I've Heard It - What Is SteemTrail?
SteemTrail is a curation initiative that enlists the participation of semi-volunteer curators to seek out and recommend Steemit content to be voted on by all of the SteemTrail members via their curation trail listed on Streemian.com. The reason I referred to us as "semi-volunteer" is even though we're not directly compensated for our efforts via STEEM, SBD, Steem Power or other traditional crypto, we are given a newly created token listed on Open Ledger called Trail Coin, (TRAIL).
At this time, SteemTrail has in excess of 100 curators (and growing) that all vote for an officially curated article on Steemit. This can dramaticlly boost your total vote count, reputation score and overall Steemit reward if you're selected to part of the daily voting.
Also, anyone is encouraged to participate in SteemTrail themselves by visiting the following link to the site on Discord:
Currently, I'm the curator for the #comics tag on Steemit, but I encourage anyone else that wants to be part of growing the comics presence on Steemit to become a SteemTrail Curator and request to be assigned to the #comic tag. One of the tasks involved with curating a tag for SteemTrail is creating posts like this and hopefully encouraging current and potential comic fans to participate in the genre here on Steemit. In these posts, I want to examine the different types of comic related material that has, and could be posted on Steemit. This particular one will focus on **comic creators** specifically.
You Want To Create Your Own Comic - Are You Nuts :)!
I've tried my hand at creating some comics as well as stories around them and believe me, comics are tough. There's a lot of graphics work, either digital or hand drawing to be done just to get the imagery ready for viewing. Combine that with having to spin the story and sometimes creating even the basic of comic work can take take up a lot of time.
There's been plenty of great work done in comic format over the last seven or so months since Steemit launched. @fyrstikken and @tuck-fehman are a couple of notable Steemit members that really paved the way with unique style of wit and art:
If you're someone who's interested in creating original comic art here on Steemit, then everyone should really encourage you do so. It's my belief that original comic works can be a true asset to the Steemit community, as well as draw comic fans from the outside internet world.
Some people are avid hand drawers, while others prefer creating their work digitally. Either way, in order to get what you've created ready for publication to the internet, you'll probably want to invest in either Adobe Photoshop, or the freely available GIMP works as well. The GIMP has plenty of instruction and add-ons to help you along the way and for the most part, can accomplish the same quality as Photoshop. PS is just a bit more mainstream but can produce excellent results. There is a price tag attached to Photoshop though, which is about $10 per month for their Creative Cloud version.
Why Would I Want To Publish My Comics On Steemit?
There's plenty that Steemit can offer a comic artist. Firstly, there's an established platform to work on. The editor can be a bit clumsy at times, but with some persistence and the excellent assistance available right here within Steemit, you'll be able to craft your posts to look quite well as a comic. Also, Steemit has no advertising at the time of this writing. This can be be beneficial to a comic artist in that attention to your work wont be distracted by a barrage of banner ads and popups.
Steemit also has an already established comic following to present your work to. The purveyors here are mostly fans but creators as well and are very welcoming to anyone who wants to contribute to the #comics tag. If you're wanting to test the waters with something you've created, then Steemit can be a great place to get feedback and reactions from real comic followers too.
Then there's the financial part. Participation in Steemit carries with it a per post payout at 24 hours and 30 days after posting your content. The 24 hour reward typically is the lion's share of your reward, with the 30 day amount represented by the votes you've received after the 24 hour cutoff. Exactly how much you'll make from your posts depends on who votes for your content, and to a lesser degree, when they vote for it. If someone with a lot of Steem Power likes your comic, and votes for it, you'll gain a higher reward than from someone with less.
The reward takes a few forms; STEEM (the main cryptocurrency), SBD (Steem Backed Dollars and a crypto in it's own right - pegged to the US Dollar), and also Steem Power (essentially STEEM that's held in your Steemit wallet and goes toward increasing your voting power on Steemit - it also receives interest currently 6% APR).
Even though the rewards aren't directly in cash, STEEM and the derivatives it's distributed in, are established cryptocurrencies that can be immediately traded for others like Bitcoin, Ethereum and BitShares. From there it's fairly simple and straightforward to convert them into cash via a site like Coinbase.
Steemit and SteemTrail very much wants to encourage anyone that has an interest in comics to participate in the community, as well as the #comics tag. Even if you're not a comic creator per se, there are several other genres of comic fandom you can participate in. Look for my next post:
Comic Book Reviews On Steemit.
Thanks for reading,
James
Hello @vegascomic,
Congratulations! Your post has been chosen by the communities of SteemTrail as one of our top picks today.
Also, as a selection for being a top pick today, you have been awarded a TRAIL token for your participation on our innovative platform...STEEM.
Please visit SteemTrail to get instructions on how to claim your TRAIL token today.
If you wish to learn more about receiving additional TRAIL tokens and SteemTrail, stop by and chat with us.
Happy TRAIL!
I'm jumping in ~(=･ω･=)//
Awesome stuff @blockchaincat - looking forward to seeing your stuff!
Thanks for taking this on! I've definitely considered working with SteemTrail, but right now I'm just content to nurture the comics tag as an individual and be as active as possible. It's tough to fit it all in because I'm definitely one of those nuts who wants to create my own comics.
I'm looking forward to seeing more posts and thanks again for your stewardship of the tag!
I like bryan here are nuturing the comics tag as an individual and I am as active as I can be with it. I love seeing the comics on Steemit and even without seeing this post have in the past told people to add the "comics" tag to their post when appropriate.
Comic Books, WebComics, Comic Strips, and everything else is all good for the comics tag imo. One of my favorites is still this post by @nonamesleftouse https://steemit.com/funny/@nonameslefttouse/mopotopslopokoposko-pie-meets-the-prokontoposonogo-die
Thank you for the encouragement. Comic creation is definitely a trying task. I think the audience here would appreciate your work.
Welcome.
I've been toying with the idea of doing a comic here on Steemit. I'm primarily a fantasy RPG illustrator for small press RPGs but I've always wanted to try my hand at it. Though as you've said, it is a lot of work and my time is limited. Well, it is something I'm contemplating and who knows...?
It sounds like you would have some great artwork to contribute to Steemit Comics. Let me know whenever you post any of it.
Sounds great! I think my Phill from GCHQ is going quite well, but @spottyproduction and @zuch.media could really use some votes. I will try to understand this steemtrail-thing so I can help.
Thanks for the nod! There's enough Appetite for Distraction material piled up to weather any early downturns. Your support is wonderful and Spotty Production will be around for the long haul. Steemtrail has definitely navigated to some strips so far and their company is always welcome!
Yes I think we've curated a couple of Appetite For Distraction posts so far. Thanks for the commnet.
This post has been ranked within the top 10 most undervalued posts in the second half of Dec 29. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $17.43 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Dec 29 - Part II. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
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Great post and idea! Have a background in dealing with comic books myself.
Also shared on twitter
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Thanks for the reply and Twitter. I've been reading a lot of Indie books lately on the Kindle. Sparked up the urge for me quite a bit.