Today's show is brought to you by Wacom makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One ! This week, Dave shares his strategy for meeting his Kickstarter goal in the opening days and juicing the algorithm by using Patreon! Questions asked and topics covered... Reaching a Kickstarter goal in the opening days using Patreon Finding your voice as a writer Schulz Museum What if comic cons never came back TikTok Lettering for Web vs print Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab members...
Aug 05, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep 189•Transcript available on Metacast Today's show is brought to you by Wacom makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One ! Are you self-conscious about self-promotion? Brad has a suggestion: Talk about your Pride or talk about your Joy. It's a bulletproof marketing technique! Questions asked and topics covered... Pride & Joy The history of Dave's sci-fi comic, Drive Paywalling the archive pros and cons Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Patreon backers at that level will get excl...
Jul 29, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep 188•Transcript available on Metacast Today's show is brought to you by Wacom makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One ! What's your elevator pitch? If you had to sum up your comic for a new reader, could you do it effectively in under 60 seconds? Questions asked and topics covered... Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning Attracting collaborators Writing process paper or software? How to maintain standards without an editor Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Patreon backers at...
Jul 22, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep 187•Transcript available on Metacast Today's show is brought to you by Wacom makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One ! What's your elevator pitch? If you had to sum up your comic for a new reader, could you do it effectively in under 60 seconds? Questions asked and topics covered... How to write an Elevator Pitch Bookshop.org partners with Kickstarter Selling books at comic conventions and beyond A storyline driven single-panel comic? Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Patreo...
Jul 15, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Ep 186•Transcript available on Metacast Today's show is brought to you by Wacom makers of the powerful, professional, portable Wacom One ! Delaying gratification is extra hard when you're a comics artist. Also, Brad is seething with jealousy when Patreon asks Dave to be an ambassador. Questions asked and topics covered... Patreon Ambassador Delaying gratification How much story per panel? Digital lettering Copyrighting the name of a comic Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Patreon backers at tha...
Jul 08, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Ep 185•Transcript available on Metacast Are you obligated to accept criticism from... anyone?? Also, we'll discuss Kickstarter's new Add-on feature and the benefits of both digital and traditional coloring techniques. Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions and an archive of previous livestreams! Questions asked and topics covered... Accepting criticism Kickstarter's add-ons Coloring - digital vs traditio...
Jul 01, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep 184•Transcript available on Metacast Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions and an archive of previous livestreams! If there was ever a pivotal year in webcomics, it was 2014. Ad-blockers, social media, crowdfunding, and so much more happened in exactly the right order to deliver independent cartoonists to the best self-publishing conditions we've ever experienced. Questions asked and topics covered.....
Jun 24, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep 183•Transcript available on Metacast Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions and an archive of previous livestreams! Impostor Syndrome what is it, and how can we, as creative professionals, battle against it? In 2018, an art teacher wrote in to ask why it was that they could never seem to finish a comic. Brad's response was "Maybe you're not a cartoonist, and maybe that's OK." This week, the art teache...
Jun 17, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep 182•Transcript available on Metacast Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions and an archive of previous livestreams! This week, exactly one week after Brad lectures on the dangers of getting distracted, one of his TikTok videos goes viral and he spends the next two weeks... getting very, very distracted, Questions asked and topics covered... Going viral with a TikTok video What does TikTok mean for com...
Jun 10, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep 181•Transcript available on Metacast Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions and an archive of previous livestreams! This week, Brad and Dave discuss the fine art of not getting distracted by "shiny objects!" Questions asked and topics covered... How to avoid getting distracted Should you be using vertical scroll? Presenting ourselves as an Authority on comics You get great rewards when you join the Co...
Jun 03, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep 180•Transcript available on Metacast Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions and an archive of previous livestreams! This week, Brad and Dave discuss writing your comics with other media in mind. Also: Artfol... is it the next big social media for artists? Questions asked and topics covered... Seeing your comics in other media Artfol Private hosting Composition Getting business ideas from other industr...
May 27, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep 179•Transcript available on Metacast Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions and an archive of previous livestreams! This week, Brad and Dave discuss writing through story beats. Questions asked and topics covered... Story beats pencilling problems low reader interaction drug use in comics emphasizing lettering You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 Early access to epi...
May 20, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep 178•Transcript available on Metacast Today is a great time to bump up your ComicLab membership to the $10 tier! Starting in June, $10 Patreon backers will get exclusive access to livestream recording sessions and an archive of previous livestreams! This week, Brad and Dave discuss building a comics business with multiple revenue streams. Questions asked and topics covered... Suriving a 30% revenue dip Many legs under the table Judging a new social-media platform Submitting comics to The New Yorker You get great rewards when you joi...
May 13, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep 177•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Brad and Dave talk comics with Nick Seluk, creator of The Awkward Yeti and Heart and Brain . Questions asked and topics covered... Nick Seluk Faceless comics Work/Life balance You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 Early access to episodes $5 Submit a question for possible use ...
May 06, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Ep 176•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Brad and Dave discuss how to get started when you're launching a new comic. Questions asked and topics covered... Launching a new comic: Where to start? "Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering" by Nate Piekos https://amzn.to/3sguY98 When should you share work-in-progress images on social media? Facebook's algo...
Apr 29, 2021•53 min•Ep 175•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Brad and Dave talk about the cartoonists who knowingly or unknowingly guided their careers. Plus is it better to work on comics piece-by-piece or set up an assembly line? Questions asked and topics covered... Who were the cartoonists who wrote you a map for your career? Step-by-step approach or batch? Seamlessl...
Apr 22, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep 174•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Brad and Dave welcome "Crabgrass" creator Tauhid Bondia. Plus how do you know if you're good? Questions asked and topics covered... How do you know if you're good? "Crabgrass" creator Tauhid Bondia Tax time! How do you know if you have too many characters? The original art in our studios You get great rewards w...
Apr 15, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep 173•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. As Twitter launches a subscriber service, we discuss how every platform is introducing subscriptions. Also, after a decade of social-media dominance of the Internet, what happens NEXT? Then, we spend the rest of the hour discussing Patreon best practices. Questions asked and topics covered... Twitter launches Super Follow...
Apr 08, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep 172•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Dave and Brad talk about a hot topic in art NFTs. We'll discuss what it is and whether it's the future of valuing digital art. Questions asked and topics covered... NFTs Nonfungible Tokens How to get started planning the path to your goal Physical injuries You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Commun...
Apr 01, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep 171•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Dave and Brad talk about how bad their early comics were. Plus the comics your readers love best can sometimes be the ones you put the least work into. Questions asked and topics covered... Dave's childhood obsession with The Last Unicorn Brad celebrates 21 years in webcomics Craptastic to Fantastic we were all...
Mar 25, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep 170•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. This week, Dave and Brad discuss the difference between Mirror Research and Market Research. Questions asked and topics covered... Dave discovers the "meet cute" Mirror Research vs Market Research Clubhouse Texting social-media posts using Community.com Webcomics.com vs ComicLab Plotting a story You get great rewards when...
Mar 18, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep 169•Transcript available on Metacast Today's episode is sponsored by Bonjoro an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. Dave and Brad share their favorite books about comics history, including: The Ten-Cent Plague Marvel Comics The Untold Story Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-Year Battle Between Marvel and DC Comics, The Complete Collection The 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics Stripped documentary interviews 75 Years at DC Comics Quest...
Mar 06, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep 168•Transcript available on Metacast We're thrilled to welcome our new sponsor, Bonjoro an amazing app that enables you to quickly send personalized welcome and thank you videos to your readers, clients, patrons, or backers. Dave and Brad discuss the difference between the Goal of an artist and that artist's Job. The two aren't always the same, and resolving that conflict leads to better work. Questions asked and topics covered... Goal vs Job Take the time you need to do good comics Parenthood and creativity Podcasting Brad and Dav...
Mar 04, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep 167•Transcript available on Metacast Dave and Brad discuss the importance of "luck" in your creative career and how you can increase the chances of that happening. Questions asked and topics covered... Dave Kellett gives advice on getting lucky When it's OK if your work changes over time When it's not OK when your work changes over time Eisner submissions are due! The dangers of mixing friends and business Brad and Dave talk about podcasts You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 Early access to epis...
Feb 25, 2021•55 min•Ep 166•Transcript available on Metacast Dave and Brad ask, "What's your motivation to create?" Are you doing this for the "right" reasons? Questions asked and topics covered... Creative motivation Line width Releasing a book exclusively on Amazon? You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 Early access to episodes $5 Submit a question for possible use on the show AND get the exclusive ProTips podcast $10 Record an audio question for possible use on the show AND get the exclusive ProTips podcast $50 Sponso...
Feb 18, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep 165•Transcript available on Metacast Dave and Brad talk about the best advice they never wanted those "truth hurts" moments that changed their careers. Questions asked and topics covered... Have you ever gotten advice you didn't want to hear? How do you change specific aspects of your drawing style? Amazon Advantage Which syndicated cartoonist would have made a good webcartoonist Should you change the spelling of your name to increase social-media hits? Preparing a page/panel for different uses You get great rewards when you join t...
Feb 11, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep 164•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Dave and Brad take several questions about self-publishing. From the best way to build an audience to handling overseas shipping it's all about getting your work into print! Questions asked and topics covered... What's the best way to build an audience for a book release? Is there a way to circumvent the rising prices of international shipping? Color printing is it worth the increased costs? Selling in multiple consecutive formats The best format to reach pre-teens You get great rewar...
Feb 04, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep 163•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Dave and Brad talk about making plans in 2021. Will there be a return to conventions? Will Kickstarter remain reliable? How will global finances affect independent creators? Questions asked and topics covered... Assessing 2021 and planning for success What didn't we accomplish in 2020? Is "webcomic" an outdated word? How to change a Patreon without angering current backers Selling digital originals? Artist Editions You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon ...
Jan 28, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep 162•Transcript available on Metacast This week, a listener asks about origins the "paying it forward" nature of Brad and Dave. So they spend the first part of the show talking about their mentorship philosophies. Questions asked and topics covered... Paying it forward If you were to name a living cartoonist for the MacArthur Genius Grant, who would you name? Quality vs. speed What to work on improving first You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 Early access to episodes $5 Submit a question for pos...
Jan 21, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep 161•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Brad and Dave discuss "slice of life" comics and why using that term might not be the best promotional strategy. Questions asked and topics covered... Slice of Life comics Creative page layout and why to avoid it NSFW comics advice How to get into the mood for comics You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon $2 Early access to episodes $5 Submit a question for possible use on the show AND get the exclusive ProTips podcast $10 Record an audio question for po...
Jan 14, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep 160•Transcript available on Metacast 
