August 25th, 2006
Thoughts on the benefits of doing MISFIT’S JOURNEY
Some people do webcomics because they want to make a living doing them. Some people realize the improbablity of this happening, but want to make some ancillary income off their webcomics. Some people hope that their webcomic will lead to a deal with a print comics company or perhaps a TV or movie deal. These are some of the most common goals that webcomics creators seem to have. Personally, I wouldn’t mind at all if these things did come about for me, but I can see OTHER benefits to doing this comic.
The process of writing MJ allows me to reflect on who I have been and who I’m capable of being. It allows to develop my presentation of who I have been, who I am now, and who I could be. It helps me maintain a sense of purpose to my life. I can see the process of writing it helping me to write books and screenplays in the future. I can see the themes in it carrying over into Op-Ed pieces I might write, inspirational speeches I might give, or even into some kind of run for public office.
On the short term, I don’t see MJ making big bucks for me, but I think it could lead to any number of positive things for me in the future.
Frankly, I see plenty of better ways for me to make good money than doing webcomics. They just aren’t that lucrative for me right now compared to other things I can do. I want to keep working on this story anyway, though, but I see many other gains to be made in doing so.
In an academic kind of way, I’m curious about the possible ways people CAN make money with webcomics. I want to do some of my own experiments in this area, but I’m honestly not planning on webcomics being my sole source of income.
I see myself as being something of a booster of grassroots/”homegrown”/small press/alternative comics. Actually, I’m a fan of independent film and alternative music and the things THEY can do too. I’m immensely curious about just how alt comics change with the times, and I honestly think webcomics are a big part of the future of alternative comics. At minimum, I want to be a spectator who observes the future of alt comics. Perhaps, just perhaps, my webcomics work will have some effect on the future of alt comics. We’ll have to see, won’t we?
Webcomickers like to write about the merits of keeping regular schedules for their work and the merits of webcomics portals like ModernTales.com. Personally, I’ve decided I’d rather focus on doing a good job with future MJ stories than maintaining a strict schedule. My experiments earlier this year have lead me to discover that I really don’t need a regular schedule or an affiliation with a portal to bring lots of traffic over to my stories. I may not make a lot of money right off the bat with the approach I’m taking to doing MJ, but I see myself maintaining a strong readership that could lead to any number of positive things in the future.
While I just don’t feel the pressure to do MJ on a tight schedule, I DO feel the pressure to blog regularly. Some months I’ll be blogging more than others, but I fully intend to maintain some kind of regular presence at BenAdamsArts.com.
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:24 pm
5 months since your last post…you ok friend?
January 24th, 2007 at 5:52 am
I’m fine and sometimes even great, but I’ve also been busy. The August 25th post about moving and changing jobs (http://www.benadamsarts.com/?p=235) explains mainly why I haven’t been posting much.
I’ll be back with more soon … honest.
Ideally, I should be blogging here at least once a month, but changes to my life sometimes mean I just have less time to do so.