BUT.

That statement needs clarification. Webcomic artists, writers and creators have all encountered the situation where someone, some anonymous internet asshat, says something mean about our comics.

Well, let’s draw some lines here. It’s the internet, and everyone is entitled to their opinion.

These opinions may even be completely correct.

The problem about being correct is relativity. Contradictory arguments may both be correct. In artistic endeavors, it’s pretty rare in my experience that any opinion is absolute in correctness excepting in technique and craft (the how, not the why or the meaning).

For this article, I will define an asshat as an internet critic who refuses to concede the relativity of his or her argument. Asshats believe their opinions are the only “right” opinions out there.  Asshats believe you should be grateful for the hork that spews forth from their fingers on the keyboard.  Asshats crush, they don’t build up. They don’t merely point out a weak or crumbling or mis-hewn foundation stone of an “artistic building,” they take a bulldozer to it. Oh look, metaphor.

Artists (literary or visual) are often very sensitive, thoughtful  folks, whereas internet asshats are sensitive, antagonistic, folks.  They remind me of dogs, in the sense they often posture and act tough in the face of a threat, but the second you show aggression back, you are the bad guy. How dare the artist who puts their work online for the masses to see (and therefore, formulate an opinion) not agree with that opinion?! That asshat put a lot of time (~5 seconds) and effort (typing at work) and money (that internet connection is expensive!) into that opinion! Bite back, and that artist is rude. That artist doesn’t know how to accept criticism. Criticism is part of being an artist! You can’t improve without criticism! The asshat is trying to HELP you!

Bull fucking crap.

There seems to be confusion nowadays between what is justifiable criticism and what is assholery. Criticism is a valid opinion (yet still an opinion, refer to figure 2!). Criticism can be given by one whose experience or education gives him or her insight into the weaknesses or strengths of your work.  Criticism can be positive (“this is good, continue” or “this example might help with that area giving you problems”) or it can be negative (“this is does not work. The absence negative space detracts from the flow of your sculpture.”) Criticism is NOT the opinion of people who have no experience.  I like to call that “stupidity.” How about an example outside the artistic field:

How'd you get in here anyway?

Would anyone blame that doctor for having that man thrown out of his OR? No. Because you all know the doctor is right: Asshat Man (man, I should’ve put that hat on him…) is in fact, an idiot for saying something so stupid and negative. What is the basis of Asshat Man’s assessment anyway?  Sure, Asshat Man thinks from his relatively-correct position that he is right. He may be trying to help that surgeon. But since he has no experience in that field, he should know he should keep his mouth shut, and that his opinion is likely worthless. But it’s the internet, and everyone thinks their opinion is worth something, right (as I write this very opinionated article)?

I realize that some artists out there might be pulling out their hair. Artists are often taught to accept any and all criticism gracefully and never disagree. That’s how they roll in art school, or at least, how they did in my classes. Well, that’s insane.  We as humans have this wonderfully large organ scientists like to call a brain. Brains are capable of filtering information. We have internal bullshit-O-meters that tell us when someone is saying something worth listening to. We also have the right to tell someone if we want to that they are, in fact, an idiot. For the sake of [virtual]  interpersonal relationships however, there is just far less drama involved when you roll with that punch and don’t punch back.  If that’s what you choose, so be it. Always remember though that not everyone who gives you an opinion is worth listening to. Also remember that if someone punches back, no, they are not doing anything wrong. I have seen so many artists shot down by other artists for fighting back against the asshats, until they finally concede that “their behavior was unacceptable.” Well, folks, it is their right to defend their own work and when such a defense is done logically, rationally, and with an emotional distance, it is powerful indeed.

And that’s where we get to the crux of the matter.

Emotional distance.

Damn it hurts when an opinion comes hurtling our way, an opinion that agrees with that little voice deep down inside that has been telling you for ages, “you’re not good enough.” This article isn’t about how to come to terms with that little voice. On this subject, I will only say that the little voice can be right. And it can be wrong. See figure 2. In the face of that asshat inner voice though, I’m pretty sure no artists since the days of cave paintings have EVER been fully satisfied with their work. There is always a weakness. Always something that could have been done better.  We’re never going to attain perfection, and it just hurts to accept “good enough.”

But you know what cliches are? Stories that have been passed down in our folklore so often because humans LOVE that story. Because it resonates, it’s part of our cultural make up.

Who is Mary Sue? She’s that girl other girls WISH they were. She’s what we see ourselves transforming into.

You know what your painting looks like to someone with less experience than yourself? AWESOME.

There is nothing new under the sun.

There’s always someone better.

Don’t get held up on being so original or doing everything perfect, because that’s all you’ll get–HELD UP.

Rambling again, aren’t I?

Now, let’s look at our example again from another perspective.

"Thanks for the help even though you made me feel bad about my skills and myself...dick."

What I’m trying to say here is that there are some people worth listening to, worth thanking, no matter how they make you feel with their criticism. And there are people who are not in fact entitled to have their opinion heeded. It is up to you, the artist, to determine who that is. In short, it’s the person with experience, with skills to back it up or suitable education in that area. Anonymous internet asshats do not fit this bill.

When should you actually care what an asshat has to say? When that asshat is paying for a product. If that asshat is paying your bills, you had better listen well and be polite about it. We’ve all been there–the customer is always right, even if they are a jerkface.  Bend over and smile. But. If that asshat is directing his or her assholery toward your absolutely free webcomic that you spend all your free time working on; if that webcomic is your dream and it makes you happy and YOU YOU YOU like it just fine, tell that asshat the truth their parents or teachers or friends obviously never did: they are entitled to their opinion, it doesn’t mean they are correct or even that you have to listen to it.

When do you listen to people who know what they’re talking about? All the time. And it will hurt, and that person probably doesn’t even realize how much it hurt. That person probably actually tried to phrase the criticism in a happy, helpful, way. And it doesn’t even matter, because of that whole artist-perfectionist thing.  Criticism to us is synonymous with failure. Failure is nightmare fodder for us. But you are the only one who is capable of changing your attitude about this.  Criticism is NOT failure. Receiving criticism doesn’t mean your work is a failure. You know what it means? Someone out there disagrees with you. This person may have experience or degrees or skill to back up their opinion, but, ask yourself, is what you are doing WORKING regardless? Do you have a readership, and is that readership growing? Are the majority of the comments or feedback positive? Listen to the critic if you want to. Are you not getting any feedback other than negative kind? Well, something is not working, and that should be clue enough.

Not every story or comic is a gold mine. People whose work has a readership in the dozens envy those with the readership in the hundreds who in turn envy those with 1000′s and so on.  If you’ve got that comic you’ve been working on for Quite Some Time and are depressed because your readership isn’t growing, listen to the critics (but not the asshats).  Only when you walk into the arena of competition should you care enough to change what you’re doing even when you don’t want to, or if it’s a pain, or requires more work or study for you. If you are in this for yourself, for an artistic outlet, for fun, and don’t care about the “money or fame,” (hahahah whatevs) screw those fucking asshats.

Ending on a positive note, FTW.

I attended Intervention in Rockville, MD, which was September 10-12th 2010. This was Intervention’s first year, and I must say, it was quite good! It was very well organized, had great guests (Pete Abrams, Dirk Tiede, squee!), and was at a great location. The only thing Intervention suffered from was the ill fortune of being the same weekend as SPX in the same city on the same weekend. So. Crowds sucked. But they WOULD have been great otherwise. Many thanks to Onezumi and the volunteer staff for their monumental effort!

I was there with half a table, sharing it with my friend Peg Fisher, who could not be there in person to sell her merchandise.  Straight down our row was Pete and Katie Tarkulich of Bardsworth and Fairy Magik, followed by Alex Heberling of Garanos and Alex’s Guide to a Life Well-lived (accompanied by her <3 Christopher Johnson), and then Mike Donohue of The Cow Comic. The only element missing from our little zone was Trevor Kent of Kyoudaikido Soldier Chromocorps, who could not be there with us. :( Yes, yes, we hang out at conventions in our own awesome crowd. Because we are awesome. And stuff.

Here’s our table, with my very cool sister behind it. We bring tea. And teapot. And mugs. (So, if you’re ever at a convention with us, bring a cup and we’ll share <3 <3 <3).

And here’s a close-up of some stuff:

Those book marks up there I ended up giving away as business cards, since I ran out. Bad move on my part not to get more. This situation has since been rectified.

Met some awesome people. Dirk Tiede gave me like a 20 minute talk about how he does his fantastic settings. His work is phenomenal–and all on paper too!

I was very excited to meet Kat and her hubby, of Sunset Grill, as well as Mancer from Omega! I think that was the first time SpiderForest members met up in person.

Kez 'n Mancer

Alex Heberling

Anywho! This convention has serious potential, it just didn’t live up to it this time around.  A single new face in the paltry crowds was like chum in the shark-infested waters. HE MIGHT HAVE MONEY TRY TO SELL HIM SOMETHING ARRRGHH. Ahem.  Like I said before, other than being new, it was the same weekend as SPX, and there was just no competing with that huge, established, expo. It wasn’t even Intervention’s fault either–SPX moved their date to the same weekend after it was booked by Intervention.   This coming year, Intervention will have some serious clout, and I look forward to re-attending. It may well turn into the Connecticon of Maryland, especially if it’s kept webcomic/weblife-focused as opposed to print. Now, don’t get me wrong, print comics are all well and great, but generally indy print comic fans travel in different circles from webcomic fans, and we webcomic creators need more webcomic-focused cons!

Finally, mad props to Philip Hofer of Comicpress for his awesome company, and for snapping this pic of me that I really love. That dude ran some great panels on how to wrangle Comicpress, so people really interested in maximizing their install should keep their ears to the group for 2011′s comicpress panels!

]]> http://warofwinds.com/winged-wolf-studio/interventioncon-debriefing/feed/ 0 http://warofwinds.com/winged-wolf-studio/spiderforest-webcomic-collective-now-accepting-applications/ http://warofwinds.com/winged-wolf-studio/spiderforest-webcomic-collective-now-accepting-applications/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:50:16 +0000 KEZ http://warofwinds.com/winged-wolf-studio/?p=467 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Karen KEZ Howard

Email: warofwinds@gmail.com

SPIDERFOREST WEBCOMIC COLLECTIVE ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS UNTIL JULY 24TH

The SpiderForest Webcomic Collective is accepting applications for new members until July 24th. SpiderForest accepts applications only twice yearly, in January and July, for the first three weeks of each month. Current members vote on each application for entry. Applicants are notified of the collective’s decision the first day of the following month.

SpiderForest (SF) is home to over 30 comics of multiple ratings and genres. Started in 2004 by Ran Jado, SpiderForest ever since has been a free and quality host for a diverse array of webcomics. In 2009, SpiderForest voted to allow self-hosted applicants to become full members without moving to the SF server. SF is different than free hosts like DrunkDuck or Smackjeeves because it allows members FTP access and full control of their site; SF has a strong system of  cross-advertising via the mandatory rotating header; there are NO MANDATORY ADS; members may use any Content Management System they wish; and lastly, the collective determines new members, not the administrator.

At SpiderForest, interested applicants should be aware that the quality of the application has a big impact on votes. Current members not only look for a good comic, but also applicants who would make good members.

Interested parties can read more and apply here (http://spiderforest.net/apply).

Please consider, if you are a new reader checking out this AWESOME-LOOKING comic and you go straight to the first page….and it’s some sort of “hey I’m new at this and I’m talking to you and aren’t comics great these are my scribbles but I thought you’d like to see them anyway.” What would you think? A: “LAME.”

Your first pages in your archive are a make-or-break experience for a lot of readers. Many new visitors will just LEAVE if they have to click through 5 or 6 diatribes of your “experience.” Never, ever, interrupt the reading experience for sketches or “page is late” or “page in process” announcements. Once that “page in process” is finished, that notice had damn well VANISH completely.

Fan art is no different! If I’m reading this intense action scene that is interrupted quite suddenly with fan arts due to “unplanned hiatus” from a year prior, do you think I’m going to be happy? NO! It’s the equivalent of a commercial in the middle of a movie. Does anyone here LIKE watching movies on a TV channel with commercials every 15 minutes? Are those interruptions not the most annoying thing on earth at that moment? YES JUST ADMIT IT.

Okay, okay, I’m a bit incensed about this, I admit. So, when IS it acceptable to have filler in a webcomic archive? Never, unless it’s the most recent update(s). Yes, if you have fan art, I’m all about showing that off. I personally really love to send people to the sites of those who spend the time making me a gift. But does that fan art stay in the archive? No! Never more than a week or two, tops. Then it is taken out of the archive and given an appropriate place on a gallery page.

What about “announcement” filler? Again, only your most recent update(s)! If your page is late, do indeed inform your readers that you haven’t shirked your responsibility, you haven’t died in a car crash, and a page is on the way. But once that page is up, that filler comes out of the archive! And even better, this notice should be in the “news” area of your site, not in the archive at all!

And finally, the case of “I’m so excited to make my first webcomic that my first pages in my archive are about my excitement and NOT my story”? Such a thing is done right <0.1% of the time. Breaking the fourth wall is something to do so very rarely it’s probably best not done at all except by expert, much like a demolition.

This same rule applies to side-stories in archives as well. Two separate stories should NEVER be in the same archive. If page 1 is “Amish Space Conquerors,”  page 2 is suddenly the side-story introducing the adventures of “Penny the Penguin, Best Friend of Amish Conqueror,” and these two stories go back and forth in the same archive…how is anyone supposed to enjoy or even follow either story (disregarding the absurdity of the stories used as examples here). Archive each story separately, with again, the only exception being the most RECENT update. Please note, this power should be used rarely.

If you are guilty of polluting your archive with commercials/filler, please, go clean it out now. There won’t be a single reader who will complain…except the one whose fan art you have just moved to the gallery. ;)

—–

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Monday, January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. To participate, we formed the Comic Creator’s Alliance–a group of over eighty comic book creators (both web and print) who volunteered our artistic talents to raise money and awareness for this cause. You may not know it, but there are currently 27 million enslaved people worldwide- more than double the number of enslaved Africans during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children every year are sold into slavery, most of it sexual. The US Department of Justice estimates 16,000 victims of human trafficking are brought into the United States every year. Unlike slavery in the 19th century, what is happening today is happening in secret. So it won’t end until awareness is raised, and people like you and me take a stand.

So here’s what we did: each creator contributed an original drawing of one of our own female characters, and combined them into a single wallpaper image. The wallpaper features characters from The Phoenix Requiem, Girls with Slingshots, Earthsong, Looking for Group, Shadowgirls, The Uniques and four IDW Publishing titles: Fallen Angel, The Dreamland Chronicles, Love & Capes and The Dreamer, and lots, lots more! Donate today to download this unique, once-in-a-lifetime wallpaper. The Donations Drive will last for two weeks, from January 11th – 24th. All proceeds will be split evenly between Love146 and Gracehaven House- two organizations working on rehabilitation of victims and prevention of this crime.

To learn more about the Comic Creator’s Alliance visit www.comicalliance.weebly.com.  To learn more about the problem, visit http://love146.org/slavery. (Note: contains adult themes and actual accounts of sex slavery.)

—–

The wallpaper looks AWESOME! Even if it’s not something you want on your desktop, it’s something you should buy on principle. I already have the thing since I was a participant, and I’m still going to donate!

But I’m not really writing this article to talk about the Keenspot “fiasco.” I’m writing this to clarify some terms that are being used synonymously when they are quite different indeed. Since I started off with Keenspot, I suppose I might as well define what I’m talking about with “publisher” here:

A publisher is any business that creates products in large quantities to be sold (and in the case of online properties, quite often distributed). In Keenspot’s case, what was sold was pageviews. Those ads you saw on every page when you visited, those made Keenspot money. Keenspot took percentages from the Swag store and sold ad slots in the header.  The ads not only paid for the hosting costs of all those comics, but also made the Crosbys money.  A business is not magnanimous. What properties do not make money are only a drain on resources, and must be cut loose.  Since Keenspot was the first webcomic publisher, I understand how the dissolution of the network can upset those of us who still remember dreaming about “being Spotted,” but again, the web has changed.

Keenspot was (going to be using the past-tense here) also a collective, but only in an accidental sense of late. A collective is a group of people with the same, common interest who cooperate for the benefit of all. In short, members do better together than they would apart. A collective has nothing to do with revenue in a business sense. If money is made, it’s either kept by the person who makes it or is shared equally. Unlike a business, a working collective requires cooperative members, not just good products!  To visualize the difference between a publisher and collective, take a gander at Keenspot sites as compared to SpiderForest sites. SpiderForest is a collective (and the wonderful place that hosts my comics!) What do you notice? The focus on the comic and members, not SELLING a product.  Everyone self-publishes their own work. Is one better than the other? Well, that really depends on what you’re looking for! Just remember than a collective ≠ publisher!

Now in that previous paragraph, I mentioned that SpiderForest hosts my comic. So SpiderForest is not only a collective (cooperating, self-hosted sites), but ALSO a host. Hosts do exactly what they say: they provide a webpage and server space for comics. A host, however, is under NO obligation to commit to the betterment of the group. A host provides a service only, perhaps for a fee and perhaps not, and that’s where the relationship ends.  Examples of webcomic hosts include ComicGenesis and DrunkDuck. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “But Kez, both CG and DD have these completely AWESOME communities and we help each other out by cross-linking and forum posting and stuff!” Well, sure, yeah, but the host isn’t doing that…YOU are.   The host has no obligation to provide forums, and even if they do, it’s your choice to go there or not.

The last classification I’m going to mention is what we call affiliations. This is tight, exclusive relationship between a SMALL group comics committed to sharing traffic, who are not part of a collective (or simply a stronger relationship between certain members of a collective. What matters is that it’s exclusive).  An affiliation is more than a link exchange because of the commitment.  A great, recent example is Webcomic Bucket.  Some affiliations result in communities, some actually turn into collectives when the affiliations grow large enough.  The biggest difference in my opinion between affiliations and collectives is often the NAME. Collectives are branded, ex, I am a SpiderForest creator, my comics are SpiderForest comics. The collective may come first sometimes, and indeed, the SpiderForest header is at the TOP of the great majority of SF sites. In affiliations, there is little or no branding. If there is branding, it is always given less priority than the comic itself. No members of Webcomic Bucket proudly state their comic is a “A Webcomic Bucket Comic!”  There’s also the matter of shared resources. In a collective, members may rise or fall together because everyone is sharing their audience. In an affiliation, people may come and go, and it’s no big deal. Affiliations are more independent than co-dependent.

Anyone reading through this by now ought to notice quite a bit of overlap in these terms.  Many places can be listed under multiple names. Keenspot was a publisher, collective AND host; Spiderforest is a collective and host; ComicGenesis/DrunkDuck/SmackJeeves/WebcomicsNation/ComicSpace are hosts.  I want to reiterate here that I am not slamming any site or group for being one or the other term here. There IS no “better,” because it all depends on your goals.  This is article is just about classification. As a member of the SpiderForest Webcomic Collective, I got SICK of people bashing the term “collective” because of their fervor over The Keenspot Decision. Hence, I was inspired. Enjoy!

Or something very much less hick in better humor.  Sorry for the lack of articles, again. I’ve been very, very busy with grad school as well as multiple creative projects of my own. I’ve been sitting on that review of the CMS istrip, as well as a shout out to the TWCL awards (Go! Nominate!) . I am so behind. I suck.

The rest of this week ought to be absurdly busy for me, so I’m putting this up a day early. SpiderForest, that awesome community of webcomic artists and writers, accepts new members only twice annually, in June and December! For the first three weeks of December, we will be taking applications and we’re all excited to see who would like to join. SpiderForest isn’t elitist, but it is focused, and we don’t let in new members all the time because EACH MEMBER here votes on new additions. That’s a lot of work for all of us, and we want more members who are really interested in maintaining a quality comic–not to mention, being an ACTIVE member of the community. So, twice yearly, we open the doors and see who wants in.

I have been a member of SF for a couple years now. I miraculously got in, still don’t know how, but it’s a move I am still ecstatic as to have made! I came from ComicGenesis (a free host who, for what’s offered, got high marks in my review!), but I wanted a smaller group of more focused people. I wasn’t that good at making comics (still am not), but I had a drive to do better, all the time. A small group like this is very encouraging, you get more notice, there are no mandatory ads, but there is mandatory cross-promotion with our rotating header. Collectives increase your audience, and the QUALITY of your audience. It’s a great place to grow, and if you’ve been independant from the get-go, hosting yourself, going it alone, you might find VERY fast that being a member of a collective has a lot more opportunities for you without taking away from your freedoms.

Here is a list of current members and their comics. Feel free to contact any member to ask them about their experience. Clicking the text area will bring up a longer summary and their email addresses.

We have few requirements for those applying:

• The ability to tell a good story or joke, with a fitting style of art (check current comics hosted if this is too ambiguous).
• You must CURRENTLY be actively updating your comic at least once a week, or expect to return to schedule from hiatus upon acceptance.  Exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis (quality of the update is a determining factor).
• You must have at least 15 pages of your comic complete. NO EXCEPTIONS!
• You must show the desire to continue your comic, and the diligence to update it to schedule.

What SF offers you (taken from the apply page):

SpiderForest is a free, quality host that does not require you to place ads on your site. You are allowed to put up your own ads, and may keep all revenue. Many members use Project Wonderful.

SpiderForest grants you FTP access. This means you have direct and immediate control of your site, and may update images or webpages as you please.

You may use whichever archiving system you like. Most members use SF’s own ProPanda, a simple, easy-to-use PHP code that allows news posts, dropdowns, and commenting. Other members also use wordpress/comicpress and comicCMS.

You will receive tech assistance whenever necessary, even to the extent of building your site for you. HOWEVER! Having a webcomic means you should not only know how to make a comic, but also how to distribute it over the web yourself. Members will help you set up, but we will expect you to learn to code HTML in time, to be able to handle the majority of your site’s updating.

All new members will have a spiderforest.com address of their choice. If you have your own URL, you keep it, and any spiderforest.com address will forward to your site.

All members are required to have on their site, above the fold, a rotating banner of SpiderForest links. You will have immediate and free advertising on all SpiderForest sites, and an audience ready to read your work.

If you already have your own hosting and would like to be a member, you do not have to up and move to the SF server. Please note in your application if you would like to be a self-hosted member. You must be independently self-hosted and not a member of another comic collective or host.

What SF requires of members:

• Your main responsibility once accepted will be to simply update your comic with quality material in a consistent manner.  As your audience grows, you will expose all of them to all the other comics hosted here, and help everyone gain new readers.  Of course, we all realize life happens, hiatuses occur, and you get busy. That’s ok!  We just expect you to take care of your comic when you can!
• Your secondary responsibilities include being an active participant in the collective by voting on new member additions, submitting any banners or advertising material necessary for any changes to the SF front page or header, and checking the forum occasionally for updates.
• You are required to display above the fold the rotating header for other comics on the network. This header is customizeable, holding a banner that is 600×29px.
• SF greatly appreciates any donations to help with network upkeep, but it is NOT REQUIRED.

What we DON’T offer you:

• SF admins will not upkeep your site past the initial transfer. We will help you set it up, help you build and design it even, but will not upload your pages for you, or write your news. We expect you to learn the basics of HTML. You’re making a webcomic; that requires some knowledge of the WEB. Tech assistance is of course available for necessary changes, but the day-to-day stuff is your responsibility!
• We don’t pay you for your work. SF is not a publisher, it is a host.  This means it is an OPPORTUNITY for you to gain a larger audience through cross-advertising at no cost to you.
• We do not buy you software. For example, choosing your FTP client is up to you.  We definitely recommend one of the many free ones, like FireFTP for FireFox.

Intellectual Property Rights (after getting lambasted on another forum who thought the deal was too good to be true, we added this just to make sure idiots didn’t take a header):

• SpiderForest claims ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHTS on your work. It belongs to you, period. SF is a collective, not a business.   SF is here to provide a good, solid home for your comic and others like it, not to make money.  Members support each other to help all the comics here grow and succeed. If you doubt this, or think it is too good to be true, we suggest contacting members hosted here and asking them about their experiences.

To apply (starting DECEMBER 1, not today!), email “sfapp (AT) spiderforest.com” with the following:

• Webcomic Title: The name of your webcomic.
• Creator(s) Name(s): Everyone who works on your webcomic(writers/artists).
• Contact: Your e-mail address only. If a team is applying, please designate a leader. 
• Website URL: (DA art galleries not desired! Webcomics are meant to be read in order, and we do not like to search through your gallery to find the next page.  You will also need to be able to handle a SITE, not a gallery, though of course, we will help you! Try DrunkDuck, ComicGenesis or SmackJeeves to see if a website is something that you want. They do the majority of coding for you)
• 5-page Sample: Links to 5-pages of your webcomic. This does not need to be sequential but should be representative of your BEST work.
• Synopsis: In 250 words or less, tell us about your comic.  Do not send an essay or a manuscript.
• Referral: How did you learn about SF applications being open? Has a member asked you to apply?
• Why this comic would make a good addition to SF: Please tell us what you’ll bring to SF.

POOR QUALITY APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. We expect correct grammar and spell-checked applications. Be as brief as possible while still doing your work justice. Longer applications are rarely better.

That last bit up there sounds somewhat snobby, I admit, but guys, really, would YOU accept anyone into a collective who spent an obvious 30 seconds putting this together? No. We all put too much time into what we do to put up with sloppy applications and abject laziness. :( So spell check dammit!

And that’s the end. Please spread the news if you have a news site!

As an avid reader of Nahast and all things beautiful, intricate fantasy, I encourage you guys to check out his comic and spread the word.  Webcomics that manage to last even one year are rare enough, let alone an entire seven! Al-X has an entire universe for you to explore, with intriguing characters, and, my personal favorite, a strong, kick-ass, female lead. Congrats again, and many more anniversaries to you!

An aside: if your comic is turning 5 or older, feel free to shoot me an email and a promo image so I can help spread the word!  All the young bloods get all the attention nowadays. Send it to: warofwinds@gmail.com

Contact: Samantha Wikan
email: swikan @ doodlebot.net

SPIDERFOREST COMICS IN CARTOON ART MUSEUM
A Virtual Gallery As Part of Monsters of Webcomics Exhibit

Georgetown, Texas, USA – 11 August 2009: The Comic Art Museum in San Francisco, California, is hosting “The Monsters of Webcomics” exhibit from August 8 through December 6, 2009. Sample strips of SpiderForest comics Rune Master: Tales of a Demon Slayer, The Artiste Manquée, and Life’s a Witch are included in the Virtual Gallery of webcomics. They appear alongside Eisner-nominated webcomics (Wondermark, by David Malki, and The Lady’s Murder, by Eliza Frye) as well as beginner webcomics to show the spectrum of styles and genre available on the web.

“I really believe that comics on the web are the next step for creators and readers,” said Samantha Wikan, creator of Life’s a Witch. “The Monsters of Webcomics exhibit is another sign that webcomics are working their way into the mainstream.”

SpiderForest Webcomic Collective has been a home for fine webcomics since 2004. Spiderforest.com hosts comics and comic-related blogs and accepts applications for new members twice a year.

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For more information or further reading:

email Samantha Wikan: swikan @ doodlebot.net

SpiderForest Webcomic Collective: http://spiderforest.com/

Rune Master: Tales of a Demon Slayer: http://rmtoads.com/

The Artiste Manquée: http://www.the-artiste.net/

Life’s a Witch: http://witchytech.com/lifesawitch

Cartoon Art Museum: http://cartoonart.org/

Complete list of Monsters of Webcomic comics: http://cartoonart.livejournal.com/30634.html