TWCL

[r2moo2]

Well, it would be great to know if there are some success stories of webcomic artists who are earning, even just a little.

Anybody can share about their experiences?

[mil]

I think Tony Piro and Novil are earning some money through advertising on their websites.

I`m not earning money directly through my webcomic, but I`m earning money because I put my work online. Because of that a lot of people have come to my website, seen my cartoons, liked them and offered me jobs. Often jobs like drawing a cartoon for an ad, a postcard, a flyer or design a mascot. Sometimes editors of some magazines, websites or business newsletters contacted me and paid me to use one of my cartoons that they have seen on my website. Other times it`s just some people looking for a special gift or an illustration for their book or dissertation that ask me to draw something exclusive for them.

So, without my webcomic I wouldn´t earn any money by cartooning. Problem is that I have to draw a lot of other stuff, so I can´t update always regularly or as much as I`d want to which decreases my readership.
The solution would be to make money just through the webcomic itself but for that I`d need more time, money and readers - all of which I don´t have because I`m busy trying to make a living just by drawing...
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[Justin]

that's awesome mil, wish someone would give me a job.

my comic makes very little in advertising, maybe $3 or $4 a week, just barely enough for me to throw it back into advertising it on other sites on update days. As for our store, I've sold quite a few shirts over time, and a handful of the other merch, but it hasn't been anywhere near being my livelihood, or even breaking even

but don't despair, here's a little pick-me-up written by one joey manley, probably posted on this forum somewhere already but what the hell.

i know i don't need to say this, but i somehow feel obligated to state the obligatory: if you're doing a webcomic for the money, you're doing it for the wrong reason. still, it's always nice to know someone is being rewarded for their work.
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-Justin


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[LukeSurl]

If you mean in all the web, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_self-sufficient_webcomics is actually a fairly good list. Of course it's kinda fuzzy, as it depends on your definition of self-sufficient (what if a spouse pays most of the bills?) and on which streams of income can be attributed to the comic.
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[ttallan]

I don't make much money from my website directly, but I've made a decent profit selling books at conventions. Also, similar to mil's experience, I've gotten a few jobs because of my webcomic, including this one, for which Scholastic paid me a nice chunk of change.

I have similar troubles, mil-- the jobs give me a nice paycheque, but they keep me from drawing what I want to draw. It's tough to keep the balancing act. Ultimately, I know I can make more money if I can produce enough content for a new Galaxion book every year, but on the other hand I don't want to turn down these jobs! (Yeah, I know, cry me a river. )
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[r2moo2]

mil wrote:

I think Tony Piro and Novil are earning some money through advertising on their websites. I`m not earning money directly through my webcomic, but I`m earning money because I put my work online. Because of that a lot of people have come to my website, seen my cartoons, liked them and offered me jobs. Often jobs like drawing a cartoon for an ad, a postcard, a flyer or design a mascot. Sometimes editors of some magazines, websites or business newsletters contacted me and paid me to use one of my cartoons that they have seen on my website. Other times it`s just some people looking for a special gift or an illustration for their book or dissertation that ask me to draw something exclusive for them. So, without my webcomic I wouldn´t earn any money by cartooning. Problem is that I have to draw a lot of other stuff, so I can´t update always regularly or as much as I`d want to which decreases my readership. The solution would be to make money just through the webcomic itself but for that I`d need more time, money and readers - all of which I don´t have because I`m busy trying to make a living just by drawing...

Thanks for your sharing! I saw your comics and it is good.

[r2moo2]

ttallan wrote:

I don't make much money from my website directly, but I've made a decent profit selling books at conventions. Also, similar to mil's experience, I've gotten a few jobs because of my webcomic, including this one, for which Scholastic paid me a nice chunk of change. I have similar troubles, mil-- the jobs give me a nice paycheque, but they keep me from drawing what I want to draw. It's tough to keep the balancing act. Ultimately, I know I can make more money if I can produce enough content for a new Galaxion book every year, but on the other hand I don't want to turn down these jobs! (Yeah, I know, cry me a river. )

And thanks to you too! Great artwork you have there!

Are you a full-fledged professional webcomic artist?

[jasonm]

Now, this is my own opinion but honestly, I feel if you're treating your webcomic (or art in general) like a business, than yes, the goal is to make money. Nowhere does it say a business can't be fun, and it's definitely not written anywhere that you can't make money at art. My wife jokes all the time if we need extra cash I just pick up a few additional clients.

Now, it is true that in starting any business, expect to be operating in the hole for about 5 years, but after that it either should turn a profit or you need to rethink your strategy. I sold printed comics for years and while I may have had to take a longer view on profits on some project more than others, I can safely say I've never lost money on a comic related venture.

I think the flaw in a lot of peoples logic is that thy DON'T expect to make money. Right away? Heck no. But you should have a plan and be willing to modify it. Always look for new ways to monetize and have a long view plan in how you intend to grow your readership and financial opportunities.

Like I said, it's just my opinion, but I don't think anyone should walk away with the impression that if they want to make money with comics they must be doing something wrong.
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ELLIUM: A secret society determined to save the world - whether we want them to or not!

[Varethane]

jasonm wrote:

I think the flaw in a lot of peoples logic is that thy DON'T expect to make money. Right away? Heck no. But you should have a plan and be willing to modify it. Always look for new ways to monetize and have a long view plan in how you intend to grow your readership and financial opportunities.

Ah-heh...

Also, ttallan, that comic looks amazing! Now I want to read it... XD

It's interesting hearing about these strategies-- I haven't made any effort thus far to monetize my own comic (in large part due to laziness, but also because I just don't feel like I need to), although I've sold prints of related artwork at conventions and made a decent amount. But this project will likely take me a couple of years, and when it's finished I have another one in the works which I will likely try to take in a commercial direction, so it's all useful :D
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[Justin]

i think if your primary reason for doing a webcomic is to make money, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. it's not wrong to want to make money from your comic, i doubt there's any webcomiker that doesn't have the wish of financial success somewhere in their mind, it just probably shouldn't be at the front of it. then you're just a wanna-be jim davis. incidentally, garfield was the first comic i was really into, back in 5th grade.

my comic is nearly 5 and a half years old, so any minute now i should be turning a profit? or any minute now i should be changing my strategy? that's good advice i think, i just wish i knew what to change (besides the whole comic, har har).

jason, you seem like a person that might take their comic very seriously. that being said i'd be curious to know what your strategy has been, if you'd be willing to share.
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-Justin


now with huge banner!

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[ttallan]

r2moo2 wrote:

Are you a full-fledged professional webcomic artist?

If you're asking if I support my family with comics, then no. I could probably pick up more freelance work and have a good career just doing that, but I'm not interested in a lot of freelance comics. I want to do mine! I'll be able to make more money from my webcomic once I have enough material to publish a couple more volumes. Sure wish I could draw faster...

Varethane-- thanks!
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[jasonm]

Not a problem, but right now I'm exhausted so I will write some stuff up tomorrow!
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ELLIUM: A secret society determined to save the world - whether we want them to or not!

[jasonm]

Justin,

Basically I feel more comfortable talking about the print comics than the web since I've only started the webcomic in August. For this early stage of the plan, I'm mostly focused on the following:

• Having material to publish long term without a hitch (I have cued on the server material that will last until July, with 40 more pages that just need to be lettered)

• Refine usability of the website (I've made several big changes since launching and have a redesign set for January that should resolve the last of the issues in site design/layout)

• Building up awareness and a fanbase. I've used analytics as well as statcounter to establish fy current levels (last week: Page Loads 21,779; Unique Visitors 7,134; First Time Visitors 6,139: Returning Visitors 995)

• And lastly I wanted to get as many verified advertising channels as I could which in part also meant finding out which types of banners did the best (the last part is more ongoing - it required doing two banners of the same dimensions placed in the same spot on the same site and seeing the traffic - I've done about 3 studies like this). For advertising I've settled on specific sites through project wonderful, and advertising on a handful of webcomic sites like this one. Roughly I'm averaging probably $0.03 a click.

Now I want my traffic to be roughly double to three time what it is before starting the next step which is fully monetizing the site and the book. So far based on the growth since August, I'm set to achieve that goal in early 2010. How I plan to make the money is pretty in depth and from my research it'll be unique. I'll probably get more into it once I know it works otherwise it's just more untested and unhelpful info.

As for printing, and some of this carries over to online, the biggest thing was to always get the best base price for materials. Not always the cheapest, but the best overall. I would routinely ask for samples and get quotes from as many as ten vendors. I've printed up DVD's and had two vendors bid against each other and the same with books. And with a low overhead, it made selling them easy. My goal was alway to cover the cost of the trip not counting entertainment (if I go out to a nice restaurant with friends, it's no longer business

For printing I've also always tried to have something unique. I put out a black and white trade with a color cover when most thought it would cost too much. I went to a full color book when others thought the same again. Try new things.

Gotta go, but hopefully that's helpful to some!
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ELLIUM: A secret society determined to save the world - whether we want them to or not!

[Justin]

man, i wish i could have a buffer of comics big enough to last till july, instead of no buffer at all.

i've been thinking about redesigning my website as well (it's been the same for 5 years), but my current situation doesn't really allow for me to make any changes myself. i have to ask my friend/comic partner/webmaster to make changes for me, and he works for google now so my little webcomic is kind of low in his priorities. so i've been thinking about moving the comic to a website where i might have more direct control, building something using a template or wordpress.

do you think you could reveal your findings on which banner sizes seem to work the best for you? or would that be a little like asking a magician where the rabbit goes?

my tactic for advertising the past few weeks has been only buying adspace on a comic on update days, only advertising on sites that get solid traffic, and only on sites that have the leaderboard (my biggest ad) close to the comic. I always check to see where an ad is placed on a website before i bid on it. still, i'm only brave enough to bid up to $9 for an ad on project wonderful. i usually bid on three or four, but i've been wondering if maybe bidding $20 on a single very popular website would be better than having several ads on websites with slightly more modest fanbases.

sorry if this is sort of derailing the thread, but i need to know the secrets!
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-Justin


now with huge banner!

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[jasonm]

I'll write up some more this weekend when I get some time. The only things I don't like talking about are things that haven't been proven. Once I know something worked, even if it's just for me then it's cool (or even if it didn't work, but at least it was tried). More tomorrow!
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ELLIUM: A secret society determined to save the world - whether we want them to or not!