Tom Ray

It's snowed a few times this year I don't know why this time felt different.

I was doing that thing we all do. I opened a drawing app on my tablet and felt like drawing something.  I didn't know what to draw so I just picked a color and a brush and drew a shape. Then tried to not draw something I normally do. After about 20 min I apparently decided that thing was a bird wearing a baseball cap walking with a worm who turns out to be his friend? I don't even know. I enjoyed doing the background though.

This also happened once a few years ago with a company in Korea. Trying to remember how I fixed that.

I know I'm doing it but I can't stop.

How I chose one size for my webcomic that works for websites and to use in a book Over time, my webcomic transformed into more than just something I posted on my website. It was a thing that I could find multiple uses for. Now when I draw the comic I know that it's going to be used for a book and put on multiple media websites and webcomic sites . I draw one thing and it's being turned into several things at once. Right now I draw the webcomic using these dimensions: 1000px by 1200px and a dpi of 300 Here is the story of how I decided this is what the size of my webcomic should be. ( Related post: Choosing webcomic book sizes for print - How do I make my webcomic books ) When I started my webcomic I just chose a size at random When I first started drawing the comic I was just posting it on my website.  Screenshot of my webcomic on the site I just picked a size for the comic that was a large rectangle like a comic page and I just went with it. No real thought behind it. This...

I found this easy trick to resize my webcomic images using Google Photos I back my webcomics up to my Google Photos account which turned out to be a good thing. I found a trick that I could use to resize my comics for different webcomic sites easily. When I open my comic on Google Photos in the web browser I can actually use Google Photos itself to resize the image. It's really easy and it's super fast. 1) Open image in Google Photos right-click and open image in new tab 2) Open image in new tab I open the most recent image, right-click on the comic and open that image in a new tab. 3) Look for image size in the URL In the new tab at the top address bar of the browser, there's a size for the image in the URL. It's way over on the right. Find image size in URL I look for the image size and I change it in the URL. 4) Change the width size in the URL ex. w940 My comic is sized to 1000 px wide and in the URL it says the size it rendered to fit in my browser.  I want to res...

It also sounded like water was rushing through it, then the breaker turned off again.

They pretty much stay filled all summer but then it sits in a closet for a few months and they go flat?

I love weird accidents like that.

It felt more like he was trying to keep us out than trying to be helpful.

Trying to spin a positive on being uninspired the past week.

I wanna put stuff on my nose but then I'll just feel greasy.

I know this one. The runny nose comes next. 

How I also sold my webcomic books in stores publishing on Amazon KDP Amazon not only gives me a page for my webcomic books but there's the opportunity to have them sold as expanded distribution through Amazon. What is Expanded Distribution? What Amazon does is they have the ability for distributors to buy books in bulk for different bookstores and libraries across the US.  I thought, no this will never happen. But I chose the option when setting up my webcomic book anyway. I'm like what's it hurt? It's literally just a check checkbox. ( Related post: Can I Order And Sell Print Copies Of My Own Book From Amazon KDP? ) Will my book actually get chosen by book stores? I know it sounds crazy but I've actually had that happen.  The first two books I made I added them to the expanded distribution program and they actually got sent to a couple of libraries and stores. I would get these notifications of sales and it would say expanded sales . I looked and they got sent ...

On this episode of the podcast, I talk about what I’m trying out currently with Facebook ads to promote what I do. And I’m testing this out for $1 a day

There are two questions that I get asked about publishing my webcomic books on Amazon KDP . 1 - Can I Order A Print Copy Of My Own Book From Amazon KDP? When I started printing on Amazon KDP I also had that question. The reason I put the books together is I was just kind of doing it for myself. I could make a paperback version of my webcomic books and then I and my family could get a copy. It didn't even occur to me that I could actually start selling the book in public.  I thought it was just print-on-demand and then maybe I could order one.  But when I print a book on Amazon KDP I can also get up to 999 copies and sell it on my own!  I was able to get my own copies from Amazon KDP sent to me.  As the author, I can get them at printing cost . So they're at a discounted price. The option to order author copies is right in the KDP publishing setup.  The button is next to the book in KDP. 👇 The other question I get about publishing my book on Amazon KDP... 2 -...

If it weren't for the situation, Xylus bumping into the back of the car would have been kinda funny.

It's like when you see someone yawning.

Tearing down and setting up is just such a boring task that comes along with it.

What size book do I use for publishing my webcomic artwork? I've been doing my webcomics since 2017 and every year I print a collected version of them as a book . The sizes I use for these books have changed over the years I made the first collected issue of the comics in 2018 after I figured out how to publish it on Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). I wasn't thinking about sizing it for print when I started When I first started drawing the webcomic itself I didn't think about the size or that I might publish it for print later. I just picked a large rectangle size and drew the comic. I learned a lot of stuff over the years through trial and error like that.  For example, books that I've made up until now are all different sizes . The First Book The First Book was 10 x 7 inches The first book is a much larger size because my comics also used to be a lot taller. That is what happened when I just chose a random size like I said earlier. I went with a 10 x 7-inch size...

I want to say it's been going on for well over a year now.

On this episode of the podcast, I talk again with webcomics artist Marlene Santos. The last time I spoke with Marlene on the podcast she was just starting a new series on the comic site tapas called JumpHero. Since then Marlene has built a new website and was featured on one of the Tapas website editor picks. We catch up on this episode and see how things have been going! Listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Links Marlene Santos Website   https://jumpherocomic.com Marlene Santos Webcomic on Tapas  https://tapas.io/series/JumpHero Marlene Santos on Twitter https://twitter.com/JumpHero_wcomic Support the show! Check out the vintage pop-culture items available in my eBay Store https://ebay.to/2vMYStC Check out the other things Tom Ray does too! :) - Tom Ray's Daily webcomic - Tom Ray's graphic novels "Then This Happened..." on Amazon - https://amzn.to/35SzQaJ Podcast Music by Tom Ray's band Lorenzo's Music , listen on Spot...

I haven't taken a bus in like 20 years.

Getting ready for a show with my band Lorenzo's Music this Saturday, March 5th at the Dark Horse Artbar in Madison .