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This tweeterview was between:

Tweeter: @agent_x

Tweetee: @imnotbob

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From webcomic to minicomic
Date: Sep 15, 09
Time: 10:00
Category: Art / Design
More about this Interview.

The tweeterview as recorded:

Q1:	"I am tweeterviewing @imnotbob today, who creates the comic "Tuned Out Frequencies". Thanks for joining me "

Hey, thanks for interviewing me.

Q2:	"So, how long have you been creating Tuned Out Frequencies for to date?"

The comic was officially one month old on Friday.

More on Q4...

That sounds like a fairly normal process, based on my experience.

Q5:	"Did you choose to do a black & white strip for a particular reason?"

Well, mainly for print purposes down the road. Plus, I've always been a fan of the black and white look.

Color is nice, but it can take a long time to complete. This way I can get updates out faster to fans of the comic.

Q6:	"Many comic creators promote using Illustrator instead off Photoshop. Have you tried Illustrator for your work, at all?"

I have yes. Illustrator is the best method to ink a comic digitally. Since I just use the traditional method for comic creation...

All I really need is Photoshop for lettering. I've never really tried Illustrator for lettering or word balloon creation....

And I'm already quite familiar with all the Photoshop tools so it just works better for me to letter the comic in Photoshop.

But if you're going to ink digitally I would recommend using either Illustrator or Manga Studio over Photoshop.

Q7:	"You have also recently released a printed mini-comic. How has that experience been so far?"

It's been great! Much better than I anticipated actually.

They're all hand made personally by me.

Q8:	"Was a transfer from online to print always planned?"

Not initially and the print quality of this first mini suffered from it.

When I started I'm Not Bob, I really was just starting to learn about working between web and print...

I'd say a few strips in, the art quality improved greatly and those comics were at a high enough resolution to transfer to print easier

All things considered, the first strips transferred over better than I anticipated. But future mini's will be better quality.

Q9:	"How have you gone about getting the mini-comic put published? Did you choose to self-publish or use a "print on demand" solution?"

I chose the self-publishing method. It's just easier for me than using PoD. If I were to print a larger collection I may try PoD...

...But for these mini's it was simply easier and cheaper for me to do them myself. And more fun to! There's something to be said...

about doing it by hand for me. The most fun is putting them together.

Q10:	"What would you say has been the biggest challenge in preparing the mini-comic?"

Just logistical issues. Buying supplies, printing errors that pop-up, etc. All part of the learning experience. Future mini's will be easier

Q11:	"Is print a goal for the strip, either as a syndicated strip or an book form, or do you prefer the online medium more?"

I think print is a goal but it's not THE goal for me with any of my webcomics. It's all part of the larger scope.

Obviously as long as I'm putting my comics online for free they will be available in that format...

...but there's something to be said about holding a printed comic in your hand. The web can't replace that experience.

More on Q11...

Yes, I agree with that.

Q12:	"How much is the main character of the strip (Tom Morgan) like you?"

Yeah, Tom from Tuned Out Frequencies...he is a lot like me.

I think creators sometimes like to shy away from that, but the fact is some of all of us is in our characters like it or not.

And Tom is mainly based off of me. The stories are fictional but a lot of his personality stems from my own personality, no doubt.

Q13:	"You are a regular twitter user. Is that the only social network you use to promote your comics?"

I used Facebook with I'm Not Bob when it was online, but Twitter has always been the easiest for me for promoting my comics.

Right now, I'm pretty much just using Twitter to promote Tuned Out Frequencies and the I'm Not Bob mini.

I tried MySpace with I'm Not Bob with minimal success. I've had the most success with Twitter with any of my comics promotion.

Q14:	"Have you found a lot of traffic coming through to purchase the Mini-comic, from your twitter promotions? "

Yes, pretty much every sale I've made has been from readers I interacted with on Twitter.

There's something to be said about the way Twitter allows you to not only connect with an audience but also communicate with them as well.

I love that communication and seek it out with all my readers. As many as I can talk to!

Q15:	"You have priced the mini-comic initially, at $2 USD. Have you had a good reaction to this low pricing?"

I think so, yes. The mini is traditional mini-comic size and only 16 pages.

Q16:	"May I ask if $2 covers your costs for actually making the comic? "

Well, $2 for making the comic and $2 for shipping it out essentially covers the cost of making it yes.

I make a little from each sale, but not a whole lot. I just wanted to be fair with the pricing really.

It's only a 16 page mini-comic. I can't see charging $5 or more for it. Just doesn't seem right.