCK!

Whoa, thanks for all the advice there. I'd never thought to try reddit etc. I'll take a look into project wonderful too. I'm not really looking to "get rich quick" from making a webcomic, I don't actually expect there will be any money at all. Purely doing it for the fun of it (and also for future book/movie/burger king toy range deals).

acadia wrote:

I'm a semi-regular on the PA:AC. If you post your webcomic up, you're doing it for critique in there. We're not a promotion machine, but we ARE genuinely interested in helping you better your craft. Since you're the writer, I'd recommend not doing it yourself, but having the artist come and post HIS work (with your words) would help. As for 'getting it out there,' I can't recommend enough the bigger webcomic hosting sites out there. They've done a pretty decent job of building a community, and if you get active in that community you'll find that you suddenly have more and more readers (most of them creators themselves, but who cares?). Drunkduck, SmackJeeves, ComicDish, all those are pretty solid. I got my start on Drunkduck ages ago and got relatively big for a while (a few thousand readers a day, no big *sniff*) but laziness and inactivity doesn't breed loyalty. If you truly want to 'succeed' in that world, you have to be dedicated enough to set, AND FOLLOW, a schedule for updates. There's nothing more frustrating to new readers than a promising new comic that updates sporadically.

I've recently put up some of the comics in my AC thread to get some feedback, but probably shouldn't have since it's not my art. I did state in the thread I was only looking for feedback on the writing, and probably should have posted it in Writers Block. I'll take a look at those sites you've listed, that is supremely helpful.
We've actually got a pretty good system worked out for the creation/scheduling of the strips, and we're staying about a month in front with written arcs, and have places for topical one-off strips if we feel the need. Updating on time won't be a problem (barring something bad happening to myself or the artist), since strips are usually completed and scheduled to go live a day or two before they're due.



The site itself is a bit of a mess at the moment (and I think it has a redirect hack somewhere in the wp supercache, so that's comforting). We're hoping to have the site rebuilt by the end of next week, so we can start really hammering out the promotion work with a nice looking clean site that doesn't turn people off (by sending them to celeb porn virus headquarters).