Surviving Your Own Success

This week, Brad and Dave discuss what happens after a cartoonist achieves the dream: making a living from comics. They explain why success can create its own time-management problems, how to protect the thing that’s already working, and why adding books, Kickstarter campaigns, merch, newsletters, or conventions should happen gradually. They also talk about practical systems for numbering webcomic pages, naming files, and keeping longform comics organized over time.

Main topics covered

• Weird convention-reader encounters, including disputed signatures and free-sketch requests
• What to do when your comic and Patreon are working, but there’s no time for anything else
• Protecting the “engine” of your business before adding new projects
• Avoiding concentration risk when most income comes from one platform
• Adding new business layers slowly instead of trying to do everything at once
• Using small projects, like enamel pins, as manageable learning experiences
• Why side projects can derail your main comic if you’re not careful
• Finding extra time without wrecking your life or mental health
• Dave’s San Diego Comic-Con booth and the free ComicLab enamel pin
• How to number pages for longform webcomics
• The difference between website numbering and book-page numbering
• Using SEO-friendly titles, focus keyphrases, transcripts, and alt text
• File-naming conventions for comics, including dates, chapters, pages, and vertical-scroll segments
• Planning ahead for long-running comics so your numbering system doesn’t break later

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If you'd like a one-on-one consultation about your comic, book it now!

Brad Guigar is the creator of Evil Inc and the author of The Webcomics Handbook. He is available for personal consultations. Dave Kellett is the creator of Sheldon and Drive. He is the co-director of the comics documentary, Stripped.