Apr 2021
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Apr 2021
Apr 2021
darthmongoose
Apr '21

I'm a little hesitant to ask why you say your time is running out when your bio says you're 16 years old. I hope you're not suffering from a terminal condition of some sort, because unfortunately my only advice is... it takes time. Your work is actually very solid for a teenager and with a decent following, so I'd recommend just keeping at it, learning as you go, staying in school and studying great comics.
I didn't start doing professional gigs and placing in competitions til I was about 23 or so, and to do that I just made webcomics on the side while in University and hung out on comic making forums to get advice, read lots of books and tutorials on the subject, that kind of thing. Study, keep making comics, get a day job on the side if you need one while you build your skills and audience.

jmhenry
Apr '21

Promote, promote, promote! The internet is big and there are tons of creators out there. As long as you update consistently and promote as much as you can, the readers will come!

ar-ninetysix
Apr '21

Would anyone here recommend doing commissions for income? I imagine there'd be more profit in doing those compared to ad revenue from comics and making a Patreon or Kofi

inhuman
Apr '21
darthmongoose

i need to change it to 17, and no i am healthy (kinda idk) what i mean is that i am at the age when i want to move, and also i made a promise to someone that i \will make it my job because my comic is based from a story someone thats not here anymore and me. anyways thanks you for the advice, i really do hope things go well because it does generate a lot of joy for me when i draw.

ar-ninetysix
Apr '21

Wait a minute, I'm actually not sure if that's the way to go lol that's why I asked in the first place

darthmongoose
Apr '21
inhuman

That's a great motivation and I hope you succeed! But you will need to pace yourself and be realistic about what can be achieved so early in your career. I don't doubt that in time you can become a professional comicker if you keep at it, but even a lot of award winning pros I know who do it professionally and are in their thirties have a day job on the side, especially if they make original works. Many of them are games artists, designers or web developers. Don't give up on your dream, but make sure you have a safety net secondary career going to support it, because realistically it's a career that takes time to build up the skill, following and contacts for.

WizardWatson
Apr '21

Are you SURE you want to do this as a job? People always say to "follow your passion." But I say, passion is great, but you can't eat it. If you love making art, chances are you will like it a lot less when you have to do it 12 hours a day, 365 days a year, with the constant threat of starvation hanging over your head.

You might want to consider getting a job that's tolerable and pays the bills and saving your passion for the weekends. I'm an electrical engineer and I've never once had to worry about making ends meet. That's a much better headspace from which to be making art, I assure you.

IndigoShirtProd
Apr '21
inhuman

It takes a lot of time for many people to make a job out of their comic, have some patience when it come to it is a must. And you can still work on your comic outside of a job and school, which is what most of us have to do. Persistence and patience will be your best friends when it come to creating a webcomic.

BreakingChalk
Apr '21
  • Use Social Media
    • Post fanart every once in a while.
    • Post announcements when the latest chapter is uploaded

  • From my experience, here are social media platforms to get new reader from best to worst

    • Instagram (use a lot of hashtags)
    • Reddit (r/originalcharacters for example)
    • Forums like this one (make friends, give useful info if possible)
    • Twitter (try good descriptions and a few hashtags)
    • Facebook

If you want this as a job regarding getting paid, focus on

  • Getting more subscribers on tapas as when reaching 100 you get certain amount of money from ads (but not so much from what I've heard)
  • Open a Patreon/Ko-fi,

But usually, it all takes a lot of time

I see you are 17. I don't know what everyone's life and feelings are, but you've still got a lot to live.

Keep the comic, but also have a plan b; choose a career that fits the lifestyle you'd like to have when you are in your twenties, or that could compliment your comic (an art-related career for example)

This comes from another guy that thought he had his whole comic story ready at 18, only to re-write it for another 4 years.

I'll recommend trying other stories first to see how you do with time, schedules, engagement, etc, so later you can publish this comic with more experience (the story I uploaded here was my first, and I had to re-publish it with re-draw and re-write after 6 months of work because it didn't meet my expectations)

inhuman
Apr '21

would you recommend i re-do this comic right now? because there are some things wi would want to re-do

Rhonder
Apr '21

Other folks have already offered good insight about making sure to have a safety net and such, so I'll hop straight into the main topic.

One thing to keep in mind early on is that you will likely have to do a lot of your own legwork off the site to direct traffic to your comic.Without being featured on the front page, there's a rather limited visibility that you can reach by just posting to the site itself, and getting featured is ultimately outside a creator's control, so it's not a good factor to count on, necessarily. Take a moment to think about the target audience for your series, then where those people hang out online, and then ways you can get your comic in front of their eyes with tasteful promotion.

Maybe it's building up an Instagram or Twitter following, maybe it's making short-form tiktok videos, maybe it's making long-form youtube videos, maybe it's using appropriate reddit forums in a clever way, maybe it's live streaming while working on your comic, etc.

Finding a couple of effective marketing methods and platforms is ideal for variety :slight_smile:

Other than that, the following two areas are also important.

First and foremost, always keep working hard to improve your content- both storytelling and art! While it's true that just having a good comic doesn't automatically guarantee results, it's also true that generally speaking a higher quality comic will more often than not outperform lower quality ones. This is a never ending journey as a content creator, though, so just keep working at it over time. Just be sure not to get complacent or stuck in comfort zones!

Lastly, and this might be a somewhat controversial opinion, but: I think it's important to approach comic making with a professional mindset if you want to do it professionally. This means on top of just having a high quality product that you also need to learn the market and find something that will sell. Also important is to not over-commit to your first, or even second or third comic, as the one that will "make it", necessarily. Most folks need to build up audience and skills over the course of several comics before they reach a point where they can put out consistent marketable work and have an audience base to help support them in the early phases. Doesn't mean that those first few projects should be half-assed (back to the previous point, always keep improving and go 110%!), but outside of extreme, stars aligning luck, the first comic probably won't be your first career or professional comic :sweat_smile:

Best of luck! I took a quick peek at your series and it looks like you're off to a great start! If you keep working at it over time, I bet you can make it :slight_smile:

BreakingChalk
Apr '21
inhuman

Oh, I thought you hadn't published it yet.
In that case, just continue, but go easy on making it profitable soon, as it really takes time and more than a good story, good marketing.
If at any time there is a lot of stuff that you want to re-do, consider whether if it is worth redoing it for both you and your subscribers that follow the original story.

Kaydreamer
Apr '21

Dude, your time is not running out. I'm 31 and just starting out on a path to create comics full-time. I'm well aware it may take me another 10 years to achieve that goal.

Popular culture puts a ridiculous and unrealistic pressure on young people to be successful at impossibly young ages. It's unrealistic, and you will make yourself physically and mentally sick with expectations like that. You have decades to become successful. It's a slow path. Enjoy the journey.

thecrystalrook
Apr '21
inhuman

Breh. I'm 32 and have a full time job. You are not out of time. Having a job is not the end of your creativity.

Indigo-Child
Apr '21

Heeya I I'm not a pro, but i do have a little advice :smile:
I looked at your comics a bit (the first few pages) and I think the first thing you could improve to make your comics more enjoyable would be to be more airy rather than the boxes follow each other so abruptly.

And i think after that pretty much all was already said above.

inhuman
Apr '21

ye, i got a remake coming on monday so it'll look more like that with a different plot and everything.

irresponsiblepics
Apr '21
inhuman

And?
Most successful comic artists/writers do "conventional" work and also their comic.
Its only when your comic is successful and making enough revenue you then decide to make it your main source of income.

Approaching it any other way will only lead you to disaster.
The market is too over saturated to expect otherwise.

PIT-FACE
Apr '21
inhuman

I think whoever that person who passed on is, as well as the person you promised, will understand that there is much here that will be out of your control. If you're expecting to make your work go viral by 'the stroke of midnight' then that sounds extremely unfair to do to yourself. I want to say first and foremost, DO NOT set a timer. The reason i say this is because you will eventually burn yourself out that way. This is hard work. People who dont do what we do like to write it off but the truth is, we are doing amazing things. We're putting our own creations out into the world. That's huge! So, for the sake of not burning yourself out on just griding and grinding without an immediately favorable outcome, i repeat, DO NOT make racing to the top your main focus. That sort of thinking decimates more comicers than it saves. Focus on the passion that you have for this project. True, you will go through life changes like moving, working, etc and your time allowances will change, but you're going to adjust to that and find a way to make it work. I and many other people on here have day jobs, but we also find time to have live soutside of work which includes making our passion projects. I have faith you'll do the same. Just be kind to yourself and for the love of god, be patient. That's how you'll produce your best work.

But I dont want it to sound like it's bad to ask for advice about exposure. Hell, that's what we're all here for right, or else why would we bother publishing our work at all? There's a lot of good advice in this thread many others have given before me. Keep getting those links out there (where appropriate), keep updating and engaging and keep your passion for your work first and foremost. That way you'll create something thats truly engaging and keeps your audience coming back. Good luck!

lynestjules
Apr '21

Getting a job is not the end of your creativity. lol

I work as a web designer full-time and then I go home and work on my comic series and other art projects. I mean, it would be cool to work on my comic all the time, but I have to be able to pay rent, bills, insurance, food, clothes, put money aside for a rainy day, etc.

I have a very creative job and I honestly love it. I love my comic more, but with that job, I live comfortably, still very happy and do what I love on my personal time.

Even though social media is the key for most to get noticed, I actually am more known locally. Because I'm part of my local art community and have been doing the face to face networking for over a decade. I'm more invisible online, because there's just so many people that you easily get lost.

I do post online, even if I'm not on all the platforms, because promoting online is extremely time consuming and I'd like to have time to write and draw. So, I've limtied myself to ArtStation, Instagram, Facebook (but less now), Deviantart (but less now), Tapas (online comic/forums) & Webtoon. In real life, I do conventions, expos & festivals. I also now have the comic on the shelves of 2 comic book stores in two different cities and in an art gallery in a town I know, an art gallery? It oddly is my hot spot for sales. Because it's part of a Art Gallery Tour, so when tourist season starts, tons of people come by to buy local creations. It kinda promotes itself in there, which is fantastic and people grab my business card as the same time!

But, posting work in progress sketches, videos, sneak peeks online, helps a lot. I find I get more hits on Instagram and I've started posting on Artstation. Which is great, because I can post sketches along with my final piece. I love seeing the work behind a piece from artists, so I'd definitely suggest doing that.

There's no such thing as being too old to create and having a job, doesn't mean you give up on your dreams either. I've worked odd jobs to support myself, while looking for something in the art industry and still continuing creating art on my personal time.
My pipe dream was to create my comic and sell it in comic book stores. I'm not a comic book artist full-time, but I still managed to make that a reality.