What makes a webcomic "professional?"

Because it only took Viking-Sensei three years (and the approaching end of Errant Story) to come up with a better name for "General Discussions"
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Imp-Chan
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What makes a webcomic "professional?"

Post by Imp-Chan »

Something I've noticed when talking about webcomics in a professional setting lately is that it's somewhat difficult to define webcomics as an industry because we overall lack context. We have no organizational body to oversee us, no objective measures for success or failure, no way to really track and identify industry growth or trends, and no clear standards for what is or is not professional conduct. However, in commerce and particularly in evaluation for loans or jobs, measurements and definitions tend to be important, so lacking any context is a real handicap to our industry gaining recognition outside its own little niche.

Of course, any webcomic can be entrepreneurial, that's one of the coolest things about them as a medium... but it's also what makes it so difficult to pin down any kind of objective definitions for them as an industry. There are some people who make their living from webcomics, some who supplement their income through webcomics, some who don't do anything monetary with their comics. To an outsider, there's no way to distinguish which a comic is... or plans to be. So what specifically takes a webcomic into the "professional" class, as opposed to the "making money off it" class, or the "it's just a hobby/training exercise" class?

Are there some things a webcomic creator is obligated to do just by taking on the comic, or by deciding to define themselves as a professional? If we were to define a set of behaviors or obligations expected of the professional webcomic artist, what would they be? Why are these behaviors necessary? Would these behaviors be expected of professionals, but not all creators?

How can we start to define webcomic performance in terms of the industry? "Professional" is one thing, but what would define a particular webcomic as SUCCESSFUL? To define a professional, one merely needs an industry code of conduct and a standard for distinction/identification, but to measure success one needs a set of criteria to measure, a standardized system of measurement, a clear goal, and a means of comparison. What should be the criteria? Of the options, which is most important, and which are less important? Why? What should be the goal?

These are all hard questions to answer, but the lack of answers is what's making it so difficult for the larger commercial world to relate. As with any brainstorming, it isn't really imperative to have all the best answers immediately, but to have SOME answers would go a long way for us as an industry. It would give us a starting point, we can always grow from there.

^-^'

P.S. Yes, I realize this is long and probably entirely too analytical for everyone's taste, but I think it's an interesting subject so I hope at least a few people will answer.
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Itterind
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Re: What makes a webcomic "professional?"

Post by Itterind »

I think the benchmark the last few years has been whether the producers in question are able to support themselves with it. ^^
Oh. Just remembered as I automatically moved towards hitting submit that, that in fact is one (and probably number 1 of) the dictionary definition of professional, i.e. being paid for your work, though the meaning has mostly mutated to an entire livelihood in these days of salary-men.

The criteria I would list in order of descending importance (for a PROFESSIONAL webcomic, thus my cynicism in listing money first)are:

1) Money (Merchandise, Donations, Ads)
2) Update Schedule
3) Artwork quality
4) Writing
5) Active Community (forums mainly)

#1 is necessary in order to be considered professional. Number 2, 3 and 4 are necessary in order to facilitate number 1's success. Number 5 is the most important of sundry items. I can see a professional webcomic surviving, with some difficulty, without number 5. It's rare to see a comic succeed without a consistent schedule and at least 3 comics a week (most notable exception: VG Cats). Number 3 and 4 are highly subjective, but look in the forums of any livelihood-making webcomics and you'll find at least half a horde of people singing it near divine praises.

Errant story I would score moderate to strong on 1, strongly on 2, and highly in 3 and 4 and moderate to weak in 5. Number one, is strongly linked to two through five and is thus unlikely to rise without daily updates, though maybe adverts would do some good. I suppose updating more frequently is largely out of the question, so I'd really just recommend a more aggressive marketing strategy.

Just my two cents. :)
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