There are more than I thought!

[GeorgeComics]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_se ... _webcomics

I know it's not a lot, but there are still more self-sufficient webcomics out there than I thought there were.

[Drugsmugglingcartoonist]

'Of the thousands of webcomics, few produce significant income; in general the creator of a website is lucky if it can support its own hosting bills'.
- Not exactly cheerful in what it says.

[Deca]

I think the whole point of webcomics is to have fun, get your ideas out, improve your art and writing, and maybe meet some people with the same likes. Starting a webcomic to make a profit is a cause doomed to fail, and even if you get enough to support yourself it's not exactly get rich fast type of dealy.

The comics medium itself is a deep well filled with talented individuals in which only a few molecules get any sunlight at all... O.o
Hum, I think this is why I can't bring myself to write.

[Drugsmugglingcartoonist]

I think the whole point of webcomics is to have fun, get your ideas out, improve your art and writing, and maybe meet some people with the same likes.

It could've said something like this, or that it was a new innovative form of cartoon work, or described it as a new art which i think it is, or at least new and larger outlet for comic art in the sense that it is perhaps more individual than mainstream comics. Just something a little less negative than defining it in economic terms.

[GeorgeComics]

Well, it's negative, but it's true!

[Blackhole]

I think the whole point of webcomics is to have fun,

I totally agree. Besides,.. who is going to be stupid enough to quit their job just to make webcomics? It's not like you need to spend 4 or five hours a day drawing one page or strip, and if you do then you're either taking it too seriously or have creative or artistic problems.

To me the best payment for making webcomics is getting fanmail.

[Dr Neo Lao]

Well, webcomics as a business model is doomed to failure to begin with.

Who will pay for something you're giving away for free?

If you want to make money for drawing / artwork, 'proper' comics in physical format are the way to go, not webcomics.

[Komiyan]

It's less a case of readers paying for it and more a case of them viewing ads, whether they click on them or not.

[Jim North]

Also, merchandise and donations.

[Deca]

You have to generate the numbers though, comics like some the ones posted on the wiki there have viewers in the 100,000s. Just enough so that when they link to other sites, the huge masses that click the link exceeds the lesser pages bandwidth. I've this happen with both Penny Arcade and Sluggy Freelance. You don't just need people reading, you need to enthrall them, your comic has to be the best crack around.

[Jekkal]

'Of the thousands of webcomics, few produce significant income; in general the creator of a website is lucky if it can support its own hosting bills'.
- Not exactly cheerful in what it says.

May need to be tweaked for language, but it IS true.

After all, I think I counted 11,000 webcomics out there; if even 1,000 make $60 annually (which IS the cost of hosting, roughly), that's still a strong minority, and really I'd put the number of "dedicated" webcomics out at 500, so that's even less.

[McDuffies]

Well, webcomics as a business model is doomed to failure to begin with.

Who will pay for something you're giving away for free?

By that logic, television is a doomed business model too.

You don't just need people reading, you need to enthrall them, your comic has to be the best crack around.

That doesn't explain CAD, though.

[Bustertheclown]

It's not like you need to spend 4 or five hours a day drawing one page or strip, and if you do then you're either taking it too seriously or have creative or artistic problems.

Well, that's not quite true.

After all, I think I counted 11,000 webcomics out there; if even 1,000 make $60 annually (which IS the cost of hosting, roughly), that's still a strong minority, and really I'd put the number of "dedicated" webcomics out at 500, so that's even less.

Perhaps I'm missing the point of that sentence, but I don't understand where you're coming up with the number of 1000, which is less than 10% of all webcomics you think you counted. That seems like a pretty low hypothetical number there. Surely, more than 10% of all webcomics have the capacity to make five bucks a month from their comic. Five bucks is nothing. That's less than the cost of a Big Mac meal. That's less than 17 cents a day. Anyone who can't make more from their comic than they would just scanning the ground for loose change, frankly, isn't in it to make any money, let alone a living.



In my own opinion, I think that if more people came to the endeavor of creating comics with the expectation and desire to run it as a money-making venture, or even a business (*gasp!* perish the thought!) then there would be more readily available entries into that very very very truncated list of names. I mean, honestly, how many of those "web" cartoonists there happen to be making their living as cartoonists by blundering blindly to a fortunate outcome? As long as cartoonists keep seeing the webcomic as being merely a hobby, and not as a piece to a greater whole in comic publishing and business, we will continue to see a short list comprised primarily of hobbyists who got a lucky break.

[Jim North]

By that logic, television is a doomed business model too.

Network television, anyway. And people have been foretelling their doom for quite some time. Of course, they've found many novel ways to keep themselves afloat . . .

You don't just need people reading, you need to enthrall them, your comic has to be the best crack around.

That doesn't explain CAD, though.

haha burn

[KWill]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_se ... _webcomics

I know it's not a lot, but there are still more self-sufficient webcomics out there than I thought there were.

To be honest, I'm pretty sure some of those have other jobs as well, or at least did for a while. Foglio's behind the cover art on most Terry Pratchett novels I've seen and I know he used to do the occasional Magic Card back in the day.

[McDuffies]

Eh a dollar is as much an acknowledgement of a success as is fan mail. If you're doing comics for fun and nothing else, then you shouldn't care about fame and readership any more than you care about money.

I for one would love to earn big buck from comics, and for one single reason: that would let me dedicate all the time and energy I have to making comics. I think I'd make them much better then, and much more of them too.

[KWill]

You don't just need people reading, you need to enthrall them, your comic has to be the best crack around.

That doesn't explain CAD, though.

Sure it does. The merchandizing and the whole Winter-Een-Mas gag enthrall a certain audience. A comic has just as much need to be "the best" in order to keep the creator fed as an organism needs to be the fittest to survive: not at all. All you need is to fill a niche in the market and hope it doesn't close.

[Cuendolin]

I agree with KWill.
Some of the comics seem not to deserve such success, but a mix of picking a popular topic, luck and knowing your audience sometimes does the trick.
It is another talent, I think.

[Jaybob81]

If I ever make a dollar from this I'll crap my pants. I do it because the internet is an awesome outlet for art and teh jokes, even if neither are good.

[Komiyan]

It's not like you need to spend 4 or five hours a day drawing one page or strip, and if you do then you're either taking it too seriously or have creative or artistic problems.

Well, that's not quite true.

Yeah, agreed, what on Earth is wrong with spending time on the comic? Each of mine take about 6 hours because I want them to look right.

Also, you can make a nice side profit when you don't have twelve million readers, I have about 6000 to 7000 readers which is very very small potatoes as far as the names you've linked mention, and I get about $300 a month. That's the majority of my rent paid for there.