Isn't there some unwritten newsgroup rule that if someone mentions Hitler or Cathy a thread is automatically ended?

Regards, Tim Broderick http://oddjobs.keenspace.com

I'm not finding any reference to that rule anywhere ...
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=cathy+hitler&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&site=groups

Joey www.talkaboutcomics.com

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Listen to Digital Comics Talk while you browse these boards:
http://www.talkaboutcomics.com/listennow.php

So typical. although gravitationally it might seem possible, the universe doesn't revolve around you and your ego. is it that hard to believe that someone can be critical without being a bitter rival or jealous of your "success"? Please. You give yourself way too much credit. Even if I was a comics creator, on- or offline, i could never consider being associated with something like PvP a "success", no matter how many $100 bills I could shit on.

and yeah, i admit it, i did try my hand at writing a few small press black and white comics back in the 80's without making a living at it. So I suppose I am a "failure" in your Tony Robbins mentality, but that has nothing to do with the conversation at hand.

I got a break on hosting for a long time, but I pay for it now. I get a decent price. but PvP insn't ball busting big.

There is quality in PvP. I know because I work very very hard to make sure it's a quality book.

People can try to dismiss it as a gaming strip, but they're really missing the point. PvP is about pop-culture and nostalgia and about people my age who grew up with the things I grew up with.

I get email from people who aren't gamers and identify with my characters. That's all I really want to do with PvP. People identify with it. That's the mark of quality that I work to achieve.

Some days it works, others it doesn't.

More than not, it works.

50 million Elvis fans can't be wrong.

Scott:

>Hell yes. My montly bill for bandwidth is
>not expensive at all.

It seems to an unusual case for a site that generates 6 million+ pageviews a month to pay next to nothing for bandwidth.

Mark Shallow, who does the webcomic ADVENTURERS!, just recently made an emergency move to Keenspace because he was being charged $800 a month in bandwidth costs by his host and he couldn't afford it. His strip was doing 600,000 pageviews a month (ten times fewer pageviews than PvP generates). At his former host, you could be charged $8,000 a month.

So you're obviously getting an extremely good deal on bandwidth, one that not everyone would neccesarily have access to.

>And ask yourself this: would you rather get
>2800 every month, or have the potential to
>earn tens of thousands but make nothing?

The prices on our own sponsorship packages are comparable to yours, and we've been more than willing to negotiate in order to meet the needs of the advertiser.

>I mean, you have an open end to your
>pricing and you sell it for a lot more.
>You have the potential to earn more than I
>do. But are you earning anything? Are you
>selling any of it?

We've sold some (our sponsors have included Comics Buyers Guide, Cheapass Games, WildcatComics.com), but obviously not as much as we would like. I've dealt with dozens of media buyers, and PRICE really hasn't been an issue. So far the main stumbing blocks have been these...

1.) Adult-oriented content. Just one example: a media buyer for the U.S. Army (among other major ad buyers) ruled out the possibility of advertising on Keenspot because of SINFEST. She thought SINFEST was too raunchy because it used words like "pimp." SINFEST is too adults-oriented for the U.S. ARMY, an organization that targets primarily ADULTS 18-24 with the hopes that they can sign them up and train them to kill. And SINFEST is PG-13 at worst.

So that's been a problem. It's one we can overcome, but it's a problem.

2.) Content not targeted enough to the advertiser's product. The average media buyer has no reason to target Keenspot for campaigns because we fit into no niche. As a whole, we're just comics. We're comics that appeal primarily to males 18-24, yes, but we don't fit nicely into any slots.

Just as an example, a webcomic that's about gamers and is read primarily by gamers would probably have more luck attracting gaming-related advertisers than a webcomic that is not about gamers and is not read by gamers primarily, and the gaming-related advertiser probably would not choose to advertise on the gaming comic site for the SOLE reason that they offer very low prices.

>When you do sell it, is it effective for
>your clients?

Thus far, not really. That is a problem we have to correct, if we can.

David:

>Oh, of course. But that doesn't account
>for repeat viewers over the course of a
>long period of time. If you name a >strip "Big Boobies!" and people flock to
>your site, they aren't going to stay if the
>strip doesn't continue to appeal to them.

I agree completely.

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Chris Crosby
Co-CEO, Keenspot Entertainment ( http://www.keenspot.com )
Cartoonist, SUPEROSITY ( http://www.superosity.com )

you can't measure bandwidth in pageviews. you measure it in Megabytes and Gigabytes.

When I stopped paying catalog.com for webhosting I was getting 250gig of bandwidth as a part of my basic package of 600 a month. That provided me with a dedicated server and 250 gig of traffic.

if I went over 250gig I had to pay 5 bucks a gig.

So if I were to double my traffic and use 500 gig of traffic I would only be spending 1850 bucks.

What happens a lot is that when you sign up for one of those 20 bucks a month webhosting deals, they have really steep charges for going over the limit to prevent people from taking advantage of them.

But if you shop around and look for appropriate webhosting and let them know up front what you need, it's out there.

800 bucks a month, if you're making 2800 on sponsorhsips alone isn't so bad. you pay for your hosting and clear 2 grand a month.

Scott:

>you can't measure bandwidth in pageviews. >you measure it in Megabytes and Gigabytes.

Doy. [img]/resources/ubb/smile.gif[/img] I'm only talking pageviews because I don't know yours or ADVENTURERS!'s actual bytes delivered per month, but I do know that you're both webcomic sites and your individual strip files are roughly the same size and are presented one-per-page, so your pageview-to-bytes ratio should be about the same.

>But if you shop around and look for
>appropriate webhosting and let them know
>up front what you need, it's out there.

True, that's why Keenspot's not paying $50,000 a month on bandwidth. But if your pageviews aren't in the millions, it may be tougher to get a deal.

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Chris Crosby
Co-CEO, Keenspot Entertainment ( http://www.keenspot.com )
Cartoonist, SUPEROSITY ( http://www.superosity.com )

Goat, i read a hell of a lot of comics back then (still do)

what book did you work on?

just curious - i miss my old faves from "back in the day"


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