Looking to make this my job

[MadamBubble]

From what I've heard, a lot of people seem to prefer the tip jar over the ad revenue feature. The most relevant source I could find says that 1000 views= $1.00 here on Tapas, with a 1 in 1000 chance of someone clicking on an ad which is worth $10!!

Then there's Tipping, how much is it actually worth??

I assumed Peacuch probably made a crapload of money off of his tips, but he told me the sad truth, the pay is actually terrible. He mentioned it in a status post saying that it "payed him a quarter at the end of each month." But other people say that it pays pretty decent, a lot of people have mixed feelings about the tip jar I guess.

Before I end this discussion I have one last question, am I a fool for trying to make this my career?

[SleepingPoppy]

1000 views= $1.00

oh, no, really not even close. In almost 5k views I've made 33 cents, so it's less that 10,000 views = $1 (based on this months ad impressions)

Then there's Tipping, how much is it actually worth??

The value of coins varies depending on if the coins were bought through tapas or earned through watching ads. A successful comic that takes full advantage of tips can make money, but be aware that can take years to do. Comics are pretty much always a long term investment. @LordVincent has some great tips on tips in their board, which I highly recommend checking out!

https://forums.tapas.io/t/advice-to-creators-how-to-get-more-tips/21592

Comics are not a get rich quick scheme. That doesn't mean you're wrong to want to pursue it as a career, but how feasible a career it is depends on many many factors. Skill, luck, effort, passion, time. Most comic creators also have full or part time jobs, and/or are students.

I don't know what your expectations are, so I can't really tell you if you're foolish or not.

[MadamBubble]

That's some pretty useful information, I'll be sure to check out those links.

[A-weird-girler]

please.....don't. Seriously, unless you become premium and have at least 1.2K don't

[punkarsenic]

iirc, roughly 1250 coins = $1

am I a fool for trying to make this my career?

this? do you mean comics, webcomics, or tapas alone?

if tapas alone, yes. if webcomics or comics as a whole, no.

the savvy webcomic artist wont just be on tapas - theyll be on webtoons and patreon as well, first and foremost, theyll likely also have their own site, or mirror elsewhere. theyll sell pdfs and prints and merchandise. what ive gathered from talking to people who make webcomics full time, as a living (its possible!) is that patreon, webtoons funding, and tipping makes up the bulk of profit (in that order.)

beyond that, into the world of print, theres zines and anthologies and competitions, and in some ways now is better than ever a time to be creating unique comics in the print world imo, what with boom studios and image in their prime.

that said, yknow, tryna make a career out of your art - whatever art that may be - is hard, and finding yourself a side hustle is a good idea. be that commissions or working in mcdonalds, sometimes you gotta hustle to achieve your goals.

[Jenny-Toons]

I highly recommend having an income that's not neccsarily from comics.

Maybe that's having a Patreon and doing commissions.
Maybe that's getting a degree that guarantees a steady income.
Maybe that's having a part-time job at McDonald's or a retail store.

In any case, don't solely rely on comics to be your only source of income. It's a hard market to make money in, just it's hard to publish a book/comic traditionally.
It takes effort, time, passion, and some luck too.
I wouldn't say it's impossible, but I do say don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Have back up plans as well. Even some of the well known comic creators and novelists had other jobs before they did stories. Jobs that gave them security and allowed them to pursue a career in comics/novels.

And in the process, promote yourself, have a strong buffer of pages already done before posting. Make a strong schedule.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

[DiegoPalacios]

Work Smarter, Not Harder

The key is to work hard AND smart

[ihaveatoaster]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[amortelito]

am I a fool for trying to make this my career?

Of course, you are not a fool. But is better to think of Tapas as a platform to share your comic and nothing more... there can be some tips here and there but don't depend of that income. Especially because none of us own Tapas, we can't predict if they are changing their payment methods, go bankrupt in the future? etc. Unless of course, you become featured, or get printed, or work exclusives etc because that way you will have a solid arrangement with them. @Jenny-Toons is absolutely right, make your money from a stable income.

And even if your comic makes good money, the biggest chunk is probably coming from commissions, conventions, merch, etc. So, you would need to invest in that. I have no plans whatsoever to promote my comic or make a living from it, but I'm working on my own brand and I can tell you that you will not be able to entirely support yourself with your first earings. Because the earnings have to go back to reinvestment, buying better tools, upgrade your computer, pay publicity, giveaways, website (In my case I have to hire photographers, manufacturers, etc) Or else it will not become sustainable.

It is a long road, very rarely a comic is blessed with lots of money just because it is updating. And I don't mean to sound cruel but not all comics succeed despite trying their best, maybe the art is not that great, or the story is boring, or the marketing is misplaced. Try to start first with improving your comic before getting distracted with the rest.

[BobbyjoeX]

when i was 12, i wanted to do this for a living but the one definite thing i knew was "have a plan b" plan b is basically another source of income

i still stand by it while hoping someday, my comic can be my job but for now, im just doing it for fun

[Luminosophy]

I'm dumb as rocks though so only one option is available for me.

The hardest part I found was trying to figure out a viable career that isn't your passion but also isn't a dead end job, and you can still be good at it.

[DiegoPalacios]

I'm dumb as rocks though so only one option is available for me.

There are many kind of intelligences. Not only mathematical or linguistic, also interpersonal, intrapersonal, spatial, musical, artistic, philosiphical and more.

When it comes to a topic or skill i don`t know/have, i usually seek for advice. (for example, i learned a lot about comics here)

The hardest part I found was trying to figure out a viable career that isn't your passion but also isn't a dead end job, and you can still be good at it.

This is a tricky challenge for most people. The key here is to know about your business (for example, how to be good at making comics) and understanding about business in general. (how to manage your money to keep things working).

That is why i am studying advertising (to learn how to atract an audience and connect with them ) and reading some books about financial education (to learn how to make my own projects in a viable way).

[LordSeriphus]

I mean, I want to write novels as my career. But I'm not gunna wing my luck on tapas. Or even self-publishing. I'm terrible at self-promotion, and I really don't use much social media.
I'm planning on going through the rough process of throwing manuscripts at publishing houses and hoping they'll tell me how to improve in order to get published by them. Sadly, I don't write genre fiction, and I'm trying for literary fiction. So this will be even more of a hassle. But I'm personally up for the challenge.

I don't have a bunch of subscribers or any experience in ad revenue or tips or anything on tapas. But I really joined the site for a small bit of feedback, because my friends don't read, and I needed feedback to keep myself motivated to finish my work.
I'd say you shouldn't throw your hard work into the hands of Tapas if you want it to bring you income. Tapas is filled with a wonderful community of members who will help you grow and tell you what you may lack, and what you do extraordinarily well. And that's a different payment within itself.
But, once I want to move farther, I'd say getting your work smashed by publishing houses and revamping until you're able to get published and promoted by a publisher is far better than sitting around to get lucky on Tapas. Because most authors and artists on this site are probably drowned out and only have a few dedicated people that take a liking to their work, and beyond that, they may not be able to promote their work. It's a site with hundreds of free novels and comics floating around that you can just pick up and read, so of course people will fade into the background, whether their work is poor or great isn't always the reason for this. Some things can just go unnoticed.
But if you manage to work hard as hell at what you do, and actually manage to get published... Well, a publisher doesn't like investing on something that won't make it anywhere. So they'll take care of the promotion of your work and make sure it sells. But that's only if a publishing house finds it good enough. I think that could be a great way to force yourself to try harder and become great at your work, which will naturally help you turn your passion into a career, and get you to a point where you can easily produce stunning works.

Don't let tapas be your be all end all. Use it as a gateway toward a larger goal. Not every person who reads comics or novels is on tapas. And some people who enjoy reading, don't even read online. I think tapas is the only place I've read stuff online. Other than that, I've passed by the opportunity to read sequels to novels for free on a device, just because I'd rather buy the physical copy and read it as an actual stack of paper bound together in my palm.

TL;DR: Tapas is a helpful gateway. The community is rad. But it's a poor goal. Do your best to get published.

[Cavechan]

Following up on what Diego said, there are a ton of careers available that can be a plan B and help grow your comic skills and career at the same time. For me, that was majoring in graphic design and I think graphic design is very helpful for comic artists because it's basically the same thing. The most important link between the two is communication (this was actually my senior thesis).

Graphic design skills will also teach you ways that your comic pages can tell story and emotion with more than just the drawings. Your drawing style right now is obviously very strong, skilled, and clean. It's pleasing to the eye, but there are some things about your comic that can be improved from having strong graphic design skills. Let me know if you'd like me to go into more detail since this isn't really a critique thread.

Just having the degree is incredibly important and you don't have to have it from a hugely prestigious/expensive college either. I live near one of the most prominent art colleges in the US and I can say that out of all of my coworkers and design friends, I know I think one person who went to that college. Many other people went to the state college which is a much cheaper option.

Graphic Design is somewhat versatile too. It's more than just making logos or designing websites. My job at an apparel company has two art teams: one that is about 80% just cleaning up images and 20% creating new images and one that is 100% preparing artwork for printing. Then there's also other people who make ads and marketing assets. There are a lot of options out there.

[Luminosophy]

Sure I don't mind talking about the design issues, though I think it should be through PM? Don't want to derail the thread.

[MadamBubble]

A discussion via private message sounds good to me.