Thread "What are the Goods and Bads of being a webcomicker? Quackcast 400!!!!!!!" in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 6:11AM, Nov. 6, 2018

Quackcast 400

Hey there, Banes here with permission from oz to crash the message!

For Quackcast 400 we'd like you to tell us what the experience of creating webcomics has meant to you. Both the upsides and the downsides.

And if you have anything to say about the Duck, tell us that, too! What do you like about creating (or reading) comics here? What do you think could be improved? We DO want to improve as best we can!

For this august occasion (falling in November for some reason), please let us know and we shall read your comments!

Posted at 8:11AM, Nov. 6, 2018

I'm actually off this weekend if you want someone new. I've been on one of these. DD was and will always be a big part of my life. I can talk about joining back in 2006 or meeting Amelius at Wizard World Texas when DD funded many authors to be present. Or I can just be a loud agreeing voice for when you make statements. "Tell 'em Ozone!" "OH NO HE DIDN'T!" etc

Posted at 3:11PM, Nov. 6, 2018

Hahaha! OK, we start at 11am New York time. :)
Have you got gmail? We use Google Hangouts. I can send you the link to join the chat through a PQ on the day actually.

Posted at 4:11AM, Nov. 7, 2018

My brother talked me into uploading my "storyboards" in Feb. 2007. I didn't really know anything about webcomics. I just thought it would be a good digital backup.

I picked DD because reviews said it had html editing and was easy to use and also had a friendly community. I was deathly afraid of interacting with people in any setting at the time and also had a pretty heavy phobia of letting anyone see anything I've created (prose, art, or other). The DD community basically helped kill those fears and give me confidence. I'll always be grateful to how supportive everyone was from day one.

Pretty sure I got marginally better at both art and writing thanks to feedback, community projects, and discussions with DD members too. I was really super intimidated when these talented people started talking to me. I've never felt so welcomed into an environment where I clearly didn't belong.

DD also got me to travel some. I went to two conventions. (But the peopleyness was too much for me.) I also was inspired/encouraged by a DD friend to travel alone to a country where I didn't know the language.

I am a much improved person than the pile of quivering goo I was in 2007.

Posted at 4:11AM, Nov. 7, 2018

I don't really know the downsides. Except that the hobby consumes all of my time and made me buy several 2-in-1 laptops. But I would still be writing without DD. It's just that no one would be reading any of it.

Posted at 6:11AM, Nov. 7, 2018

ozoneocean wrote:
Hahaha! OK, we start at 11am New York time. :)
Have you got gmail? We use Google Hangouts. I can send you the link to join the chat through a PQ on the day actually.

Cool. That'd be 10 AM for me. Shouldn't be an issue! I'll await the PQ

Posted at 4:11PM, Nov. 8, 2018

Most assuredly!

We need more contributions!!!

Posted at 5:11PM, Nov. 8, 2018

The good.

It's a low cost way of getting your creative output to an audience.

You don't have to answer to an editor or producer.

Deadlines are self imposed.

It's a creative outlet.

The Bad.

You probably won't get rich or famous doing it.

It's up to you to market it and make a success of it.

It's a long term thing, often with little or no return.

It takes time and dedication.

My personal experiences have been good for the most part. Very little bad, but then I started with low expectations. It's a past time, a practice. I think I'm lucky I happened to choose Drunkduck as a host when I began because of the community being friendly and supportive. Pretty sure I looked into some others prior to DD but they seemed impenetrable, be it poorly designed sites or very cliquey communities.

The best experiences over all have been from DD, have gotten to know some wonderful people to varying degrees and for a social retard like me that's a bonus. I'd name people, but then I'd forget some and feel bad for neglecting people.

Helping with the awards and doing community projects has been great in the past. Who knows, maybe I'll even kick the latter stuff into gear again eventually.

Something that struck me early on with DD was the forums, I started posting to promote my comic and found the discussions, games, advice and whatnot really helpful and engaging. It would be nice to see more activity here again but not sure how to achieve that.

Posted at 7:11AM, Nov. 9, 2018

Overall I have enjoyed doing Bloodbound, its a lot of fun for me, usually. But the bad, well it is a financial drain. In over 10 years I have not broken even. Also sometimes I have nearly had breakdowns trying to make sure I have comics up, and at times my storylines have been so bad they make me cry (figuratively… manly sniff) When I have taken a break, I usually find I have lost a lot of readers, and from the last break I took I dont seem to have recovered many. But I continue because in the end I am enjoying it.

Posted at 7:11AM, Nov. 10, 2018

What dose creating webcomics mean to me? It’s a fun way to pass the time… and actorly get the storys in my head out into the big worldwide web… the only downside I can see is it tends to takeover most of your free time if you want to keep updating at a reasonable pace…

I’m so glad I decided to host on The Duck. The community is amazing! you guys have done a lot to encourage me to continue on making comics instead of going a few more years not doing anything creative. The other webcomic host that I upload to is Tapas. it feels more like a corporation. they are just interested in making money off of the creators. they only seem to help you out if you are an extremely popular creator whereas The Duck encourages and promotes everyone. Thank you people of The Duck you have made me a little less antisocial and a lot more creative XD

Posted at 7:11AM, Nov. 10, 2018

This is a great supportive community and I've learned so much here. The years since I started doing webcomics have been so much brighter and better because of this site.

The people in this community have been an incredible inspiration for me.