Web Cartoonist Business Model

An August 18, 2008 Publisher's Weekly's article on Templar, Arizona Web cartoonist "Spike" (Charlie Trotman) focuses on the long-form story in the strip as well as her ("Spike" is a woman) business model.

Here's a portion of this informative article by PW writer Brigid Alverson:

"The income stream for Templar has three elements. The first part is ad sales on the site, through three different networks. 'Depending on which one I’m talking about and how good a day it is, I can make 76 bucks from one of those ad networks or I can make 40 cents,' Trotman says. 'It runs the gamut.'

"... The second element is direct donations. 'I found the best thing to do with the tip jar is to offer bonus pages—if you give $100, I will update four times this week,' she says.

"The print edition accounts for the lion’s share of her income, however. Trotman starts by taking pre-orders, so the book is already in the black by the time it goes to print."

Read the entire PW article here.

Helpful link: New to Templar, AZ?

Above graphic from An Interview with Spike by Xavier Xerxes.

Hat tip to Journalista!