I love making comics. I've been doing it since I was around 4 years old. I posted the ideas up of two comics I'm interested in promoting, (please check my profile if interested!). The most important thing to me, is that people read my stuff! I guess what I'm asking is, how do I get my comics out there? I don't get much feedback from anyone, and I would like that before I get really into my stories. Is DD the place for feedback, or is it hard to get?

it can be pretty easy to get feedack if you keep promoting yourself. on the site you can post in the forums and other people's comics. it also pays to buy advertising. go check out some of the other forum topis around here too, they'll be able to tell you more. "look what i did" 'advertising" "comic discussion". also keep in mind, there's thousands of comics on this site.you have to keep kicking.

also rememer, you're work will speak for itself. keep practicing and getting better.

Advertise and aim your comic at a certain niche or more, you'll be swamped in positive feedback and nice pq's with people you've never even met proclaiming their love for you.

start by going around reading and commenting on other people's comics.

You can plug your comic or ask for a crit in the "Look what I did!" forum, although I would wait until you have at least enough pages to give folks an idea of your style, pace, writing, etc. You can also ask for a crit in your author's notes, but some folks don't like having those kind of comments on their comic page.

You can browse for comics that are similar in style or tone as your own, and comment in them. It's been my experience that the people who make comics you like will end up liking the comics you make.

Post in the forums- as people get to know you, they might want to check out your comic.

Advertise, once you get an archive big enough to give readers an idea of the story. I've had success with PW, and you don't have to spend all that much money.

Participate in link exchanges. Rubifruit is one that's aimed at female-created/ female-friendly comics.

I'm not promisin' these things will turn you into some kinda webcomic god. But they'll probably boost your page hits and give you a good handful of readers. :)

yup yup....pretty much what everyone said.

DD is great for feedback....almost entirely positive (which is both good and bad).
visit other books that are similar to your own and add them as friends and make comments and PQs to artists and readers. you'll start amassing DD friends and readers in no time!

if you want constructive criticism, just ask for it. there are a lot of artists on this site that are artistically trained (such as Hyena H_ll and myself, just for example...) that can offer a lot of good advice on style and design.

as far as your story goes.....you can handle it 2 ways:
1)aim for a certain demographic or readers with your characters and plot. there are certain types of comics, or world settings, or styles that are REALLY popular....and if you've got something fresh or a nice take on something familiar to add into that, you're golden.
2)you can write you comic for the love of it. when you put your heart into something, people can tell...and that can add to its popularity!! just write and tell the story you want to tell and over time you'll start to build readership.

as far as outside of DD.....well, i'm trying to figure that part out for myself as well....

keep drawing and keep practicing! the proof is in the ink!

a quick story on pushing yourself style-wise:

so, when i started drawing my comic again, there had been a few years since i had done anything outside of tattoo designs. i tried to pick up at the seventh chapter....and i was SO out of practice. it looked like i was drawing some other book/characters. i was pretty disheartened.

so, i went back to chapter one, and re-drew the first few pages. it was like a "warm-up" project for myself. well, i put them on the web, and created a "midnight everyday" update schedule for myself. which in turn has forced me to draw for at the very least 2 hours a day for the past 5 months! this has been wonderful for my art, personally! by ten pages in, i was already back to where i was when i stopped, and by 33 pages i was featured.

for most pages, i pushed myself to do better than the previous. to see what else i could do artistically with the cartoony style i had created. and not being afraid to attempt new and stupid things, stylistically, in my panels to make them more dynamic.

this, of course is way off topic.....and my current book, in and of itself, is pretty odd....but i can certainly see the difference when i'm tattooing from the amount of time and effort i put into just drawing in my downtime.

Well getting them on here is a great way to start, and yes, if you update it regularly enough then you will get plenty of good feedback. :) But get a website up as well, and like the others have said, become part of the community and start reading and reciprocating, it will eventually pay off.

Now that being said, make sure you have a sound idea, and artwork that will convey your idea and sell itself as a concept to a potential reader.

Aside from the regular updates thing *sheepish grin*, I've managed to do all the other bits to promote my work and it seems to be working pretty well.

I've found buying some ad space, particularly on other DD comics, can work wonders. Also, as mentioned before, commenting on other comics and also the forums frequently, with something interesting to say can help.