Don't Forget About SEO

When your comic is up and going, the first thing you want to do is make sure that it shows up high in the search engine rankings. The way it's done is with a thing called search engine optimization. 

All this means is that you've done three basic things. First, search engines consider your comic to actually be at least semi-important. It doesn't actually have to be important. It just has to basically be something that everybody's looking for. There's the three basic qualifications:
 

1) The site itself is really well organized, properly designed, and and looks great. Your synopsis and all your text is grammatically correct and there are no typos. Don't worry about how names are spelled as long as you are consistent. Sneak words in as much as possible, such as by using alt tags. 

2) You're going to want to use get the word out. You want to want to go to directories and Facebook pages, and do a little bit of spamming but not too much in order to get some buzz going on the comic; the more places it appears, the better it looks for the search engines. You need people going to that site as much as you possibly can. 

3) This also means advertising This means getting the word out. This means basically dragging people kicking and screaming to your site. Because the more visitors it the more it impresses the search engines and the more that you impress them the more relevant your site appears and therefore the more worth listening to it is. 

So don't forget about search engine optimization while restructuring your site, or you will simply get lost in the ranking. Make sure that your website is pretty well designed so that you pretty much be everywhere you can be and that you used at least a little bit of advertising. If you do that, you should be good. So don't forget about SEO. 

Use Directories To Get Out The Word

One of the ways you can get word out about your comic is to listit in the directories. A "directory" is a site that basically aggregates all sorts of comics from pretty much everywhere. It lists them according to a number of different priorities, such as genre, name, age, etc.; a visitor can then search for comics based on those priorities. This means that somebody can go to the site, look for a web comic of a particular genre, author, or other criteria. If you're lucky, the webcomic they end up choosing is yours. 

Sites like Top Webcomics, Belfry, Webcomic Index, Comic Robot, Webcomics Guide, and the Webcomic List are some of the best directories. You want to get yourself listed there as quickly as possible. You need to debate participating in whatever types of contests they have as some of these will actually help you chart your comic, showing you just how many viewers you have, and how much traffic you're actually getting, plus how you're doing in relation to other comics in your particular genre. 

So yeah, there's a definite advantage being in the directory besides just being easier to find. 

However, there will be three tips I think you're going to find useful. First, don't worry about your name. A lot of people get hung up on directory names; they think that if you don't start off with the A's or B's, a lot of people are not going to be interested in you. Trust me, you're going to find that the right directory allows for a certain level of randomness. So even if your name begins with a Z, you're going to every so often you get a lot of traffic and you're not going to be able to figure it out. So don't sweat the name too much. 

Do make sure that whatever graphic you use it fully represents your cause. A lot of people will see this really cool graphic and find out it has absolutely nothing to do with the comic and that turns them off right off the bat. Another issue that will turn people off by is having a really bad graphic. 

Lastly, make sure that the synopsis is accurate. There is absolutely no bigger turn off than to find this really great comic, at least based on the synopsis only to find out that the comic has no relation to the comic.

So wherever you don't worry about the name. Be sure the graphic represents the comic. Make sure that the synopsis is as absolutely accurate as possible. Do that you're going to find out directories help people find your comic with no problem.

Do The Impossible

"People who say that something is impossible need to stay out of the way of those doing it." It's sort of fun to watch people who keep telling everybody there's no way that something can be done and right behind them somebody's actually doing the thing. 

You want to be that person who's doing the thing. 

You want to prove people that yes, you can do what they see as impossible. You can do things that nobody else can do, that you have your own skills and abilities. You're going to show them off no matter what, and you need to not be afraid to use them to do the impossible on a regular basis. Just do

I don't care what your motivation is; everybody has their own motivation for doing the impossible. Some people like challenges so they figure it out. Others just like a challenge; they see a mountain, they climb it. Some people will do it just to tick other people off and that's just as valid. 

These are the people that will be told they can't do something because of who they are, because of what they are, because of what they're missing. Their biggest thing is at that point is to show those people that they don't care;  others don't place limits on them based on those artificial restraints, and those others should just watch their dust.

Then you have the people who just are totally insane and really like doing the impossible just because it annoys the heck out of everybody else around them. They don't have to do it, they just think it's funny to show people that thought it was impossible and it couldn't be done. 

The bottom line is it doesn't matter why. You need to figure out your reason to do the impossible and just do it. Show people that you can do whatever you can and do it well.You will find that the easiest way to shut the naysayers down is to just do it, and shutting them up is one of the most satisfying things you can do.

Have Some Fun

You should not be forcing yourself to go to the keyboard every day and type out a few pages or even a few hundred words. That way is just not going to work; you need to figure out some way to have a little bit of fun, something will keep you coming back to the keyboard. There are three basic approaches. 

The first is that something will change, such as the character, the setup, or even the genre. It is interesting to change things up just to see what will happen. In table-top gaming I usually play a young geek, but  every so often I'll play an older brick just to have a little bit of fun. When you're writing, you can change a story from horror to romance and sci fi just to see what happens.

Sure, it's the same basic story, but by changing the associated tropes while carrying elements of the former genre it's interesting to see what actually happens with them. By changing these little details we make things more fun; by pushing ourselves we alleviate the boredom of doing the same thing over and over.

Another thing we'll do is unravel the plot a bit. For a convoluted plot this is great as it allows us to focus on particular threads. Conversely, for a simpler plot it allows us to see where we can make it a little more complicated. But the bottom line is all we're actually writing, we're having a lot of fun, not only trying to set this thing up and set it in motion, but to try to figure out how to deal with it and how to actually make it all makes sense then. 

And then of course, there are goal setters, those people who set a different number of words or how many pages they're going to type. Sometimes it'll be more, sometimes they'll throw themselves into a marathon session, but they'll try to set some sort goal and it won't always be the same one. By changing up the goals you can keep things fresh, especially if you have good reasons for changing the goals.

Between messing around with the way you write, messing around with what you're writing, or just simply setting some sort of weird goal, you're able to have a little bit of fun with what you're doing, and by having fun, you're able to keep yourself motivated, which is something you need, definitely work on.

So have some fun and see what you can do. Writing shouldn't be just a job, but an adventure.

Find A Rival

As manga readers and anime watchers are aware, there's a thing called the rival. You have two characters who have the same basic skills, experience, and training. And they want to kick the ever living heck out of each other. 

This is sort of cool because these two characters have this intense rivalry going and they've got motivation to do the best they possibly can. They are constantly challenging themselves, and are constantly figuring out new ways to apply their talents. All of this in order to give them one up on their rival. This is sort of cool because it gives the viewer a chance to watch these guys actually get more skilled, more powerful. On top of that, you've got people taking bets and it provides a nice little competition for those watching because you never really sure who's gonna come out on top. 

In real life, you need to establish this rivalry. This gives you somebody who you can face off against. You're going to find out that by having arrival, you're going to be doing a lot of stuff you didn't think was absolutely possible thanks to that competition. You're going to be try to do whatever you possibly can to be better than that other person. 

The only word of warning here is that you don't want to get to the point where the rival is an enemy. That gets into some really nasty territory and provides some really nasty side effects like PR issues and even the possibility of some actual injury. A friendly rivalry is better than having actual enemies. 

By establishing the rivalry by having somebody who is as skilled enough to challenge you, the two of you are going to find you're going to be a lot better writers in the long run. So if you can find somebody and just have some fun with it just to see what the two of you can do to outdo each other. See what happens. 

You're going to find that rivals can keep you honest while keeping you challenged, and that's a great thing.

Exposition Dumps Can Work

One of the secrets keep in mind is that as a writer for a visual medium there's a lot of rules that don't apply to you that would definitely apply to a text writer. One of these is the dreaded exposition dump, where a character goes on and on and keeps talking about everything's going on. Or when the author decides to just say, "Hey, here's what's going on." 

However, as a visual author you have major advantage: Whereas a purely text writer is limited to simply telling, you can show it and you've got multiple ways of doing this. You can obviously use a flashback; the art flows into a sepia tone and you simply show everything that you're trying to tell. The flashback also allows you some commentary on the particular situation that you happen to be showing. That is, you're not limited to a simple third person showing and are forced into some sort of omniscient narrator; you can actually have a little bit of fun. The character can make a point that is from their perspective. 

You can also use framing tools. If you have a conversation going on, in the background you can show the events unfolding. You actually show the two characters reacting, be showing some emotion, throwing a bit of commentary into the flashback. 

You need to realize that a lot of the rules that apply to a text writer don't apply to you as a visual writer. You have some fun ways to make execution dumps work that they don't have access to, so take advantage of that. You can show when they have to tell, and that's part of what makes a comic book writer so much fun. Keep that in mind when you're stuck and things will go a lot easier.

Don't Write Hungry

Hunger can definitely be one of the more annoying distraction that writers have to face. Luckily, there is one way to deal with it. First: Keep hydrated. You always want to have a glass of whatever your beverage of choice is within reach and outside the spill zone of your computer. You should always have something wet within reach. Now, let's talk snacks.

To use a plate or not to use a plate is a legitimate question. If you use a plate it means another trip to the kitchen, and that means possibly grabbing more food. Using a paper towel instead eliminates that extra trip and that temptation.

Weird Diet Tip: Fewer trips to the kitchen means less temptation to grab more snacks.

Also, make sure that you only grab prepared snacks. You want to spend as much time as possible writing, and preparing food, even nuking it, is time you spend away from the keyboard. Besides chips, the obvious suggestions are going to need your nuts, your meat, your cheeses, even your good old fashioned vegetables. The key here is you're looking for something that has a little bit of a crunch to it, but that crunch is part of what you're craving: You want something for your mouth to do and so nothing else will satisfy you as much. It's also going to stave off hunger better. 

This is why you spend a little extra time during meal prep to prepare some snacks, even if it's just cutting up meats and cheeses for cracker sandwiches, making vegetables bite sized to grab whenever you want, or even prepping some salsa or other dip. While you're waiting for something to boil, chop something up for tomorrow's snacks. 

Obviously, no one is preventing you from baking. You just want to avoid baked goods because they are the highest in calories. While that makes them satisfying, it also makes them the worst for your diet. 

Weird Snack Tip: Do not grab snacks that require utensils. You'll end up having to balance time between eating and writing, and that can suck. You want something you can just pop in your mouth with little thought.

If it happens to have little bit of salt or sweetness so much the better; those flavors help make for a satisfying snack. That's why you want your your meat (usually salty), your cheeses (a little of both), crackers (crunchy and salty), your good old fashioned vegetables (combined with a dressing for dipping, you get the crunch and salt you're looking for). Just grab a handful of something, put it on a paper towel, and get right back to work. 

By using your power snacks, you're going to find you will be a lot more productive and you're going to have a lot more fun writing.Better yet, by keeping snacking down to a minimum you may actually lose a little bit of weight.

Work Together to Cross Promote

The concept of cross-promotion is pretty simple: You give somebody a link and they post it on their site. They then give you their link and you post it on your site. Really simple and it gives you a lot more fresh views and a lot more sales, at least in theory. As such, it is definitely worth engaging in. 

However, you might want to keep in mind that there are three basic rules. First, quid pro quo: Both of you have to do it. A lot of times you have a situation where you're just not going to want to do it, you're going to lie and say you'll do it. But the other person posting didn't. Yeah, that's what we call not good juju. You're going to lose a lot of respect and people are not going to want to do business with you; if you can't come through on something simple what happens when it gets more complex? So any time you enter into an agreement, you need to value that agreement as well as you possibly can. Otherwise, well, bad reputation bad sales. 

Two, make sure the sites are compatible. For the cross-promotion to be effective the sites need to have something in common; their mature project on your all ages comic just isn't going to work. In fact, just having a mature book on your site may stop sales. The two projects must be complementary or there's no real  cross-promotion potential between the two. So, try to make sure that there's something there before you start getting into the cross promotion.

Three, don't sweat the numbers. Almost invariably, one of the two is doing a lot more business than the other and therefore it's going to contribute to the other person's success a lot more. That's fine. The little person is going to be thankful to the other person and the big person gets credit for building the other up. You know, Yes, just straight up. This is one time you do not want to sweat the numbers. 

When it comes down to it, working together to cross-promote your projects is definitely going to help both of you in the end. So find a partner and go for it!

Find Your Own Path

Some people found a great path to success and they assume that path works for everyone. That path may be fine for them, but it may not work for you. Other people have made a lot of mistakes by following others; they're drowning and you need to let them drown. You don't need to be part of that same pool. 

You need to realize you have your own destiny You have what makes you special, and it's not going to be the same thing that makes somebody else special. You need to figure out what works for you. You need to find a path that works for you even if it may not work for other people. You have your own desires; you want to follow your own dreams. However, you need to realize that your dreams are not the same as others, and that difference means that you walk a path different than others.

You need to realize that what makes you special is what puts you on your own path and you may not be able to use somebody else's path. That's fine. Their path is not necessarily for you. People will find success for themselves; but what works for them may not work for you. Find your own path and feel comfortable with that.

However, be especially beware of those that want to drag other people down with them. Some people feel that if they are drowning, then others should be drowning with them. While you may feel it necessary to try and save them, be aware that following them may cause you to be drowned as well; try and save them if you have to, but try to get off that path as quickly as possible. 

When it comes down to it, figure out what makes you special and how to use that to find your own success. Your path may be different than others, and there is nothing wrong with that. 

Don't Worry About Being Perfect

Diamonds aren't perfect. Sure, they're incredibly beautiful pieces of work and sure, they're able to cut through pretty much everything. However, people like diamonds because they have that really cool flame to them. 

That flame is caused not by the crystal structure of the diamond, but by a flaw in that structure.  

If it weren't for that flaw in every diamond, they wouldn't be worth noticing. They would just be basically really sharp glass. They wouldn't shine with an inner fire. However, because every diamond has that one little characteristic bubble, some sort of crack, or a little bit extra something in there that catches the light and causes it to refract that light all over the place. 

Because of that flaw you've got a really gorgeous gemstone.

You need to realize that you are like that diamond. Like that diamond, you would not shine without your flaws, without your imperfections. This isn't to say that you shouldn't be working on those flaws, but for all intents and purposes, those flaws make you are who you are. But you are more thanjust your flaws; just like the diamond, the flaws may make you shine but you are far more than your flaws.

Sure, you're going to have a lot of people who are going to tell you that you're an idiot, that you don't matter, and that you can be easily replaced. Ignore them. You are who you need to be and you get to define who you are. You need to beat your own drum, define your own rhythm. If there's a path take the one that's best for you. You need to find your own path, not the path that's best for someone else. 

Don't let the naysayers get you down. If somebody starts pointing out your flaws without looking at your strengths, you have every right to tell them to bugger off. You're not perfect but there's nothing wrong with that.Sure, you need to work on flaws and you should always be striving for improvement, but you shouldn't let your imperfections slow you down. Charge ahead and be the best you that you can be. 

Be remember that you have a flaw surrounded by a lot of strength, just like that diamond.

Don't Get Too Crazy About Diversity

One of the problems with diversity is that it can get a little bit weird when you try to fill in spots that we think that are underrepresented. Granted, the more voices that we have the better. It enriches us as a culture to have access to as many different voices and diverse perspectives. Unfortunately, the problem is that there a lot of writers that are more interested in trying to find those groups that are underrepresented.

However, there are some major issues that you need to keep in mind before you get too crazy with diversity. First, you shouldn't be tackling a character just because you think that character is under-represented. You need to tackle that character because itis gonna be fun. It can be interesting because it's going to be a challenge. You need to tackle that character because it's something you actually want to do. 

You should not tackle a character just because you think it's going to fill some sort of goal. Token employees don't work in the real world just as token characters don't work in the story. 

You create a lot of interesting problems for yourself, and none of them are good. When you read a story, you need to have the story come first. If anything else comes first, the story suffers as well everything else in the book. You need something to tie everything together and that's what the story does. It also moves things forward and actually allows people to explore your world a little bit more. 

If you worry more about a particular type of person than a particular type of character you're going to create the wrong culture. You're going to be creating all these little details that are about the character, and how the character interacts with the characters specifically because of that different perspective.

And a lot of those details are going to be wrong. Odds are pretty good that you will get the big details right but will get the small details way wrong. Then you are likely to idolize the culture to the point of worshiping it rather than treating it honestly. You will be so focused on trying to make the character a typical member of the race that you will more likely make them a stereotypical member of the culture. In short, in your attempt to portray another culture is going to be offensive to those of the culture.

Ironically, some from the culture try so hard to put a positive face on their culture that they make those from the culture so incredible that they do their own culture a disservice. In all cases, you need to be willing to look at the good and bad sides of the culture or else it quickly becomes a parody of itself. 

You are going to get so worried about that character that you forget about the story. You know, the part that should be coming before everything else in book. and so worried about more about writing the best possibly version of that particular character that he will likely overshadow everyone else in the story.

In short, don't do something just because you feel there has to be some sort of political need to do so but do it because the character works for the story. Worry about making the best possible story you can first, all else second, and you will find that the characters you are trying to present will be more than just token characters, upgrading them from mere stereotypes to actual characters.

Don't Do Anything Without A Business Plan

Do typically have a plan? Look, a lot of writers tend to suck at the whole business thing. It's just straight up, we're not geared that way. This goes into that whole general category of we don't want to deal with people. 

Nonetheless, it sort of can help to have an idea what you plan to do with the book once it actually gets written. And this is basically going to come down to some sort of marketing plan. We basically have most of the steps pretty much covered: 

1) We know why we're doing it.
2) We know who we have to compete against.
3) We know why we're writing the book.
4) We know how we're going to distribute it.

We just need to come up with some sort of marketing plan to get news about our book out. We need to come up with some sort of plan in order to sell our book once we actually have it ready to go. I don't care if it's as simple as a team blasting all your social media as often as you possibly can, that's still better than just uploading it to Amazon and hoping people just come across it. 

You want all of your friends to know that you've got this new book out, so going on discussion boards and selling yourself as some sort of expert works really great if you're doing some sort of non fiction book. By establishing you know what you're actually talking about will create interest in what you're actually writing. If you're selling some sort of fiction, you need to create some sort of interest in what the book is about. 

Either way, you need to get the message out. Just hoping that someone will come across your book just doesn't sell your book.

You need to come up with some sort of plan, be it a podcast interview, advertising, pretty much any kind of social media out. You need to have some sort of plan for marketing your book. You need to actually develop that plan as quickly as possible. So make sure that when you start writing you have some sort of plan for when your book is actually published and you'll be steps ahead of the competition.

Make Sure That You Have a Support Team At The Ready

Writers tend to forget that writing as well in business. Yes, it can be fun, it can be creative, and you can use it to relieve stress every so often. But the bottom line is that it is still a business; at some point in time, we actually have to have some sort of product that goes through some kind of quality assurance process, and that we get the word out that the product is on this way. Oh, and that product has to be completed and made ready for purchase. 

We also have to make sure that well, at some point, our actual copy gets into the device or the hands of our readers. 

However, as writers we have certain handicaps in this process. As editors, we pretty much suck because when we're done with that first draft, we want to publish and we want to be on to the next thing. When it comes to marketing, we're just a little bit on the introverted side; if most writers had their way, they would never ever deal with anybody. And course we have distribution to worry about, but the more we can keep our hands off that so much the better; we hate being pushy, as it means going out and dealing with people.

We need somebody to help us with those things. While there are ways around this: If we upload to Amazon, for example, they'll take care of the printing and distribution for us, as well as a little bit of marketing. 

We still need somebody to help us with the marketing we definitely need help with the editing. Because of this we need some help once in a while. We need artists for covers, lay-out artists to make the text look pretty, editors to go through the copy looking for errors, and even marketers to help with ads. We need people to do all of the things that we don't want or lack the skills to deal with.

So if you are serious about your writing, make sure that you have some sort of support team or you may as well just write for yourself. 

Holiday Sales Work!

You're going to find that selling your book at certain times of the year can be better for book sales. Obviously, the weekend after Thanksgiving is going to be one, and the lead up to Christmas is going to be another. You're also gonna notice something at the beginning of winter and summer; that is the months when people have pretty much nothing to do and they're looking for something to entertain them.

You're also going to notice that certain books do better during certain times of the year and you're going to want to take advantage of that. For example, you're books that involve the supernatural are going to be best towards Halloween. Conversely, if you have books that draw family together, they are going to do well during winter. And, of course, you're going to see sales take off during the summer when people want to read anything that they can get their hands on.  

Look at how TV generates viewers for their shows: TV sitcoms plan everything around maor holidays so you see the Thanksgiving show, the Christmas show, the Valentine's Day, even shows that highlight summer and winter activities. They see spikes of viewers when they do that because it links those shows to events that their experiences, helping add to the spirit of the season. 

If your book is geared to a specific holiday or season, by all means take advantage of that. 

It's incumbent upon you to figure out when the best-selling seasons the year are and take advantage of that. That is when you have your marketing charge up and you have your sites ready to take on the influx of customers. Make sure that you know when your books going to take off. Not everybody's going to have that same schedule in that regard. Make sure your marketing is ready. make sure information on your books are available, and definitely make sure your sites are ready. 

Just simply take advantage of that you're going to find out real quick that selling for the holidays work, especially if your books are set up that way.

Spend For Effect

One of those unwritten rules is that you're gonna have to spend money for something in order to get attention. I don't care if it's for the editing, the marketing, or even have a really cool book cover design but you need to spend money to make money. Yeah, it's a sad state of affairs, but you can't do everything for free

While it sucks there's nothing wrong with this; sometimes you need to pay to play. It's just that when you do spend money, you want to make sure that what you're spending on is actually going to be effective for whatever you need it to be effective for. You need to check out the product, and that means that you need to check out reviews if possible. You need to get some sort of sample. 

You need to be able to justify that spending. 

Then you need to avoid the person who will get what you purchased to you when it suits him. Yeah, that's not gonna work. You have deadlines, even Informal ones, and you need to stick to those deadlines. Sticking to someone else's schedule when you have one of your own needs to be avoided at all costs.

So that means that not only you have to make sure that whatever money you're spending is actually being used effectively but you need to have some sort of way to actually track it. If you can't put a tracking system of some sort in the place, then don't bother spending the money in the first place; you'll just end up wasting money one way or another. You need to not only have confidence in what you're doing, but to be able to shout out confidence in your system as a whole. 

So when it comes down to it you need to make sure that you're working with the best possible product for your particular situation. You need to make sure there's some sort of work samples available. You need to check out reviews if possible. And you need to have some sort of system in place that allows you to check up on what's going on with with the money you're spending. When you are doing that then Congratulations! You are spending money to affect

Have Someone You Can Talk To

One of the problems with being a writer is that sometimes it'll be seem like it's just you and your laptop. You can have a lot of collaborations with other artists throughout the years, and sometimes you'll have employers and employees working with you. But the bottom line is that you are going to encounter a lot of weird problems that you're going to need to have somebody talk to. I don't care if it's calling Mom, an online discussion board, or even a therapist. 

You need to have somebody who can actually talk through those problems with. 

There are going to be days when you just need a little bit of encouragement or to go completely off topic, just talking about the most inane subjects known to man. There are going to be those days where you just need to get away from your writing. You need to just talk with someone, be it over Zoom, a cup of coffee, or a glass of wine. 

This is when you can need people you can go to and discuss things most people would take to a therapist. You need to have somebody you can talk with, so that when you have problems, you know who to discuss those problems with. 

And keep in mind that sometimes the other person you're talking to you is going to have the exact same problem. So just as much as you need have somebody to talk to you, remember that other people may need to talk to you. You need to reciprocate your relationships. Just remember that you're not alone and having somebody to talk to is one of those secrets you never see in an "How To Succeed" article. So find someone you can talk with and enjoy that relationship.

Why You Need Some Sort of Family

One of the coolest things you have right now is not just beta readers, but people that know you well, that love you, and are more than willing to slap you down. You need support, you need someone to hug you when you need it. That's what we get from family, however we define that family.

You need that but at the same time sometimes you need somebody who's going to basically come in and slap you down. Not only will family support you and evendefend you, but occasionally they'll let you know that when you're being an idiot. 

And that's something every writer needs. 

Writers tend to go on really long rants about absolutely nothing that do absolutely nothing for the stories we are working on. That's where family comes in. You've got people who have absolutely no problem giving you a hot cup of cocoa while they make fun of how you're messing up. And you need somebody that has absolutely no problem coming in and slapping you down. You need somebody who's going to be a harsh critic. If that harsh critic isn't going to be you, it better be somebody you love. So if you're serious about writing, I don't care how you define the family. I don't care if you use close relatives, people you've known for years, or even just people you spend a lot of time around, if you serious about ready you need to make sure that you have family of some sort near you.

Paper Can Be Your Friend

When it comes to the creative process you're most likely going to use to digital media. Wherever you want to write a script, odds are likely that you'll just open a doc file and just simply go for it. It's just I think for the initial phases of the creation process when you're actually trying to figure out characters, plots, doing your first initial outline, the usual media is just way too constrictive. 

With a piece of paper, I can put all this really cool stuff in different areas of the paper. This means that I can see it all at once rather than having to scroll up or down. on top of that, I can figure out which areas I need to really work on first, such as the characters or the plot first. I can do all this stuff at same time. Sometimes it's really great to get away from the laptop and just go at it with a pencil on a piece of paper or even a notebook. 

What is really is cool is that if I want to I can actually set this up as post it notes, different colors for different situations. Or I put these on different types of note cards. I've even been known to use the back of a child's menu. What this does is that it allows me to see all of this stuff at one time. I'm not having to scroll up and down or go through different documents to see exactly what's going on. 

I just need to look at the board and go, "Hey, this is what's going on" or "That's not quite working." So I'll flip the cards around and start messing with stuff until everything works out to where I think it needs to be. It's just a really cool hands-on practicality. That makes paper really great. 

If you're having problems seeing what the problem is when you're writing, debate using paper, either a piece of paper, note cards, or even Post-it notes. It will definitely give you a different perspective on your story.

Learning to People Watch

A lot of writers have problems with dialogue. On one hand, you've got the writers that tend to have everything exactly the way they need it, and but in real life it would be a really boring conversation; while the dialogue is moving the plot along it just lacks anything of real interest. Then you have all these people who do all these ridiculously fluff things; the conversation may be great for helping you understand the characters but nothing is really being said. 

You need to find a nice happy medium that is unique. The best dialogue will move the plot and build the characters. But the problem is making it sound like two people are actually having a conversation.

To really appreciate how dialogue works you need to go out and actually watch people talk. You need to go to sporting events, cafes, even parks, and just sit back and watch people do what they do. You need to listen to for more than just their accents, but their slang and jargon, and how they're doing it. You also need to see which gestures they are using and even how they're facing each other. 

It's a lot of stuff to get down. But you're going find that the more you do this, the better your dialogue are  going to sound. You're also going to be able to hit that really great medium between what the story needs and that little bit of extra fluff that you need to sound real. Of course, you also need to learn how to watch people so you don't get arrested or even a stern talking to by security, but for now just go out and watch people have a little bit of fun with it. By studying people actually talking your dialogue can only get better,allowing your conversations to move the plot and build characters.

The Importance of History Shows

As writers we have two basic problems: We have to deal with writer's block and finding inspiration. The easy way to solving these problems is by turning on the TV and watching your favorite documentaries, I don't care if it's on the History Network, Discovery Channel, or even if you're just going to Netflix or Hulu, just track down whatever sounds really great and just simply watch them. 

You're going to find that a lot of really great stuff, some really incredible people, and some really fun situations that can be adapting to pretty much anything you're working on. And this is gonna help you both with writer's block as well as finding inspiration.You've got so much incredibly fun stuff going on that it's hard to be inspired by something. And once you start exploring, start getting into it, you see that this is some really great stuff; it needs to be written down and maybe even adapted into something. 

A lot of the stuff you see in documentaries is great for either a historical novel, or changing the details and converting that into your particular novel. It's always easy to convert something: You want some sweet old fashioned Space Marines go ahead and use the Roman gladiators as a model. There's always going to be something going on somewhere; it's just a matter of looking for it. And sometimes what's really cool is that this stuff will hit you unawares: You'll be watching a show, see something cool, and figure how to use it. 

This will demolish almost any writer's block. Sometimes the problem is that you simply can't figure out what to do with something. So if you're having problem with finding inspiration, if you having problems with writer's block, then step away from laptop and just simply go ahead and watch some history shows.

Make An Occasional Appearance

Writers tend to be introverts; some of us have made an art of avoiding people as much as we possibly can. Which sort of ironic when you realize how much of our job is based on interacting with other people and learning from it. As such we need to find times to interact with others, even if we don't want to do it.

One of the ways to do this is by showing up at a local convention, preferably in the artists alley section. The idea is to make some sort of connection with our fans, if at all possible.The way you do that is showing up the convention and making yourself available. Sell some books, give some signatures, and maybe even shake a few  hands. 

We try to avoid that. And it's not actually a bad thing. However, you're going to find out to the more convention appearances you make, the better it is for your bottom line. You're establishing some sort of connection with your fan base, and by doing so actually showing that you're actually a living breathing person. By doing so we can develop a fan base who are willing to go to bat for us in other weird areas and maybe even actually buy our books. 

And that's definitely a great thing. I mean, we definitely want to see people buy our stuff; a lot of us don't actually write just for the sake of writing. However, it's important to make sure that when we show up to the conventions that while we're there to build a fan base and actually build a reputation, we place that to the side and just have as much fun as we can. We put that aside and just deal with people as people; we need to make the fans feel special and you can't do that if you're thinking solely in business terms. 

This isn't to say that you should put aside completely, but only worry about the business when you're taking the money box to your room. 

You are going to find some the real connections, and the ones that work the best are the ones that are based on some sort of level of truth. So when you show up at a convention, just remember to be who you are not who you think people are expecting. At the very least, pretending to be someone else will tire you out really quickly and burn you out quickly; being yourself is usually the best option for longevity.

That said, keep in mind that a lot of writers make a lot of money from conventions, both during and after, so make every effort to make some sort of convention appearance and try to enjoy it. Your bottom line will appreciate it, and you may actually have some fun.

Necessary Evils Aren't Necessarily Evil

When it comes to keeping yourself motivated, there are going to be a lot of stuff that you do in your life that you simply don't like doing. These are what we call necessary evils: paying taxes, dealing with bills, shopping, sometimes even just interacting with other people. While they are things that you don't like doing, that doesn't make them necessarily evil. More to the point, these can actually save us in a lot of weird ways. 

We need to get away from the keyboard every so often and just simply do other things. The so-called necessary evils actually encourage us to do exactly that, even if it's doing something that's non-writing at the keyboard, we still have to go out and do things like paying taxes, taking care of bills, even sometimes doing things that we need to do in order to pay those bills. Nonetheless, we have to. And then of course, there's family, with all of its expectations, landmines, and traditions; even successful writers need to answer the "when will you get a real job?" question. 

We need that human interaction. We need to connect with other people on some level, even if it's in situations that we really prefer not to do. And trust me, I know, as a writer, you tend to be extremely introverted; we like being hermits. That's fine. That's just part of who we are. But we have to realize that occasionally, we need to do human things, if for no other reason than to keep in touch with our humanity; we need that to truly understand the species that we usually write about.  

Again, this is gonna sound sort of weird, but occasionally in order to become really focused as a writer, we need to lose that focus every so often and do other things. Otherwise, we're going to basically go crazy where you drive yourself nuts and when we might be fun to be around, but in all the wrong ways. We need to go out and do all that really nasty stuff that we don't normally want to do just because it gets in the way of whatever we're doing. You know, it prevents us from developing blocks. It helps us develop characters, and gives us some really nice details we can use later on. 

By interacting with others, we reaffirm our humanity and continue to gather experiences and knowledge that helps to write better. So we're not really getting away from writing, but we are getting away from the keyboard. Remember that when you start looking at your necessary evils and all of a sudden you'll realize that those necessary evils aren't necessarily evil. Just inconvenient.

Look For the Good

Part of being a writer is that we can investigate a lot of really bad stuff, even if it's just for our personal information. You just can't have the world's worst bad guy if the worst thing happened to him is that he burned some cookies. Don't get me wrong: Burnt cookies are a terrible tragedy. But they're not earth shattering. They're not all that really interesting. 

We need something bigger, nastier, and actually horrible to happen to create a truly memorable bad guys. So we need to know what evil is out there. 

This also means that we need to keep some sort of shield between us and that bad stuff that we're looking into. This means doing weird things like volunteering at an old folks or childcare centers because we need that positivity in our life. It means paying attention to the good things that our families doing, even if it's something as simple as graduating or doing really well in the pennant race, or, even getting an A on a quiz. 

We need that positivity in our life.

We need to know that no matter how bad things get, there's always going to be something good out there. I don't care how dark your stories are, if you want to have nothing but evil endings. Fine. But figure out a way to balance that out. You can't keep continually charging into the darkness without some sort of beacon to help you come out of it or you will eventually lose yourself in that darkness. 

I know it's sort of a weird way of looking at it. But you need to realize that for all the bad stuff that's out there, there's a lot of good stuff out there as well; that for every plane that crashes there are thousands of flights arriving at their destinations, safe and without harm. Those passenger meeting their folks. They're meeting their family. They're there to start a new life. 

There's a lot of positivity that we're not cognizant of which we need to be. We need to realize that there's a lot of really great stuff going on there because if we don't we're going to drive yourself into depression at a hundred miles per hour. So remember that no matter how bad things are, there are a lot of great thing happening out there. 

If you're having a really bad day, stop what you're doing. Stop the research into all of that really nasty bad stuff and start looking for the good. You're going to need to power your shield every so often, and that means Weird Al, dog videos, and kids. Remember that there is some good stuff out there, and you should be able to shield yourself from the worst that is out there. 

Conversations Need Lumps

One of the ways you can tell the difference between mashed potatoes you get a restaurant versus that you get home is well, the ones you get at home is the ones from home have a couple of lumps here and there. When you get them from a restaurant, these scenes are perfect. They're smooth, they're creamy, and they have peaks. They're great. But they're boring. 

When you are at home, however, they have a little bit more character to them. The flavor may be off just a little bit. They're going to have lumps. They're going to have flaws. It sort of makes your mashed potatoes all sorts of interesting. You actually have a lot of people that base their Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday memories off of those lumpy mashed potatoes. Sure, you're gonna have a lot of people tell you that the best ways to make perfect mashed potatoes but those tend to be a little bit boring. There's nothing exciting about them. 

They're just there. The imperfections make the mashed potatoes that much better.

Well, your conversations need to have their own lumps. You need to have those little flaws in there. They may have absolutely nothing to do with character, plot development, or anything major; they're just there for you to have a little bit of fun with. You're always gonna have some sort of talk about the weather. Let's talk about sports teams. Did Clarissa actually say those things? You need those lumps in the conversations that are just there to add a little bit of flavor. You just need things in the conversation that are to make the conversation flow and not really do anything.

A problem is that a lot of writers tend to forget about that and go straight for those really huge exposition dumps that pretty much don't really go anywhere. You've got two people talking about the ruthless warlord and his tactics. Great. Unfortunately, that's not what you would call a realistic conversation because even if you got two grizzled veterans that are trying to figure out how to break into the warlords keep. you're also going to hear the occasional little bit of gossip in between the tactical discussions, a little bit of how the kids are doing, that the general is a schmuck, and maybe even where to find a decent meal.

Those little details don't add to the story, but they make those characters seem a little more real. Sure, they can add details we need to worry about later, but they can also just make those characters seem more like real people. Those imperfections, those reflections and details, make the conversations more real. 

If you throw those lumps into your conversations, they're going to make those conversations have a little bit more spice, a little bit more flavor, and they're going to be a lot more interesting. And people are actually gonna remember those a little bit more, just like lumps in home-made mashed potatoes. So remember that conversations have lumps and you need to figure out a way to put them in there. Those lumps can make for some delicious conversation, so put them in!

Participation is Key

A lot of writers tend to forget that sometimes you need to actually have done something or to write about it effectively. This isn't the usual "you need only write what you know"; it's more of a "do your research". In this day and age, we can actually spend on actually looking at how people actually do things between YouTube, the History Channel, and 27 zillion different sources, we actually take advantage of those who actually do things. So if we can't do something we can find someone who has done it and take advantage of that experience.

However, the best stories are not just a matter of actually doing the research and getting out there and actually doing it. because people are going to be able to tell if you're just writing about something, if you've just done a lot of research on it, or if you've actually done it. It's going to show in all that extra detail. There's a lot of difference between the actually setting off of an explosives versus just simply telling, going through, and describing everything you read out of the instruction book. There's going to be a certain level of adrenaline there, there's going to be a certain level of, "Oh my gosh, did I do this right or am I going to totally blow myself up?" in there that you're not going to have if you just took followed the instructions of a YouTube video or even the world's best instruction book on building bombs 

Yeah, I know, this is going to put me on yet another watch list. 

But you have to realize that when it comes to doing things like dancing, or fencing, or climbing mountains, there's a certain level of experience that you need to have in order to write about these things effectively. I don't care if you've even gone up the wall at the local gym, at some point in time you actually have to climb things in order to basically experience that and make that into a much bigger experience. You need to know the stretching of muscles as they look for a handhold, the feel of gravity pulling against every move up the wall, and the stress of not knowing if the next handhold is going to give way and you'll end up falling to the ground. 

That little bit of wall climbing you as a gym is gonna actually be able to be exploded into climbing mountains because you're going to have some sort of analogy. You can then actually build on that when it comes to your writing. You need to realize that you as a writer actually need to get out from behind the keyboard and actually do this really weird thing called "actually participate in life." Trust me, the more participation you do, the better writer you're going to be. So just keep in mind that if you're not sure how to do it, then find an expert and go actually do it. Participation is key for the best possible stories, so go out and do things.

Critique Everything

One of the things you need to realize as a writer is that you can't always be nice if you're going to learn. You can't always be what other people view as the good person. This is the easiest way to become a horrible writer. You have to know when you're actually watching or reading, and why this is good, or why this is bad. Or you need to realize that this has got some really cool stuff going on and it's also got some really bad stuff going on. 

You need to be paying attention to what's going on. 

If you tried to read a story and then go back and try to figure out exactly what happened because you've got this really horrible train wreck and you're trying to figure out how all this stuff came together and just went BOOM. And you're trying to basically do this after the fact. It's the only way you're going to find out it's not going to work all that well. There are just going to always be those missing pieces and it's because you weren't paying attention so you missed it completely. 

However, if you were paying attention in the first place, you'd be able to see where the train wrecks are going to happen. You could either figure out how to stop it or decide this is a train wreck ahead of time. Now, this obviously would apply this stuff you don't like; so you definitely want to read a lot of stuff you don't like as you're going to learn a lot from that stuff. You need to tear it apart, figuring out how you can make it better, and how you can save it. 

You need to figure that kind of stuff out. 

But at the same time, you need to realize that when you start reading stuff that you do like you're basically flipping the script a little bit. That is, all of a sudden you're going to try to figure out why all this stuff came together in just the right way and why all this stuff rocked and why you love this stuff. You're going to try to emulate that in your own stuff. 

You see you're going to try to avoid all those other train wrecks, but at the same times, you're going to try to figure out how to create recreate these glorious train wrecks. Yeah, there's a difference between the train wrecks that you try to avoid and then there's the glorious pile ups that you want to cause. Trust me, you're going to want to figure out how to do that. And you can do that if you critique everything.

So, have some fun, be judgmental. It's actually not a bad thing to be if you want to be a better writer.

If You're Serious About Your Art, Take A Business Class

As a writer you are essentially running a small business s a sole proprietor, Your product is your writing, and you're trying to market to the masses. Only by doing so will you see some sort of profit from it. Given that, knowing how to actually run a business is definitely not going to be a bad thing. 

So while you're in there doing classes for your writing major, you're should be looking at taking some classes in business. It's a cool thing to actually have a minor in business. You don't have to set yourself up as a big huge Chief Executive Officer of some sort of major corporation, but you should at least debate taking a few basic classes; knowing what you're doing is definitely not going to hurt. And think about this for a second: Even if you plan on a hiring accountant at some point in time, knowing how to do the actual business math is not going to be a bad thing. Knowing how to deal with your taxes, how to deal with depreciation on your equipment, and what actually does apply to you in some areas is not a bad thing as it allows you to plan ahead better. 

Knowing how to run the numbers is definitely not a bad thing, especially when you start looking at the numbers of your returns. 

Knowing how to market yourself effectively is always a serious plus, especially today where knowing how to market yourself is definitely a serious skill even if you're just messing around on social media. And let's not forget the knowing business is always a good thing. Yeah, I know a lot of you are already studying law as part of your major because knowing how to do proper journalism also means knowing how to do copyright and how to avoid things like libel and slander. It's definitely going to help. You definitely want to take some accounting classes, some business classes, and some marketing classes, even somesome basic business law. It can only help you out in the long run. 

So definitely think about taking some business classes if you're serious about writing. It can only help you in the long run.

Crowdsourcing Helps

I can definitely see why somebody be intimidated by crowdsourcing. For a lot of people, this is going to be the most amount of money they've ever had to deal with in their entire lives and be responsible for it. On top of that, this is definitely going to be taking the first step towards doing some hardcore business for a lot of people. 

That's fine. 

Don't get too intimidated and dive straight in. For you, as a writer, there's going to be three major advantages here:
1) You're going to be able to figure out who is your audience. 

2) You're going to figure out just how much you have to print to make people happy.

3) You're going to level up as a marketer.

Let's take that in reverse order. First off, as far as marketing goes, you're going to have to figure out new ways to increase your marketing of your book somehow, because obviously you need this to be a success. You're talking about selling a lot of these to your local bookseller, even selling a lot of these online, and just getting rid of a lot of these books. That's a major step for some, and that's something you're going to have to embrace. 

Another part is that you're going to establish what your audience is. This is an important part in and of itself. You need to figure out just how many people are interested in your book, and the only way to really do that is either by polling everybody or by sending out your materials to various sources; "Here's my book, I'm doing pre-sales, are you interested?" Crowdsourcing is definitely set up well for that. That's pretty much the major advantage to it, especially with doing a multiple-issue comic where you want to get a general feel for how big the numbers are going to be. This is gonna help you a lot more than print on demand sites. 

It's also going to tell you exactly how many books you need to print and you'll be able to get a general idea when you actually start seeing a response. This also the supplemental materials and postage. There are a lot of moving parts to keep in mind. But at the same time, this is something you're going to need to establish yourself as an actual business to use your capital in order to actually do something big, and crowdsourcing is how you do it. 

Make Some Time For Yourself

You should never get too caught up in your writing that you forget that you yourself have some basic needs. Sometimes those basic needs are just simply not being met, nd you need to take time out for them. You need to have some sort of hobby, some sort of interest, some sort of way to easily get away from things, and actually enjoy a little bit time by yourself. 

Of course, for some people, this time for you alone means time with friends, family, even fellow gamers, and that's fine. Wherever you want to find that particular time that you can read, rest, recharge, and enjoy some downtime. 

That's up to you. 

Sure, you need to be getting projects done. You need to basically be doing some hardcore work. But don't forget what happened to one jack Torrance and a hotel: All work, no play makes Jack a psycho. He wrote an entire book on the subject. It's not a very lively read and you don't want to check it out. But there is a lesson there in that this guy was too hardcore in his writing, got a little overboard, and ended up trying to kill his family. 

That's not where you want to end up. 

If you want to have a little bit of sanity, a little bit of peace of mind, some sort of way of occasionally returning to you, you need to have some way of just escaping from what you're doing. You should not have any guilt from doing so, even though you'll probably feel guilty the first time. Nonetheless, you always need to make a little bit of time for yourself. Just don't get too crazy with it; if you're doing an hour's worth of work and then two days' worth of relaxation, you need to seriously debate what you're writing. But if you take a little bit of time for yourself, where for five days of work you take one day off, you're good to go. Have a little bit of a mini-vacation if you want. 

Just remember that you need to take some time for yourself or you're going to go crazy, and it's not going to be the good kind of crazy. 

Put In The Cool Scenes

Too many writers are too worried about appearing erudite, educated, and literate; they want to write something that critics going to love and thus let them into the Hall of Classics, a form of literary immortality.  

However, many people forget that when you start writing, you have to hook the readers so that they will join you for an exploration of your thoughts about some sort of existential crisis in terms of nihilistic transformations. You don't a lot of our readers going, "Wait, what the heck am I reading?" That's something you want to try to avoid at all possible cost. 

This is why you need to remember that part of what brought you into the project wasn't necessarily the characters or the plot or anything like that. It's usually because you had a lot of really great scenes that you wanted to see on paper at some point in your life. And you've realized that if you don't do this, then nobody else will. This is your chance to write those really cool scenes you've always envisioned.

Better yet, those really cool scenes will hook the readers and give them a reason to stick with you through the boring parts.

I don't care if it's having a strip poker game from beginning to end. I don't care if it's having somebody go off a cliff with a rocket pack. Everybody has a huge number of really cool scenes that they want to see realized, that they want to see done in their lifetime. Better yet, those cool scenes are probably something that your readers want to see as well. So give the readers something really interesting and put stuff in that you think will be the really cool scenes and go for it. 

You're gonna have to get through this mess anyway so you may as well as have fun with it. Put in those scenes you want to see and odds are good your readers will thank you for it.

If it doesn't work, you're gonna know you're gonna know why it doesn't work, but at least you got it out of your system, or you created something for the darlings file. But the bottom line is that when you're doing all this huge amount of writing with these characters, you're going to want to have fun with them. So remember put in those cool scenes. 

Ultimately, don't worry about the critics. Have some fun, and put in those really cool scenes. 

Be Your Own Worst Critic

Let's get real: No writer like edit. No matter how short or how long your story is, editing your story is like going after the Amazon rainforest with a six inch machete. You need to get rid of all that undergrowth that will cause some major problems later on. And there's going to be a lot of hazards in there. 

The problem, of course, is that nine times out of ten you don't know where to really begin, even if you dive right in. There's going to be a lot of weirdness and you know where a lot of that weirdness is on some level; it's that weirdness that you're dreading having to deal with. 

That's fine. 

Everybody goes through that. Be aware of that. But you need to go and dive in there anyway. While you're in there, be harsh. Treat it like this is somebody who you absolutely hate and you want to destroy their lives and you now have an opportunity to do. I know that's sort of a weird way of looking at it, but you need to go in and find all the bad stuff and either correct it, delete it, or make it into something that's not so bad. If you don't do it, somebody else has to, and when they go after it what you're going to see coming back is a lot of red. 

And the only way to avoid seeing all of that red is to go in there and deal with it yourself. I don't care what version of editing you do but you need to go after it. Some people will go straight off digital copy, some people like printing it out and going after it themselves. Some people will even go after it with a pair of scissors. Whatever method works for you. Go for it. Just realize that the person you need to be is your own worst critic. You're not going to get any better as a writer if you're nice to yourself. And this is definitely a time where that part of being a writer where self loathing comes in handy; this is where you get take it out on yourself. Get in there have some fun. 

Look at it this way: Either you do it, or someone else does, and if someone else does it you will still need to make the actual changes. May as well as do it yourself and get a start on it.

Don't Be Afraid to Steal

You're constantly reading, you're constantly watching things, and you're watching all these ridiculous videos. Occasionally, you're going to see somebody either get something  so right it's  So incredible that you need to try and do it yourself or something so wrong you need to if you figure out how to do it right. Worse, you know it's going to drive you crazy until you do it. 

Except that you're going to feel a little bit hesitant; you're going to feel that there's some sort of honor code between writers that prevents you from doing so. I'm going to tell you straight up: Go ahead and steal it. This is one of those things everybody does to some degree. If you listen to a lot of different comedian routines, you're going to hear a lot of the same jokes. I'm gonna go even further: Some of them won't be all that different once you break things down. But the bottom line is you're going to hear a lot of the same jokes because all these comedians are stealing from each other. 

When you start watching movies and TV, you're going to see a lot of people going through the same basic ideas. Again, that's because they saw something really cool or saw something really awful and decided to try and do it themselves. Everyone steals from somewhere: Sure, it may start as a form of flattery or because they're curious if they can do it themselves, and sometimes because they just want to do whatever others are doing because they know it's safe, but the bottom line is everyone does it to some degree.

As a writer I'm telling you to go ahead and steal. Now, I can see some hesitation because everybody feels there's some sort of writers code that prevents this, or you'll be found out as a fraud. That's perfectly natural. However, at the same time writers tend to be a little bit of family and we tend to have a lot of rivalries going on; we do like challenging each other for position. As long as you're doing something that will challenge others and challenging yourself, you're should be good to go. 

Just keep in mind that while there is a certain amount of gray when it comes to ideas, copyright laws are black and white. As long as you don't steal whole pieces of somebody else's work, you should be good to go. You're more than welcome to go ahead and see what you can do with it, so don't be afraid to steal someone else's idea, just make sure that you have some fun with it and make it your own.

Submit For Review

Submitting your comic for review is a really great marketing strategy. It's free, it's simple, and it gets your comics in front of a crowd.

The cool thing from your perspective is that unlike other marketing techniques this technique is usually free. While there are some exception, in general, if you're submitting to somebody for review and the reviewer actually charges you a fee for your comic reviews then you probably want to avoid that person; reviews are usually part of how they draw in readers and listeners so few reviewers charge. Also, if they are charging for reviews then there is something wrong with their policies in general. Better yet, it should only cost you a PDF copy (if you're nice enough to send a printed copy, then you're just being nice).

In short, if they are charging and/or demand printed copies then you may want to avoid them.  

he other cool thing about reviews is the bad reviews. While it's crushing to get a negative review, they can actually be better for you as a creator because they tell you a lot of where areas where you need to work on. Also, a bad review doesn't necessarily spell bad publicity; you do get your comic in the public eye. So even if it's a really bad review, people that really like that particular genre and looking for something interesting in that genre may still be interested in your comic. There's been a lot of comics that have been really poorly reviewed and have still gone on to become major successes. So if you get a bad review, listen to it, figure out where you screwed up, and correct that stuff later on. 

Of course, if you also get a really good review, don't make the mistake of letting that go to your head. A good review is great for your publicity and it's also great for if when you sell the comic. A really great glowing review says, "Hey, we know what we're doing, buy this book!" Butt don't let it go to your head. You've got these people that are really good artists and as soon as they get to start getting good reviews, they tend to have a serious talent problem because they start believing the press and all of a sudden they develop a major blockage of their talent. 

So definitely submit for reviews as part of your marketing strategy and learn from the reviews as much as you can, but don't let them get you down or take them to heart; reviews, bad and especially good can affect your well being even as they are effective marketing tools.

Make Linkedin Work For You

LinkedIn is a really cool site for people who are looking to establish business contacts and are trying to figure out job and training advice as well as discussing what's going on in any particular industry. This is a really good opportunity; normally, you can only establish contacts within the field with people that are at your level or below. It also means that you can actually discuss things about the industry, to figure out who's messing up or who's doing the right things. There are really cool tips and how to deal with problems you're dealing with. 

For those of us who do a little bit marketing on the side, this is also a really great market for our projects. If we've got this really cool project and we're trying to get a word out, LinkedIn is perfect, especially if we're trying to advertise to people within that industry. This means that not only do we all these really cool contacts offering great advice but it also means we have the potential to get our projects out before our peers and actually have somewhat peer reviewed. They can actually give us advice tell us where we're screwing up and with a little bit of luck, put us on the right track, especially if we pay attention to what they're actually saying. 

So if basically, you're trying to figure out a way to get your message to the public, then head over to LinkedIn; they'll help you if you're having a problem with your writing projects, be it the art or the business side. You've got an entire industry full writers that are willing to give you advice. It can also work if you're having problems getting word out and you want to start generating some sort of buzz for it. LinkedIn is definitely going to be able to help you; just make sure that you are clear in what you need and have a very well defined goal, and LinkedIn will be able to work for you.

Climb That Mountain

Ask any mountain climber: Anything is easier than going up a mountain. Mountain climbing is all about risk; you risk loss of resources, injury, and even death when you go up a mountain. The bigger the mountain, the greater the risks; just consider all of the corpses around Mount Everest.  

It is a lot easier and a lot safer to not take risks. Taking risks should be avoided, because of all the possible harmful consequences. Only a lunatic should take risks.

But...you're a writer. You can't play it safe. You've got to take risks. You've got to explore a direction where nobody else has been to figure out what the deal is. Sometimes you need to go up on a mountain just to see what you can see. 

One of the cool things about going up to Mount Everest is that it gives you the big picture. It's one of the highest places on earth; you can actually see the curve of the earth and that alone is probably worth the price of admission. The problem is the you've got all these people that are cowards, that are scared and have learned that playing it safe is actually exactly where they like being. However, you're you're a writer, you can't afford to play it safe. You can't go over the same territory everybody else does, you need to figure out something different, something that makes it your own. 

Something that will give your audience a different perspective on the same thing, or an entirely different thing. You've got to figure out what your perspective is on things, and sometimes that means going to places that are hazardous for everybody else. Yeah, there's the possibility that you won't come back; if you go in the cave with the dragon, the dragon may eat you. At the same time, there is possibly you and the dragon, hit it off, talk history, and find out that you have a lot in common. For that matter, you could actually kill the dragon and then have a really cool story. 

But the bottom line is you need to go into that cave; you need to take the risk and at least make the attempt at overcoming it. Everybody else can takes the little safe jobs and they're cool. They don't have to worry about looking for bigger, better things. You on the other hand, you need to climb that mountain or it's going to drive you crazy. 

You need to climb that mountain just to see what's there. You need to take risks just to see what will happen. So charge ahead, take the risks, and see what's there. And you can't unless you climb that mountain. 

Follow Your Instincts

Everybody occasionally gets this really bad vibe from something. You'll figure that you're missing something you should be catching, and because of that you just don't feel really comfortable with whatever it is you're dealing with. 

Follow your gut.

Unless you're emotionally locked into something, we're just not going to do all that well with it. If we have any sort of misgivings, any sort of bad vibes, and any sort of bad feeling about something, we're never going to be able to be able to do it. 

We need to have that emotional connection. Unless we establish that connection it just isn't going to be done well. It's just is going to go over about as like a lead balloon. Our gut feeling can prevent us from making that connection, possibly due to our previous experience, because our subconscious sees something our conscious mind doesn't, or just because something doesn't feel right. And that lack of an emotional connection prevents us from doing our best. 

Sometimes you ignore your gut feeling on something no matter how bad your guts scream at you. Some people are way too trusting and that leads them into some really nasty situations despite whatever warnings they were receiving. They don't learn from experience, and it takes them longer to learn to follow their instincts. You need to learn to follow their instincts if you are going to get ahead, whatever that means for that you.

Anybody who's been around for a certain amount of time is going to have some sort of subconscious feeling about something, and they need to learn to follow that gut feeling. Learning to follow your instincts will save you years of therapy, so unless you want to be involved in years of psychotherapy because you will experience the bad effects of whatever your gut was warning you about in the first place you need to follow those instincts. Learn from experience, follow your subconscious feelings, and see where that leads you. You may like the results.

When It's Time to Step Away From A Project

Not every writer is going to be able to do every project. This is an unfortunately sad reality. Sometimes, no matter how interested you are in your project, no matter how much work you've got done for it, no matter how much research you've done for that particular project, the bottom line is that not every project is something you're going to be able to complete. In some cases, you're not even able to even start on it. 

There's an infinite number of reasons for this. You can't connect to the setting. You can't get into the characters. There are even projects that may be just too personal for you. 

That's fine. 

It may be something that's going to drive you crazy. And in some cases it can almost be like you're having to put your pet down.There's absolutely no way to get around that because we're human: We don't like putting an emotional investment into something and then having to walk away from it. 

Unfortunately, part of being a writer is occasionally realizing that sometimes we need to step away from something. Sometimes it's just not working. There's no way we can make everything work. Sometimes it's a limitation or skills. Sometimes it's a limitation or personality. That's fine. Everybody needs to know what their limits are. I don't care how skilled or how talented a writer you are, some projects just aren't going to work. 

So whenever that happens, just step away. Don't feel guilty. I know that last bit is going to be impossible you because you're always going to feel guilty but just just step away.If you don't you're going to go crazy trying to do something that you know is impossible. If you step away then you can deal with all of the frustration then and it won't be as bad as it could be later on. 

So the bottom line is that if you know you can't complete something just step away from it. It may be hard, but it's better to deal with it sooner than later, and frees up all of the energy that you were putting into the project so you can use it elsewhere. So let it go; you'll feel a lot better.

Unleash Your Inner Demons

Writers have arguably one of the coolest jobs in the universe, especially since it does have a little bit of a therapeutic aspect to it. We have a way to get rid of our inner demons in ways that nobody else does. 

Everybody else in the universe has to keep their demons hidden, locked away, chained up, and they have to do this for the good of society. They then have to go to a psychotherapist, who's modern-day equivalent of an exorcist, talk it out, figure out what the problem is. 

For writers, however, it's different. We have the advantage of releasing our inner demons have scenes that are so incredibly evil, nasty and absolutely disgusting, and we actually get paid to do this. We can actually throw them into the world and have a little bit of fun with them. We can explore why they're evil and why they're not so nice. 

Basically, we explore why they don't play well with others. And that's what people love about us. 

I don't care if you're doing horror or if you doing science fiction, you can just let everything go. If you have some sort of evil demon, figure out how to make it even nastier. Throw it into your story and have a lot of fun with it. The more fun you have with it, the more you let it run riot, the more people will love it.

Better yet, by dealing with the demon, by taking time to understand it and to basically figure out where it's coming from you're actually exorcising your own demon, which is sort of cool when you think about it. What this means from a practical perspective is that if you're having a problem, figure out how to set up this really cool villain your story based on that problem. Go deep. have a little fun, explore around and find the darkest, nastiest thing in there. And bring it screaming into the light.

Everyone else has to hide their demons. Writers get to let theirs loose on the world, and get loved for it. Talk about a major perk....

Build A Community

One of the things you need when you're starting to promote things is that you have to have people to whom you can promote things. I don't care if it's something as simple as your friends on Facebook, you need to have people that you can tell that you're doing something. I don't care how complicated or how simple it is; you need to spread the word and you can't spread the word if it's just you. If the only people person you can be sure to get in contact with is basically just you and you alone, then there's no real sense in promoting anything because obviously nobody else is really going to pay attention to you. 

However, by building a community, you create a support crew, you create people that will occasionally have your back and if you're having problems you can actually access advice. But more importantly, when you start doing promotion you've got people to whom you can promote whatever it is. You can go on to their Facebook pages and say, "What's up, here's what I'm doing." You can go into your LinkedIn and go, H"ey, this is going to help you check me out."

The key is that you've got to have some sort of community in order to spread the news to. And you've got to take the steps in order to build that community up. You've got to put a little bit of effort into it; this isn't something that you're going to start and go on to something else, and you have to constantly maintain it. You've got to figure out ways to say, "Hey, I'm alive!" You've got to check in with other people and you have to occasionally say "happy birthday" or "congratulations on a new job". 

The bottom line is that if you really are serious about promoting whatever you're trying to promote, then your first step should be to build a community that you can promote to, or you won't have one when you need them later on. 

Twitter is Your Friend

Sure, it's 280 characters, it may not seem like you can accomplish much, but that doesn't mean that it should be disregarded. Twitter allows you do a whole lot of things very quickly, making it a very efficient marketing tool.  

The most obvious thing that you can do is create a platform that basically says, "Hey, I'm here, I've done something really cool. Check it out!" and give a really quick reason why people need to check it out. If nothing else, this is a really great way to get you doing really quick elevator pitches; you've only got 280 characters you need to make it as quick as possible. This means that you need to get in, get out and do it as much damage as you possibly can. 

Just remember the five basics: 1) tell people who you are, 2) what you are, 3) why they should be checking you out, 4) what they're checking out, and 5) how to get there. If you can do all that, and you do this in 280 characters or less, you're golden. This means you're basically gonna be able to get into that really great Twitter feed, and have somebody actually check you out. 

Keep in mind that you're gonna have to follow other people and track what those people are doing. It sounds a little onerous and it can get annoying. But even if you spend, say 10-15 minutes a day on just checking things out really quick, you should be good to go. This is just basic courtesy: If you want people to look at what you're doing it helps to look at what others are doing.

Twitter allows you to post stuff up, let people know what you're doing, and keep up on what industry professionals are doing as well. Thanks to this, Twitter should be a major assist with any kind of social media campaign you're doing. And keep in mind that you should be doing this as a supplement; you should obviously try to figure out what your favorite social media choice is, and use that. But definitely make sure you do Twitter as well. It's easy to use, it's easy to maintain, and it can have an impact. 

Use it right, and Twitter can definitely be your friend.

Comics and the Convenience Store Model

So every day I head to my local convenience store and grab a soda. It costs me between $.96 and $1.41 depending on how they charge it (it's supposed to be $1.41, but I sometimes get lucky). Six sodas gets a free one. Combined with the burgers, etc., I grab there, I'm spending maybe $30-$60 a month there. 

Here's the fun question: Between electricity, salary for its employees, and restocking costs, is my $60 really helping? 

Obviously not. It requires a lot of people coming in, spending a couple of bucks each time, and all of that money adding up over time. That is, the store doesn't need a few people spending thousands of dollars, but rather a lot of people spending a few dollars on a consistent basis. As long as it can ensure that it has that money coming in, the store can not only survive but possibly thrive. 

You need to see your comic in the same way. You don't need to sell massive amounts of merchandise to everyone; you just need to make sure that you're something. There are three basic ways to get people into the shop:

1) Make sure that people know about your shop. The Circle K has a huge sign; it's hard to miss and it's got a decent location. Also, they change the signage to keep up interest. You need to make sure that you post about you shop, any new products, any specials, basically any news or just that the shop is still around. Try to post about it at least once a week no matter what just to let people know it's still around. 

2) Have variety of goods. Your average convenience store has a variety of goods, it may not have a wide variety of gods, but it does have a variety: You can find a variety of snacks, sodas (cans, 2-liters, fountain), beer, household goods, and even hot foods in the aisles. Your comic store should follow suite: You should not only have your books, but some sort of merch, be it t-shirts, key chains, toys, whatever. The more things that you have for sale, the more options people have, and therefore the more likely they are to find something to purchase. And if they find something to purchase, they'll purchase.

3) Be convenient. the Circle K is just a few minutes away, and is well situated near a neighborhood, a school, and, excluding a taco shop, is the only place for hot food within several blocks. Your comic shop needs to be easy to find; you need a top-level domain, and you need to be everywhere. This means that you need to have several versions of your comic, if possible, available on different POD sites, as well as Amazon. The key here is that you need to be as easy to find as a neighborhood convenience store, and the easier the better.

So....when it comes down to it, you need to find a way to drive potential buyers to your shop and if you can do so consistently then you have a better chance of dependable sales. Make sure that the shop is well advertised, has plenty of options, and is easy to find. Do that, and your store has a better chance of being successful.

Why Cookies Are Not Money

There's a meme where a plate of cookies sits before three guys. The rich guys takes all but three, leaving the other two to fight over the other three. The idea is to show how the rich make everyone else fight over the remainder while taking most of it for themselves. 

It doesn't work that way, folks, and it's important we as businessmen to understand why.

The problem here is that the plate of cookies represents money as a limited resource. While that's certainly the case for the cookies, that's not so much the case with money; that is, when a cookie is eaten it's gone, it ain't coming back. With money, on the other hand, you can take it out of the system but you can bring it back. Sure, you can destroy money, but that's not something you see done everyday; people try to not burn money. 

The catch is that money is more of a liquid resource; that is, it's constantly changing shape and constantly being recycled through the process. It's important that you understand that: Just because it disappears from your ledger doesn't mean that the money is gone; it's merely gone somewhere else. However, it's important to understand that money is never truly eliminated; it's just shifted around. 

And that's something you absolutely need to understand to as a businessman, and why people say to "keep it local". If a kid does his chores and you give the kid a cookie, that cookie is history; you will never see it again. But if you give him a five, he's going to buy a comic book. The shop owner gets a coffee with that. The coffee house buys some cream. That dairy farmer used it to help buy some feed. That original $5 became $20, and its journey is just beginning. 

Note the difference: The cookie could only be used once, while the five-dollar bill can keep being used. 

Keep that in mind as we revisit the original plate of cookies, but replace the cookies with $100 bills. Sure, the rich man is going to get most of them, but most of them won't stay in his possession for long. He may put several of them into the bank, but he's going to spend money improving his home (money that goes to local contractors). He's going to spend money on food (which goes to grocery stores and restaurants). He's going to spend some on clothes (which goes to local shops).

Remember that money he put in the bank? The bank gives him interest on it, but it also goes to financing homes, local businesses, and even whatever charities the bank supports. 

[This is where the myth of "trick-down economics" comes from, or the idea that the rich support those below them as their money filters down to everyone else. Keep in mind that what we're discussing applies to everyone, just to different degree; as such, money circulates around, not down. Everyone contributes to the economy, unless they keep their money in a mattress.]

So why do you need to keep this in mind? Because that's how the comics business works. The money you put into a crowdsourcing campaign allows the person to buy more comicking supplies and pay his crew. That money, in turn, is used to keep printing businesses, internet service providers, and merch sites going, which makes the comics industry possible. This also means that those people are buying comics, which helps us all. 

There are a lot more cogs to the machine, and I'm obviously keeping it comic-centric (those people are also paying bills, getting food, grabbing sundry items), but the point is that the original couple of bucks is being used by a lot more people, and those few bucks quickly become a lot of bucks if you track where they go. 

Once the cookies are used, they're gone. The plate is useful to see how much money different people get, but it breaks down really quick if you use it as a model of the economy as a whole. As money is something that continues to circulate as it's used, bolstering the economy the more it's used. So spend your money to get more cookies; they're delicious and you're helping the economy. 

Or let the money earn interest in your bank account. Either way works.

You Are You

You are you.  

Yeah, I know that sounds silly. But the thing is that everybody has their own unique perspective on things. Everybody does something different than everybody else. Everybody is who they are. And that applies just as much as it does to me as it does to you. You are different than everyone else is and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

People don't want to fundamentally change you to make you something different than what you actually are. It's fine to teach you how to do something; you are adding on to your skill set but not necessarily changing your perspective. But if the only way they can teach you how to do something is to change you into them, well, that's sort of missing the point. That's not teaching a skill; that's teaching a religion and that should be avoided. If someone insists that you can only learn from them by turning you into them, then you need to seriously debate letting them teach you.

We need as much uniqueness in the world as we can possibly yet. We need people with different perspectives, different skill sets, different perspectives. And if everybody was the same, if everybody, even a subset of people were exactly the same, this would be a problem because we need as many perspectives as needed. Different perspectives within a group means that the group also has different approaches to a situation, and that gives the group options when it comes to dealing with problems.

That's a good thing.

We lack sometimes that unique voice that we need to survive as a group. If we're heading towards danger, that unique voice and can pull us back from the edge just by saying, "Hey, look out!" We need people that are who they are, not who they think people think they should be. Sure, there's going to be exceptions to that. (If you're a serial killer, you need some serious help, at the very least.) But if you're not doing something that's harming somebody else, then you need to be yourself. 

(If you are harming yourself and/or other, then it's time to change what you're doing.)

But as long as you're not harming yourself, as long as you're actually expanding yourself, as long as you are becoming more you, then you should basically be doing whatever you feel necessary for you to accomplish whatever it is you want to accomplish. So, go out there, have some fun, screw what other people think, do what you need to do. 

And remember that you are not them. 

You are you

You Aren't Alone

No matter how lonely you may feel there's always going to be somebody there if you look hard enough. This is the important part of joining community; you have that support when you need it. This isn't just in terms of if you have a question you want to ask somebody (yeah, that's awesome!) but also knowing that you have someone out there that will have your back or you or can just simply talk to you. This can sometimes make a world of difference.  

You need to realize that you're not all by yourself. You may think you're a solo act, that you may have lived your life in total isolation. We're artists; it's not that hard to feel like you're totally alone even in a crowd. For a lot of us, that made us easy to bully and we carry those psychological scars; this also means that we tend to be loners. 

However, you need to realize that it's not that hard to actually just open up and ask for a little bit of help. You can always go on to an artist group and at the very least live vicariously through people around you; it may feel a little shallow but it's still realizing that, hey, there are other people like you, there are people that share your interests, there are people that share your goals. 

They are your people and if you have a problem odds are good that someone else within that group has had the same or similar problem. If you need someone to talk to odds are good that you can find someone to get some advice from.

And if you want a really scary thought: This means that you can potentially be the person that others depend on as well. That means that you can throw a lifesaver at someone else who needs it. And you know how big of a difference that having a lifesaver can make in a person's life. 

Weird that feeling like a victim can help save another victim, right? That sympathy can be powerful when it's used to effect as it turns you from victim to hero, and gives you the strength to help someone else. But that's part of belonging to a group: Sometimes you join because you need the support and then you end up being the support. Just recognizing a new person to the group can be a tremendous thing to some people. 

And keep in mind that it plays both ways. There are a lot of little things that we can do that can make a difference in not only our lives, but also the lives of the others. And sometimes it's worth doing those little things just to stay sane; if you see someone who needs help, at least ask. It's important to realize that you're not doing things all by yourself. Sure, you may in your own world when you create, but that world is still linked to others; no matter how deep you go into your own world don't forget that you can surface next to someone else's if you need to.

When you join an online community, it's a two-way street: Just as you joined the community so you weren't alone, so did others; even if you are just are lurker and never interact, you still gain from being part of a community.

You need to realize that you can have the full supportive community just by asking. Realize that you are never alone and it makes a tremendous difference in your life. Help is just a few clicks away and it is better to have asked than not. If you are still hesitant, ask a moderator; they can at least direct to someone who can help. 

The bottom line is that you are not as alone as you think you are. Remember that always. 

You are not alone.