Hahaha, research is good! But I spent the past hour and half writing this so I might as well post it.
Okay. So, just to preface, I am sort of on my path to full time but not there yet. I do make money off my comic but it's not enough to sustain me at the moment. My experience and advice will be based on what got me to this point and what I have observed, but I certainly still have things to learn myself.
A couple things about the industry and what the job entails:
It's a long haul that takes a lot of time (and sometimes money) investment without immediate payout. I'm talking at least 5 years of producing work and posting it online consistently. Be prepared to make it like a second job if you're already working or in school.
It's saturated. The ability to create content is more accessible than ever, and there's more supply than demand. Media isn't as directly competitive as some industries because most people like consuming more than one comic, for example, but it still makes it more difficult to stand out and draw people in.
Your job as a creator will be multi faceted. Making a living off of your content will make you a small business owner, and art will only be a part of your day to day. You will need to continuously do marketing, basic accounting, scheduling, correspondence, ordering, shipment, events... and there is never going to be a point where you just get to sit down every day and draw the whole time (Unless I guess you make enough money to outsource every other aspect, but that's unlikely).
You'll have to learn to manage yourself and make drawing into a job. Most artists begin drawing purely off inspiration--it will be important for you to get to a point where you can go on auto pilot and draw without having a burning desire to. Having medium productivity consistently over time trumps bursts of inspiration among droughts of burnout every time.
If you're the kind of artist that feels smothered by restrictions, doing something for money, or like "it's not TRUE ART without my soul being bared IN EVERY PIECE", this career isn't for you.
You will not be rich. Maybe not even middle class. Most full time creators fall into the 25-35k bracket in the U.S. to my understanding, which may not even be livable depending on your area and your debts. Only a very few percentage will even make it to or beyond 50k a year.
Once you go full time, it's not permanent. Many creative jobs are unstable as a whole because it's a luxury, and your profits will drop when the economy drops. Once you "make it", you have to continuously keep working to maintain it.
You might fail, and that's okay. The nice thing about comics is that it gives you a lot of different skill sets to fall back on and try to find other work if you need to. And if you end up with a job that's not art related, but it pays the bills and you're happy, there's no shame in that either.
If you read all that and aren't scared away, or maybe it scared you a little but you still want to try, great. It's the reality of the situation but that doesn't mean it's not worth it. I'll list a couple tips below to get you started.
- Make friends with your comic peers and pull each other up along the way. Because of the saturation of the market, networking is very important. Who you know will be crucial in landing jobs and opportunities in the industry.
I say peers for a very important reason, though: it's important to not always be looking way up the chain. If you only go after networking with the "big names" without having some clout to your own name, they're going to shut you out because they can tell you're using them. Networking isn't about finding the biggest fish and trying to ride their coat tails, it's supposed to be a mutually beneficial relationship: a friendship with a professional spin. If you have nothing to offer, it's not okay to expect something back.
Being within a level or two above or below those you're networking with will allow you to climb the ladder organically and have something to offer others in your group. And of course, remember that they are people too, not tools to your success. Share knowledge with each other, invest in those bonds, stay responsible, and be professional. Leave drama and jealousy behind you.
Start small to ease the pressure. Your first comic isn't going to be your best, and it isn't going to be the only one you produce. You don't just have "one shot" at a career--give yourself a ton of shots so you can improve and see what works. Do some short stories, experiment, and learn. These don't have to be sellable, but they can be. It also allows you to make sure this is something you actually like doing and want to get into.
Related to the last point: your story won't be original, no one's going to want to steal your idea, and if you want it to be good, get feedback. Execution is what matters and that is going to be unique to you.
If you plan to print something--if there's EVEN A SMALL WANT TO DO SO--make your files print ready out of the gate. Start with the size you need upfront so you don't have to redraw pages for print later. There are a lot of different standards that you can look up.
Get comfortable with pitching your idea, selling yourself, and accepting help. A lot of artists hate telling people about their work or encouraging people to read it, but ya gotta get over it. Don't use self-deprecating language, either, that's always a huge turn off and will be seen as disingenuous or attention-seeking if you do it too much.
Seek out multiple revenue streams. Your money should never be coming from just one source. You need to have a lot of legs to stand on in case one breaks.
And finally, everyone's path is different. I would look up successful full time webcomic artists and see if you can either find their story or ask them about it. There are so many ways to do this, and nothing is really right or wrong as long as you're not breaking laws or taking advantage of people.
If you want to hear some of these points expanded, check out this podcast run by comic professionals. I really enjoy it and it might give you a lot of insight.
There is honestly so much more I could go over, including more concrete examples of what to do, but I think this is enough to get started and my family's Christmas thing is starting, so I gotta jet! Sorry!