Why the Feminist Frequency Sucks For Marketing

One of the problems that any webcomic faces is the conflict between audience and profitability. In essence, the larger the potential audience the greater the potential profitability the webcomic has. By doing anything to limit the audience, you also limit the potential there is for profit. If I target a primarily female audience that means that I limit my potential to half that as much as if I went after everyone.

The bad news is that this means that I also need to keep in mind my operating costs. If my operating costs are relatively small, then I can ignore the profitability of my webcomic and do pretty much anything I want to without worrying about what other people say about the comic. On the other hand if I’m trying to make a profit from the comic, then I need to worry about what the public thinks about my comic, and I need as many people as possible to read the comic.

This is sort of what “Tropes against Women” gets wrong. Gaming is not about making progressive stands to better society; it is not about making a stand for or against something so much as it is about making a profit. In that regard it tends to operate on free market principles; whatever sells is usually what they produce. This means that whatever consumers buy the most of in a particular year will probably find itself being produced more of in the following years. The problem is that women make up less than a quarter of gamers, and developers are more interested in the majority of gamers, producing games for male gamers. Given the millions that it takes to develop games, this makes sense.

However, and contrary to what Sarkeesian thinks, the portrayal of women has improved over time. They have changed from merely the reward at the end of the quest to the motivation for that quest as well as aid along that path. Zelda may get captured, but until that point she proves to be an able ally, sometimes having to choose between her duties as princess and those as Link’s benefactor. At one point she even invents an identity, that of Sheikh, in order to adventure alongside Link. A decade ago she would have been limited to just being the object of the quest; now she is an equal partner, even telling Link what to do.

Obviously I’m not trying to say that things cannot get better, but that it takes a different approach to work. I think that webcomics can benefit from looking at some of Sarkeesian’s points. So I’ll be exploring those points over the next series of colums.

Some interesting thoughts on an article.....

Sometimes an article needs to be looked at in some detail. Io9.com published an article on writing comics that I think needs to looked at in some great detail.

Action and Dialogue: The point it makes about is one you need to take to heart. Every scene needs to move the plot forward, and that applies to action as well as exposition. Exposition are important, especially as they allow you to explain what is happening, but you don’t want just random explanations; you want to parcel out exposition as needed. Action scenes should also move the plot; don’t place them solely to have some excitement to happen; excitement needs to be parceled out just like exposition. Dialogue can be used for both; it can also aid in establishing characterization. It’s all about the pacing; mind your pacing and your comic will flow like Shakespeare. Use dialogue, action, or exposition without a good reason, and it slows or disrupts anything you are trying to set up.

Being Gritty: The first reboot is always a dark, gritty one. For some reason when people do a s sequel or a reboot, it almost always comes out more violent, more corrupt, and with more sex than the first, and it is done so often that it’s become a running joke. Try to avoid the temptation; it rarely works out well. Sure, once in a while you get something like Wrath of Khan or Empire Strikes Back, but generally you get something like the New Universe or Battlestar Galactica, and that’s something you want to avoid. Try to avoid the temptation, or do it with the intention to get it out of your blood; just don’t get to mired in it.

Origin Stories: The easiest way to get things going is to start at the beginning. That’s why writers do the origin first; it’s a good starting point and the hero starts with that fresh character smell. However, you can also start halfway through the story and debate flashbacks as you go; this is actually a pretty fun way to do it as you get to keep the readers guessing and they love trying to figure things out. Try to avoid starting at the end, and flashing back to beginning; this kills all sense of suspense and some twists feel like they were added just to stump people. Readers hate surprise twists; earn them like you do everything else. Short form: Start with an origin or halfway in, but START.

Illusion of Change: This is not a bad idea, especially for a comic strip. You want your characters to become an archetype, make as few changes to the universe as a whole. This is why superheroes don’t die; for them to die permanently we need to acknowledge change, and change can wreak its own changes on the universe. At the same time, a more dynamic universe requires that this illusion be dashed, such as one where the rebels actually win or the lovers start raising kids. Decide on what level of change your universe needs, and go for it.

Reboots and Retcons: Occasionally you will need to make sweeping changes because you either need to better organize your universe or because things just aren’t working out. Don’t be afraid to hit the restart button every so often, but make sure that you work out all of the changes ahead of time. This can be great for re-inspiring you and getting you going again, as well as refreshing the universe. Just don’t use more than you absolutely more than you need to; if you use it too often you erase the anchors that your readers depend on, and changing those anchors by cost you readership. They need something to depend on; eliminate that and you eliminate them.

Yeah, I’ll be addressing the last point by itself, and I may be revisiting these in a week or so. But this should get your started…

How to get people to go to your table

Artist alley is a place where a comicker can make money from his comic. I know it sounds like you are selling out, but you need to get over it: You should never be ashamed to get money from your skills, especially if you’re good at it. An artist alley table is actually a pretty good deal, as it allows you to show what you can do, meet new people, and network among other comickers. There are some cool things about being at a convention, but just how important is meeting Joss Whedon and Felicia Day compared to showing what you can do, right?

So you need to get people to your table. The first thing you should do is secure a table as quickly as possible. Depending on the convention and which level you have bought, you may be entitled to free advertising through the convention itself; there are advantages to buying that “sponsor” level rather than “guest” or “artist”. At the very least, you have a specific address you can send people to rather than just a general address, and “specific” is always better than “general”. That table number, as well as where it can be found, should show up in all of your advertising when you post your appearances.

If you have a website, and you had better have one, you can advertise on it. Better yet, you can also draw a map to exactly where you will be. The map, if small enough, can be included with any other advertising you happen to do. Obviously this means that you are advertising for the convention, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it means that you helping to ensure a crowd, and the more people there the better, right? So don’t be afraid to drum up interest, especially if it is a small convention; the more people that are there the more people there to buy your merch. At any rate, advertise your table and you may see an increase in people saying hello.

You also need to advertise what will available, in terms of both products and services. This means more than just your books and posters; if you are doing caricatures mention that. If you are raffling off prizes, definitely mention that, especially if the number of tickets handed out has something to do the amount purchased. Are you going to rig up a webcam? That’s cool, too. If you want people to come, give them a reason to come.

Suffice to say, if you have a Twitter or Facebook account, or any other social media, USE IT. Let me people know you will be there, join groups of people that are going, even join the convention’s groups themselves. Remember that people can’t visit your table if no one knows it exists, so tell them all about it. Do not hesitate, just do it.

Oh, and make sure that people have a way of knowing it’s your table. Make sure that you have some sort of poster up and make sure that it’s visible. The obvious corollary is to guard your space, and do so jealously; if someone’s signage is obstructing your table, ask once and then mention the problem to someone in charge. You paid to be there, and so you deserve any rights that it comes with the price of admission. So remember to fight for your rights, and don’t be afraid to get an authority figure in on it if need be.

The bottom line is that this is your lifeblood; you can make money from your comic if you can get people to buy merch based on it. The most effective way is to advertise, to let people know where you will be. So, have fun figuring out ways to get people to your table. You can’t succeed if you don’t try!

Proper Critique: Gay-Coding

One thing that’s really starting to get annoying is the need to find context that supports your group. Now, I can respect fully analyzing something, adding subtext that simply does not exist is something that should be avoided. For some reason, there seems to be a lot of this with gay critiques, especially when it comes to so-called “gay coding”.

“Gay coding” refers to situations where the characters appear straight, but where closer examination shows that they are actually gay. Consider the standard sitcom set up where you have two boys that may have girlfriends or are otherwise girl-crazy, but tend to spend far too much with each other. Obviously the two boys must be gay, and the girls are just for the benefit of homophobes in the audience, as well as to inspire hope in the girls watching; “They have girlfriends, so they can’t be gay, right? Winkwinknudgenudge.”

The problem is that this commonly adds far too much subtext where it simply does not belong. Consider Tom and Huck; you have two boys that tend to swim together, play together, and basically spend most of the book making fun of the girls. Obviously the two boys are gay, and Becky Thatcher was added just to make it look like it was a heterosexual romance. It gets more interesting in Huck’s book, as Huck floats down the river with a black male and has encounters with other males, such as the Dauphin and a few local boys throughout the book. The problem is that the “encounters” are hardly sexual by any stretch, and the gay subtext is being added simply to make Huck more of a gay hero.

Now, I appreciate the need for heroes; part and parcel of being a writer and all that. However, this does not mean that every person needs to be gay; adding a gay subtext is sometimes adding too much, especially when it is something that the author did not intend; sometimes the critique even notes that sometimes the author’s intent should be ignored as the author may have had reason to disguise his “real” intent. This means that perfectly straight boys and girls are all of a sudden gay because it suits someone’s sexual-political aims, and there is something wrong with that.

For the drinking game: I’m in a weird position here. There are sometimes when the author intended for there to be some homosexual subtext, especially if he is subverting a genre. Usually, however, there isn’t any such subtext. Just as in real life, two guys, or girls, should be able to have a perfectly fine bond as two people without their being any expectations of sex; sex should not be a part of every relationship, and in all honesty should be a part of very few relationships. Life is not a CW show, and that’s a good thing; there does not need to be sex in every relationship. As a writer you should be free to explore all sorts of relationships, and requiring them to be sexual actually limits you.

Keep this in mind when you are analyzing a comic. Make sure that there really is the subtext that you see there, and that it’s not something you are adding to it. Yeah, sometimes it may be there, placed as a way to subvert the genre, but this should not be seen as a bad thing; just be aware that it may not always be what it looks like. Not everyone is having sex, and sometimes it’s not who you would expect…