How things work

PeeDee · Jul 7, 2006

(the only other thread title I could think of was "Stella and her Groove-Getting" which was lame, so we got a bland title instead. Shaddup.)

How come web-based serial comics work very well, and in fact usually bring in money and in some instances can populate a huge fan base...but at the time time, web-based fiction comes off lackluster and unsuccesful?

Kate Thornton · Jul 7, 2006

It's so hard to read online. You can't curl up with your monitor (okay, some are small) or turn pages, slap in a bookmark, dog-ear a page.

But online is perfect for comics!

Jamesaritchie · Jul 7, 2006

comics

Comics are very short, and comics are primarily a visual medium, both of whihc make comics perfect for the web.

And in all honesty, comics and fiction don't always draw the same crowd. Comics draw kids, adults who never read, or who can barely read, casual web hoppers, etc.

Fiction draws people who like to read, and that's it.

And, of course, like anything else, many, many comics don't do at all well online. You generally only hear about the ones that do.

PeeDee · Jul 7, 2006

Jamesaritchie said:
1)Comics are very short, and comics are primarily a visual medium, both of whihc make comics perfect for the web.

2)And in all honesty, comics and fiction don't always draw the same crowd. Comics draw kids, adults who never read, or who can barely read, casual web hoppers, etc.

3)Fiction draws people who like to read, and that's it.

4) And, of course, like anything else, many, many comics don't do at all well online. You generally only hear about the ones that do.

1) That's a good point. Generally, I think for an online series of stories tow ork, the stories would have to be kept under ten pages, really, wouldn't they? I think I would be comfortable with ten pages every week or two weeks or so.

2) I dunno. There are some comics (I'm not sure, on this point, if we're talking strictly online comics or comics in general) which go way beyond things for people who barely read and just like the pictures. Hell, 90% of published comics are as comfortably literary as a good book.

3) That's true.

4) No, I know. Certainly, they fail more often than not. But if I make up a number and say that only 5% of online comics succeed in finding an audience and an income, I think I could comfortably say that NO online fiction finds much of either of those things, which is the point I guess I'm really curious about.

It did exist, a bit, in the late ninties, online fiction series. I don't know what happened to it, though.

MidnightMuse · Jul 7, 2006

The biggest complaint I hear when discussing online writing and reading is that which has already been expressed - the discomfort of sitting at a computer to read. Sure they can print off pages, but at the expense of paper and ink. I'm used to reading on the computer because I use the computer to write - but I have to admit, when I want to sit down with a book, I want it in my hands. I want to take it to the beach or cram it into my backpack and take it with me.

And even when I'm seriously looking over my own work, I have to print it out.

But it does seem like, with the changes in nearly every aspect of life that the Internet has brought upon us, that publishing to the thing would have found it's footing.

It may never happen.

HConn · Jul 7, 2006

Purty pictures.

writeperch · Jul 17, 2006

I found the only time I really read fiction online was when I was bored at work. Otherwise, I either do a real book or download to my Palm (I found reading from the Palm not wholly different from reading from a book).

gromhard · Jul 19, 2006

Jamesaritchie said:
And in all honesty, comics and fiction don't always draw the same crowd. Comics draw kids, adults who never read, or who can barely read, casual web hoppers, etc.

Fiction draws people who like to read, and that's it.

Oh, at first I thought you meant comic readers were dunces. Now I see that you mean that comics draw both normal readers and also people who generally don't pursue fiction.

Another reason comic books do so well online is the same reason SF does well online, in TPB and in Zine. It's because Comic/Science Fiction/Fantasy share the same audience and their fans are the most loyal fans in the world and they GO to the conventions, they READ the comics, they READ the novels, they WATCH star trek and write bitchy letters when it gets canceled.

Grom

PeeDee · Jul 19, 2006

I think James may have been referring specifically to web-comic-audiences, though.

How things work

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

Kate Thornton

Still Happy to be Here. Or Anywhere

Jamesaritchie

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

MidnightMuse

Midnight Reading

HConn

Whore for genre

writeperch

just write

gromhard

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?