1. How often do you update?
Every Monday.

2. How can I contact you?
ladyyates(at)earthsongsaga(dot)com or fanart(at)earthsongsaga(dot)com if you're submitting fanart - Thanks!

PLEASE NOTE BEFORE EMAILING:

~ READ THE FAQ's before sending me an email! You face the wrath of the Poodle Stick should you ask me a question that is answered here!
~ Please do not email me with questions or theories about Willow's mysterious quirks . I'm not going to give you any answers or tell you if your theory is right or wrong - that would just spoil the story! So please have fun deducing, but I can't and won't reply to any questions or requests about this topic!

3. When is Volume II coming out?
At this point my philosophy regarding Vol.II is "Hope for the best, but plan for the worst". Sales on Vol.I still aren't justifying a print edition of Vol.II given how expensive it is to print in colour. Regardless of Earthsong's publishing future, it will always continue online.
4. Do you do advertising on your site?
I do not. I hope to keep Earthsong ad-free for as long as it is economically viable for me to do so. Please do not email me with requests for ad space, thank you!
5. I wanna see your old vote incentives! Where'd they go?
I put up old vote incentives worth keeping around in my deviantArt account. Check'm out! Aside from that, if you miss an incentive, it's gone for good! Sorry!
6. Do you take commissions?
I'm not currently accepting any, but if you're interested, my price list can be found here.
7. How do you make your comic?
~ I use Photoshop 7.0 and a Wacom Intuos3 6x8" tablet to make the comic pages ~ Tutorial coming soon... relatively.
~ I use Dreamweaver MX to create the html pages of my site. I am a complete and utter amateur at making websites, so I really can't offer you any advice on this subject.
~ Earthsong is hosted by a personal friend of mine - if you're looking for hosting, I'd suggest ComicGenesis, DrunkDuck or any of the other many many comic hosting sites out there. I have no further advice than this. Honest .
8. Do you do link exchanges?
Sorry, but I no longer do link exchanges.

This isn't because I think I'm some hot-shot popular comic artist that's too good to link to you - it's because I ALWAYS forget to put them up. Always . And if I don't put it up, you think I'm some kind of jerk when I'm really just forgetful or busy. So I'm going to save you and me some grief and say "no exchanges".

9. Do you have an actual copyright for your comic?
I sure do! Copyright infringers beware! I have the legal means with which to bust your insidious art theiving ways!!!
Note: If you are looking to get a copyright for your own comic, I would recommend that you go to your local government website or library to get the appropriate forms. That's all I did!

10. Teach me to draw, PLEASE? Oh, and teach me to write while you're at it!
Sorry, but I just don't have the time!

~For the aspiring artist I would recommend:

Manga Revolution
Manga University's Tutorials

~ For the aspiring writer I would recommend:

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card

11. Can't you spell properly?
Canadians spell things ye olde British waye, and since I happen to be Canadian, this means that I don't spell quite a few words the same way that my largely American audience does. For example:
- The "u" in colour, favour, honour, etc. is supposed to be there.
- Words such as "realise" and pretty much anything ending in "-ize" in your spelling get a "-ise" up here.
Those are the only differences I can remember right now, but they're the big ones.

Now... that doesn't mean that I'm impervious to the occasional typo, so if you spot one feel free to drop me an email.

12. I'm thinking of starting up a webcomic myself and I was wondering if you have any advice?
Here's all the things I wish I had known before I started Earthsong:

Have a complete script done before you start.
- I sincerely wish that I had done this before I started. It would have saved me from all sort of problems with plot and character development. You'll find yourself scrambling if you don't have your story planned out in DETAIL ahead of time. The worst feeling in the webcomic world is when you get a great idea for a scene that you've already completed and would have worked so much better - plan ahead and avoid this feeling.

Set yourself an update schedule that you can actually keep
-The fastest way to lose readers is to not keep your update schedule. Be it once or five times a week, make sure that you can keep up with it. And, if for some reason, you have to skip an update make sure that you put up a notice explaining - people will appreciate that you took the time to tell them what's up.

Make sure you have a substancial buffer of completed pages before you put your comic online
- This will help you with the previous suggestion. It will allow you to take a break if you really need one or if something unexpected comes up - which it invariably will. Let me tell you... I wish I had a buffer.

Keep a Blog
- Sure, there will be all sorts of people who spend about 5 seconds on your site just to see the new page, but to many others, getting to hear your insights about the comic will make them feel personally involved. It also makes you more accessible to the reader rather than being some omnious entity that churns out comic pages. There are plenty of people who are just as interested in who's writing/drawing the comic as they are in the comic itself.

Join TWC, Buzz, and OnlineComics
- TopWeb Comics and BuzzComix are popularity based comic listings- that is to say that your ranking on these lists are determined by how many people follow the links on the home page and vote for your comic. I guarantee you that people will not vote for you, no matter how much they like your comic, if you don't put incentives up to vote for. Incentives can be anything you like, though bonus artwork will draw the largest numbers.

Online Comics ranks according to popularity as well, but not in the same way. Members add you to their favourites, leave comments, etc and your popularity is calculated by how much activity your comic generates on the site. The nice thing about Online Comics is that it spotlights new comics as well, making this the best place to get your start.

Also see: The Belfry Webcomics Index and The Webcomic List

Note: You should also have the first chapter of your comic up and running before you join any of these listings. People aren't going to be keen to come back if they've only seen the first 2 pages, so as hard as it might be to resist, hold off on going live with your comic until you've got a substancial amount available for viewing.

Consider setting up a tagboard or a forum
- These are great ways for people to communicate with you without sitting down to write an email. I used http://shoutmix.com when I had a tagboard and I was always pleased with the service. Forums are a great way to build a community around your comic and I would highly recommend one if you have the time to put into it and the hosting space to support it. Again though, hold off on starting a forum until you've got a decent amount of your comic up and it's been around for a while. Otherwise it'll be a very empty forum.

Have your newest page on your main site or have a VERY obvious link to it.
- New visitors to your page will just as soon close down the browser as they will hunt for a small link that says something obscurely about a comic being linked here. Keep your website user friendly.

Be prepared to deal with morons
- There is no way that everyone will like your comic. And some of those who don't will be rude and beligerant about it. Ignore these morons, because that's all that they are: morons. Take the constructive criticism - it will only help you, but for those who are seeking to demean you, don't give them the satisfaction of a response.

Still have questions? Drop me a line and I'll get back to you asap! (Note: asap = typically under a month)