Comics Are Great! 84 – Should You do Free Work “for Exposure?”

Is there anything wrong with agreeing to do some work for free? After all, it might catch on with the Internet, and you can cash in later.

And this is the webcomics model, after all! You put out consistent and professional-quality work for free, hoping to attract an audience, and only begin to sell to them once you’ve got 5,000 fans or more. It’s an investment!

Or you may just be doing your work for “the sake of art.” And if this is so, what’s wrong with others asking you to do the same work, in the same name, for them?

I’m joined by Ryan Estrada, creator of the @forexposure_txt Twitter account and producer of the For Exposure dramatic readings series, for a discussion on the perils and misconceptions of “working on spec.”

Later we’re joined by Sharon Iverson of the Ann Arbor District Library for another round of book recommendations!

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting the links!):

Book Recommendations:

Comics Are Great! 83 – Drawing Dynamic with Tony Cliff

Comics may be a static medium, but the best cartoonist create an illusion of movement so convincing we’ll often forget that we, the readers, are creating the movement in our minds. How do they do they pull off this trick? And what’s the “secret” to writing engaging and interesting casts? Is there one? Or is it a simple matter of doing one’s research and writing characters with contrast?

Tony Cliff of the recently released Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant stops by the show to share the secrets of creating dynamic and interesting characters, reference strategies for your story’s location, and “The Importance of Being Important.”

We’re joined at the end by Rachel Moir of the Ann Arbor District Library for another round of book recommendations!

Links mentioned in this episode (thanks to Eric Klooster for collecting the links!):

Book Recommendations: