Rick The Stick – a comic on the Interwebs

	I’m resigned to the fact that Milton won’t join me on my quest to fight evil, and decide it’s time to leave…

Good morning!!

It’s FRIIIIIDAY! Wooohoooo! So how u doin’? I finished writing next week’s comics on Tuesday night and it was a lot different than I thought it would be. I tweeted about it a little bit so if you follow me on twitter and saw that comment before, you’re not having deja-vu. And where it ends up actually gave me an idea for the week after. My main focus for the rest of the year is content. The art, the writing, the story. So hopefully, you’re entertained.

SUCCESS only comes before WORK in the dictionary

This is my new credo – and I love it. I do a lot of research for the business side of the comic. The whole industry is in a state of uncertainty. It’s uncertain because the dynamics of the Internet inherently may shift the business model of webcomics faster than most people can adapt. Where do you focus your resources? Where do you try to build your audience? Where are my shorts?

The reality is, it comes down to the comic. If the story is unique, art is good and the writing is exceptional, then people will be attracted to it. So where does that leave Rick the Stick? I believe the story is unique. At least in the direction I want it to go. The art is probably good enough. The writing – that’s another story. It hasn’t been the strength of the strip. It needs work. Lots. I’m putting together the book and I’m realizing that it needs to be stronger. It needs to make you laugh out loud – litteraly.

When I started this webcomic, I gave myself three years. Three years to determine whether or not I could be a successful web cartoonist. Being able to do this thing I love so much, and to my credit, I came into it with a plan. Admittedly, is that I came into it naive. I thought I could easily conquer this, after all, it’s been my dream since I was a kid. The thing that’s opened my eyes is one thing – there are thousands, maybe millions of other people that share that dream. Listening to people like Scott Kurtz, Dave Kellett, Kris Straub and of course Brad Guigar say that it should take anywhere from five to ten years blew my mind, stomped on my spirit and broke my heart. But I’m over that.

I’ve resigned to the fact that most nights I’ll get six hours of sleep – on the high end. The rest may be around three or four. I work a full-time job as a web designer that requires a lot of mental effort. I also have had the amazing privilege to handle this through the birth and raising of an infant. Additionally, I haven’t profited a penny since I’ve started – which I only mention to show you that I don’t do it for the money. Sure I want a big house, lots of cars and toys. But the reality is, I have everything I want – except for this. My dream.

So I’m going to work harder than most people. I’m going to focus on the business side of webcomics. I’m going to struggle and at times I’ll fail. But I have my plan. The first year it was all about the art. It’s taken longer to get it to where I don’t cringe so much, but I like it. Since I’ve shown progression, I’m confident that it will only get better. The second year (currently) is about awareness. Building an audience. In that arena, I’ve spend some money on advertising and it’s been a successful summer. I broke personal visitor records and I’m encouraged by the amount of time most people spend on the site. In March I went to NEWW in Easthampton, MA, and in October I am going to Baltimore. I’ve had great conversations with other artists and am hopefully building good friendships as a result. I’ve gotten enthusiastic support from a couple of people and that makes the effort worth it.

Year three (starting in March 2010) will be about making a profit. Not making a living – I’ve been very clear to myself that I only need to show myself (and my wife) that this is a viable business and that my talents can sustain it.

So what have I written all this for? What am I bugging you for? I guess I’m just letting you know that I’m not working this hard to throw my art up on the Internet. I want to entertain you. If your still reading this post and haven’t vomited on your shoes, I only ask that you keep coming back. Post comments, vote in my stoooopid polls. Continue to give me a shot to show you I have a good story to tell, the art is charming and the writing will improve.

Thank you for your time – I know it’s as precious as mine. I also wanted to mention that I got a great, inspirational email from Todd (one of our infamous comment poster’s) yesterday – it was much appreciated. Now get outta here and enjoy your weekend!!!

Thanks again for dropping by!
Ken

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