Calling it the original art for the comic sounds dishonest though.

I read a lot of webcomics. So much so that I have to organize them by update schedule. (My folder for Monday alone has close to 30 links!)

So my question is this: Who should I spend my 10 bucks on? If I gave $10 just to all the webcomics in my Monday list, I’d be out $300! And I still have 6 other days!

So how do I determine who I should spend my hard-earned money on? Which comic is my favorite? Which author/artist needs it more? Who has the coolest merch?

I say: if you want $10 from me, you gotta have something to offer me that I think is worth it. Otherwise, you don’t deserve it. I’m not going to buy $10 worth of crap just so you can feel good about quiting your day job.

And FYI, I have bought stuff from webcomic stores before.

But the point is, it’s not “free money” unless it’s something you’re doing anyway in the creation of your comic. I have no doubt that Stevens, as an example, COULD sell sketches, but he’d have to make sketches in addition to his comic.

I think it’s a mistake to focus in hard on a quota per reader. I think if you have that kind of energy your readers will feel it, and not in a good way.

This may sound simplistic, but we focus on providing the best possible goods and services and marketing them as well as we can. That starts with the strip (which is free) and goes all the way through merch, ad sales, and speaking engagements. And other upcoming things I can’t talk about yet.