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 substantial 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.
When designing your characters, remember that you will be drawing them ad infinitum.
- It's fun to add all sorts of details and knicknacks to a costume, but don't forget that you're going to be drawing those details over and over and over on each page. You might get sick of it by the second page! So practice drawing your characters a LOT before you settle on a design - you might find that while it's a neat costume, it's a pain to draw at certain angles or you always forget to include this and that.
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 and whatever other comic listings you can find!
-
TopWeb Comics is a popularity based comic listing - 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.
Give these listings a try:
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 two 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.
Set up an RSS feed.
Most avid webcomic readers use an RSS feed to keep track of the mammoth amount of comics they read. Consider setting yourself up a simple feed to keep them up to date. For the non-webwritin' savvy,
this is the site where I learned how to make mine.
Be prepared to deal with Trolls.
- There is no way that everyone will like your comic. And some of those who don't will be rude and beligerant about it. Take the constructive criticism - it will only help you - but for those who are seeking to demean you or your work, don't give them the satisfaction of a response and certainly do not take anything they say to heart. You do NOT need to force yourself to read their nastiness in order to prove that you are capable of handling "criticism" - I have seen too many other webcomic artists destroy their creative self-esteem by doing this. Don't make this mistake. As soon as there is swearing, personal attacks, or demeaning language used, close the browser and forget that you ever read a thing. True criticism helps you build up your art, not tear it down.