For over three years now I’ve been drawing fun and thoughtful cartoons. It’s been an experiment of sorts, allowing me to stretch creatively, try new things, and build a larger audience for my work. I’ve had a great deal of fun and enjoyed brief flashes of success with several cartoons going viral.
However, I have so far been unable to find a way to earn a sustainable income from webcomics. I successfully Kickstarted a book, licensed a few cartoons to publishers, and even worked out a small syndication deal, and yet in the grand scheme of things I’ve been losing money. I’ve given hundreds of hours to this project that I could have spent working on growing my freelance illustration business. As a result my freelance income has steadily declined and the webcomics income hasn’t come close to making up the difference.
I turned to Patreon hoping it would help turn things around. The conventional wisdom is that Patreon works best when a creator can provide bonus content for backers. So I worked hard to make exclusive backer-only cartoons, write articles, and deliver other goodies. And it wasn’t working. Instead of earning me more backers, my backers were slowly falling away. I was focusing on quantity over quality and I think it showed.
For me, launching a webcomic has felt like trying to fly a kite on a calm day. Over and over I tossed it up in the air. Every once in a while I would catch a stiff breeze, but eventually the kite kept fluttering back to the ground. I can only do that so many times before concluding that the wind just isn’t with me.
So, I’m pulling back to refocus. I’m not quitting. I still want to make comics. But I’m turning away from artificial schedules and fluffy Patreon rewards to just focus on making good comics whenever time allows. I don’t feel right taking regular payments from backers in exchange for irregular output. Eventually I may come back to Patreon but for now I’m redirecting my energies.
I want to say a ginormous THANK YOU to all of you who have gave your hard-earned money in support of my work. It really means a lot and I’m deeply grateful!
To keep up with new comics you can follow me on social media:
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/cedricstudio
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/cedrichohnstadt
INSTAGRAM: http://www.instagram.com/cedrichohnstadt
You can also get new comics emailed to you by signing up for free at https://sketchbooksilliness.com/subscribe.
If you want to support my work, you can always toss a dollar or two my way by buying me a coffee.
Buy me a coffee
Thanks!
Cedric
