Did/Do you want to become popular? Do want your comic to become well known or featured?
In some ways, yes. Because the comic is not all I create. I have other projects out in the world and gaining some supporters would definitely be a plus in my art career. I do want my comic to popular. It's my baby.
Oh, you got some fanarts from your comic and it seems they legitly traced over your artwork (or some parts of it) what's your reaction or what do you do about it? (especially if you're an artist you would know better to teach or address)
As long as they give me credit for the character designs and whatnot, I don't care if they traced it. Although, it would be better if they had created their own version on my characters in their own style.
You got a hundred fan comments/questions/appreciations waiting for your reply, what do you do?
I want to stay very grounded and appreciated all the support I get no matter how many comments/questions/appreciations I get. It might take me a while to answer them all, but I'll eventually get to all of them.
Holy mackarel someone did a fanart that took them a month or week to do it, all the details, the colors and in their own style? Amazing! They posted it in their social media tagging you and even thanking you for doing such wonderful content. Don't forget you still have # 3 question in the line.
I would definitely leave a comment and most likely fav or like their post. I'd probably even share it to my followers.
Ok , ok, We all know you can't reply or like to all the fans' comments, questions, fanarts, etc but what kind of comment or fanart would you mostly likely first to reply or like to?
I don't have a preference. I do reply to absolutely everyone eventually, it's always very important to me no matter how many are waiting in my inbox. It's whoever is first... neither will take priority over the other.
Do you treat all your fans equally like yourself? Regardless of what talent, level of support or what can they do as a fan?
Absolutely! I don't care if they're a celebrity or a random person. All of them are important to me. They're support helps me to continue working hard and producing as much as I do.
In your opinion, what is the best kind of popularity? ( we all know that not all people became popular in a good way) [also I kinda don't like people who became popular mostly just because of leeching of other people's fame]
Honestly... through hard work. Someone who had to overcome obstacles and puts in their heart and sweat in their work and becomes popular because of they're creativity and skills is the best kind of popularity. It also, for the most part, keeps them grounded. Staying true to your work is far better than getting popular over a trend.
Popular comic =/= Good comic or popular OC =/= Good OC. There's nothing worse than having people loving the artwork appeal so much but the story/development is badly written. These cases happen all the time and it's quite unfair to some. Any thoughts?
A lot of people are visual and the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" might be great to say, but it's harder to not do it. However, I'm someone that has to have content. If the artwork is too terrible, but the story is really good, I'm sad to say, I won't be able to read it. It bugs me a lot. It's actually the reason I waiting years before releasing my comic to the public. The artwork was just not there yet.
Of course when there are fans, there are also hater or dislikers. What do you do to comments such as these?
I appreciate their opinions. Some of the comments I keep in the back of my mind as constructive criticism. Other comments can just be harsh and insulting. But, as an artist, I brush it off. You can't please everybody and some people enjoy hurting others because they're bullies. I left High School in High School, it's not worth my time to let those type of comments make me feel bad.
oh cool you have some free spare time, nothing absolutely to do! would you want to spend at least some of your time interacting with your fans awaiting for you and have been supporting you as always or go do another one of your things instead?
If I have any spare time at all, which is rare. I spend it with family and friends. I already see them rarely as it is and they're often the inspiration of some of my art pieces or writing. Heck! some of my friends are fans. But, as a whole, when it comes to fans, I do the face to face interactions at conventions/expos/festivals. If I have a fan come up to me just randomly in town, I won't brush them off, but I'm an introvert, so I generally don't socialize too much in general.
Lastly, holy crap a popular author (regardless if you know them or not but they are called popular by most people )who has recently became a fan of your content and they wanted to talk to you! Them just simply giving out one comment vs that fan who has been constantly giving so much supportive comments/fanart on your content. Which one of them would you talk to first?
I'd interact with whoever wrote first or whoever approached me first (if it was a face to face thing). If Stephen King came up to me after my biggest fan did. I'd finish my conversation with that fan first or bring him in into our conversation if he wanted to join. I don't favourites, it's hurtful. I actually had a celebrity (Special Guest) stop at my table in the artist alley and I finished my conversation with whoever I was talking to first. He waited until I was done, and then I had a conversation with him.
Any last tips or words to people who would wanna become "popular" and at least noticeable?
I'm not popular, not even a little bit. However, I'm noticeable in certain communities, but it took years for me to be noticed. Honestly, just be true to your craft, do your own thing and work hard. You may not be an instant hit, but your slow growth will hopefully make you appreciate your work and the people who support you. Fan art will always give you more likes and I like doing fan art around convention time to challenge myself in other ways. But, I'm more known for my comic book series and my greeting card collection. I may not be popular, but I feel like I won the lottery when I sell almost no fan art prints, but sell out of comic books or greeting cards.
I wouldn't focus on being popular online, people have a very short attention span. Just do what you love and do it the best you can. You're hard work will shine through far more than if you're just trying to be popular. My online numbers might be small, but they're far greater offline.
