posted on September 29th, 2007 in The Machine, Web Comics 

Fleen on Zuda

Fleen’s Gary Tyrrell shared his analysis of the Zuda contract docs in a series of posts on the submission agreement, the rights agreement, the services agreement, and his final thoughts.
He concludes with:
But as written, the Zudadeal stands in opposition to the creator ownership that has been one of the core strengths of webcomics since Day [...]

posted on September 29th, 2007 in Ask a Ninja, Community, Despair, Inc., JibJab, Penny Arcade, Rooster Teeth 

on the importance of being earnest about community

Undies thrive on a direct connection with their fans. Audiences definitely appreciate the ability to interact with creators, whether at conventions or online. This direct relationship lets creators earn and enjoy high unit margins on their sales because they often need no label, publisher, wholesaler, retailer, etc.

Successful community strategies vary as widely as the Undies themselves. For instance:

• Despair, Inc. lets their fans build their own Demotivators. In addition, Despair offers excellent promotions to members of their Wailing List.
• JibJab has a massive community presence and lets fans star in their own clips;
• Penny Arcade has forums at their site, and they host their own monster convention, the Penny Arcade Expo, that this year brought together almost 40,000 fans for three days of gaming festivities.
• Rooster Teeth Productions has built perhaps the greatest Undie community site around. Check these amazing stats:

The web continues to evolve new ways to build and manage your community. TechCrunch has reviewed nine such tools. I like Ning a lot myself.
Ask A Ninja has announced an upcoming upgrade to their community platform. We’re eager to see what the Ninja unleashes for fans.
Creators, how do you encourage and engage your tribe?

Fans, what community features do you like the most?

–JLB

posted on September 29th, 2007 in Web Comics 

The Telegraph talks webcomics

The Telegraph provides a nice overview of webcomics with Penny Arcade and Achewood profiles, news of industry heavies trying to move in, and some decent macro numbers:

Drawn into the future of online comic strips – Telegraph
…over the past decade, online comics have mushroomed in popularity, with some providing a handsome living. “There are probably 1,000 strips with an audience beyond the creator’s immediate family and friends,” says Gary Tyrrell, editor of the webcomics blog fleen.com, “and 100 or so where the creators are deriving some measurable income from it. Probably several dozen are living completely off their webcomics.”

–JLB