Zatswan: Multiversal Guardian

[Neil Allen]

Zatswan: Multiversal Guardian continues...



Find out more about this comic at...
http://zatswan.com

[griffin]

Damn that was a good slap. She's still recovering two panels later. lol

Is it me or is there a second love interest on the horizon?

[Neil Allen]

Haha. I don't want to spoil the story, but the girl in the purple dress is a really important character. It's nice to finally be able to fully introduce her. The story should really start to open up this chapter, and what is actually going on should become more apparent.

Thanks for reading!

[griffin]

You ever thought about putting these out on comiXology?
As far as I see, you have 1 book out? The one for $3.99 that's 21 pages?

Is THIS that book or is this (What we're reading here) all from book 2?
How many books is your series?

Like, where do I get the FULL story?

[Neil Allen]

You're talking about the .pdf file on my site? If so, that is only chapter 1. I haven't bothered compiling chapter 2 into a .pdf yet, because there are a couple things I want to change. Nothing too major. Just a few panels and a bit of lettering.

What you're seeing in this topic is the whole story that has been posted online. That is chapter 1, which is 21 pages, chapter 2, which is another 21 pages, and chapter 3, of which I have posted 3 pages. I have posted quite a bit in this topic, but at this point, I don't mind where people read it, on my site or otherwise. As I see it, posting it here just gets more eyes on the project, and hopefully more interest in it. Right now, I'm still primarily focused on building content for the project, following that, just building interest is the next priority. I'm not too focusing too much on sales right now, because I figure who is going to buy something they've never heard of and know nothing about. Eventually, I plan on Zatswan paying out, though

If you want to read the whole story, the best place to go is zatswan.com and start here:
http://zatswan.com/comic/chapter-01/...apter-1-cover/

If you would like to buy the whole story, that's not prepared just yet. Zatswan is a webcomic, so it's mainly meant to be read from the internet, but I will compile Zatswan: Multiversal Guardian in an entire volume for print and digital .pdf when there is more content.

I've considered Comixology, but haven't for the reason I've posted above. If I was to submit my content there, I would have two 21 page chapters to put up.

That is what you do, right? How is Comixology working for you? Do you get regular sales from there?

[griffin]

A couple thoughts...it took FOREVER to set up. They said there was a problem with getting my business account and tax withholding together. That wasn't the only site that told me- it was a delay so I believe them.

I obviously won't discuss raw numbers, but the first month was awesome and the second month was a total fall off . I actually contacted them to see if there was an issue with the accounting. lol

comiXology told me that was normal - that all number 1s sell great and then there is a fall off in sales and then it steadily climbs. I was worried for a few months, but now I'm seeing a very nice spike and climb in sales.

I'm also doing more to promote the series across many sites, hosting comic sites and facebook groups. I'm also running ads on facebook and sharing and all that social media stuff.

And so sales are relatively good for an indie out the gate- with no support. Since digital sales numbers are impossible to get, I have no idea if selling X-Number-of-books is an incredible feat or would make a title a failure.

No idea. ANYbody buying one of my books makes me happy so we'll see where the sales arrows go. For now, I'm content at the rise and it's even inspired me to launch a second title.

I say do it when you're ready. It's a very nice reading experience. I have a huge monitor so I like the double pane experience- also, that's how I read comics as a kid. Who opened up one panel at a time? lol

comiXology is owned by the monster Amazon so it's a pretty easy way in. Also it's where all the digital readers are. You can sell your pdfs on DriveThrucomics (I'm on there) but sales are dismal. I know I need to figure out their promotional engine and how to do sales. When the new series arrives, I'm going back to free versions on all the webcomic hosting sites. They were really good for traffic. There's 4 or 5 of them that are worth putting your series on....
Line Webtoon
Tapas
Comic Fury
Smack Jeeves

[Neil Allen]

Thanks for the information!

I'll certainly give Comixology a try when I'm ready. As I see it, this comic is under construction. Even though I post a lot of finished pages, I may go back and change things with the art or production, as seen in this thread. I just let people watch as I'm building this thing. There will be a point when I won't change things anymore for a set of chapters or a whole book, and once I'm at that point, I will concentrate more on my promotion. I don't want to concentrate too heavily on promoting and selling stuff that may become obsolete due to changes.

Also, as it is now, there is only so much time in a day and creating the comic is such an endeavor that it takes up a lot of my concentration. I don't want to spread myself way thin by tackling tons of promotional stuff at this point, because that's a whole job in and of itself, but this is very useful information.

I'm familiar with the sites you listed. I don't know of any Facebook groups in particular, though. If you don't mind me asking, what groups do you use to promote your comic? And it's good to hear your numbers have been going up. I've also been seeing a rise in interest for my project as the story unfolds, which is exciting!

[griffin]

Yeah, when I read yours I'm like.....did I miss some pages? Is this the middle of another story...was the bus part, part of this same arc?

I'd like to just sit down one day and read the whole thing in one easy package.
Plus- when it's a page here and there, it feels like it's taking forever to get to the answers I want.

Groups with names like
Independent comic Creators
Comic Creators
Promote your comics etc....

Once you join one group FaceBook suggests all the others or the members link to them.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/140385652820869/about/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Prom...csAndCartoons/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1586726261559854/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/comicbookcreators/

If you want traffic then all those free hosting sites work. If you want to connect to other creators then the facebook group is where it's at.

I'm still looking for a forum for serious comic creators with activity and output.
Most of the forums is kids posting idle topics because they are bored.

And many others, you get views (could be bots) but no engagement.

[Neil Allen]

I see. If you're reading the comic just from this topic then I can understand how you may have some difficulty. Things aren't laid out perfectly here, because I sometimes post stuff that I drew over again. Although, whenever that happens, I make sure to mention it in the post.

If you go to this link you should have a very straightforward reading experience:
http://zatswan.com/comic/chapter-01/...apter-1-cover/

Zatswan: Multiversal Guardian is pretty much your standard webcomic, meaning that it updates page by page. There are advantages and disadvantages to that format. Most webcomics I've seen are made by one person, like mine. It's just not realistic for us to pump out content like the people at DC, Marvel, or wherever, which have teams of people handling projects. With this comic, I'm doing the work of perhaps eight or nine people elsewhere. Let's see... they would typically have...

Writer
Penciler
Inker
Flatter
Colorist
Letterer
Assistant Editor
Editor
Then maybe some "hidden" jobs in the production phase.

And all of that is being handled by only one person here. Unfortunately, one of the downsides is that it is going to take some time for the story to develop. But I'm really happy that there are people out there that actually care about what will happen next! I take my time doing the project. I could go faster, I suppose, but I feel that the quality of the comic is what matters most.

Thanks for the list of links. I will definitely check all of those out.
And yeah, there aren't a lot of great comics communities in general on the net. I've actually thought about starting my own forum because of the lack of places to go.

[griffin]

You know what, one of my silent opinions turned out to be true.
There's a few issues I always scratch my head over, in WEBCOMICS.

((and I mean works designed and formatted as a webcomic, not just a comic shared and doled out on the web...)))

a) Some that are concerned with page-a-day frequency release filler pages and pages with nothing happening because they need to meet their upload quota.

b) Full pages that are not full pages. If you blow up an image, you usually do that for 2 reasons. One, there is an epic AMOUNT OF STUFF going on and you need to pull close to see all the details. Two, you have an IMPORTANT scene that needs emphasizing, like a vista-like establishing shot or a moment the reader needs to remember. When they take an ordinary panel and make it full-page size, it doesn't feel like a splash page, it feels like a large panel.

c) A stretched story plays havoc with my memory. If you're the writer, you're probably going back and reading a bunch of old pages before dropping the new page or made them all in a row and uploaded them in gaps. As a reader, I tend to forget what's happening when 10 pages in the past is six weeks. I just don't remember all those small details.

=================
The ONLY problem I had with your book was the last one, where I had trouble following the page-every-so-often release schedule. I know, for now, it can't be helped, but I wish I was getting a single chapter at a time.


Reading you whole book in one swoop was awesome. I had forgotten so much and didn't realize you had so much set up before the action kicked off. I was thinking about the princess (Blondie) and waiting to see where that was going to go, but starting from the top, I'm rooting for Marlene more.

I like the writing, in that, the main characters are saying the same things I would be saying and thinking and it's a fantastic story, but doesn't need too much suspension-of-belief to get into.

The art is steadily improving, which makes you decision to wait all the more insightful. You have some panels that are just incredible and your attention to detail is really key.

The plot makes sense and it seems like you've covered all you bases and you have a true sense of how things work in your universe. Good job.

[Neil Allen]

First, thanks a lot for reading the story and offering such thorough and specific feedback. That is a HUGE help! It's really beneficial to know what people who are actually interested in the story think of it.

One of the things about posting stuff around is that, of course, not everyone is going to be all that interested in what you're doing, simply because it doesn't speak or connect with them. And that's fine, because our projects can't be all things to all people. While those people who aren't all that interested can still have very useful things to say, and it's also good to have their perspective, it's not quite the same as getting feedback from someone more invested. In other words, feedback from fans or people interested in becoming fans. So again, I really appreciate that.

About the webcomic format. To tell you the truth, I am really not a huge webcomic reader. And I wasn't a webcomic reader at all before undertaking this project, though I have since found some that I really like. I understand not liking having to settle for such small updates and then having to wait again for another small update. Honestly, the format suits comic strips a lot better than comic books, and I believe strips (the types of things like Garfield and Peanuts) are what was originally done in this format.

I'm using the format now because I feel it's the most feasible way of telling my story at the moment, so I take the good with the bad. From a creator standpoint, one of the advantages is that you keep your content updating regularly, and when you get a following people will tweet or share whenever a new page comes out. In some settings, many small regular updates can be more beneficial than few massive updates, because it opens up potential for more sharing of your content and people build a routine of visiting your site and sharing your stuff, and the people they share it with keep seeing it pop up in their feed.

I mean, one example is that this topic has way more views than other topics where people are like, "Hey, come check out this book I did," and then they're gone. It's the numerous small updates that gets people coming back to see what is happening here.

About Marlene and the Princess Allecka Xona. I have heard that same thing from some others where they prefer Marlene. Marlene has the advantage of being introduced first, so I think it's normal for readers to like her more. That's just the way the story naturally flowed In many ways the story tells itself. I've been really wanting to get to the parts with the Princess, but I had to stay true to the story. I an really excited to finally be at the part when she comes to the forefront. We will see a lot more of the princess and learn more about her in the pages to come.

It's good to hear that the art is getting better. I always work at improving things in that department and I'm glad it is noticeable. I actually don't do splash pages hardly at all. Perhaps it has something to do with me doubling as a writer, but I oftentimes think they are a waste if valuable real estate. Though I don't want that to sound like an absolute. They can be done very effectively. And much of the reason those are used in comics is due to technical print and/or advertisement things that don't affect me in the digital format I am using. I oftentimes use big anchor panels for emphasis instead of splashes.

And again, I'm really happy you're enjoying the story and I'm glad to hear it makes sense and is easy to follow and that the characters sound natural and are believable.s More new content coming soon!

[griffin]

Oh man, I could write for days about your book. First, the bright colors threw me- with all the digital tools available, it seems like a weird decision to make it almost crayon like and so vibrant-

BUT! That's what makes it different. You do the colorful art in EVERY panel, which is different than just the energy or action scenes having heavy color and all the regular scenes are kinda boring and less intense.

Your world building is modern day, but then you have the multi-verse which can be anything. You've already shown us a huge array of alien characters, which makes it seem like a true VAST, vast universe. So many other races are already working together. As a sorta-post-teen main character, you've taken it a step further and shown us college-bills as an issue. Financial aid is his concern- so we have real problems that the characters are dealing with.

It's the classic trope of character gets awesome powers and is unhappy with life. Here, you skipped past that and threw him into a battle- and he was SCARED, but did his job and knew he needed to make a difference. He already shows characters and a moral curve. The moment when he looked down and saw the dead solider and was like "That could be me".

---------------------
I think you're right about the updates and getting more hits. On sites like this, I just don't know how many are reads and how much traffic is crawling bots. There are a few sites that I'll glance at books without replying because I can't be bothered to join up or log in- just to leave a comment.

Keep going. So far, so good.

[Neil Allen]

The latest page of Zatswan!!!



More Zatswan content at:
http://zatswan.com/

[Neil Allen]

Originally Posted by griffin

Oh man, I could write for days about your book. First, the bright colors threw me- with all the digital tools available, it seems like a weird decision to make it almost crayon like and so vibrant-

BUT! That's what makes it different. You do the colorful art in EVERY panel, which is different than just the energy or action scenes having heavy color and all the regular scenes are kinda boring and less intense.

Your world building is modern day, but then you have the multi-verse which can be anything. You've already shown us a huge array of alien characters, which makes it seem like a true VAST, vast universe. So many other races are already working together. As a sorta-post-teen main character, you've taken it a step further and shown us college-bills as an issue. Financial aid is his concern- so we have real problems that the characters are dealing with.

It's the classic trope of character gets awesome powers and is unhappy with life. Here, you skipped past that and threw him into a battle- and he was SCARED, but did his job and knew he needed to make a difference. He already shows characters and a moral curve. The moment when he looked down and saw the dead solider and was like "That could be me".

---------------------
I think you're right about the updates and getting more hits. On sites like this, I just don't know how many are reads and how much traffic is crawling bots. There are a few sites that I'll glance at books without replying because I can't be bothered to join up or log in- just to leave a comment.

Keep going. So far, so good.

Thanks again.

About the art... I suppose my approach to it is not standard for comic books, but at the same time, like many comics, it's a mix of digital and traditional methods. I often do gutters in Photoshop and most of the lettering is done in Illustrator, although I often hand letter certain things, too. Everything else is done by hand, and I ink and color directly on the paper that I draw on, so I never use light boxes or any kind of transferring method. The paper I use varies. These days I mostly use vellum and watercolor paper, though I plan on using some mixed media paper, too.

I draw with regular sketch pencils and ink mostly with a dip pen and brushes. My coloring tools vary. I use mostly colored pencils and watercolor pencils these days, but I also use oil pastels, soft pastels, markers, acrylic paint occasionally, and probably other things I'm just not thinking of right now.

Why did I decide on this approach? I can't remember it really being a conscious decision. It was more like that is just the way I make art, and then I transferred that over to comics. When I'm working on my project, I don't particularly set out to make "super hero comic art" or emulate a particular comic art style, or try to make it look like something from Marvel or DC Comics, though I'm sure those influences are there to a degree.

I often try to put a lot of detail in the backgrounds, because I view the set pieces kind of like characters. I feel I need to strongly establish them like I need to establish the characters. Plus, it contributes a lot to the world building without having to use text to do it.

[Neil Allen]

Zatswan returns!



More Zatswan at the website!:
http://zatswan.com/