Read this Comic (please?)

So, you have your ideas, pencils, and webspace. The mysteries of automated archives are yours. How to get the readers...

There are a number of services that just list webcomics. Onlinecomics.net works well enough. It has a large number of catagories (and allows multiple, something many sites fail to offer). On the other hand none of the views formats are especially good (it's either an icon only, or a long detailed entry). The Belfry maintains a simple listing, which isn't too different from what I have here. The Webcomic List has some information on each comic, not as much as Onlinecomics, but its display format is very clean and efficient. Piperka is a new addition with a basic feature set. And there just happens to be a listing here (which for reasons too complex to mention is superior to the others of course).

Adding a webcomics to these sites is just another registration (excepting this one which requires you to write a short e-mail to me). Record which sites you use! If your URL changes, the entry won't update itself. 404's are never good (and in this case, give the impression that the page is dead, not justed moved or typoed). When your site goes down, a comics lists are a good place to announce your new URL or how long until you return (a forum will probably be lost, many readers don't use it and searched engines probably won't index it).

When writing the blurbs, keep it simple. Don't try to explain the entire plot, the opening comics can do a much better job than your 255 character allotment. All you need to do is pull the reader to your site. Just give the fundamental who, what, where (when is part of where, why and how are what your comic shows). Never admit to be a gaming comic or a college-roommate comic, those genres are gaining the same reputation as sprite comics. Keep judgments out of it, it isn't funny, insightful, or interesting until the reader finds it so. Likewise, it isn't stupid, terrible or junk (if it is, why are you even posting them?), your own work (mine, of course, really is terrible) tends to look poor upon reflection (DMFA explains). Finally, keep it updated. The icon will no longer match your drawing style after a time, and the topic of the comic may change.

Don't advertise before the webcomic starts (and it would probably be best to wait until a couple strips are in place). Deadlines are often missed leaving one with a useless link to keep rechecking (I just recently deleted a number of links to "Coming Summer 2006" webcomics, it's now half-way through November). Even if you make the announced date, a few comics or a splash image doesn't provide much insight into your ideas. A couple written paragraphs is no better, probably worse. They're horridly overused, but talk is cheap, and a picture is a thousand words.