Monday, October 20, 2008

JAVILAND Episode 4: Printing comics in the Age of Web Comics

Episode 4 is now available, and you can access it with the Talkshoe player on the right by clicking the PreviousEpisodes link. Or here's the direct link to the JAVILAND page on Talkshoe.com ( once you access our Talkshoe page, you can subscribe to JAVILAND via our iTunes link, and get every episode delivered directly to your iTunes library). Joining me on this episode was regular caller, Ted Seko, as well as Jason Martin, Kevin Cross and joining us for the first time was Colin Panetta.

Basically we tackled the topic of printing comic books, even with the ever-growing feasability of uploading comics directly to the web. Printing obviously incurs costs you just wouldn't have by publishing online, but there are reasons, and options, to continue paying for printing a comic book.

Several of us shared our experiences using a POD (Print of Demand) service such as Ka-Blam. My own experience with my new comic book, El Muerto: Dead & Confused, was favorable overall, and I, as well as some of the other callers, cite them as a viable option. Other topics we covered while discussing actual websites was online advertising and selling ad space, as well as setting up an online storefront at Etsy.com.

Monday, October 6, 2008

JAVILAND Episode 3: Making Your Brand

Episode 3, 'MAKING YOUR BRAND', is now available to listen to. You can use the player on the right to access the episode, or go to iTunes and subscribe to JAVILAND and get each new episode downloaded directly to your iTunes library.

The show was recorded live at 6pm this past Sunday. I'm very happy with the way the episode turned out. A sincere thanks to the artists who called in and shared their time and opinions. We basically looked at the idea of 'branding' from a variety of angles, such as why do we create a brand name, can we have multiple brands, what common threads are found in our various works, does one start off creating their brand or is it something that just naturally arises from the work?

Joining in on the calls were the following DIY cartoonist/publishers: Jason Martin of SuperReal Graphics, animator/cartoonist Jim Lujan, cartoonist Ted Seko, cartoonist Kevin Cross and cartoonist/podcaster Jerzy Drozd . One of the reasons we had a really great discussion is because all of us have varied experiences in self-publishing and creating our own brands. It's times like these that make me glad I take the time to do these JAVILAND podcasts! It's like sitting around with a bunch of artists after a convention over a couple of pizzas!

You can tune in to every episode live and participate in the chat room and ask questions or add comments to the discussion. Go to my page at TALK SHOE.COM and sign up!