#now i need to figure out how to make my eli design look related to her. blows up into a billion pieces

[catlokis-blog]

I didn't see you were askin for HL drawing suggestions til today, but if I'm not too late I'd love to see you do some Alyx sketches!

unfortunately I cannot supply a surplus of sketches because this is actually my first time drawing alyx!! I've been wanting to draw her for a while and this is LOONG overdue but I couldn't get a design I was happy with till now

[concealeddarkness13]

A New Dawn Part 16

In which Kai plays video games, gets manipulated, and finds a family. Tagging: @ratracechronicler and @merigreenleaf!

Here is the post with the previous parts’ links!

I couldn’t sleep that night. Not really. I had been too tired the night before to actually think about it, but Rat had said we could be family. I had agreed, but I hadn’t really thought about what that meant. I had never really understood the concept of having a family who wasn’t related to you. It was like a foreign concept to me.

On my planet, everyone valued flesh and blood family, living in the same house with their extended family. If you weren’t doing that, you were seen as an anomaly. Taeo had had to overcome the stigma of living by himself to become popular. There were plenty of people who still whispered about it.

I knew that it was a long shot for me to find my actual family. If the jellyfish had me before I lost my memory, they might have killed my family when they took me. Or I could just never find them. Maybe it would be better, less heartache, if I just…

I took a deep breath. I just couldn’t give up. But it wasn’t a bad concept, a family that didn’t share blood.

I glanced over at Rat and Eli. I didn’t want to lose them too, not to the jellyfish, and, honestly, not because I got back to my planet.

*

Rat and Eli left for their date (yes, I was still going to call it that), and Rex and I went back upstairs. I had been thinking of strategies for Galoshlimb all morning, but Rex actually put in another game, explaining that it would be more fun for just two players. It was a fighting game with weirdly designed characters that looked like aliens.

As we competed against each other, he glanced over at me. “So…how’s life on Mars?”

I frowned over at him as my character died again. “Um…Mars?”

“Y’know. Back home an’ all.”

Oh. “It isn’t called Mars. I haven’t heard of that planet, actually. It’s called Versteria. And I guess it’s going good.” I shrugged. “I haven’t been there for at least a month, so I’m not sure.”

“Oh, okay. Cool, cool.” He looked a little surprised. “Any invasions as o’ late, or you kinda keep to yourselves on this Versteria?”

My character died again as I thought. “There really aren’t any invasions. There are already so many different kinds of aliens on my planet that we’re pretty welcoming.”

Rex opened his mouth to say something else, but I tensed as something moved out of the corner of my eye. I jumped up and ran to the window, and the shadow of one of the jellyfish aliens zipped across rooftops. I stared at them for a little bit before I shook myself. I had to go after them. Why were they even here? I had thought I had scared them off in Fre Jac-Mac.

I turned back to Rex. “Speaking of aliens, I just saw one of the aliens that followed me here. Would you want to help me pursue them to figure out more about what they want?”

He leapt up. “I’m gone, mate. Lemme grab my hat! Should I bring the blackthorn along?” he asked excitedly. He stumbled into his room and grabbed a battered old sports cap. The cap had the words: “Cryptid Seekers Squad”. He gestured at a dangerous-looking stick, which I assumed was the blackthorn.

I shrugged. “If you want to.”

He grinned, grabbed the stick, and ran after me as I left through the window. The alien hadn’t left my line of sight yet, which was a little weird. But I pushed that out of my mind as I followed them. What really mattered was that the aliens were still here. And I had to figure out more.

The alien led me to the street, past buildings covered in graffiti. I wanted to stop and stare, but the alien didn’t stop, so I couldn’t either. I would have to ask about all the graffiti later.

Rex broke the silence. “So whadda these chaps look like anyhow?”

I frowned. It almost seemed to easy that I was following this alien. As if they were slowing down on purpose to make sure I would follow. Great. “Weird looking faces. Hair that looks like jellyfish tentacles instead of actual hair. Steadily more see-through skin the farther down the arms you go.”

Rex whispered under his breath. “Wicked cool.” I couldn’t agree with that.

We seemed to be going toward a place in the distance where smoke was coming up. Was something burning? But then we made it to a dead end, and the alien turned around and grinned at me. “It’s so good to see you again, Kaira.”

I glared at them and pulled out my knife. “My name is Kai, and why are you still following me? I would think you would be scared of me now.”

“Scared of you? I’ll only be scared of you if you can turn on that light show again.” I grimaced. It could only be activated when I was hurt badly during a fight. Rex tried to say something in the background, but I didn’t listen. They laughed. “Then I’m not scared of you.” They paused and held out a transparent hand. “And if you’re smart, you’ll come with me. Don’t you want information on your real home, your real family? We are the only ones who can give you the answers.”

I sucked in a breath and shook my head. I wanted to learn more, but I couldn’t trust them. It wasn’t worth it to turn myself over to them. They probably wouldn’t tell me anything anyway.

Rex spoke up, louder this time. “OI! How see-through’re we talkin’ here, mate? I can’t see nothin’. Just a wall there.” He moved toward the alien, crouched down, and he prodded the stick he brought at them.

And the stick went right through them. They clicked their tongue and shook their head. “Unfortunately, our ruse was found out too quickly. See you soon, Kaira.” They laughed and disappeared.

I clenched my fists. I had let myself get tricked again. Shit. I looked over at Rex. “I was wrong. They were messing with my head. They can make me see them when they’re not there. Let’s go back.”

He turned to me, looking a little disappointed. “They ain’t…You’re sure? They can do that?”

I frowned. I should have known better. Stupid. “I mean, they could be here. But they could be anywhere. It would be pointless to try to find them. And they can do that, from what I know.”

“Like, to anyone?” He held the sides of his head and looked around suspiciously.

I shrugged. I honestly didn’t know. “I think only to people who were stung by their jellyfish tentacle hair things. But I didn’t even know I was stung when it happened.” I sighed and started walking back. “Sorry for wasting your time.”

“Oh…yeah. Whatever,” he muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets, with the stick having been clipped to a keychain. Cool. “’Pologies for all the questions an’ sticks.”

…Huh? Why was he apologizing? He hadn’t done anything wrong. I had led him on the chase that ultimately led to nothing. I frowned back at him. “I didn’t mind. Actually, I think your stick is cool.”

He sounded confused. “Thanks?”

That didn’t sound entirely encouraged, but hopefully it was enough. I looked back to the front. “Anyway, thanks for coming with me. If you hadn’t pointed out that there was no one there, I would have kept letting them mess with me.”

He jogged to catch up to me. “Hey, yeah, no problem.”

We headed back, with the smoke still in the distance. I eyed it, but didn’t ask Rex. He probably wouldn’t know why something was on fire.

It was nearing sunset when we got back. I hadn’t realized how far we had gone, chasing after the phantom alien. And when Rex opened the front door and we walked inside, Rat and Eli ran up to us. Eli looked worried, while Rat looked furious. I shrunk down instinctively. “Are you two okay?” I asked, trying to relieve the tension.

“We’re fine—where in Perdition did you two go?” Rat demanded.

Shit. She wouldn’t be happy about this. “Uh…I thought I saw one of the aliens. And I followed them…”

“An’ I followed her,” Rex said, then yelled over Rat’s shoulder at one of his parents. “So, no, I did not spend the whole day up in my ‘cave’ playin’ games! We got exercise an’ sunshine an’ all that goodness!”

Rat smiled, but her eyes were still angry. “You seem incredibly well-equipped to handle those aliens.”

Shit. Before I could say anything, Rex spoke up again. “Nah, but we didn’t need to, see, cuz they ended up not bein’ there for real, just in eye tricks.”

I couldn’t look Rat in the eyes. “I had thought that the aliens wouldn’t bother us again, so when they showed up, I had to figure out why. But I did ask Rex to come along so I wasn’t alone.” Hopefully, that would make them feel better.

“That’s good!” Eli smiled encouragingly. “That was a really good thought, Kai. Rex is strong, and he knows this city better than any of us. Asking him for help was great.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Rat seemed to calm down a little, not so much anger in her eyes. “Uh. Smart.” She stood for a second before punching me lightly on the shoulder. “Gave me a scare, though.” She flicked Rex’s hat. “You couldn’t have messaged us?”

“I had way bigger fish to catch,” he scoffed.

They seemed to be feeling better, so time to distract them. Also, I really wanted to know how it was. “So, how was your date?” Rex’s jaw dropped at what I said.

Rat’s expression remained neutral. “We didn’t eat any dates, or raisins or prunes or other dried fruit. We stopped for sushi on the way back from our trip to the forest, though.”

What? “So…it was good?”

“Yes,” Eli said pleasantly. I could not figure out if there was something else behind his words or not. Too aromantic and asexual for that. “It was. Thanks for asking. How was the rest of your day?”

Should I pry more? Should I just leave them be? I wasn’t the right person for the job. So, I just blurted out, “Video games,” and left it at that.

Rex’s eyes widened. “I think I left it on paused,” he whispered and sprinted up the stairs.

And now, we were alone. Rex’s family hadn’t come to talk to us. I fidgeted with my hands. “I’m sorry for running off after the aliens. I should have thought more.”

“Well…” Rat said. “You thought a little. That’s some progress at least, right? And nobody got hurt, right?”

I…I didn’t want to lose them. I had to think a little more before I did something stupid. I fidgeted some more and sucked in a breath. “And—and you weren’t lying when you talked about family, right? You’d be willing to let me be a part of it?”

“I wasn’t lying,” Rat said at the same time that Eli spoke.

“Of course, you can be a part—” They both spluttered to a halt and fell silent before Rat spoke up.

“Yeah. Absolutely. It’s a weird family, but you’re invited.”

I…I was part of a family. I wasn’t alone. I breathed out, long and slow. “Thank you. I don’t know if I’ll be able to return to my own world, and I’m glad I’m not alone in this world. I care deeply for you two.” I hesitated. Would this be too much? But I really wanted to hug them. So, I moved closer and hugged both of them at the same time.

Eli hugged back, wrapping his arms around both me and Rat. “I’m glad I’m—I mean, you, you’re—I’m glad you’re not alone too, or either, or y’know,” Rat said. She snort-laughed and ruffled my hair. “You’re okay.”

I sniffled as tears threatened to overtake me, but a few tears slipped down my cheeks. I sighed and relaxed, leaning into the hug. “Thank you both so much.”

They didn’t say anything, but they were both also sniffling.

[comicteaparty]

March 7th-March 13th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from March 7th, 2020 to March 13th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What is your overall marketing/promotion strategy for your webcomic?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I don't know if this counts as a strategy, but these are some of the things I do to promote my comic or my work in general. 1. Most important from what I've noticed (which I have been failing at due to stress and self-doubt lately) is to post updates to your comic frequently and consistently. It seems somewhat silly that simply putting your work out there is the best way to grow an audience, but it really is. Newly posted chapters frequently get shown on more pages and thus detected by the algorithms and potential readers. It also helps to establish trust with current and returning readers. 2. Participating in art/comic events, forums, and other comicking communities (such as this one). In a way, this isn't really marketing directly, but it is good to build connections with other creators! 3. Conventions! I actually have gotten a several new readers/followers from attending cons. It's also nice just to talk to people, get your name out there locally, and to make a little bit of money while at it. 4. Social media promotion. Tbh, this hasn't been super helpful to me, but more eyes is always a win in my book. I try to post almost every day, even if it isn't art or comic related. Having some kind of social media presence at all, even if it's small, shows people that you are working hard to connect to others. Also finding the right hashtags definitely helps with visibility.

kayotics

Overall, my strategy for marketing is to be authentic and just keep plugging my stuff. People will come if they like it. I work as a marketer for my day job, so I know what I COULD do, but I really don’t do that much since a whole marketing plan would take a lot more time than I have available to me. Some of the stuff I do otherwise: - regular updates. This ones pretty important for retaining viewers I already have. Any good marketing strategy is thinking about retaining people, not just getting new ones - self promo: this usually is on top webcomics or on social media. I get a LOT of traffic from top webcomics, and I get a good handful of people from social media. - conventions, like mentioned before, can be a great way to get people’s eyes on your stuff. I have a postcard that I hand out to people if they come by or they purchase something. - the thing I don’t do enough is post more art outside of the comic, or even just little previews. If I were dedicated to marketing, I’d be sharing sketches or illustrations on social media to grow my audience.

DanitheCarutor

Ah you know, I don't really have much of a strategy. At some point I promoted as much as I could on Twitter, adding my comic to those share/promo thread, getting in on relevant hashtag events, participating on WebComic Chat (whenever I remembered to). I've done a little promotion on forums, but there is really only so much you can do since only so many people hang out there and if your work is super niche like mine, they will pretty much avoid your promos at all cost. Lmao Other than those I don't really do much, at some point I attempted to use Instagram but the site/app is very stingy about offsite links. I also started a Facebook page, although if you don't have the money to boost your promos and don't usually have a lot going on with your comic outside of weekly updates, it won't get a whole lot of attention. I've also tried to be more active, but I'm not a good conversationalist, and I tend to be kind of a thread/conversation/mood killer so I try to avoid talking outside of Q&A prompts like this.

eli [a winged tale]

Same Dani, I used Instagram for a while too and I just don’t think the platform is a good fit for my vertical scroll comic (see exhibit 1) Twitter is a mixed bag as well and I think unless you have a solid following already, it’s hard to gain traction. What really helped was being on Webtoon’s staff pick for a couple days. I’m not sure how Tapas picked up but it’s reassuring that there’s a couple of followers gained every week when I posted regularly. So it really does sound like the first step is to have a steady update schedule (working on the buffer! Got a month’s work down today). It’s just challenging because while I could upload one page a week but on the vertical scroll sites it seems like a longer episode (6-7 pages) is valued more as a solid update. Love hearing everyone’s thoughts and hope to learn from y’all! (edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Consistency and con attendance were big ones for me, but something I learned worked well (and was really fun to do) was creating really fun, really dumb, non-canon bits of art every now and then. Following meme prompts or funny ideas from other people. If your comic can afford some humor being thrown its way, making people laugh is a great way to get some attention. No one needs to know the details of your story - they just need to relate to the characters/humor somehow. I had more than one person come across my dumb, meme-y ancillary art and go “Welp, I want to read your comic now.”

eli [a winged tale]

Memes to the rescue! What has been your favourite to do? And which one has surprised you in its relatability/popularity?

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Two shots of vodka.

Also that terrible sweater meme. Everyone is required to do the terrible sweater meme. People eat it up.

eli [a winged tale]

Too good

Ahh I can’t wait till I can actually write silly adult characters

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Now that you mention it, the nice thing about the terrible sweater meme is it works with a WIDE variety of comics.

eli [a winged tale]

I would love to do a meme with y’all

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

"Came for the story, staying for the sick memes"

Spring-heeled Jack

I try to post updates every friday when my new pages go up on Patreon. And then I make my big post when my tapas and website update at the end of the month. Between all that, I have little flyers that I carry with me and if I'm ever in a shop that has a little self promotion section, I plan on tacking up a flyer. I do conventions, and this will be my first convention season while actively making a comic, so flyers will be handed out then as well.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

My comic isnt very comedy-heavy, and even for the funny scenes, my sense of humor isn't compatible with most people's. So a lot of the memes out there just don't work. But terrible sweater meme doesn't have to be hilarious. It can be just cute, or even weird.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

For me, uh lmao. I sometimes make some funny strip panels and it was received well even though it's not polished for my liking lmao

Spring-heeled Jack

Keii, I feel you. I'm not good with comedy and my comic isn't meant to be funny, either, so I don't know how well a comedy meme will help me.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

overall, I try to be honest with just self promo and asking when I have a chance "Hey pls check out my comic lol"

eli [a winged tale]

Or maybe just something relatable? Seen a couple caption this on tumblr

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I think instead of memes, what I'm gonna do is my characters cosplaying more well known characters from works that have some tonal similarities with my own. This isn't just for advertising purposes; it's something I've been wanting to do for a long time for myself. But I'm realizing it can serve some of the same purposes that memes do.

Spring-heeled Jack

That's extremely cute!

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Keyword being "SOME" Tonal similarities... Some of them aren't very similar but have a couple of parallels, etc.

Spring-heeled Jack

Oh for sure. Even if you could find that 'perfect match', it might not be a great cosplay for them, and give too much away

Are "draw the squad" prompts still a thing? I love those

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

The One White Dude and the Tiger Dude in my comic will definitely cosplay Calvin and Hobbes at some point.

Spring-heeled Jack

LOL

omg please, Keii

eli [a winged tale]

YES

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yeah, not every comic will have super memeable humor - but whatever you can do to break down that wall between you and a potential reader and go “Hey! Look at this. Is this relatable? Do you get the reference? Etc” Is a very good bet

Also yes squad memes are PERFECT

You can boil down your comic’s relationships so simply.

Spring-heeled Jack

I have four couples in my comic so those "ship dynamic" posts might be fun

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

What are squad memes?

eli [a winged tale]

I also need to be educated about squad I mean all the memes

Spring-heeled Jack

OH MAN!! They are fun as heck. You can find templates and it's a very simple character design in the template, but the poses are super silly. And then you just draw your characters in place of those simple figures(edited)

If you google "Draw the squad" you will find a bunch

renieplayerone

Oh! Ill have to try that! These squad bases look fun!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I still have one of those I need to finish Back when I first started sharing my work, I was surprised and delighted at how quickly people shoved it through a meme filter.

Maybe that’s another thing! If marketing opportunities present themselves as a surprise, try running with them and see where they take you Within reason, of course. Never feel forced to follow anything that people respond to in a particular way. Just take it into account and see how you feel about it.

renieplayerone

(Im here to lurk on this week's question, i have no strategy and need ideas haha)

eli [a winged tale]

Omg draw the squad looks

too many to choose

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I love draw the squad poses so much TuT I wish I had more time to draw within more of them. I think I always get a little dishearten about making memes because I feel like I need to make my jokes full illustrations but I never have time for much extra content beyond ballpoint pen sketches :T

Mei

Honestly I don't have a marketing or promotion strategy for my webcomic. I make updates every week, and I post it on my twitter and kinda plug it there. I'm actually god awful at trying to make people read my comic because I'm a little bit nervous about it, to be honest. So I just sort of leave it there and see if people find it, half the time. That being said, I tried to promote it pretty hard at conventions last year. But that didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I'm hoping to make flyers with QR codes so that people can scan it, and it'll take them to the landing page/tapas for the comic. That might be a bit easier than getting them to just search the title, plus having a flyer is a nice bit of promotion if I get the opportunity?! Making memes and drawing characters in different clothes or in squad things sounds like super fun tho and I might look into that in the future

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's nice to hear everyone talk about this topic. TBH I had completely stopped promoting my comic because I got too scared of backlash, being a disappointment, etc. (Initially I'd attracted a number of people who weren't actually my target audience, and that led to some less than ideal results.) But some time last year, it occurred to me that 1) I'm making this comic for my reader self (or my "hypothetical taste twin" as I like to call it)... which means 2) I only have to appeal to people like me. So I started asking myself, "What would I have to say/do to get me to read this comic?" and that made it significantly less intimidating. I haven't actually started doing self promo (though I did start plugging my updates on Twitter at least). But most future self promo I do will be based on that ^ question.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(oh god, I was just checking out the latest update for one of the Korean webcomics I read, and the new episode is about a hikikomori... who says "I want to change, but I can't step outside because... maybe there isn't a single person out there who will understand me." THAT WAS ME but with comic promo. Well, I'm getting better and I also hope this character will, too, though knowing this comic his chances aren't so great lol...)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I hope that wasn't too awkward to share! Tl;dr I really think the "what would I have to say/do to get ME to check out my comic" is a good approach for anyone else feeling intimidated about doing self promos.

In the same vein, but on the opposite side of the coin: I'm curious to know, what were some things that got YOU to read someone else's comic?

Some of my own answers to that aren't very relevant to what we can do for our own comics: e.g. I'm Korean and when Naver has a new comic in their pro comic lineup, I may check it out. I'm also a member of SpiderForest and I check out the applicants' comics during the app season. Stuff like that aren't really good promo options that we can take. But things that may be relevant: - 'Evocative scenery shot that doesn't show the face/ doesn't focus on the face.' MY WEAKNESS. That kinda pictures feel subtle and kind of lonely to me, even if it's a group shot. And I like stories with those vibes. -Promo includes an evocative quote. Could be from the comic itself, or from something else like a classical literature or whatever. The creator of Ark (https://www.arkcomic.com/) does this sometimes and even though I'm already following Ark, those promos get my attention.

eli [a winged tale]

Definitely the art promo now that I think of it! Merch, posters, banners etc. If the art intrigues me, I definitely take a look at the site/blurb/first chapter

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I wonder if we can semi-workshop promo art at some point? Not really intensive like "change xyz" because that's not always feasible with art, but just impression feedback like, "this pictures gives me these vibes, and makes me expect this kinda story"

I would be curious to see everyone's even if we don't workshop

eli [a winged tale]

YES

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Yesssss

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Yes please. I don‘t promo besides update notices simply because I have no clue to start.

Mei

Sometimes I get really attracted by the style of the story? I immediately started reading Wolfsbane because the art was cool and different from a lot of whta I'd seen on Webtoon up until that point. And then the story was perfect for me. What keii said about writing for yourself is right. Patrick Ness once said you should write the stories your younger self would have loved to pick up on a shelf

and I think that's a pretty evocative thing. At the end of the day, you should be enjoying what you're writing (hopefully). And if you enjoy it and you're having fun making it, that can rub off on the people reading it, or you find the people who like that similar vein of story?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(It's also 100% legit to write stories for your current self )

Mei

(oh yes 100% that's what i'm doing HEHE)

Tolkein wrote LOTR because he was like

in love with worldbuilding

was there a market for such a strange type of novel at the time? No. Definitely not. Did he write it anyway? YEAH HE DID

Deo101 [Millennium]

I really wanna do an art workshop yes.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Aight, anyone who wants an impression feedback from me, post your promo art in #art_help

Warning, my impressions may be totally off lol

Deo101 [Millennium]

Also I don't do much marketing. Mostly I try to get in with communities and learn about making comics, I just want to improve my craft. All I really do is make my updated every week, and share whatever art Ive made on my Twitter or whatever

Okay! I think I only have my cover on my phone, but on my computer I also have my banners and icon. So I'll share all those in a bit when I'm at my computer

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

(off topic but I'm sick, and when I'm sick or very tired I constantly misread words. I read "my banners" as "my bananas" and I was very confused for a couple seconds.)

Deo101 [Millennium]

My bananers

Feather J. Fern

I am terrible at marketing my own work, but I am very good at marketing other people's work. I use the "you would like it for this reason" to grab people. Unfortunately I can't do it for my comic because I am bad at seeing the good in my own work oof. I am getting better at it though.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's a really good way to do it!

And I can relate. My own hangup is a little different, but it can be extremely difficult to be brave for sure, whether in front of other people, or just in front of your own brain that constantly judges you.

Feather J. Fern

Yeah I was talking about a friend's comic and then the person I was talking to was like "Don't you write comics" and I was like "ahfoofjw yeah but don't look at them"

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I was thinking a lot about the whole "it's like [well known work] meets [another well known work]" approach that was discussed earlier. And I think that could be relevant here. Like, think of something that has either influenced your comic significantly, or just happens to have some core similarities. How would you market that thing? Could you market your own thing using a similar approach -- since there are similarities?

I'd thought of a really good example to compare HoK to. Then I got sad because the said example is extremely obscure outside of Korea. But now I'm like, hey, people don't have to KNOW that work. I can do this differently. I can talk about HoK the way I could talk about it.

('it' as in the other work that's obscure outside of Korea)

Feather J. Fern

I do think that's a good fast shortcut but I don't like using it becuase the shortcut sometimes makes people angry when they don't get what they like out of those two things

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's why I said to NOT actually bring up the comparison work

Don't name it

Just list the traits that are shared in common

Feather J. Fern

Oh sorry

I miss read

(And my name changed colours all the sudden?)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's a confusing topic, so no worries

It means you leveled up

Feather J. Fern

OWO!

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Say you want to compare your work to... I dunno, DBZ, because it's got super strong aliens duking it out barehanded, blasting ki-like energy attacks, etc. Don't name DBZ. Talk about your work the way you'd talk about your favorite aspects of DBZ. "My comic has super strong aliens duking it out hand-to-hand! YEEEAH!"

OH MY GOD I NEED TO DO THIS NOW.

Feather J. Fern

Yeah! That's what I would do. (But it also helps for me that my comic has no hard reference points) but for my new comic, people are gonna compare it to Zach Bell, and Angelic Layer i think

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm gonna write up some drafts that I will revise and tweet at a later time

Feather J. Fern

So I jsut got to you know, not promo it as such XD

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I want to do this too for a quick pitch

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Do it (shop talk or story help maybe?)

I'm writing a vomit draft for mine

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yee

Feather J. Fern

I think I will do it for Story help

(Also so I can help flesh out my new project lol lol)

eli [a winged tale]

Kei I might be suuuuper off since I read only the beginning but I sort of thought inuyasha but Korea and handsome boys

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Sometimes you don't even realize your story can be marketed as "blah meets blah" until much later down the line - I've only started realizing the number of existing properties I've absorbed unintentionally into my comic. It's not how I'd market it on a serious front, but to a friend for story help, heck yes.

But a lot of people on Twitter seem to do that strategy for PitMAD and it works great for them, so... shrug

I guess it still belongs in a "pitch arsenal," as it were

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, the one "blah" I just thought of is something I hadn't realized for all these years. But it makes so much sense now that I look at it.

eli [a winged tale]

See that’s where I got confused but I think this is what I’m gonna aim to do: - pitch to readers: inspiration but this awesome unique thing in the comic - pitch to other comic makers: the Logline - pitch to agents: comparison works if requested and longer pitch depending on their format - pitch to family: just read it plzthanksbye

renieplayerone

or alternative pitch to family: Please dear god never read this

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's me

Oof... Writing the 'promote your comic by talking about the traits it shares with Another Person's Work,' I made myself cry, and that is definitely a sign I'm on the right track.

eli [a winged tale]

Right track is good!

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

It took me years to even think of an 'other more popular work' comparison for Children of Shadow. XD But at the same time, it's really different from the works I compare it to, so it's hard to say 'Read this if you like X or X because it has a few similarities in theme and tone, but is still very much its own thing'.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah which is why I'm not even gonna namedrop my X.

I'm just straight up gonna talk about 'My comic has [this trait]' (and X shares that trait, but no one needs to know for the purpose of that pitch)

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

To answer the weekly question... I really don't have a marketing strategy. Marketing is my achilles heel, so I generally just throw pages up and hope someone sees them. I don't really understand social media nor do I have the energy to sink tonnes of time into it, which seems to be one of the biggest requirements for being picked up by algorithms. So my marketing strategy is just.., keep making comics and talking to other creators and hope for the best

eli [a winged tale]

I think that’s still solid Capn

Ultimately you need a product to promote

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's something that helps me, because while I can talk about my favorite works done by others, I feel stuck when trying to do the same with my own. So it's basically telling my brain, 'hey, you already know how to do it with other stories. Do the same thing with your own.'

eli [a winged tale]

So true Kei

renieplayerone

thats my strategy too. best case you market it great, worst case you've made a new friend so win win :3

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

My incredibly low numbers after 14 years of making webcomics beg to differ but... maybe someday I can hire someone to help me market.

eli [a winged tale]

I’m using the comic platforms rather than my own site so... sort of relying on their algorithms. I imagine it can be harder if you just post on your own website?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Sometimes the platforms don't help much if their audience isn't into the type of comics you make

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I post on both my own website and on platforms, but the algorithms for WT and Tapas don’t seem to like me, haha.(edited)

renieplayerone

yeah same

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

One of my top favorite webcomics got a front page feature on Tapas once, but it wasn't the kind of a story that gets a lot of traction there, so it still didn't get very popular. And that was in no way a measure of its quality. It is an excellent comic, just not a good fit for that particular place.

renieplayerone

I get far more views on my site, but I get way more engagement on Tapas and WT

I actually treat those two mirrors AS marketing for the main site(edited)

eli [a winged tale]

Exactly renie! Good perspective!

I never know what different platforms tailor to...

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Yeah, what Keiiii said. I make dark fantasy comics and both WT and Tapas favour romance, especially comics geared towards a female audience and drawn anime style. My comics aren’t particularly feminine and romance isn’t much of a focus, so they’re just not what that demographic is into.

eli [a winged tale]

I’ve been trying to remember how I came across my favourite comics and usually it’s through the art (interesting characters, unique dynamic style that I enjoy) and the first chapter holding promise (able to see what the character wants/will have to change into)

Romance has always been the best seller in the story world I think

Oh and most recently hiveworks and other web publishers have great recommendations too per genre

And comic conventions are always fun to meet creators. Sometimes If I feel I jive with someone I’m an instant fan

renieplayerone

I absolutely need to get better at having confidence enough to make friends at conventions x_x

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I have noticed my audience grow a bit since joining Spiderforest. They’ve helped me get a bit better at promotion, though marketing just isn’t my talent, lol.

renieplayerone

im always terrified haha

eli [a winged tale]

It’s a big step for sure renie! It took me like... three years going to VanCAF as an attendee before actually exhibiting and making friends(edited)

Mei

I know i'm late but i personally detest the 'this book is X meets Y!!', even though I get why people do it. I just wish they'd describe it to me like what if I'd never read either of those books......

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I would really love to get out to cons, they sound like a great opportunity for connecting with other creators. One of these years I’ll be able to get to one!(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah im usually kinda like "okay, well are you doing anything new or are you just doing those things :/"

renieplayerone

I exhibit with the Boston Comics Roundtable and I still havent gotten the courage XD

Mei

yeah, cons are really fun even to attend or to make friends! I find it really tough though, I'm so intimidated;;

yeah Deo... same... it's like

sure, I could pitch a story as two things. Like I don't know "The Walking Dead meets Shaun of the Dead" which is semi redundant anyway

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I only use it to give people a framework for the kinds of tones and themes they can expect from my work when I have to keep my explanation short and sweet.

renieplayerone

they should have badges that say "Hi i want to make friends but you are all so awesome its intimidating be kind"

Mei

or you know... use those words to just describe the story? It may be a personal preference, some agents LOVE comparisons

Yes renie, yes!

i'd love a badge like that like

pls talk to me i'm scare

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Sometimes a few words can’t fully describe a story as well as saying: ‘It’s a little bit like X meets X but if you add [insert unique thing your story does]’

Mei

I personally find that it depends a bit too much on people having read those books or stories before. BUT if you're pitching to an agent, they've usually read those books

so then they get a sense or vibe of like, what the genre is

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

It’s all down to preference, really. Your own and the person you’re pitching to. If you don’t want to use comparisons to describe your own work, that’s valid, but try not to dismiss people who do.

Mei

so I get it, I just don't like it personally xD I think a lot of the times it takes away from your own voice and story

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That too is part of the reason why I'm not namedropping the works

Just having my self-promo self learn from my 'promo other people's stuff' self

Mei

yeah for sure, it adds that level of excitement to your own work that you'd give to others?

eli [a winged tale]

I think a cool exercise might be to check out someone’s work here and see how you would promote it

It’s always good to see from someone else’s perspective

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

yessssss, all of my friends have been much better at promoting than I am

mostly because they have no shame regarding it but they also just... know what sounds cool

Mei

Oh i'm very good at promoting my friends' work

I sold his DnD book to a kpop stan who doesn't like DnD and doesn't play, and it was a crowning achievement

eli [a winged tale]

Like for yours I’d probably say... Manta Ray princess finds herself very much dead but is given a second chance to revive her friends and save her kingdom... just need to find someone very much living and very much not afraid of the seaghosts they have become

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

SOLID

though now I imagine Phaedra as a Manta Ray in a dress which is... not entirely untrue

eli [a winged tale]

LOL omg I haven’t even thought of that! Just thought manta Princess is a hook

Mei

Me, pointing at Cheth "I mean look at him, LOOK AT HIM and tell me you don't want to read this"

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I guess for my work I market it from four potential angles: 1) The princess is cool and has a sword, 2) The villain is the best character, 3) The environments ain't bad, and 4) THERE'S A DOG

again, you gotta know who you're talking to and what they already like

eli [a winged tale]

In a world where a fallen god became trapped in the sea, a dead princess is given a second chance to fight for her life with a mysterious sea-bitten boy and undo the sea ghost curse that plagues the world.

Dammit I repeated world

Mei

hey... the environments are GREAT

eli [a winged tale]

Yeah Lady your environment shots are

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

ok I do try BUT BACK TO MARKETING

The number of times I see someone marketing their comic with very epic-sounding descriptors or broad generalizations... then that one day where they're finally like "oh, I have a character who turns into a hamster at nighttime" and people are like 'I'M SOLD'

And then they go ".... THAT'S WHAT YOU ALL WANTED???"

often it's those little weird details that get people interested

Deo101 [Millennium]

I wanna read about the were hamster please

Mei

sometimes I think the simplest and maybe slightly silly lines are what grabs people?

when things sound TOO epic i feel a bit intimidated

eli [a winged tale]

takes notes

Mei

but if someone were to sell me a big adventure epic as "it's hamsters and they fight the forces of evil" i'd read it

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

god yes

"Four small creatures band together to defeat a great darkness overwhelming their homeland."

No.

"Hamsters fight evil."

YES

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I.... I have no idea how to snappily describe my comics. XD

eli [a winged tale]

Same... I got to kids with wings for hair then my brain short circuits

Mei

i'd say it's the way you'd tell the story to a close friend

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

The best I came up with was 'Teenagers with supernatural powers team up with woodland critters to defeat monsters' but it sounds more adventure-y and doesn't really get at the fact that it's a dark story with horror elements and everyone's mentally ill.

Mei

like they come up to you and go "what's your comic about" "oh you know, my stupid comic's about mutant hamsters that take over the world" or something

(don't call your comics stupid none of your comics are stupid they are great)

Deo101 [Millennium]

"plant man and his goth boyfriend babysitting a ton of bozos" would probably be mine then

Mei

BEAUTIFUL

i'm sold

Deo101 [Millennium]

ghsakgjhgkhkgahgk my target audience...

Mei

i do think tho like this form of comedic one-lining may not work for something dark?

Unless you go "Spooky horror about cats that become humans at night!"

would need experimentation

eli [a winged tale]

It’s a balance I think.

Kids stranded on an island with weapons explore the darkness in human nature - Lord of the Flies

Mei

ooh yeah that's a good one!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

A space explorer stranded on a foreign planet must join forces with the indigenous population and save his ship before his life support runs out.

Alternately

Small man goes to war with small carrot people

Pikmin

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios) I wonder if one could describe CoS the way how people might describe Evangelion, but with magical powers instead of mechs.

Teens, monsters, mental illnesses

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Probably. Though I've never seen Evangelion, but those three words work very well.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

The relationship dynamics are way different, but yeah, those three things...

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Also add trauma and cute lil animals and you have Children of Shadow. XD

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Evangelion also has trauma (though I don't know if you'd like it; this isn't a rec, just a promo discussion!) and it was refreshing to see at the time

A teen trying to fight huge monsters, even if he was doing it inside an equally huge mech, could lead to traumatizing experiences, and it was the first time I saw that seriously explored

Hmm, so I guess "teens, talking animals, monsters, mental illnesses feat. trauma" ?

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I don't know if it's similar at all, but that description reminds me strongly of Eureka 7. Wow, was that series intense,

🌈ERROR404 🌈

I really liked how the end happened - it was a nice solution to the lack of budget issue and told the story of his psyche reall well

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Though Eureka 7 was intense in a good way. I found the ending kind of unsatisfying, but admittedly I find the endings of 90% of animes unsatisfying (probably a cultural clash). But I enjoy them for the journey more than the ending.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I haven't watched Eureka 7, but the storyboard artist (one of the storyboard artists maybe?) for that anime is one of my favorite artists.

DanitheCarutor

Ah, a little late, but regarding the snappy promos I'm in the same boat as Cap'n with not knowing how to make one. At least one that would be ridiculous and totally not fitting the darker themes. I agree with all the people who have a generally hard time coming up with a pitch for their work, while having an easier time promoting other people's comics. Honestly my comic can be super boring to people who don't like pretentious, non-fantastical, angsty, character study types of stories. So it's really hard to think of a way to make it sound interesting without spoiling anything. Man! That thing when people come up to you, asking what your comic is about! Me: "Oh! Ah, it's uh, kinda sad and it has uh mental illness" -trails off with uncomfortable laughter- Them: Oh cool. -has a look of complete disinterest- Someone was actually extremely enthusiastic about the vague description of my comic, which somehow made me a mix of uncomfortable and excited.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I saw the conversation about blurbs and I just thought of one for a comic I'm working on! "An ecologist and a bird have a conversation about ethics"

I haven't started the comic yet so please send your critiques(edited)

and first impressions

(of the blurb)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

"Angsty character study with a heavy dose of mental illness" <--- Could this descriptor work? @DanitheCarutor

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

kei said exactly what I was just typing

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Great minds

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh, i just realized i've read dani's comic

I think your description is fine?

The artsy, angsty comics I follow all have kind of short, tongue in cheek descriptions

it's hard to capture the tone of an emotional comic in one sentence so they either joke about it or make it intentionally misleading

for example Drop Out's description is something like "two friends go on a road trip" and Fritz Fargo's description is "a human dumpster fire in the 90s"

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

The dumpster fire one is insta-effective

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Dani, maybe make your description shorter if anything?

Something like, "An emotionally stunted alcoholic attempts to make amends"

and then follow it up with kei's line about it being an angsty character study

RebelVampire

Im not gonna stop the convo cause it is on topic. However, i do want to remind ppl these #creator_babble chats are permanently archived. So thats something to keep in mind if youre gonna workshop.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I asked before in this discord about making my own blurb better. The main critique I got was that I included too many things that I thought were interesting and unique that a new reader probably wouldn't care about. Like how the mc's powers work. But though it's unique and important to the story, it's not going to be a main reason someone reads the comic. I revised the blurb to remove extraneous info and make the tone of the comic more apparent, and I think now I didn't lose anything and made it more concise.

I think maybe agtahr could also be summarized a bit more succinctly

DanitheCarutor

Yup, you did once upon a time but said you stopped reading it a while ago. (which is totally fine, the reason is understandable.) The mix of yours and Keii's descriptions do sound a lot better than mine. Lol Thank you Fish and @keii’ii (Heart of Keol)! I've noticed people really like the word 'angst' when you describe heavy stuff. At least when I was a teenager everyone found it appealing. I'll tinker with it a bit and use Drop_Out and Fritz Fargo as a reference. Anyways, I'm going to stop talking now, don't want to bog down the main topic.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

That's a good point; 'the best things about this story' and 'things that should go in its blurb' have an overlap, but they aren't always the same.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Yeah, I did but I'll probably pick it up again eventually. I remember enjoying it. If you do want to keep talking, we can move to shop talk?

mirandalorian

babbling I have the first three episodes of my webtoon ready to post tomorrow and I’m really excited and feel kinda proud that I made it this far...even though it’s not very far. It’s far for me without posting immediately end babbling

Feather J. Fern

I forgot to ask, but if people are tabling at cons, do you guys have promo stuff at your con tables for your comics?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Mostly a business card, but yes

carcarchu

i never did but my table partner one year had free postcards she gave out with purchase / to passerbys with her comic info and an illustration on it

kayotics

I always keep free postcards to advertise my comic on the table right next to my business cards.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Yep, the free postcards did wonders for me last year. They disappeared quickly!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Buisness cards and postcards~

Feather J. Fern

Seems like Business and Postcards are the way to go.

Mei

business cards!!

i might be making flyers/postcards for my comic next time though! :D

sagaholmgaard

I haven't done much to promote my comic but I've gotten some good ideas reading through this, thanks! I currently plug my updates in twitter and instagram with a cool/fun panel from the new page. I do also share WIPS and try to engage through my instagram stories (Asking things like, 'what type of benders would the Reclaim squad be in an avatar au' and making doodles for the answers), but that only reaches those who follow my IG. its good fun tho. I've done memes with the characters a few times but I didn't get much attention, LOL. But it's fun so maybe worth trying again

Spring-heeled Jack

Today I went into a locally owned comic shop and went to the guy that owns it and said "I'm a local artist and I'm writing a comic. Could I give you some small flyers to let people take?" And he said yes, and then asked if I have any physical copies. I don't yet but told him I'll bring some by when I have them. He then let me know he carries other local artists! Something cool to think about if you have a local comic shop.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

ooo that's good to know

I droped off my zines at my local comic shop but maybe I'll drop flyers of my webcomic too lmaooo

Spring-heeled Jack

I also just ordered a business card carrier so I can tote some around with ease. I carry my flyers in my sketchbook. You should totally ask, it never hurts! Carry a few extra just in case you find yourself in a new area and find another cafe or comic shop.

I ran mine off on my at home printer on some nice quality but regular weight paper. I might need to get some more professionally done.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

I keep a handful of business cards in my wallet -- that way, any time someone says "hey, that looks cool, what are you drawing?" they get a card with the title and URL. Slowly but steadily burns through the supply.

DanitheCarutor

Seeing if my local book shops will carry copies of my comic when I print them eventually is something I'm kind of excited about! My town is hardcore into supporting local artists and writers, so that'll be something neat to try out. Although I'm a little nervous that the rating might be a little too mature for what the vendors want on their shelves.

I know of using postcards to advertise, but never heard of fliers. Maybe I'll give that a try.(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I use double sided business cards, so on one side, it showcases some of my art, and the other side has contact info, a link to my comic website, and a QR code. It's been pretty helpful so far at conventions.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

You guys have all these sophisticated answers to this and my answer is just "scream on every social media platform I can reach and every person I meet about my comic."

Though I may not scream at people irl,,,

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Let's see... I have a twitter where I repost my comic pages, and a couple mirrors that help reach different audiences. I've also carried around business cards that have my comic's URL on it. One fun strategy I've used is doing review-exchange things, in an I-critique-your-comic-if-you-critique-mine way (with the assumption that most people who read all the way through Super Galaxy Knights end up liking it). Though, that isn't really viable anymore now that the comic is 600+ pages, cuz nobody would ever agree to that trade lol. And... that's pretty much it? Though, I should note that my goal with Super Galaxy Knights isn't to make the most popular comic I can so that I can make a living off ads or patreon or print sales or whatever. If I ever do manage to make money off the comic, it'll be in "spinoff tech" (basically, video games or other media based off it). (it's the reason why a bunch of early Starstuff Stories fleshed out the abilities of the characters they focused on) I would like people to read the story because I think people would like the story, but it's not like my future depends on its popularity.

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

We (me and Q) are gonna (hopefully) tabeling at cons this year! I thought about doing free non permenant tattoos with our comic things. Also we have beautiful zines of the first chapter to sell. but a free postcard is also good

Desnik

promotional strategies...ah...the biggest thing I did for my first webcomic, RAWR! Dinosaur Friends, was simply update on a general platform (tumblr), using a consistent schedule and the same tags every time. That allowed some of the bigger biology/humor/critter blogs on tumblr to find me and I got a lot of people reading from their generous reblogs. I found some more niche crossover from sci-comm blog comments and dinosaur toy collector forums, because sometimes I'd have a comic that would coincide with paleontology news. It was mainly about finding my niche and bringing my stuff to that niche. To those struggling with finding readers, I would recommend distilling the contents of your comic and then reaching out to people who buy/read things like your comic. I've definitely made friends from general 'webcomic' forums and discords, but in terms of building a readership it's all about finding the niche and catering to it in a human way

In general I highly recommend shopping around for stuff like hobby blogs/forums/groups/discords that have some relation to the content of your webcomic. Those people DO want new content related to their hobby, but they don't really deal well with salesy pitches. Just be human and also a nerd for that hobby, too (nerdy enough to make webcomics about it)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, it's like fan comic for an existing IP with an existing fandom, except it's a fan comic of a 'thing' rather than an IP (e.g. you make a pirate comic? Great! Nobody owns pirates, but there are lots of pirate fans out there!).

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

The very first customer I had at the first con I tabled at, came over and said "I like ghosts! I like the ocean! I'll take it!" And wrote me later saying it was exactly what they were looking for.

And honestly it's all because I make sure every cover has something spooky and something watery, and the genres are in the title I make it very easy for people to understand what it might be like.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

omg the genres are in the title

that's genius

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Definitely not planned But it helps so much!

I think if authors have a rule on certain symbols/motifs they MUST make sure come across on covers/posters/etc, that can be a good marketing strategy. With some wiggle room, of course.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I... I feel like I can barely even describe what my comic is, which makes it so hard to market. 'Do you like comics with cute animals and eldritch horrors and angsty teens that have superpowers and hidden religious symbolism everywhere?!? Then my comic is for you!' What even is that demographic, because I sure don't know.(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios) If you take away the cute animals part, that actually sounds like stuff a lot of teens are into/ a lot of people were into when they were teens. And most people love cute animals, so adding that to the mix, in theory, shouldn't reduce the accessibility too much. Buuuuut CoS has its unique flavor that's decidedly different from all the "angsty teens, eldritch horrors, religious symbolism" stuff I consumed when I was younger. I don't know how to describe that flavor, nor how to utilize it for marketing. But yeah, maybe some food for thought?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I've used short phrases that are sort of representative to describe my comic. Examples include "consensual mind control" "a guy whose ideal life is not being entirely alive" "friendship" and "anticlimactic conversations"

I have no idea how effective any of those are

someone tell me pls

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

As someone who just started reading your comic last night I think consensual mind control is a really cool descriptor. I haven't heard that too much before.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

!

that makes me happy

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) Heh, I'm not sure what that unique flavour is, either, but it might have something to do with me avoiding the typical 'chosen one' structure that most teen fantasy literature has. The characters are all (except Fawna) a part of the hidden world already rather than discovering it, and everyone's pretty much running around like chickens with their heads cut off rather than having any power over their situation (which is kind of a huge part of the theme of the comic). It's definitely different than the typical urban fantasy, so it's been really hard to find which audience that appeals to. From what I've gathered based on the people who comment on my website, it's mostly academics in college or beyond, for whatever reason. XD

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Honestly I think for almost all comics their first pages were what convinced me to keep reading. Even with Phantomarine I was ambivalent about the description but then I saw the first page, and though, yeah, I'm into this.

Maybe my own comic can be the same way

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Exactly the same with me and your comic - I was also all about that first page It's a powerful thing! I think for anyone about to delve into a comic - which is, by nature, a very visual thing - it's going to be that visual that ultimately pushes them over the edge.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

maybe my description should just be ascii art of my main character O-O | -(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

^ It's why I tinkered with the first page of HoK soooo many times even after it went live. But it wasn't enough; it still gave off the wrong impression as to what kind of a story one should expect. Finally, more than a year after I started posting it, I redid like 1/4 to 1/3 of chapter one from scratch. Even though it will never be perfect, I can live with it now. chapter 2 on the other hand... It's an imperfect intro to the right story, rather than an intro (good or not) to the wrong story.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

To be honest, my intro probably doesn't hit the right notes to explain what my comic is about, which may be part of my problem. It starts out seeming more like an anthropomorphic fantasy than a dark urban fantasy / horror story. That's just something I think I'm going to have to live with, because I'm tired of reworking old pages (I already do it far too much). I think my best solution is drawing a new cover that showcases the tone and subject matter better than the one I'm using now.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

oh god, you reminded me of the 3 cover pages I spent hours on only to later scrap. Then my current cover page I did in one hour after it came to me at 4am(edited)

and it was perfect

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

XD

and my page redoings were after the reboot.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Cap, I don't know how representative it is of the story but I looked up the Ashes cover page and it's very impressive

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Yeah, I already redrew my intro once.... and this is the third iteration of this comic. And I'm currently redrawing the first two chapters of my other comic. I'm so sick to death of starting over. -_-

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Oh, thank you!! I like to go all-out on covers, heh.

Kabocha

Promotion... ... is that a thing you can eat? ... A few things I've tried is business cards -- tweeting about it -- posting about it on dA... I try to stay away from services like Tapas and Webtoon because I'm not formatted for those sorts of things, and I fear I'll probably just frustrate myself. It's a delicate balance right now between remaining happy with my work and getting it seen, but overall, I guess I'm not too stressed about it since it's not a source of income for me... I just... like making comics. I've also done conventions -- Conventions are fun, don't get me wrong, but nowadays they're a really low return on interest for many shows for original stuff (except slice of life and "oh no I did a bad" types of zines -- people seem to really enjoy things like that since it's often pretty easy to relate to). They feel like they used to be easier for selling original work, but the market's gotten rougher because there's so much competition and only so many dollars. if I ever print, I'm probably going to have to lean on some marketing-savvy friends for help... Hopefully things haven't changed too much by then. I think the tool that's worked best for me in the past few years has been doing guest comics here and there, as well as using topwebcomics, oddly enough. TWC was pretty good for referrals when I started doing comics way back in 2006~2007...

sagaholmgaard

Since the topic is about promotion... Do yall know if there are any twitter hashtag events for webcomic creators? My friends in the indie game industry have certain hashtags that people can post in during specific times every week - do we have anything similar?

Kabocha

#Webcomicchat!

https://webcomicchat.com/for-creators You may also find this page helpful

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

#webcomicchat is great because you get to talk shop while talking about your own work! It's not just "look at my comic"

sagaholmgaard

Ahh!! Thank you!

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I know some people do #WebcomicWednesday - not sure how official it is, but it gets some attention!

sagaholmgaard

I'll check that one out as well!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

There's also #comicartistsunite too

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

webcomicchat always looked like fun, but I definitively am on the wrong side of the globe for the times it's going on

mirandalorian

Promotion is difficult. I always feel like I'm being too pushy, even for something that's free. I also feel like I built up a following that had nothing to do with comics or art and so when I switched directions to head that way, i don't get the response I would like. Reading all the thoughts here has been really helpful tho. Just got to put them into practice

Feather J. Fern

I think my current attempt for promotion is at least being more willing to promote. I have to force my fear of "I shouldn't tell people because it's not as good as (blank)" and just shove my comic into a spotlight

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

If anyone is worried about bothering people, putting variety into your promotions will make things more palatable for people for sure. I have one person on my timeline spamming the same exact post over and over again, almost daily, and it doesn't seem to be doing them any favors There's no need for a promotion every day. The people I see that do a more-obvious promotion tweet, like, weekly, or every two weeks, seem to get good results from that Sometimes less is more

mirandalorian

I need to get to that point Feathery. And ya, daily is a bit extreme imo. But I have to figure out the good balance

Feather J. Fern

Even weekly I don't do it because I feel like I am spamming and I feel awkward

Oh! Speaking of promotions, one way I found I got my comic promoted was by doing guest comics for other people! I got lots of viewers after each guest comic I did

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, for social media promo, e.g. on Twitter, you want to make your actual tweets have value -- not just things being linked off the tweets. (This is where gag-a-day kinda comics have an advantage, because each strip has entertainment value and you can just post the whole strip in a tweet.) Obviously this doesn't apply to every promo tweet; so like, weekly promo tweet that's solely about the links, as mentioned by others, is fine. But yeah, aside from those, you wanna make your promo tweets fun to read.

Feather J. Fern

Also cameos! Cameos are a great promo

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Not gonna lie, I am lowkey paranoid about doing cameos. Someone I know had to remove their cameo of someone else's character, because that other person objected to their character being in the print version of the comic.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Uff

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh rip

Feather J. Fern

Oh man, that's rough.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'll never even print HoK but I can still imagine someone being all "NOPE, I CHANGED MY MIND" at a later time

Feather J. Fern

I am planning to do some cameos for other people, not that Go Figure will ever be in print but I can see that problem. I think what I would say is that if you want a cameo you have to be 100% certain

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Might be a good idea to have a very simple agreement thing you can have them sign

Feather J. Fern

Yeah I was going to have a written consent form

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

"I agree to let you do a cameo of my character, and to not be a jerk about it at a later time. Signed"

Feather J. Fern

Signed and dated by both parties XD

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

There's also the broad hashtags like #webcomics and even things more geared to genres like #drama and #fantasy and so on. Doing art memes helps sometimes, too.

mirandalorian

What do you think the best hashtags to use are? Is webcomics too saturdated?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm not sure about the best hashtags, but my biggest thing about hashtags on Twitter : don't use a bunch of hashtags in a single tweet!

For broad hashtags like #webcomics or #fantasy, I gotta wonder if anyone's actually checking those out...

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Yeah, I usually tag my update posts with #webcomic and my comic's name, but honestly I have no idea if #webcomic has ever helped out my post ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

mirandalorian

Ya, I typically keep it to two or less, but i always wonder if webcomic is actually useful lol

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

takes note to use something more specific than #webcomic in my next update tweet

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I think it may potentially be useful as a label for someone who's just found you on that platform, and is not sure what you're promoting. But beyond that...

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

I usually use #historicalfiction and #webcomic. Not sure which one helps more, but well, there it is.

mirandalorian

Ya, I should use the genre tag too.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Do people even search genre tags for that matter lol (a bit pessimistic, but still a genuine question)

like, I'll be the first to admit, I don't hashtag search to look for new comics to read. I don't think I ever hashtag search ANYTHING, unless it's like..... a very active trend that I am interested in (e.g. an upcoming video game that I'm looking forward to)

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Well, the tags are popular enough to be suggested by twitter so I'd think some use them, probably likeminded folk.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Same keii. I mostly use hashtags to look for fan art, exclusively on Instagram.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

There's also a trend of "art sharing" tweets. I have found a couple of artists and webcomics through that kind of event, but again, the turnover isn't anything to write home about.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I wonder if readers make use of the search more than us creators do?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I doubt it, Lee

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

:/

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I never use it as a reader, at any rate, though I don't know if others are like that.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Though, actually that's not true, I have used hashtags to look at more things being posted within art events. So inktober, mermay, hourly comic day, etc.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

But art event hashtags are useful, because -- like I mentioned before -- those tweets provide entertainment value without anyone having to click on offsite links. e.g. the #StartToFinish tag that's hot right now.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I have followed new artists from those tags though and then checked out their off-site stuff. It's definitely a more round about way than someone specifically looking for comics to read via hashtag

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

From my limited observation, when people are looking for comics to read, they tend to ask for recs rather than do hashtag search?

"Anyone know of some good magical girl webcomics?" etc

which is a bit of a bummer for us creators, because that is completely outside of our control. Nothing we can do about it.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

here's the popularity for the #webcomics tag

So SOME people use it.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight) I'm gonna guess it's mostly creators using them to promote, rather than readers using them to search.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Also it seems to be peak in popularity in the USA

@keii’ii (Heart of Keol) the graph implies interaction, really.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

What counts as interaction?

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

tweeting it and searching it

what I'm saying is we can't know.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I don’t so much in Twitter, but I personally DO search hashtags on Insta to find new art.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's true, we can't know. I just personally can't imagine anyone searching for #webcomics to find stuff to read

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Insta is definitely hashtag game city.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, IG is a different beast

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Comics don’t generally gel so well with Insta’s format, though, so I’m usually seeking art and not comics.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

just to be safe, occasionally use it

To be honest, I'm probably more likely to find and become a fan of webcomics here on this server than any social media

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, I wouldn't say "don't use #webcomics" -- use it if you have no other, more specific tags to put. But on Twitter, you don't want too many hashtags, so if you got more specific ones... use those instead!

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

I feel somewhat self conscious in getting an instagram. But I'll get one most likely.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

It might be a good idea to switch up your tags regularly? Choose two or three from a relevant list each update and see if any of those tweets get a noticeable boost in engagement.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Yeah that sounds a good strategy

speaking of, any other creators into historical webcomics?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I don't seek them out, but there's some that I read.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

yours is touching upon the historical keii with the joseon-style elements.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It's definitely not historical but yeah, got the aesthetics going for it!

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Yeah!

I must admit, I'm a bit starved for like-minded creators. I mean people that create historical webcomics. I know and follow a few but that's not nearly enough.

(if I'm babbling too much for creator babble please tell me!)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Babbling is fine! But this might be better for #general or possibly shop talk as it's not related to this week's topic?

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

oh sorry, there's a specific topic here too?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, all the channels under CTP Activities have a... topic thingie that changes weekly

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

okay got it. I'll take it there. Sorry :/

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Don't be sorry, be glad to chat about this stuff in another channel

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

With insta please be mindful that if you‘ll always post with the same hashtags, their algorythmn likely will assume you‘re a bot.

mirandalorian

Oh really?

I definitely did not know that.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Yup, it‘s a big annoyance. At least it was that way half a year ago, how is the algorythm now? Nobody knows.

I kinda hate insta, but it‘s the platform with the most interactions for me, although I don‘t know if it goes beyound liking my panel cutout.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Instagram does it‘s darnest to lock the user into theor own ecosystem.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Yeah, hard same. I definitely get the most likes there, but I get very few referrals from insta.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Funnily, the only social media where I KNOW I got at least one reader from is pillowfort and their teeny-tiny webcomic comunity!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I keep wanting to hop over there, but also starting a new social media sounds exhausting TuT one day.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I need to start using PF

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

It‘s pretty chill, reminds me of the hey-day of livejournal, with great filtering - more intended to create many small communities than one giant pot like twitter.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I don’t think any platform’s algorithms like me. I get very low engagement no matter where I post. I’m just not good at figuring out what these platforms pick up.(edited)

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I still have three invites left for this week.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Does cross promotion work for you guys at all?

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

A little bit? But I think my comics are a hard sell, so I generally don’t get a lot of referrals when I cross-promote with other creators.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

It‘s how I found this community; but otherwise, nope.

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

Now I need to check out your comics Lee. I'm intrigued!

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Haha, if you want to! If they’re not your cup of tea that’s a-okay.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I still have three invites left for this week.

@chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa] if you don't have plans for those invites, I would definitely take one and follow you first

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

About the hashtag thing on Twitter..... I have found the hashtags #webtoon #webtooncanvas and #celebrateCANVASday to be particularly useful for those of us publishing on Webtoon Canvas. I have gained a few new readers from this, and the official Webtoon Canvas page often retweets when these hashtags are used.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

That's good to know. I'm planning to start mirroring on Webtoon so I'll have to be sure to remember to use those tags.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I need to fix my series on WT first. But I'll give those hashtags a try once that's been done

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I tried using webtoon hashtags a few times, but their page never retweeted me. It seems either random, or there’s some hidden requirement for getting a rt.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

i use the tag sometimes but I found it more responsive if you have a vertical scrolling format comic

then they're more likely to respond to you

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Oh, yeah.... I use a traditional page format.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

same rip

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I do combine all my pages into long episodes at the ends of chapters, so it’s kinda scrolling, but they’re just traditional pages stacked on top of each other, lol. WT definitely doesn’t like that, but I don’t have the time to reformat hundreds of pages.

Feather J. Fern

Also promo thought, I randomly joined people's streams before and then got hooked on their comics after seeing them draw on twitch or something like that

Pistashi

I struggle a bit with promo stuff, because I get too self-conscious about self-promoting and I'm the type of person that ends up doing too much of it or none of it

at the moment I'm working on making a press kit and sharing it with some blogs and networks about comics

but still, what I usually do is join groups and try to talk with people that works with art and comics

this is kind of more inclined to networking and meeting new people to talk about what we like than promoting my work to potential readers

nothing wrong with that, but looking with a more critical eye I still have a lot to learn about building an audience and reaching people who could become future readers

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I wonder HOW much a large social media following is worth. Insta‘s shown me that it isn‘t necessarily translating into readers.

carcarchu

in my experience followings on different platforms are non-transferable. same goes with having a large following on your comic itself, doesn't necessarily mean having a lot of followers on your art accounts. that's why they say "don't build your sandcastle in someone else's sandbox"

Pistashi

that makes a lot of sense

kayotics

If you’re building your following around your own content (original art, comic updates, etc) then the likelihood that the following is transferable is higher, but it’s still not 100%. You’re competing with everything else on their timeline too.

RebelVampire

i think a thing to consider with webcomics especially when it comes to social media is that a good portion of people who follow comic creators on social media are other comic creators, not people who are just readers. and the good majority of comic creators do not have a lot of time to read other webcomics. While there are certainly exceptions, I see those very few and far in between. So the conversion rates for social media right now are super low until the dynamic of the communities on the platforms changes.

kayotics

I’d agree with that, but also having a social media presence has definitely opened up some doors to being seen by other creators, many of whom are professionals. It’s good for networking, might not be the best for gaining and retaining readers.

RebelVampire

Oh yeah for sure. My point was about conversion factor

its factor in networking is a whole other matter entirely

and is indespensible

kayotics

One thing that I didn’t mention for myself is that networking has helped a LOT with getting new readers. Word of mouth, is always the best way to advertise, and other webcomic people giving you a plug can see some really strong results

[ryqoshay]

How to Handle a Nico: Rubies and Diamonds

Primary Paring: NicoMaki Side Pairings: NozoEli, RinPana, KotoUmi, TsubaHono Words: ~4k Rating: K Time Frame: Maki is working through her residency. Nico is working as an idol producer. They are living together as a couple, but not married yet. Story Arc: “Proposal” How to Seek a Nishikino’s Blessing How to Obtain a Yazawa’s Blessing How to Prepare a Proposal Rubies and Diamonds

List of all HtHaN scenes

Author’s Note: Sorry, SS fans, this scene has nothing to do with the Kurosawa siblings. They appear in HL, not HtHaN.

No1Idol: Heading back home

DrNishikino: What?!

DrNishikino: Why?

DrNishikino: Are you alright, Nico-chan?

No1Idol: I’m fine Maki-chan

No1Idol: Believe me, if it was serious, I would have called

No1Idol: Or if it was really serious, someone else would have had to call for me

DrNishiknio: So what’s up?

No1Idol: The venue where I was to perform the first leg of my tour is kind of underwater from the heraldry

DrNishikino: Heraldry?

DrNishikino: You mean the monsoon?

DrNishikino: You’re still bringing that up?

No1Idol: Anyway, Hanayo is looking into finding a different venue and moving the date to the end of the tour

No1Idol: Hopefully we won’t have to refund too many tickets that way

No1Idol: Not that I worry about the refunds themselves

No1Idol: I’d just rather give them the concert they paid for

DrNishikino: Of course

No1Idol: So yeah, I’m on my way back home now

No1Idol: If nothing else, I get another weekend with my favorite Maki-chan

DrNishikino: Well I’m at work

DrNishikino: So I won’t see you when you get back

No1Idol: Of course

No1Idol: I know that

No1Idol: Where else would you be?

DrNishikino: Nowhere

DrNishikino: Just at work

DrNishikino: A normal day at work

DrNishikino: See you tonight, Nico-chan

DrNishikino: At home

No1Idol: I’ll make something good for dinner

DrNishikino: I’ll look forward to it

No1Idol: I love you, Maki-chan

DrNishikino: I love you too, Nico-chan

No1Idol: You and Maki-chan are ring shopping today, aren’t you

SpiritualPower: We are

SpiritualPower: Elicchi and I are on our way to meet Maki-chan at the store now

SpiritualPower: Why do you ask?

No1Idol: Oh, Maki-chan is just being her usual unsubtle self

No1Idol: I think she panicked a little when I said I was heading home because the first part of my tour is being rescheduled

SpiritualPower: Ah, that’s right, I heard about the flooding this morning on the news

No1Idol: She was strangely insistent about being at work

No1Idol: I almost feel bad not telling her I already know

No1Idol: Almost

SpiritualPower: Well since you’re in town anyway, why not come along?

SpiritualPower: Maki-chan originally invited you anyway

No1Idol: But that would ruin the surprise

SpritualPower: The fake surprise you already know about?

No1Idol: Exactly

No1Idol: Wait

No1Idol: I mean it’s not fake

No1Idol: It’s still a surprise

No1Idol: It’s just going to be a surprise for Maki-chan instead of for me

SpiritualPower: Well you could still come and watch Maki-chan pick out your ring

No1Idol: What do you mean?

SpiritualPower: Go incogNico

No1Idol: Leave me out of your voyeuristic fantasies

SpiritualPower: You spied on µ’s before you joined, did you not?

SpiritualPower: In fact both you and Maki did

SpiritualPower: Don’t you think it would be fun to watch Maki-chan figure out what to buy you?

No1Idol: Maybe

SpiritualPower: See you there!

No1Idol: Don’t say that like I’ve already agreed!

“Maki-chan!” Nozomi called with a wave. “We’re over here!”

“Eli?” Maki asked, approaching the couple.

“Sorry,” Eli apologized “I hope you don’t mind my tagging along.”

“Elicchi is the best when it comes to accessories and jewelry, as you know.” Nozomi explained with a proud smile as she boasted about her fiancée.

“No, it’s fine.” Maki shook her head before turning her attention to Eli who was blushing at the exaggerated compliment. “Thank you in advance for your time and advice.”

“It’s my pleasure.” The blonde said as her blush subsided. “I’m happy to help you and Nico where I can.”

“With what might I have the honor of assisting you fine young ladies today?” A well-dressed employee asked as he approached the group entering the store.

“We are in the market for engagement rings.” Eli explained.

“Maki-chan here is getting married.” Nozomi said, placing both hands on said girl’s shoulders and pushing her forward a little.

“N-Nozomi…” Maki protested softly, trying to avoid blushing.

A flash of confusion crossed the man’s face, just for a moment, but he blinked and it was gone. “Very well. You have most certainly come to the right place.” He held out an arm to indicate a direction. “Right this way, if you please.” The three followed his lead.

Maki’s eyes widened as she took in the displays before her. She was not unfamiliar with high-end jewelry; she was the daughter of a wealthy family, after all, and such accessories were expected to be worn to the many gatherings to which her parents brought her. However, as someone who generally disregarded most things romantic, she had no idea there was such a variety of wedding related jewelry.

“Are we just browsing today or do you have an idea already?” The man asked, slipping behind a waist-height display case and turning to face the girls.

“Let’s start with an Ideal cut.” Eli stated confidently. “Next, we can start with VVS2, though I’m sure we’ll move up. We’ll definitely go with Colorless; we will start with F and move up if needed. Lastly, I doubt we will be looking at anything less than a carat.”

Maki stared at the blonde, completely at a loss for words while Nozomi’s grin only grew.

“Excellent choices.” The man said with a curt nod. “Perhaps you might be interested in one of our newest collections, which include many selections that fit those parameters. Allow me a moment to retrieve a selection, as we have not even put them on display yet.” That said, he turned and disappeared through a discrete door.

“You did you’re research, Elicchi.” Nozomi marveled.

“I did some.” Eli admitted before turning to Maki. “Forgive me, but I felt it rude to ask you directly for what you’re able to spend, so I made a rough estimate and from there, worked out something I felt we could start with.”

“It’s fine.” Maki shook her head again. “Again, thank you.”

“You can work your way up or down from here.” Eli added. “Again, that was just a starting point.”

Maki nodded in response. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t overwhelmed with the number of choices she had already seen just in the immediate area. She chastised herself for not doing her own research as well. It was no wonder Nozomi had insisted on setting aside a sizable amount of time. It was foolish for Maki to have thought she could just chose one that caught her fancy and be done in a few minutes. She had already seen at least a dozen she thought Nico might like, just on the walk over.

“Also, remember,” The blonde continued, “you do not have to take the diamond and the ring as a whole.”

“Huh?” the redhead blinked.

“If you see a the diamond you like, but prefer a different ring, you may request it set in said ring.” Eli explained. “This place also specializes in customization; they can literally build your ring from the ground up if you want.”

“I see…” Great… more choices…

“Here we are.” The store clerk said upon returning. “These are some of the latest designs.” He set down a stack of trays. “There are plenty more, so if there is one you like, I can bring out a selection of similar designs.”

“Thank you.” Maki replied and began browsing.

How long had she been in the store? Maki wondered if it would be rude to check the time. She hadn’t worn a watch, her phone was in her purse, and she had not previously looked for clocks in the store, so there was no subtle way to check.

Why did picking out ring have to be so hard? Part of Maki wanted to just point to a random ring and buy it so she could go home and see Nico. But this was for Nico. Nico would be wearing this as a symbol of their relationship, of their commitment to one another, and of Maki’s love for her. Maki needed to pick the perfect one. But while many, many rings had appealed to her thus far, none had been the one she felt she absolutely needed to buy.

The clerk seemed to have an endless supply of patience, retrieving more trays and always returning with a smile. He had made several suggestions, and with Maki and Eli’s agreement, they had moved up in carat size and clarity grade.

At some point, Nozomi had become distracted by a display of birthstone themed jewelry and had dragged Eli over as well. Before leaving, Eli had mentioned that Maki need not hesitate to ask if she needed their help.

Birthstones…

What was Nico’s birthstone? For that matter, what was her own? Maki realized she didn’t know either. The idea was kind of silly anyway. It was like buying jewelry with one’s zodiac sign. Only romantic types cared about such things as birthstones…

“Uhm…” Maki spoke up.

“Yes, ma’am?” The clerk responded.

“Do you have any rings with other gems besides just diamonds?”

“Do you mean like a gemstone accent?”

“Maybe? One with a diamond in the middle but other colored gems around it?”

“Absolutely. My apologies for not suggesting them before.”

“That’s fine.”

“Any particular gem you have in mind, or do you want me to bring out another selection?”

“Uhm… birthstones… maybe?”

“For what month?”

“July.”

“Ah, yes, the ruby. An excellent accent gem. I will be right back.”

Rubies… Rubies were red. Like Nico’s eyes.

“Here we are.” The man said, holding out a tray. “Engagement rings with ruby accents.”

Immediately, Maki’s eyes landed on one ring. Its central, heart cut diamond sat between a pair of smaller red gems that were also heart shaped. The first thought that came to Maki’s mind were the ribbons Nico used to wear through high school and college, and even now occasionally while on stage or in a photoshoot.

“See one you like?” the clerk asked, noticing the change in his client’s demeanor.

“Yes…” Maki reached forward to take a closer look at the ring. She held it up. Beautiful.

“Maki-chan!”

“Bueehhh?” The redhead almost dropped the ring in her hand as a voice she had not expected to hear called her name. She turned towards the source.

“It is you, Maki-chan!” An orange-haired girl exclaimed, bouncing over. “I knew it! I was right, Tsubasa-chan!” She grinned at her companion.

“Honoka!” A stern voice said from behind as another pair of young women walked up. “You shouldn’t be so loud in a store like this.”

“W-what are you guys all doing here?” Maki asked.

“Tsubasa-chan and I just met Umi-chan and Kotori-chan for lunch. On our way out, I noticed you here as we walked by.” Honoka explained.

“So what are you doing here?” Tsubasa asked, though her expression suggested she already knew the answer.

“I… uhm…” Maki’s mind whirled, not expecting to need to give said answer.

“Is that for Nico-chan?” Kotori asked, eyes wide as she spied the ring in Maki’s hand.

“Y-yes…” the redhead admitted. “I think this might be the one.”

“May I see it?”

Maki nodded and handed over the ring.

“It’s lovely. Nico-chan will love it.”

“I hope so…”

“Are you going to propose to Nico-chan?” Honoka asked excitedly.

Maki could feel heat rising in her cheeks. “Y-yes…”

“That’s awesome!”

“Congratulations.” Tsubasa added with a sincere smile. “We’ll look forward to the formal announcement.”

“Thanks…” Maki returned the smile.

“Hey guys.” Eli said, joining the group.

“Eli-chan! Nozomi-chan!” Honoka was getting even more excited now that more of her friends were showing up.

“You two are here as well?” Umi asked.

“We came to help Maki-chan with her shopping.” Nozomi said with a grin. “But we kind of got distracted.” She held up a pair of earrings while Eli held up a brooch.

“If Rin-chan, Hanayo-chan and Nico-chan were here, it would be like a reunion!” Honoka started bouncing again. “I’m going to invite them!” She pulled out her phone.

“W-wait!” Maki suddenly realized the implication. “Not Nico-chan!” She reached out to stop her former group leader.

“Huh?” Honoka’s finger hit send.

Maki closed her eyes. “Never mind…”

“Honoka, you can’t invite Nico.” Umi’s scolding tone returned. “It will ruin the surprise.”

“Oh…” The orange-haired girl pursed her lips. “Uhm… sorry?”

A moment later, several tones sounded as the message was delivered to the entire group.

Wait. Maki blinked. Did she just hear…? No… That couldn’t be…

“We’re safe.” Eli said, checking the message. “It’s just a general invite to have them meet us here at the mall. It doesn’t say anything about the ring.”

“Isn’t Nico-chan heading out on tour today?” Kotori asked.

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Honoka said sheepishly. “And it’s not a reunion unless we’re all here. I’ll tell them to disregard the invite.” She tapped again at her phone.

“Actually…” Maki was about to point out that Nico’s first part of her tour had just been rescheduled but cut off as the notifications came in again. She blinked again. There was no way she was mistaken. She scanned the area outside the storefront. She quickly spotted a short figure in an oversized trenchcoat, a surgical mask and sunglasses despite being indoors. The figure was frantically fussing with their phone. There was no mistaking it. “Nico-chan…” She uttered.

“What?” Eli asked.

Nozomi giggled.

“Nico-chan!” Maki called, heading for the door.

“Nico-chan is here?” Honoka immediately followed the redhead.

Umi sighed and shook her head.

Tsubasa chuckled.

“They’ll be right back.” Kotori turned to the confused clerk. “I’m pretty sure Maki-chan will want this one.” She referred to the ring still in her hand.

The figure stood up and attempted to make a break for it, but caught their foot on the leg of the table. As the table was bolted to the floor, it did not give an inch, and the figure sprawled to the ground, their phone and sunglasses skittering across the tiled floor.

“Nico-chan!” Maki increased her speed. “Are you alright?!” She quickly knelt by the fallen figure.

“I’m fine, Maki-chan.” Nico crawled up to her hands and knees.

“Are you sure?” The redhead held out a hand.

“Yeah…” The raven-haired girl sighed, finally looking up at her girlfriend. “Thanks…” She accepted the assistance back to her feet.

“What are you doing here?”

“Uhm…”

“How did you know we were…”

“Well…”

“Nozomi…”

“Not just her.” Nico blurted, surprisingly quick to defend her friend. “You as well.”

“Huh?”

Nico chuckled a little. “You’re not exactly subtle, Maki-chan.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been together for years; even moved in together. And suddenly you tie our ring fingers together, twice, and invite me to go shopping? Nico could easily figure things out from there.”

“Oh…” Maki couldn’t help blushing.

Nico pulled off her mask to reveal a smile. “So did you settle on a ring for me?”

“I think so.” Maki replied, starting to smile as well. “Want to see it?”

“Obviously.” Nico took her girlfriend’s hand and started towards the store.

“Uhm, you dropped these, Nico-chan.” Honoka spoke up, holding out the phone and glasses she had recovered.

“Thanks.” Nico replied, accepting the items.

“So… if Nico-chan is actually here, can I reissue the invite?”

“We’re here, nya!” a voice called from nearby.

“Rin-chan! Hanayo-chan!” Honoka practically shouted.

“We were in the area anyway.” Hanayo explained.

“So we decided to see if you guys were still here.” Rin finished.

“It’s a reunion!” Honoka cheered.

“We’re going to leave you guys out here.” Nico grumbled, continuing towards the store.

“We’re coming! We’re coming!” the older orange-haired girl insisted, grabbing the hands of her two younger friends and dragging them along.

“Hey, Honoka-chan, why are we going into a jewelry store?” Rin asked.

“You’ll see.” Honoka threw a wink over her shoulder.

By the time the group had returned, Eli and Nozomi were back at the birthstone display, this time with Tsubasa and Umi in tow.

“Ah, Maki-chan, you’re back.” Kotori turned and held out the ring she had been holding.

“Is this it?” Nico asked, her eyes widening as her gaze took in the sight.

“Do you like it?” Maki asked quietly.

“It’s amazing.” The twin-tailed girl couldn’t take her eyes off of it. She started reaching for the ring.

Maki swallowed. The surprise was gone, though apparently, had never been there in the first place. Was there a reason to continue to try for the perfect scene? The end result would be the same no matter what, of that she was certain. So why wait? All of her friends were here anyway, and she much preferred them as an audience over a bunch of strangers at a restaurant or wherever.

Without another thought, Maki took the ring before Nico could touch it.

“Wha? Maki-chan?” Nico protested.

Quickly, Maki turned and knelt. “Yazawa Nico.” She turned her gaze up at the girl now standing in front of her. “Would you do me the honor of marrying me?”

Despite knowing it would be coming eventually. Despite dreaming of all the possible scenarios. Despite immediately determining her girlfriend’s intent before her knee hit the ground, Nico couldn’t help but gasp as a hand flew to her mouth. She stared down at Maki, desperately willing herself to say the one word she needed to say in response.

“Nico-chan?” There was some pleading and even a trace of panic in Maki’s voice.

It was enough to shake Nico’s own voice loose. “Yes.” She said, removing her hand. “Oh gods, yes, Maki-chan. Yes, I will marry you.” Her vision started to blur. Geez, was she crying?

The smile that formed on Maki’s face was unlike any other Nico had seen before. The redhead reached up, took Nico’s left hand and slowly slipped the ring on her finger.

“It’s a little big…” Nico observed, out loud, before thinking better of it.

Maki couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “We’ll get it resized. And…” She cleared her throat. “I kind of still need to actually buy it…”

Nico laughed at the absurdity of the situation; being proposed to, in a jewelry store, with a ring that was the wrong size and hadn’t even been purchased. It was all so… surprisingly fitting.

“Congratulations, nya!” A cheerful voice brought both young women back from their own world.

“Wait, wait!” Nico held out a hand as she saw Hanayo about the echo Rin’s statement. “Before you all get to that…” She reached into her purse. “Stand up, Maki-chan.” She commanded, accentuating her words by waving her hand in an upward motion.

“What?” Maki blinked but obeyed the command.

“This is nowhere near what I had planned, but…” Nico mumbled as she knelt. “Nishikino Maki.” She reached up to reveal a small, black box. “Will you marry me?” She opened the lid.

This time it was Maki’s turn to let out her own gasp. “Nico-chan…”

“My name isn’t an answer.” Nico pursed her lips.

“Yes.” Maki nodded quickly.

Nico immediately understood why Maki’s smile had been the way it was a moment ago. “Good.” She found herself saying. “Then let’s get this on you.” She reached up to take her girlfri… no, fiancée’s hand and deftly slipped the ring on her fourth finger. “This one has already been purchased, so it’s good to go.”

“And it fits.” Nozomi pointed out, having appeared practically out of nowhere.

“Yeah, yeah…” Nico made dismissive motions towards her former roommate.

“Is that a princess cut?” Eli inquired.

“A princess cut for my princess, of course.” Nico responded, smirking as she noticed Maki blushing.

“Nico-chan, Maki-chan, your rings match.” Kotori spoke up.

“You’re right.” Eli remarked, looking closer.

Maki blinked. She hadn’t taken a good look at the ring Nico had presented, as she had been too caught up in the emotion of the moment. But she quickly noticed that while a sizable diamond took center stage, small, red gems were inlaid along the entire band.

“Nico-chan, are these…?”

“Rubies.” Nico affirmed. “I know you like red. And it always looks good on you.”

“And it’s your birthstone.”

“That was kind of another reason…” The raven-haired girl admitted.

“Great minds think alike.” Tsubasa stated.

“And fools seldom differ.” Nozomi added.

“What?” Nico balked.

“That’s the rest of the phrase.” The purple-haired girl shrugged.

“It is, but…” Maki sighed.

“But it’s true, is it not?” Nozomi smiled. “Love makes people do foolish things.”

“Like everything that lead up to this?” Honoka asked, motioning to Nico and Maki.

“Exactly.”

“You got that?” Nico raised an eyebrow at the former idol group leader.

“A little, I guess.” The orange-haired girl admitted. “I mean Tsubasa-chan and I just went out and bought our rings together.” She slipped her arm around her fiancée. “We didn’t see a reason for all the secrets and sneaking around and stuff.”

“We both want to get married, so getting engaged was the logical step.” Tsubasa added.

“I think this way worked out fine.” Hanayo offered with a gentle smile.

“Definitely.” Kotori added.

“Agreed.” Umi nodded.

“It was very NicoMaki’ish.” Rin laughed.

Maki closed her eyes and shook her head but couldn’t help laughing a little as well. Nico, on the other hand, gave a swift chop to the cat-like girl’s head.

“You know, I don’t even know my own…” The redhead mused after a moment

“Your own what?” The twin-tailed girl inquired.

“My birthstone.”

“Really, Maki-chan?” Nico furrowed her brow. “You didn’t know your birthstone is a diamond?”

“It is?”

“Yeah. It is.”

“That’s… kind of a… nice coincidence.” Maki continued to admire the ring on her finger.

“Yeah. It is.”

A collective aww from those gathered once again yanked the couple back to the real world.

“Alright, fine, fine.” Nico sighed. “You guys can do your whole congrats thing now.”

Permission granted, eight girls descended on the happy pair. Hugs were given, tears were shed, words of support were spoken, and rings were carefully inspected.

Eventually, with some reluctance, Maki removed the ring from Nico’s finger and returned it to the store clerk. Nico’s official size was measured, the sale was finalized and date was scheduled for final fitting and pickup.

By this time, the other eight girls had collected around the birthstone display. As Eli and Nozomi had already made their own selections, everyone else decided to pick one of their own as well. Then, when Honoka selected an additional item that had Tsubasa’s gem, it didn’t take long for the others to follow suit.

Next, in her persistent efforts to spend time with her favorite people, Honoka suggested they continue their reunion through dinner and into the evening. The others were more than happy to agree, not only as an excuse to hang out with friends, but also to celebrate the newly engaged couple. Naturally, like all µ’s reunions, the night was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

“You know, I think Nozomi was right.” Maki said, holding her left hand out so she could turn it in the light of the bedside lamp.

“Nozomi is right a surprising amount of the time.” Nico replied, crawling into position next to her girlf… no, fiancée… It was going to take a little getting used to that new title. “You’re going to have to be a bit more specific.”

“About fools seldom differing.”

“Oh?”

“We are fools.”

“Well, I don’t know about Maki-chan, but Nico is…”

“I mean we were the last couple to get together.” Maki interrupted. “We were the last to kiss, last to tell the other we loved them, last to move in together. And now last to get engaged.”

“Well then I guess we’ll just have to be the first to get married.”

At that, Maki had to laugh. “I suppose.” She took her eyes off her ring for a moment to look at her fiancée. “Why did we wait so long to do this?”

“I dunno.” Nico shrugged. “Because we’re fools?”

“I suppose…”

“Does it matter? I mean if being with you makes me foolish, then I guess really I am a fool.” Nico grinned. “A happy fool.”

“A happy fool?”

“Very happy.” She propped herself up on her elbow so she could lean over and plant a kiss on the other girl’s cheek.

“I love you Nico-chan.” Maki turned her head a little.

“I love you too, Maki-chan.” Nico leaned again, but this time, captured Maki’s lips.

Almost an hour later, the foolishly happy couple finally pulled the covers over themselves and fell asleep.

Author’s Note Continued: I spent more time researching engagement rings than I ever thought I would at this stage in my life.

For myself? No.

For a possible partner? Of course not.

For a NicoMaki fic I’m writing? Absolutely.

That said, after everything I read, I learned that there is is no “average” when it comes to the engagement ring buying experience. Length of time spent at the store, number of trips to the store, selections online, number of rings tried on, etc. As such, I finally just said to heck with it and only got a few technically specs for Eli’s starting point and just winged the rest.

So is any of this a believable experience? I’ve honestly no idea. If nothing else, I hope it is, at least in the context of the HtHaN setting.

On another note, I love the Birthstone set in SIF.

Edit: Before I forget, the heraldry/monsoon joke was made in How to Remember a Nico in case anyone is reading things out of order.

[seecantrill]

Spiral Q Peoplehood and Participatory Puppet Performance, Part 3

(Jump here for Part 1 and Part 2)

How it is created and why that matters

In Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, Henry Jenkins writes that “[p]articipatory culture shifts the focus of literacy from individual expression to community involvement.” Peoplehood, as an event that seeks to involve a community/ies expression of itself/themselves through parades and pageantry, is an interesting context to explore participatory culture and its potential. The lens of participatory culture is also useful to look at Peoplehood in order to understand its creation process and why it matters.

A participatory culture was originally defined by Jenkins as one:

With relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement

With strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations with others

With some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices

Where members believe that their contributions matter

Where members feel some degree of social connection with one another (at least they care what other people think about what they have created)

Researching participatory cultures over time - through fan communities and activists movements primarily - Jenkins and Sangita Shresthova have been interrogating the possibilities and challenges through the Civic Imagination Project where “imagining community ... is actively generating new cultural symbols to describe their relationship with each other. Imagination is seen not as a product or a possession ... Rather, we talk about imagining as a process.”

Supporting imagining as a process and creating new signs and symbols through sharing stories are core ideas of the Spiral Q Puppet Theater. Through low-stakes and accessible object creation and performance, participants can make and remix their everyday reality alongside others. In its mission statement, Spiral Q states that “We imagine a city whose streets reflect the full spectrum of its residents’ creativity. We see a responsive and engaged society that rallies consistently to overcome the challenges of discrimination and oppression. We envision a world of abundance that mobilizes its resources to nurture shared vitality.” When sharing the power of the 2019 Peoplehood Parade and Pageant, co-director Jennifer Turnbull describes the process that surfaced the story and related puppets:

This year we partnered with three local grassroots activist groups .... Through pageantry we were able to show the through line connection they all had to health, housing, self determination and freedom.

In working to design for shared power and participation, Tracy Broyles - the Director of the Q after Matty - describes the ways that affirmation, imagination and practice are so important. Everyone has a role to play, she says, and that “any moment someone enters the process is the right moment” (TEDx Philly, 2012). Affirming participation, and providing many points of entry, are key ways that the Q attempts to build Peoplehood and, according to Jenkins, are defining features of participatory practice.

Another central element of participation, according to Jenkins, “is that we participate in something larger than ourselves, however we want to imagine what it is we are participating within” (Jenkins, Confessions of a Aca-Fan post, 2019). Eli Nixon, in 2003, describes themselves and this work as part of a larger whole:

I'm just a small column of flesh and bones. I can build something that's larger than me... I really get a kick out of it as a way to tell stories and to make humans bigger than they are or to examine different parts of everyday people's lives in a way that I think is more interesting than real life. It's an awesome way to interpret who we are.

Looking at the outcomes of a participatory process is another way to assess its viability (Jenkins, Confessions of a Aca-Fan post, 2019). Tracy describes the ways that people literally “spiral out of q.” 

What we see is this a place where people test these things and then go out into the world. Okay so now [they] might not use puppets and art and all these things ... but they have got this place, a sense of direction, a sense of safety, a sense of community has formed around that individual or that community and then that cause or idea ... can really gain some traction and go off and become a movement that’s working on a policy level or at a community organizing level or simply building beautiful things.

In working to refine a definition of participatory culture in a fractured media environment, Jenkins and his colleagues bring a critical focus to the mix, ie. “Which members of a dis-privileged group find their power position strengthened through the participatory process?” A complex question but also critical for the Q. In one example, we find an interview 2003 with Jennifer Hilinski, a therapist at Girard Medical Center, who was asked about her experience working with a group of men in recovery in collaborating with the Q on Peoplehood the previous fall. 

"The common story was about recovery and getting back into the real world as contributing members of society.” Jennifer said, “And they took a theme of going from hell -- which was the streets and using -- to this kind of angelic transformation and re-entering the world and the streets but not as street person” (2003). Since that time a group from Girard Medical Center participate in Peoplehood every year, leading with their giant backpack puppets of transformation.

Conclusion

In the 2008 Peoplehood newsletter, the process of building Peoplehood is described by Tracy as “flawed, just like our democracy.” And we are reminded by the Civic Imagination Project that “If stories can inspire and empower social change, stories can also shatter communities, feeding our fears and suspicions, re-enforcing stereotypes in particularly vivid ways.” Jenkins and his colleague also tell us that the fostering of participation is vital while fragile and requiring care:

participation could also be finished. It could come to an end. Democracy, as a political and social practice, is not a given, but could cease to exist. ... This is why participation and democracy need to be actively protected, and not just silently appreciated.

We know that object performance, storytelling, or even parades and pageants which historically have also been used in fascist and authoritarian settings, do not create democratic space themselves. Instead democracy, through an ethos of participation, needs to be fostered.

Peoplehood, as a creative space for democratic storytelling and cultural remixing, is one such opportunity to intentionally test and tinker with the possibilities and challenges of participatory practice. It allows individuals and groups to come together, figure out what is needed when they work together, and then bring it into being through object creation, puppet performance and joyful demonstration.

In 2003, Matty Hart described Peoplehood’s parade and pageant as "secular cultural ritual[s] ... that are actually really kind of sacred and really really old.” These rituals, when built in shared and participatory ways, situate puppets and objects as powerful vehicles for fostering civic imagination through the creation of new cultural symbols and understandings. 

As Jennifer writes about the Q in a Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute newsletter: “we create space for the unknown. You just don't know what you don't know.”

Want to read more about Peoplehood and Spiral Q? Check out Part 1: What is Peoplehood? and Part 2: Elements of Performance.

Images courtesy of spiralq.org and my personal collection.

[badgirl2chainz-blog]

! S T A G E C O A C H !

Hi all! SO I am totally not a writer but against my better judgment I wanted to share blogs with whomever cares enough to read them about my experiences at my favorite thing to do in the world – yep you guessed it, attend music festivals. I figured what better way than to take a break from all the regular and rather negative social media talk than to read about something that is becoming so popular. The point of my blogs is mostly for me, to remember my experiences when I’m old and grey and most likely getting wheel chaired into my next festival. But I thought why not share my thoughts and opinions and see if others can relate to yours truly. Most importantly I want to look back and see what a wild time I had.

My first blog is about is California’s biggest country music festival, Stagecoach, otherwise known as Ragecoach, yes I unfortunately was even guilty for writing that on an Instagram caption, once or uhm maybe twice. If you’ve never been you’ve most definitely heard that slogan on the radios from January until the last weekend of April every year. It can get pretty exhausting if you have zero interest in country music, but for every High School senior, it is truly the most exciting commercial to hear.  I can relate because I was that High School senior.

I went to my first Stagecoach my Junior Year of High School. I had always gone to concerts and fun events before this, but never had I gone to 3 day music festival. I was through the roof. My pals and I chatted about what we wearing, what songs should be on our mix CD’s, what classes we were missing, what the weather was going to be etc. etc. etc. Our wristbands were pure gold to us and we kept them on for months after the festival ended. Rather disgusting now that I think about it, but I still have every wristband and every box it has arrived in. Oh and of course my Mom made me go to school that Monday, but that was always the golden rule – if you play you gotta pay. 

Entering the polo fields whether it’s Stagecoach or Coachella, (hopefully my next blog), is truly a euphoric experience. Sounds so lame, but I get giddy just thinking about it. And if you’re with me, or anything like me, it is a scene and a half. Yes you are sweating, yes your buzz might be fading, yes you are tired, yes you are sore, but man you are stoked. You are so proud of your outfit, whether you’re wearing a cute country dress or an American flag vest with a matching doo-rag, you feel like the 10 that you are. You are stoked that the alcohol you poured in sunscreen bottles made it in safely, so stoked that you will literally high five any drunk guy that you pass by. The ferris wheel is spinning and the cops on horses are roaming around and you are ready, ready to get to that 4:00 pm artist who just happens to be Eli Young Band and you had already told yourself you are not going to miss them.

From babies with huge noise cancelling headphones, to adult men wearing nothing but a thong to cover their gentleman parts, stagecoach has it all. It definitely caters to every ones’ needs because, to be honest, not everyone that attends, are actually country fans. That thought never bothered me because the more the merrier in my opinion. Most people pregame to EDM or rap but luckily my friends and I have always kept it festive and pregamed to our favorite Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan songs – whether or not they were performing. We may or may not have thrown in the Tesoro Rap once or twice but hey gotta keep that Titan pride forever baby!!

Stagecoachs attendance has people on both ends of the spectrum, it definitely has those cute families that look forward to Stagecoach all year round and you best believe that they were making Jell-O shots the whole week before to prepare.  It also has those girls that are just excited to wear their $100 cowboy boots for their first time and get that perfect boomerang with the caption saying “Yeeeeehawwww” or “Save a horse, ride Brad”. But my favorite type of Stagecoach goers are those older couples that bring their chairs and blankets and set up a cozy camp so far away from the stage, but you can tell that they are just as excited to see Blake Shelton as you are.

Now lets talk about something rather important. Food and Drinks. Holy Moly the lemonade. Even as an almost 22 year old, I would still prefer lemonade as my poison for the weekend. It is so refreshing and goes great with a nice slice of Spicy Pie Pizza, an all time Mamafred favorite! Getting a wristband to drink is definitely time consuming but most necessary, too many youngins have received MIP’s and MIC’s. A lil tidbit piece of advice would be to eat before you enter because yeah the food can be extremely expensive and if you aren't fortunate enough to have a best friend whose Mom makes a killer bbq chicken salad, then yeah please eat before. Oh and by the way, Stagecoach is actually one of those festivals that doesn’t have designated drinking areas and you can walk around with alcohol in your hands – clutch.

GA or VIP? Well I have been fortunate enough to experience both sides. I spent some time in VIP with my family and it was so fun, you are so close to the stage and it’s the perfect time for photo ops. The lines for drinks are so much shorter than in GA, I definitely took that for granted when I went back in GA the next day.  In all honesty, it’s all about preference, I would have to say GA is more fun though, yes it’s more crowded but it’s the type of rowdy you signed up for and should expect. I would suggest you save your VIP money, get a GA ticket and have extra cash for some beer and/or lemonade. Shout out to Mom for buying me a $28 grilled cheese in VIP, I will always love you for that one.

Being able to attend Stagecoach has been one of my favorite parts of going away for college, being able to see your high school crew and your family all in one fun ass weekend is something I will never take for granted. The crew has added new friends over the years and the Freddy’s even got Brady to join in the most recent year. He doesn’t like country but like I said, as a High School senior he still had a grand ole time. My goal in life is to go to Stagecoach with my future daughter and with Mamafred. I have no doubt in my mind that Mamafred and I will be able to show her the ropes accordingly.

One particular pal of mine has been such a trooper and has made her way back to the west coast to attend Stagecoach with all of us. She even surprised us all and let me tell you, I blubbered like a baby, but hey ever since that day I have been so thankful for American airlines for letting me have her for the weekend - they truly helped make our round 5 that much better, together.

There is truly nothing more heart warming than thinking of you and your crew dancing to the Sunday night headliner, singing at the top of your lungs, telling each other how much you love them, and completing ignoring the fact that you have an 8 am in another state.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope everyone who attends Stagecoach this year has a blast, especially since Uncle Kenny’s hotter when the sun goes down.

P.S. meet at the boot ;)

[johnmuffus]

Six Figure Brand Accelerator Review

Six Figure Brand Accelerator Review (Eli Dangerfield Course)

If you’re here, then you’ve probably stumbled across Eli’s Six Figure Brand Accelerator and are wondering whether to sign up or not. Well, you made the right choice. I’ll go through the content of the course and give you my final thoughts on whether or not the course is worth its asking price.

This course works like a blueprint you can follow; your experience and knowledge about the business don’t matter a lot since it details the steps to imitate.

You’ve probably seen the course on Instagram, and signing up requires you to message Eli directly. Harry Jowsey is another individual related to the course; he’s promoting it by claiming he found success thanks to this guide. As such, he says his mentor is Eli, with this exact course being his path to success. However, I can bet you he’s an affiliate for the course, given how he’s promoting it.

You can join the members for $997; if you decide to make 2 payments, it’ll be $1194, so I’d recommend you wait an extra month and save the full price instead of paying in installments. Signing up also allows you into a case study group.

Who’s the author?

Eli Dangerfield is 21 years old and lives in South Australia. He’s been a successful eCommerce entrepreneur, and he’s mainly known because of his online brand for watches, Elmore Lewis, founded back in 2016.

He’s also the management director at ClickSpace marketing, which is an agency dedicated to web development and design from way back in 1998. They offer many services like design and social media marketing all the way to development and branding.

His most noticeable social media presence is on Instagram, where he’s growing slow but steady towards the 100,000 followers mark. He usually uploads content about his brand and lifestyle.

You can access the Six Brand Accelerator page (ClickFunnels) from his bio on Instagram. You can learn his profile, an overview of dropshipping, and how you can access the course by messaging him.

Reviewing Six Figure Brand Accelerator

The course doesn’t have a sales page just yet, and that’s why you need to message Eli for access.

The content covers the right mindset for a successful venture, researching products, measuring your profit margins, how to build your store, basic ads on social media, and scaling your ads and products.

You also have access to 2 store themes ready to use, a products list, templates for your FB ads, access to the private members group, and support from Eli. Since it’s a new program, don’t expect many members on the group, but that might mean you can reach out to Eli more easily. It also means the templates and products list might still be viable if not many people have signed up.

As you can see, it’s mostly just an introduction for beginners who don’t really know where to start with dropshipping. You might benefit from it if you want to learn the foundations about store building, finding products, and setting up simple ads.

However, you want to learn and work a bit more than that if you want to have success in pretty much any business. Easy schemes about getting rich quickly aren’t real –plain and simple.

You need to gather as much knowledge as you can, embracing as many approaches and strategies as possible. That’s the only way to increase your chances of success significantly, especially if your objective is a long-term business and not just a quick buck.

Google, Instagram, and Facebook ads are vital for your business, and you need to understand them, even Facebook with more depth than what’s offered here. Then there’s email marketing, SEO, generating content, etc.

All of those are necessary skills to make your store stand out from the rest and ensure you can actually live off your business. It only makes sense to get a course that teaches all of that in a single package, especially if you’re paying $1,000.

Final Verdict

Is It Worth It? Final Verdict

It’s still too soon to tell whether or not this course will be worth its asking price.

Lewis has proven himself by having built such a profitable eCommerce like Elmore Lewis, but as of today, this course doesn’t look like it’ll teach you how to do that anytime soon. From the preview, you’re only getting the same titles as other basic courses, and that’s not enough to run a profitable business.

At $1,000, I strongly recommend you wait and see if it adds more content. You want more than just how to set up your store and run some basic ad. However, that’s assuming you can or

are willing to wait for months.

If it’s a pressing matter, then let me calm you down by telling you that you neither have to wait nor pay as much as you would with this course.

eCom Elites is the best course I’ve found right now for people looking to start their first eCommerce (or who have stores but don’t generate enough conversions). It’s just $197 (and $297 for the premium package), and it provides over 200 different lessons, with days’ worth of content on all the strategies and methods you want to employ.

Not only does it cover the foundations, but you also advanced strategies you can start implementing after you start seeing success and your confidence starts to grow. It’s not a new course, either; it’s been for long enough to amass over 5,000 members on its private group and several and frequent updates.

If your looking for one of the best dropshipping which is affordable and contains a ton of information? Check out eCom Elites, I did a review on it that you can read.

I hope you found this review useful and if you have any questions, please comment down below. I’ll be more than happy to assist you.

Once again, thanks for reading my Six Figure Brand Accelerator Review and I wish you the best of luck.

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