Voting Incentives for Fun and Profit

I've been in a bit of a moral quandry concerning the issue of "voting incentives". For those of you who do not know WHAT a voting incentive is, let me explain.

There are webcomic voting lists. Those lists are an easy way to promote your comic...PROVIDED people can find it on the list. For instance, if you make it into the top ten of a list you're going to be garnering a fairly decent exposure for your comic. You've just opened up your market considerably to people who actually LIKE to read comics.

Now the trick is getting enough hits to rocket your strip up to the list so people can find it.

Voting incentives are little pieces of artwork that you can toss on those sites that people can ONLY see if they push the "VOTE YOU BASTARDS! VOTE!" button.

I HATE pimping my comic. I really do. It feels dirty. I would much rather have it be something that people find and go "damn, I like this comic, I need to check in to see what happens. I need a little pick me up."

And a good number of people HAVE. It's a beautifull thing when I get e-mails or personal messages from people who read the strip DAILY before they go to work. People have actually said that their day doesn't feel complete unless they get to read my strip.

Do you know how good that feels to me. "DUDE, it's like reading a strip in a newspaper, Anywhere But Here has become part of my daily routine." This is why I get figetiy when keenspace crashes. I hate dissapointing people.

Sorry, I have to remember that masturbating the ego results in hairy frontal lobes.

Back to voting incentives and pimping....

I HATE PIMPING. I want the work to speak for itself. I am NOT a salesman. I am not a promoter. I'm a workhorse. I DO shit. I don't like TALKING about doing shit, I'ld much rather DO shit.

Pimping my comic is akin to talking about doing shit, it's not DOING shit. And I feel bad doing that. I like to think of myself as a modest fella, and I'ld much rather NOT say anything about my strip then be out there pimping and prodding my strip to the masses.

But, to some extent I DO have to pimp my comic. If I don't it doesn't get read. Voting incentives encourage you to press that magic little button, which in turn makes it easier for other people to find the strip.

So I'm doing voting incentives. Once a week. A new one to encourage people to help me promote the strip. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a shower. I feel a little dirty turning you guys out like this.