New to..well everything really

[Joellen]

I've been reading web comics for only about three months. I'm trying to design my own, but well my art and html skills are severely lacking. Anyone have any advice for a noob to start up his own site?

[hustlertwo]

Can't help on the HTML. I have a web monkey who does all that for me. I also have an art monkey, but I still have some tips on that: get your own art monkey. If you can't find an artist to partner up with you (very likely; for every one artist looking for a writer in the webcomic world, there's about 15 writers looking for artists), do something artistically simple, like a stick figure comic (no idea where you can find one of those, cough cough), clip art, a photocomic, or just draw crappily and hope people accept it anyhow.

[Trazoi]

I'm planning on starting a webcomic too (still havering about the premise and the characters, but I'm kicking myself to make decisions on that).

For hosting, there's two main options: either go with one of the free hosting services (Drunk Duck, Webcomics Nation, Smack Jeeves etc.) or host it yourself.

If you go with a free host service, the main benefits are it's free (obviously!), it's easy to manage your webcomic, and you've got a shared community. The downsides are you don't have a lot of control over your comic site, you can't host your own ads (you need to host theirs), and you're lumped in with loads of low quality abandoned comics who also went with a free service.

If you get your own hosting, you'll have control over your website to do what you like (host your own ads, blog, extra content, whatever) and the extra credibility of having your site. Downsides are you'll need to manage things yourself, act like a webmaster and you'll need to pay for the service. There's software out there to help you though if you go down this path (like ComicPress). As for price, for a starting comic you probably won't be paying more than a hundred bucks a year, which is about the price of a couple of video games that you won't be playing anyway because you're working on your comic :smallsmile:.

As for other tips, it depends a bit on what you want to do, but here's some general pointers: Figure out why you want to start a webcomic and aim your efforts towards that. Are you trying to build up your artistic skills? Writing skills? Trying to tell a story that you feel has to be told? Trying to make a bit of extra money? Or just doing this to have a bit of fun? It doesn't really matter what your reasons are, as long as you focus on what's important to you.
Try to stick to a regular update schedule. I don't have hard evidence of this, but my hunch is that the most important quality a webcomic can have when starting up is reliable updating. There's far too many webcomics that post a dozen strips then fade off, so just by sticking to regular updates you'll gain a lot of cred.
On the same point, build up a buffer if you can before you start. It will give you a lot more flexibility to stick to your schedule if you can take a few days off when you need to.
People seem to prefer bad art to bad writing in the long term, but good art is important to attracting new eyeballs.
There's a difference between bad art and stylised, simple art. Even if you can't draw you can aim for the latter, but you'll still need to put some effort into practice and making your strip look nice.
If you garner any sort of attention on the internet, you're bound to get people criticising you. You'll need to sort through these so you can pick the fair points from the flames.


Good luck!

[hustlertwo]

Hundred bucks a year? Heck, I got my site from 1&1, and it only runs about 35-40 a year (paid in two amounts, so basically a payment every six months). And I highly doubt my deal is the best in the world, either.

[MichMorgan]

CLICK HERE (http://www.w3schools.com/) for HTML tutorial...

[t_catt11]

There is always option three, where you stumble across a generous benefactor who gives you (free?) hosting on a stable site out of the goodness of their heart (or the blackness of their ulterior motives) - ala what Rich did here with Erfworld.

I recentlty did this for a new D&D webcomic, M.A. in Dragon Slaying (http://www.rdinn.com/mads.php) - they were wandering lost at SmackJeeves, I liked the comic, so I contacted the creator and had him move his comic to the Red Dragon Inn. He gets a ready-made audience, I get regularly updated content. We both win.

For what it's worth, I'd be willing to offer a simialr deal to other quality RPG webcomics.

[Barmacral]

t_catt, thats awesome of you to host the dragonslaying people for them, but would it be possible for them to post a redirect on their old site? I was about ready to give up on them because they stopped updating over there...

[t_catt11]

You'd have to talk to the creator about that. I did see that he posted links in several spots.

I'm not sure if he *can* do a straight redirect - smackjeeves is pretty limited in what they offer.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Where is a good place to look for a 'web monkey?'

I too am in the process of making my own webcomic. I'm currently trying to build a decent buffer, but the other tasks before me seem rather intimidating. I imagine it's less difficult than I'm making it out to be. A savvy internet factotum would be of great assistance, however.

Are there any useful resources or communities that might be prudent for me to explore?

[Trazoi]

Where is a good place to look for a 'web monkey?'
I think most webcomics either have the creator as defacto web monkey, or they rope in a tech-savvy friend/family member/significant other.

If you get hosting at one of the free sites, you won't need to bother with the backend; it's there for you. If you get your own hosting, most of the cheaper packages handle the server for you, but you'll need to provide the software. There's a few package for the blogging software WordPress that are popular, like ComicPress or Webcomic & Inkblot. There's also some standalone scripts (I've heard of Walrus, not sure what state it's currently in). You might need to ask a few people with webcomics what they use.


I too am in the process of making my own webcomic. I'm currently trying to build a decent buffer, but the other tasks before me seem rather intimidating. I imagine it's less difficult than I'm making it out to be. A savvy internet factotum would be of great assistance, however.

Are there any useful resources or communities that might be prudent for me to explore?
The free hosting sites have their own forums which are pretty popular, and they would definitely be the best place to ask questions about the free site in question. I also hang around a bit (I don't post much, just read and learn) at the forum at The WebComics List (http://www.thewebcomiclist.com/forums/index.php) as a sort of "neutral" forum not attached to any particular hosting site or comic. They should be pretty good at asking question from the perspective of actual webcomic creators.

[mr_pathetic]

The only way you can find out what works is to try it and see what reaction you get. Sadly in the biz the one thing I've learned that no feedback is often better than most of what you will get. Media is a cruel mistress and sometimes the only time you will hear something is if you mess up. Yet, don't take it as an insult if you don't hear tons of feedback from your fans because most people who enjoy something don't say any darned thing. Even those who like it pretty much say the same thing 50 other people said, but it is nice when you do get praise. Work on what you can do and work hard... only way to go at it.

[CockroachTeaParty]

The only way you can find out what works is to try it and see what reaction you get. Sadly in the biz the one thing I've learned that no feedback is often better than most of what you will get. Media is a cruel mistress and sometimes the only time you will hear something is if you mess up. Yet, don't take it as an insult if you don't hear tons of feedback from your fans because most people who enjoy something don't say any darned thing. Even those who like it pretty much say the same thing 50 other people said, but it is nice when you do get praise. Work on what you can do and work hard... only way to go at it.

Isn't that sort of sad? Too often negative criticism hogs the spotlight. Even most of the webcomics I enjoy... well, I've never attempted to contact the authors, even to say I enjoy their work (well, save for two exceptions. I've actually met our dear Rich Burlew at a convention...).

That said, I always make a point to spread the good word among my friends, primarily through word of mouth. I've been trying more recently to break the chains of the 'lurker,' which so often keeps me from saying anything online. That might be a major part of the problem right there. Supposedly, something like 90% of all internet users are 'lurkers,' merely observing and absorbing, rather than actively participating or commenting.