How to Make Webcomics

Matt Forsythe | April 6th, 2008

how to make webcomicsOkay, so the cat’s out of the bag.

You can make money with your webcomic. You can even make really good money with your webcomic.

How to Make Webcomics is a book about making online comics – but it’s also about how to make money while you do it. It’s a joint effort from the folks at Halfpixel, (Brad Guigar, Dave Kellett, Kris Straub and Scott Kurtz) who also have a podcast called Webcomics Weekly where they talk about all this stuff (I highly recommend the most recent episode – Print vs. Web).

It’s nearly 200 pages and it’s packed with useful info – everything from avoiding tangents in your illustrations to suggestions for building a community of loyal readers. Another cool thing about the book is that – like a good blog – it’s formatted in a conversational style, with each of the artists chiming in with their opinions (sometimes even disagreeing with each other, which gives it this fun “you decide” vibe).

All the other information industries (music, film, journalism, etc) are going through the same arduous transition to the gift economy. Hats off to these guys for writing a survival guide for comic-creators and cartoonists.

More stuff:
Book: How to Make Webcomics (buy it from the authors)
Webcomics Weekly Podcast (by HalfPixel)
Wired article: Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business
Drawn: Webcomics Weekly Podcast

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  • mconahan says:
    April 8th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
    Damn, I wish I had thought of writing a book about how to make money doing webcomics, then maybe I could make some money doing webcomics.

    Isn't this the whole point of HowTo books. Someone should make a HowTo book about how to make a profit making HowTo books. Oh, maybe that's been done already.
  • I've probably been a little harsh Matt. It is commendable that Kurtz et al. have tried to open up this debate in webcomics, but for me this is very much old ground.

    Self-publishers, traditional mini-comics and 'zine creators have been dealing with the issue of money for decades and the same principles still apply in the webcomic domain... There's a whole debate over print vs web at the moment that is conjoined with this issue.

    The truth is, you can never go to far in promoting your work and getting it to pay for itself. All the information is already out there, but what 'How to make Webcomics' has done is got a few sucess stories to put their name to that information.

    I suppose what I'm saying is that there seems to be a need for this book, and that's sad because it shows that the webcomic community really isn't helping itself out.
  • "I mean, you shouldn’t really be making webcomics for the money"

    I completely agree. You shouldn't be making comics or illustrating - period - if you don't love it. But I was really excited to post this because I think illustrators and artists have a block when it comes to talking about money - and that block only hurts us.

    Books like this are good, because the more information we share about how we get paid, the better off we all are when it comes to paying the rent.
  • But it does seem that more profitable than webcomics are the 'How to make webcomics' guides and books.

    Why not skip the webcomic altogether and go straight fot the tutorial?
  • I'm interested to see what they say, but I hope "How to make webcomics!" doesn't become the next "How to draw sexy manga chicks!"
  • It's funny this, because I don't think there's anything wrong with making money from what you do. The web is great for free stuff, but there's no harm in being paid for what you do.

    And something I've found is that if your work is good enough people will want to pay you for it (look at Ricky Gervais and his podcasts!). Artists shouldn't be afraid of seeing the monetary value to their work - even if their work is something they love doing for the sheer joy of it!
  • I ordered a copy and I have been enjoying their podcasts. Damn, I wish I had thought of writing a book about how to make money doing webcomics, then maybe I could make some money doing webcomics. Kidding! I like the Scott McCloud books too. I'm looking forward to checking out this one.
  • Or the guys from PENNY ARCADE, or even SLUGGY FREELANCE.

    True, you shouldn't *have* to do webcomics just for the money, but if you want to make a living off something you love, you gotta' have *something* to compensate for it! (Not necessarily the comic itself, but merchandise, advertising, and convention appearances.)

    Sounds like a good book, nonetheless! Should make a good companion piece with Scott McCloud's work.
  • I think the other commenters have got it right... I mean, you shouldn't really be making webcomics for the money – and it's even a little misleading to suggest that they are any sort of way to make money, let alone 'really good' money.

    The fact is that 98% of webcomics generate no more than the peppercorn rent they charge for advertising space. If they're lucky they'll cover the costs of actually creating it, and if they are really really lucky, they'll look in the mirror and discover that they are Scott Kurtz.
  • I've ordered my copy! Hopefully the sequel will come out soon that will tell us how to be happy with our work? I'm never satisfied with my stuff Mconahan!
  • What a great book - I’ve thought about doing an online comic for a while. Maybe I’ll get this and get on with it…

    I'm going to wait for the book that tells me how to get personal satisfaction from doing a webcomic.
  • Max de Radigues
    There is a nice webcomic website in Europe called GRANDPAPIER. The adress is www.grandpapier.org
    It's not aboutr making money and there a lot of good stuff most of it is in french but you also find stories from Jeffrey Brown, Josh Simmons, Dan Moynihan, Cole Johnson,...
    Go and check it, it's a nice idea...
  • Just ordered my copy!
  • I started a webcomic not too long ago, but I haven't really approached it from a marketting point of view, or really gone after an audience actively. This might be a good buy for me.
  • I don't think I'll be adding making a webcomic to my long list of projects right now, though I'm very tempted. That said, your comment that it's organized as a cronversation between its various writers makes me very curious to read it anyway!
  • I skipped over the content info, but the marketing info is top shelf so far.

    I've found a lot of really good stuff here and a lot of inspiration!
  • What a great book - I've thought about doing an online comic for a while. Maybe I'll get this and get on with it...
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