Drawing indie comics requires community!

I’ve been drawing indie comics for a long time now, and as early as 2008. I don;t know if I mentioned that last time. I was posting various comics online with no clear guidance on how to draw people in. It’s one thing to draw comics with good jokes or lots of action, but the real trick to success is building your community. My problem was simple: I had plenty of casual readers coming in, but no one was spreading the word. And believe me, you want people talking to each other about your work!

A lot of tricks fall flat. Those “share” buttons on most sites practically blend in to the interface. The human eye has an uncanny knack for omitting things the brain decides it doesn’t need at the moment. Peripheral vision can be a cruel mistress, especially when it comes to web design.

So, how do you make a successful comic with a vocal audience who gets your name out? Well, you need to do more than just post comics. As much as my younger self ignored it, indie comics are a business. You need to treat it like one. If you’re not promoting, you’re hosed.

I can’t tell you exactly what it takes to get people taking about your work specifically, but readers gravitate towards content that not only resonates with them, but also with lots of other people. Everyone wants to be part of something bigger, yet simple. Keep your story mostly straight-forward, create dynamic character interaction and cross your fingers that the fickle gods of the internet take notice. Drawing indie comics can be a crap shoot as well.

And trust me, it takes time to build a community. Check out Making Comics for a slew of insight! I know it’s MY new jam…