I’m going to present you with a scenario I’ve seen happen far more often that I would like:

So, you really like this one comic, named “Comic”.  It updates 2 days a week, and you are a loyal reader.  The site is very professional looking, and includes the webcomic website must-have pages.  The site is “SO VERY” professional that the webcomicker in question has decided not to have a blog/news area. One day, “Comic” inexplicably is no longer updated.  You check back, regardless, on the two days it’s supposed to update for a couple weeks. You peruse the “about” page and find contact information, and decide to send an email asking what happened. No reply.  You check the site occasionally, maybe once or twice a month, before you stop checking entirely. You hold no hope that “Comic” will ever be updated again.

Then, suddenly, six months later, you see a post in a forum saying that “Comic” is finally updating again.  You post in that forum and you ask, “what happened? Why did you stop?”

The reply is “Shit happened, but I didn’t think it was important to let my readers know that I needed some time to get my life in order.  I thought you guys would figure it out, and be there when I got back”

Why to have a news area: I am going to clarify something right now: after almost 5 years of making a webcomic and designing webcomic sites, I can say without any doubt whatsoever that having a webcomic news area is extremely important, and I ALWAYS design an area for this into every site I make. You must keep your audience up to date on the status of your webcomic if you have for some reason missed an update or have decided to go on hiatus.   Don’t ever make people guess when you are next going to be able to update. Also, If you provide no explanation, people will stop coming back because they have no confidence in you keeping to schedule.  It’s true!

On the positive side, keeping an updated news area will foster audience involvement by providing the first line of contact. YOU need to start trying to reach your audience if you expect them to try to reach you back, whether it’s through shoutbox or forum or email.  Webcomics are form of art unlike traditional comics BECAUSE of this contact you have with your audience.  People first moving from paper comics to webcomics do not seem to realize this, and believe that because print comics do NOT have news about the artist/writer, so too webcomics should not. This is not true. Please take advantage of the digital medium! Communication is key! And it starts with you!

It is NOT “unprofessional” have this area, and I would argue it is essential on the web, because everything is so ephemeral–so provide something solid.  Anonymity and internet handles distance you from the reader, but you are still closer to your audience online than you will ever be in print (unless you meet your audience face to face at a convention, of course.)  The trick to having a news area is knowing what to post.

An important distinction: there is news, and then there is blogging. “News” connotes something important; “blogging” connotes something vain and unimportant.  News should always be updated when necessary, but blogging is up to the discretion of the webcomic creator. Personally, I blog BENEATH comic news so that I may improve fill rates for context-based advertisers. However, I always try to blog about something that hopefully my audience finds interesting.  It is never given precedence over comic-related news however.

What to write about: (I’m going to repeat myself a bit) I’ve found a lot of people decide they do NOT want a news area because they believe it is unprofessional, that no one cares about extra things, that no one will read it, or because they will always forget to post news.  The biggest mistake people make here is blogging about themselves instead of the comic. If you’ve got a talent for writing, can tell a story well, or can make people laugh, then it’s okay to write about yourself or things you like. You’d be amazed how many people LIKE to know more about the person/people behind the webcomic.  If you can’t write well, and your posts sound like desperate whinings for attention, then you need to stop yourself. The idea is to connect with your audience and fill them in on news relating to your comic or yourself, not chase them away!

Ideally, a news area might provide deeper insight into your most recent page (for story-based comics, for example), or pertinent news about yourself, if it relates to the comic, or just keep people on your page longer so they look around. Jason of Wayfarer’s Moon writes hilarious anecdotes each update, while in contrast, Sarah Ellerton of Phoenix Requiem posts only to let people know when she has updated, with how many pages (providing a direct link, mind you!), and any important news about anything that may stop her from updating. Remember, when in doubt about certain features, check the successful comics to see how it’s done!

Another important distinction: A key difference you’ll see between Wayfarer’s Moon and Phoenix Requiem is that the former displays the comic on the main page, and the latter does not. If you are a comic that does not display the comic on the front page, you MUST have a news area that updates with each new page you post, otherwise the front page is nothing more than useless cover readers will never look at again. Instead, they will bookmark whatever page displays your most recent comic.

Next article: Advertising.