Supporting web comics
I have this conflict about supporting webcomics. I read about 26, from dailies to weeklies to whenever-the-heck. And as more and more of my favorites have turned to cartooning full-time, I've realized how important it is to support them financially. They're living the dream, and their success making a living as an artist is nearly as important to me as the comic itself.
But here's where I run into a problem... many webcomic artists primary source of revenue (outside of advertising) is selling paper compilations of the comic. The comic I've already read. I'm trying to reduce the clutter in my house, and buying paper copies of something I've already read online works against that. And I've proven to myself that when I do buy them, don't read them.
Some have t-shirts and mugs (and all that Cafe Press stuff), but that's mostly just more clutter.
When it comes down to it, I just want to give these artists money, without having to spend $20 to give them $5, and end up with some physical product I don't actually want. Buying a $20 book means three other artists I don't give $5 to, because $20 is my budget.
But many of these artists don't have tip jars. Some do, and they get my money, but some simply don't (seem to) want "donations"... they want to make their money through advertising and selling physical products. But when the primary product is the comic, I don't think it's "charity" when a fan wants to pay you for it. I don't think it reflects badly on the artist to have a tip jar... it's not a sign of an amateur. It's a sign of good business sense... never stand in the way of a customer wanting to hand you money.
I feel like I’m waiting for something.
I feel like I'm waiting for something, but I don't know what it is.
For a long time now, I've had target milestones in my life... I dated my wife for several years, so I was focused for awhile on getting married, and not terribly worried about what happened after that. Shortly after that, I entered college (in my mid-twenties), so my focus was "finish school". That took a little over four years, and I got a good job... and my wife got pregnant before I'd been there a year, and I found myself looking forward to becoming a father and raising a child. Then "starting school" became a kind of surrogate milestone. And then I went back to college for a couple years of night school to get a second degree.
I finished that up about three years ago, and recently I've realized that I've run out of goals. I'm not headed back to school, I have no career goals, the kiddo's settled into school (starting the third grade next year), we're not having any more kids. My son graduating from high school isn't exactly a goal, and that's quite a few years down the road.
I'm going to turn 40 next month and I find I'm not really satisfied with my life. The "daily grind" is wearing on me, especially because ADHD and computer jobs don't mix well... hyper-focus doesn't work when you're 39 and none of the projects are as interesting as the programs I was writing in high school. And with the Internet at my fingertips all day long, keeping focused on my job is an ongoing struggle.
Then I keep feeling like the day job is pulling me away from everything that's important. Phil Reed asks, having given up full-time writing for the security of a day job (working for a game company, but still a day job), if writing after a day at the office is so hard for everyone else as it is for him. Yes, Phil, it is... I feel like the day job sucks up my physical and mental energy, so that when I get home, focusing my head on writing is too much work. I just want to sit and watch TV for the one hour I get to myself each night. And half the time, I just want to be left alone during the only time I have to interact with my family.
I'd like to spend more time with my family. I'd like to have time to lead Cub Scouts without feeling like I'm doing a half-*ssed job. I'd like to have time and room to be more creative. I'd like to have more time to myself and not feel like I'm giving up most of my and all of my creative energy toward "responsibilities".
Dang, it's almost like a midlife crisis.
So what is it that I feel like I'm waiting for? I'm not waiting for the lottery or a rich uncle to make a sweeping change. I feel like, somehow, there's this future where it all gets easier... where somehow I'm caught up on all the crap around the house, and I'm not commuting 1.5 hours three days a week (on 9-hour days), and I just magically get my free time. But I'm not doing anything to move myself closer to that future... I feel like I can barely keep up with the present, and I've let so many house maintenance things pile up that
And like my doctor keeps telling me, "We are getting older." Time for a change. This stuff isn't going take care of itself. I'm going to have to shift some of my schedule around and make sure I make time to get the work done so I can enjoy the time I do have to work on the creative stuff.