So get yer huntin’ license and check out our applyin‘ page!

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!