In the fanfiction days, since you weren't writing as a professional you would ask around for a beta-reader as your second pair of eyes. When it comes to drafting comics... what are the key differences between getting advice from an editor and asking someone to be a beta-reader? Other than the former bring paid to help you out? I did ask someone for help as another pair of eyes on my script, though they said it sounded like I was looking for an editor (already working with one). I guess I don't know how better to articulate that I want to see if I could bounce off ideas from another creator for what I'm doing? Is that what a beta-reader would do?

There's a lot of focus on crowdfunding and while that's all well and good, I'd like to know more about advice for people like myself who DON'T want to do a crowdfunding campaign for their project. This is my second comic technically, though it's also a second attempt at a story. Because anxiety and self-sabotage got in the way last time, I fear that a crowdfunding campaign will only put a lot of stress and pressure onto me. Add the inevitable drama you see at times from internet spats over who's got internet cooties (to paraphrase Ya Boi Zack) and you can imagine. There's also that I don't want to do a 100+ page volume of a comic, but make one issue of a limited run at a time. I don't know yet how long each one is going to take, though I also figure that now would be a good time to think ahead about what alternatives would be there for me to running a crowdfunding campaign. While I'm considering the probability of hiring an inker, a colourist and a letterer respectively to try and cut down on time, I still don't see why this would be THE path for me. Who else is in this boat? In all the talk about "Comicsgate" or even "Anti-Comicsgate", it sometimes looks as if there aren't many possibilities available to indie creators outside of these groups. (I'd like to make a comic for Alterna one day, however I don't think that this particular story would be it.)

Hi there, my name is Ann (Marigo on the internet) and I thought I'd introduce myself before I ask a question in the other forums! I am a budding comics creator, albeit planning to do a seven issue short series (already working and a freelance editor of late). It will be my second comic, since my first try was a web comic that I ended up abandoning due to a combination of life and self-sabotage. I want to avoid such a mistake again, though I also want to make shorter comics too. I am primarily an artist, though I am struggling to share my stuff online better. I am thinking of setting up either a Wix or Squarespace site so I can host my artwork there, from sketches to finished illustrations and even comics I choose to make available to read for free. I have already finished two art commissions, so a website would be better. I do have Instagram and Twitter, though it feels as if literally just one person seems to see or respond to any art I put up on the latter. At least I have one fan, though all the same it feels disheartening that only one person seems to notice what you've shared, no matter how many times you retweet. I don't go on live streams to promote myself for personal reasons, though I'm aware I might need to reconsider or at the very least compromise somehow in future. Part of why I don't do a lot of promotion is because of imposter syndrome, which I am working on getting over. So that's part of my introduction right there and I hope to share a lot of art and comics with you all very soon, on my journey to grow and develop as a creator in my own right.