Hrm. I really don't like how the Crain's one says that I have a chronic illness that "limits my ability to attract Web advertisers." As if I wanted my site to be plastered with ads, but I just couldn't manage to find any willing to take a chance on me.
Um: maybe producing a long-running, supposedly niche, stick-figure webcomic is seen as a chronic illness by many advertisers?
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Hrm. I really don't like how the Crain's one says that I have a chronic illness that "limits my ability to attract Web advertisers." As if I wanted my site to be plastered with ads, but I just couldn't manage to find any willing to take a chance on me.
I didn't particularly like that part either. I figure their train of thought goes illness -> irregular schedule -> advertisers reluctant to advertise.
You know, because nobody bothers with this site unless you update the comic. Active forums? What active forums?
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Originally Posted by The Giant
Fantasy literature is ONLY worthwhile for what it can tell us about the real world; everything else is petty escapism.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Giant
No author should have to take the time to say, "This little girl ISN'T evil, folks!" in order for the reader to understand that. It should be assumed that no first graders are irredeemably Evil unless the text tells you they are.
I'd say it's more lack of ads = lack of ability to draw advertisers. And frankly, if you believe that, you've missed the point of this pledge drive entirely.
Hrm. I really don't like how the Crain's one says that I have a chronic illness that "limits my ability to attract Web advertisers." As if I wanted my site to be plastered with ads, but I just couldn't manage to find any willing to take a chance on me.
I suspect it is because they read your News Page entry where you said one of the reasons why you don't do advertising on the main page of the comic is that you don't have a regular update schedule. But they chose not to explain your rationale in the best of ways.
Hrm. I really don't like how the Crain's one says that I have a chronic illness that "limits my ability to attract Web advertisers." As if I wanted my site to be plastered with ads, but I just couldn't manage to find any willing to take a chance on me.
I'm not going to add articles that mention me once, then go on to talk about Kickstarter, but the PW and Crain's are definitely going on the list.
I am a chessplayer of some skill and fo that I ended up on local newspapers on occasions, and that tougth me one thing: journalists have no idea what they're talking about. Maybe big newspapers will have specific experts for politics or other big stuff, but when it comes to those kind of secondary news, the guy who do the writing simply don't know the argument and will do the best he can with what he have, making a lot of mistakes in the process.
From my experience, you're lucky they at least got your name right: a good third of the times I was mentioned in papers, my name was misspelled.
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Hrm. I really don't like how the Crain's one says that I have a chronic illness that "limits my ability to attract Web advertisers." As if I wanted my site to be plastered with ads, but I just couldn't manage to find any willing to take a chance on me.
To be honest, I can see how they made that jump from what you've said publicly about not adding ads to the site (partly) due to your update schedule, and your update schedule being (partly) defined by your illness.
On the other hand yeah, it does suggest that the barrier is the advertisers rather than your own ethics.
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Hrm. I really don't like how the Crain's one says that I have a chronic illness that "limits my ability to attract Web advertisers." As if I wanted my site to be plastered with ads, but I just couldn't manage to find any willing to take a chance on me.
I'm not going to add articles that mention me once, then go on to talk about Kickstarter, but the PW and Crain's are definitely going on the list.
In modern business, "ethical standards" can be considered a disease.
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Originally Posted by GungHo, on Battletech
The Atlas is also goofy but it has that whole "Stay Puft Marshmallow Man" menacing smile thing going for it. The guy who drew that one up was obviously taken to the Nutcracker when he was a child... and he was screaming in terror the entire time.
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Originally Posted by Enterti, Cogidubnus
Glyphstone, out of all the playground I think you scare me the most...
Hrm. I really don't like how the Crain's one says that I have a chronic illness that "limits my ability to attract Web advertisers." As if I wanted my site to be plastered with ads, but I just couldn't manage to find any willing to take a chance on me.
I'm not going to add articles that mention me once, then go on to talk about Kickstarter, but the PW and Crain's are definitely going on the list.
You could send him an email asking for a correction in the article.
I didn't particularly like that part either. I figure their train of thought goes illness -> irregular schedule -> advertisers reluctant to advertise.
You know, because nobody bothers with this site unless you update the comic. Active forums? What active forums?
Even if you ignore the active forum you have 15,000 fans who were willing to spend money on this comic and god knows how many other fans who didn't spend money on the comic haha
The Playground should have advertising prices similar to the superbowl ;)
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Even if you ignore the active forum you have 15,000 fans who were willing to spend money on this comic and god knows how many other fans who didn't spend money on the comic haha
The Playground should have advertising prices similar to the superbowl ;)
Nice sentiment, although you're somewhere between 3 and 4 zeroes off for reaching superbowl viewership.
That said, I didn't understand the article to be making any argument about the proper cost of advertising, but rather the risk of advertising, which was apparently misunderstood due to the journalist not knowing how forums work.
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Anarion's right on the money here.
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Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Anarion Mori?
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You just highlandered an entire city block into a glass-filled storm by road-runnering down it in your underwear.
That said, I didn't understand the article to be making any argument about the proper cost of advertising, but rather the risk of advertising, which was apparently misunderstood due to the journalist not knowing how forums work.
That, or didn't actually poke around the site enough to notice the existence of the forums. <shrugs>
Or did, but didn't actually click on them. Who knows? But, yeah: mangled research.
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I would like to blog a retrospective on the Kickstarter Drive. Would it be all right to use two of the images from the drive? I was thinking of the original Kickstarter (everyone kicking Belkar image) and either the image from Kickstarter Update #4 or Kickstarter Update #5.
Thanks so much for your answer.
Yours,
Hmm
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That, or didn't actually poke around the site enough to notice the existence of the forums. <shrugs>
Or did, but didn't actually click on them. Who knows? But, yeah: mangled research.
The advertising part is not about the forum, it's about the main comic site.
The comic is completely ad free, not because of Rich's illness, not because of the nature of a regular website vs a forum, but because it is Rich's bussiness decision.
The fact that the comic has an irregular schedule is a PART of the reason for that bussiness decision, at best, and Rich's illness is a PART of the reason for the irregular schedule, and the writer overestimated both effects to create a causal link between Rich's illness and the fact that the comic doesn't do ads.
His (the writer's) mistake had nothing to do with how a forum works, because he never looked at a forum, this is not about the forum, it's about the main comic site.
And actually, the forum does feature ads.
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Wizard's might be happy to do so. However, Rich would lucky to have his soul after that.
Yes I know TheGiant has worked on some official D&D books and has had OOTS in Dragon Magazine, but the point is i am sure publishers would give Rich a lot of money, but he would probably lose most of his rights, including the right to sneeze.
I am a chessplayer of some skill and fo that I ended up on local newspapers on occasions, and that tougth me one thing: journalists have no idea what they're talking about. Maybe big newspapers will have specific experts for politics or other big stuff, but when it comes to those kind of secondary news, the guy who do the writing simply don't know the argument and will do the best he can with what he have, making a lot of mistakes in the process.
From my experience, you're lucky they at least got your name right: a good third of the times I was mentioned in papers, my name was misspelled.
Same thing happened to me once. When I was younger (Nine or ten years old, IIRC) I was the headliner of the local newspaper (beating a homicide and the first birth in the area after New Years) because I wrote a 120 page book. The news-reporter wasn't even close to spelling my last name right.
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Originally Posted by Rogerd
Strike me down and I'll clean the floor faster than you can imagine
Same thing happened to me once. When I was younger (Nine or ten years old, IIRC) I was the headliner of the local newspaper (beating a homicide and the first birth in the area after New Years) because I wrote a 120 page book. The news-reporter wasn't even close to spelling my last name right.
I'm going to be all Captain Obvious here and ask, "Wow, what kind of 120 page book did you write when you were nine or ten?"
Wow, what kind of 120 page book did you write when you were nine or ten?
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I was in the local newspapers for foiling an international act of terrorism, winning every Walkley award and being awarded the title of 'World's Most Beautiful Person' on the same day. But they spelled my name wrong as well.
The link to The Globe and Mail in the first post has a bad url, looks like it somehow starts with www.=http.com//. Deleting that part made the link work fine, though.
Singularity Hub did a Q&A with me about the future of media that you can read here. Bonus points for including the first time I've ever been called "conservative" in my life.
[Joke]
According to this Q&A you're referencing something from #294 in #845. To the archives!
*Browses*
Hmm, the confetti of Roy's torn up contracts could be a metaphor for the broken Order of the Scribble, or possibly used in reference to some destroyed documents that will shed light on the Draketooth philosophy and reveal the Shocking Secret™ that will cause every reader to rethink how truly noble Soon Kim was!
[/Joke]
I think your summary of why your Kickstarter triumphed reflected my own thoughts: You engaged with us and turned into an event, and always had new stuff to keep drawing us in.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hallavast
Ya know? I think I'd about kill Rowling if she wasn't holding me hostage with that last book of hers...
Last edited by RMS Oceanic : 03-13-2012 at 03:47 PM.
Maybe not personally, but I'm kind of surprised nobody's used the word for your merchandising strategy before.
Irregardless (*dodges fruit*), it's a good interview. Hooray for more coverage!
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Originally Posted by The Giant
Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes, characters that have a similar hairstyle just have a similar hairstyle. How many hairstyles do you think there are that can be drawn in stick figure style, anyway?
When you sell a book, you’re competing with every other book out there. When you sell an experience, it’s always one-of-a-kind.
Well put, sir. Very good interview.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Giant
I’ve often heard it said that 1-2% of readers of a free product (like a webcomic) will purchase a given product, and certainly my experience has been in line with that. Before even considering using Kickstarter, therefore, a new comic would need to have a known audience at least fifty times as large as the number of backers they would need for their project to succeed if everyone pledged at the lowest level to get the main product.
So... one can estimate the size of the OotS audience as 50 times the number of backers? That would put readership at around 750,000 strong.
Bonus points for including the first time I've ever been called "conservative" in my life.
But You said that your comic has no relevance to politics. (I don't get it why they call you "conservative".)
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But You said that your comic has no relevance to politics. (I don't get it why they call you "conservative".)
It's not regarding politics. "Conservative" in this usage means simply not as willing to predict the overthrow of all existing distribution channels in favor of an egalitarian patronage model that puts no one work of art ahead of any other. Basically, he's saying my feelings about what will (or should) happen in the future regarding art and media are not as radical as his own predictions.
I'm going to be all Captain Obvious here and ask, "Wow, what kind of 120 page book did you write when you were nine or ten?"
Wow, what kind of 120 page book did you write when you were nine or ten?
A story about a young detective and his friends investigating the mysterious shut down of a candy factory.
Basically, my teacher at the time was friends were a reporter. I showed my teacher the story, she showed it to the reporter, and the reporter decided to interview me for the paper.
The article also got posted on the newspaper's website. I even have the article in my Favorites.
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Strike me down and I'll clean the floor faster than you can imagine
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