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This tweeterview was between:
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An approach to launching new webcomics
Date: Sep 01, 09 Time: 16:00 Category: Art / Design |
The tweeterview as recorded:
| Q1: | "I am tweeting with Kevin Coulston from @stalebacn today. Thanks for joining me, Kevin." |
Thanks for having me.
| Q2: | "@stalebacon is a new webcomic entering the online arena. What issues were you wary of at startup?" |
There was a big fear of not getting any readers initially. We'd never done this before, so we really didn't know what to expect.
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More on Q2...
When did Stale Bacon officially launch the strip?
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August 3rd, so we've been officially publishing comics for about a month now.
| Q3: | "You have two people working on the strip, I understand. How does this dynamic work? " |
Well, Dustin and I talk on MSN Messenger all day while at our real jobs. We talk about crazy stuff.. and crazy ideas for comics come up.
Initially I did the illustrating, but Dustin's been learning and we've kind of shared the work load. Both in writing and illustrating.
| Q4: | "Briefly, what is your creative process, from sketch to final art?" |
Usually sketch on a piece of paper, then take characters I've made in Adobe Illustrator and import them to Photoshop.
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More on Q4...
Do you prefer to create the artwork more in PhotoShop or Illustrator? Is PhotoShop just a method of colouring them for you?
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PS is where I add characters to panels, and add wording. All illustrating and coloring is done in Illustrator. Touch ups are done in PS.
| Q5: | "You seem to enjoy adding midgets into your work. What is the reason for that?" |
They came up for an idea for one comic, and when I made them, I gave them no features at all. No hair, clothing, etc.. that was funny to me.
There's no rational answer to that question. lol.
| Q6: | "You have created a dedicated twitter account for @stalebacon. Is twitter the only social network used to promote your comics?
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No, we use a lot of them. Facebook, Myspace, Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit. Those are what I can think of now. They've worked well for us.
Twitter and Reddit seem to work the best for us though.
| Q7: | "You have been very active in promoting the strip through twitter. The other tools don't lend themselves to that as much. " |
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More on Q7...
Is this a benefit of twitter?
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Yes, twitter is the instant gratification of social networking. There's no waiting for feedback, and we've been able to connect with other..
..Webcomic authors. Other authors promote us, and we promote them. Mutually beneficial twitter relationships.
| Q8: | "How do go about encouraging followers to retweet your posts or vote up the strip in redditt, Digg, etc?" |
We don't really push that a lot. Sometimes we'll post a link to vote on Reddit, but we've also got those tools built into the site itself.
| Q9: | "Do you use automation tools for posting links/tweets, or do you do it "by hand"? " |
We post everything personally, because we like to word things differently, to try and give the tweets a personal feel.
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More on Q9...
How do you encourage facebook fans to share your links? Do you feel this a different challenge than the same thing on twitter?
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We like to be creative in how we post on facebook, we'll sometimes write something about the comic as we get than 140 characters there.
We definitely don't get as much promotion through facebook as we do Twitter though.
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More on Q9...
Would you attribute that to the "always on" environment of twitter?
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Yes, it seems the simplicity of twitter attracts more people to keep track of posts. Less cluttered posts = More views.
Dustin and I both have smart phones with Twitter applications installed, we're connected 24/7, and we're not alone in that.
| Q10: | "Why have you chosen to add some games to your site so early on?" |
That was part of the fear of losing visitors early on. When we officially launched, we had 5 comics on the site. Adding a couple games..
..gave us more content, and was probably more engaging for the visitor.
| Q11: | "Are you seeing much crossover of users coming to the site to play the games, then reading strips? Or is the other way around more common?" |
At this point, the comics really drive the site traffic. The games are just a nifty add-on.
| Q12: | "What things do you feel, at this stage, may be needed to try to build your audience further?" |
We feel like if we can keep up with our consistent schedule of 5 comics per week, we'll grow a steady viewership. Consistency is a big deal.
It's the one thing a regular subscriber expects from a webcomic.
| Q13: | "Is print syndication a goal for the strip, or do you prefer the online medium more?" |
I don't really think we'd do well in print. Our rudimentary style really fits in the "webcomic" classification. Plus we like dirty jokes.
| Q14: | "You recently got some amusing negative feedback on the strip. Are you expecting more of this?" |
We hope so, we got our highest web traffic ever that day.
| Q15: | "Which other webcomics are you particularly enjoying reading at the moment?" |
| Q16: | "Lastly, What Disney character would you be, if you had a choice?" |
Iron Man
Too soon?
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More on Q16...
LOL! No, I don't think so.
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| Q17: | "Thanks for your time today Kevin. Tweeps, to see the strip or play a game where you get to throw midgets, visit http://www.stalebacon.com/" |
Thanks for the interview!