Gene Catlow (possibly!)

[GeneCatlow]

Hello Xepher

Sorry for the spamblocker speedbump, I haven't much choice if I want to keep my email under control. I had mentioned on LiveJournal that I might be looking for another host site for my
webcomic and I heard from Witchiebunny that you would be willing to provide exactly such a
service. Indeed, she said that you were familair with my work and that I could consider myself
"preapproved" for hosting. While I admit I have not yet made up my mind I did want to take the
time to thank you for holding my work in such high regard. It really is an honor.

I read your FAQ about advertising, and it specified that the only ads that you were considering
were from AdSense, AdWords and Project Wonderful. I may have one or two other companies to
consider for advertising revenue, was the ist a conclusive one? If ADSDAQ and/or Burst are not
permitted, I would need to know before making my decision.

Thanks once again for taking the time to consider my comic!

[Xepher]

Hi Gene,

No worries about the spamblocker, but normally I don't see/catch things like that, since the forum signup emails are automated, and I am, of course, blocking tons of bounceback spam myself. Anyway, just glad I caught it.

Your comic is still in my daily bookmarks, but I must confess I haven't really kept up with it for the past year or so. I am familiar with your work though, and know you've got a long track record of running a comic, which is really the main thing I look for, so "getting in" isn't an issue.

As for ad services, I'm not familiar with burst or ADSDAQ. If you can give me some more info, I can take a closer look at them though. Mainly, I'm looking to see that a site has non-excessive number of appropriate ads. I don't want pages filled with tons of junk ads. Likewise, annoying ads are a bad thing. This generally means all those "punch the monkey" type flashing ads, as well as pop-up/under ads. The actual service I don't really care about -- I just "preapprove" the mentioned ones, since they have reasonable policies -- so as long as the ads are reasonable/appropriate, it shouldn't be a problem. It helps if you get some say over what ads appear (a la project wonderful) so I know there'll be a sanity check on things too. If you can show me some examples of sites/ads like how you'd want to do things, that's the best way for me to evaluate it. I looked at your current site, and I only see the keenspot ad/header, and one from Atlas Solutions as a large banner near the top, so I'm guessing the current site doesn't reflect your intentions.

Anyway, just let me know on that, and feel free to catch me on AIM (Xepher42) if that's easier/quicker to talk to things out.

[GeneCatlow]

Well, ADSDAQ and Burst are the ad providers - or will be - for my website if I remain with my present publishers, under their approaching new plan. I'm considering all my options right now. Going with the new plan will also mean having my domain name redirect to theirs, which (I assume) would be the same if I relocated to Xepher.net. I'm not sure if I want that, either - it's one of the things I'm weighing in my decision-making process. If it means a better deal to allow that, I could consider it. Two of the advertising sources I'll be working with if I don't sign up for the new plan are (1) Project Wonderful, and (2) a new company I just found out about: http://www.toon-media.com I know you mentioned that you had no issues with PW, would the second one be a problem?

Thanks for getting back to me and sorry for the late reply.

[Xepher]

Hmm... looks like toon media probably wouldn't be a problem, as most comic-centric startups tend to focus on some sort of quality, rather than junk/spammy ads. Really it all just depends on what  actual ads are that run. Selling useful/relevant stuff (t-shirt, anime dvds, books, etc.) is fine. It's the semi-scam "win a free ipod!" things that I won't allow. Toon media looks like it gives you final control over what ads show up on your site too, so it's probably pretty decent.

As for the domain name, I don't require it redirect, but as that makes xepher.net entirely invisible, I do require that people using their own domain names use the otherwise-voluntary newsbox. See http://missmab.com/ for an example of a site hosted here, on it's own domain name, and what the xepher.net newsbox (more of a link exchange for XN members really) looks like. See http://xepher.net/help.php (the newsbox section) for more info on how it works, but basically, it just has to be on your "main page" (what most people would bookmark) somewhere, and only once. It doesn't have to be on other pages or areas of your site.

[Xepher]

Hey Gene, talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking on this. If it doesn't work out, no big deal, but I figure we can be upfront about what your issues/concerns are, and vis a vis.

[GeneCatlow]

Hey Gene, talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking on this. If it doesn't work out, no big deal, but I figure we can be upfront about what your issues/concerns are, and vis a vis.

Sorry, have had a lot of things change since we last conversed on the subject. My existing publisher has modified one of the issues that was putting me off renewing my contract: the length of time the renewed contract will be in effect can now be negotiated instead of it being a firm five years. That, and the number of ad companies they have partnerships with, is working in their favor. But - I've also heard from someone local to me who wants to host my comic as well. However, they've got a number of events going on in their lives which are taking priority over adding my comic to their roster and, frankly, I really would feel bad diverting any of their time from those things right now. What they have going on is much more important than trying to host me. I'm still testing a couple of revenue options of my own, depending upon how those experiments work out I'll make my decision as to whether to move (and if to move, to where) or whether to stay and renew my contract.

[Xepher]

No worries, or rush on my part. Take all the time you need, I just wanted to let you know you can say whatever's on your mind if you were concerned about requirements here or anything. If you're waiting to see how things work out elsewhere though, that's fine. I'll be here whenever.

[Xepher]

Hey Gene, guessing you probably found something else. I'm gonna lock and archive this. If you want to reapply in the future though, just open a new thread. You're always welcome.