Schlock jumps ship

[bunnyThor]

From what I could tell from his rant, there was just one too many cleavage-filled ad, and that was it.

Oh, and other stuff.

[reinder]

Nah, it's business. The lack of cleavage ads and kissing-guy newsboxes is what readers will get out of it.

[Phalanx]

I was trying to decide whether it was an april fools joke or not...

[reinder]

Actually, that was a no-brainer. Howard knows all about funny, and "Schlock leaves Keenspot" just isn't funny. It's moderately newsworthy to us webcomics wonks, but there's no reason for the vast majority of Schlock's readership to care.

[NotoriousMEQ]

But it's extra funny when you do something true on April Fool's. But I hope Howard does well and I'm pretty sure he will, because he's smart and awesome.

Also, all those people who think it was the new year yesterday are idiots.

-Megs

[carsonfire]

We've known about this for a long time. It was a friendly departure, and Howard kept everybody informed about his reasons and his actions so that nothing bad would come of it. He has, indeed, simply gone independent, and not left on account of any internal wrangling or disagreement.

We all wish him luck!

[communist trees]

We've known about this for a long time. It was a friendly departure, and Howard kept everybody informed about his reasons and his actions so that nothing bad would come of it. He has, indeed, simply gone independent, and not left on account of any internal wrangling or disagreement.

We all wish him luck!

I sooo read that as "dismemberment."

[wrightc]

Dismemberment actually makes it harder to leave...

[Howard Tayler]

And as I read that I had a song running through my head...

"Is there anyone out there, cause it's getting harder and harder to leave."



But seriously:

Yes, I've had disagreements with Keenspot management. I've had spats with fellow cartoonists. This places me in good company with pretty much every other Keentoonist in the history of Keen. If that was all it took to get people to leave, we'd have seen a massive exodus YEARS ago.

No, what it came down to for me was that I felt that I could better serve my readers as an independent cartoonist. Under the post-Keen hosting, oad times are faster, the ads are less intrusive and less objectionable, and the comic will always update on time. Ultimately I feel that these benefits, along with some other projects that I'll be able to deploy fairly quickly, will generate more reader loyalty and more revenue for me in the long-term.

As was pointed out by Carson, I announced my impending departure internally to Keentoonists and the management quite a while ago -- something like six months ago, if memory serves. Recent hullaballoos can't be considered causal in my departure, and I've got witnesses to prove it.

--Howard

[DarkShive]

Witness!

[mcDuffies]

If I had some important news, I'd wait till April 1. passes to announce them.

[Marcos]

If I had some important news, I'd wait till April 1. passes to announce them.

He's just following Google's example.

[macclint]

Still, I consider Howard's departure a sad note for us at Keenspot.

I'll miss his well reasoned arguments, and his constant flogging of management to underpromise and overdeliver.

[BoxJam]

Also his management of the promise of flogging.

[Howard Tayler]

Also his management of the promise of flogging.

I'm quite sure I have no idea what you mean.

[Freak]

Schlock's been removed from the dropdown, and its forum moved to Classic Keenspot, but it's still listed on the main Keenspot page.

[wrightc]

Well, you know, it's not like we're mad at Howard or anything. I suspect it'll be removed pretty soon.

[Freak]

And Down To Earth has been added to the dropdown, but not to the main page.

(And thanks to Gav / Nate / whoever moved all those forums to Classic Keenspot.)

[Kazriko]

If I had some important news, I'd wait till April 1. passes to announce them.

It certainly is an entertaining way to get the word out there. The more out-there the actual news is the less people will believe it until it's still in effect the next day. Worked for Google and Howard!

[Sam]

Fri, April 15 2005 - 4:35 AM
by: Tycho

It seems to me that they should call it Take All Of Your Money Spot instead of Keenspot, because of how they take your money all the time.

...

Read penny arcade! Then, discuss!

[Howard Tayler]

Fri, April 15 2005 - 4:35 AM
by: Tycho

It seems to me that they should call it Take All Of Your Money Spot instead of Keenspot, because of how they take your money all the time.

...

Read penny arcade! Then, discuss!

Before the barbs fly, allow me to clarify a few points. Yes, this was cross-posted from the Keenspace forum, where the same discussion took place yesterday.


Q: Hey, what's up with you and Tycho? You dissin' Keen?
A: Between April 12th and 14th I emailed and IM'd several people, including Gav, the eCartoonists mailing list, and Tycho, mentioning that the Google Adsense revenue was a LOT better than I expected it to be. Tycho asked for some clarifications, and asked if he could post that information. I gave my permission, knowing full well that "permission" did not constitute "ability to set the tone of his article." We both felt that the news was important. Tycho took a more negative, accusatory stance than I would have, but the important thing is that he got your attention. Google Adsense works -- at least it works for ME, and it works for lots of others. Especially bloggers. There was a Scientific American article on that back in December, if I recall correctly.

Q: So... how much DO you make with Google Adsense?
A: I'm not prepared to disclose that information. I will say, however, that my hosting expenses at Canaca.com, paid up-front for three years, would be covered in a single month, assuming I served at least 3 million pages to my readers.

Q: Damn! 3 million pages?
A: Yup. That's roughly half again what I served in my last full month with Keenspot. Page-views have gone way up since my site started loading faster. And that's BEFORE I got "wanged" by Penny Arcade. This month I'll probably serve more than 4 million pages.

Q: So... should I stay on Keenspace?
A: I don't see why not. Self-hosting without the programming chops to automate your site is a nightmare. I'm paying a guy to solve the technical problems for me, so that I can focus on being a full-time cartoonist. If you don't do at least (hang on while I pull some numbers out of my butt...) 250,000 page-views in a month, hiring someone to do the heavy lifting for you is probably not an option.

Q: Well... I know this guy who can help me. Should I still stay?
A: That's between you and "this guy," whoever he is. I'll say this much -- Unless you're over the 50,000 page mark, Google Adsense revenue would be pretty low. Then again, seeing that you're making SOMETHING might motivate you to find a way to serve more pages.

Q: What about Keenspot?
A: What about it? I'm nothing but grateful for the leg up they provided me. The negative publicity they've recieved will pass, and they'll either take the Adsense information and find ways to better serve the 'Spotters, or they won't. I'd prefer to see Keenspot cartoonists making more money than they currently make. It's not a zero-sum game. Keenspot, Keenspotters, and I can all succeed without having to stomp on each other.

Q: So... what technology are you using? Is it Autokeen Lite? CUSP? What?
A: SOLAR. It's currently a closed-source, closed-beta project: "Shiny OnLine Archive Repository." Elements of this code have been incorporated in several commercial websites. It's heavy duty stuff, and it updates my 1700-page archives in less than 60 seconds from the word go. It also caches my updates, so even a full update at new-comic-time can be executed in less time than it takes to reload a single browser page.

Q: Can I get some of this SOLAR stuff?
A: Maybe. Certainly not until the beta is over. It'll probably be part of a public offering sometime in June.

Q: Howard, are you going into the comic hosting business?
A: Absolutely not. I want to be a cartoonist, not a CEO. I've done the "businessman" thing. I quit a very nice, high-paying job back in September (I was a Product Line Manager for a $100 million business unit at Novell) because I wanted to be a cartoonist.

Q: I've got more questions. Will you answer them?
A: I may use some stock answers like "I'm not at liberty to comment on that right now", but yes, I will. Right here in this thread, even. Or you can email me.

--Howard

[LCARS]

Dear Howard Tayler,

Can I add "Wanged" too my daily vocabulary?

[BoxJam]

Q: What about Keenspot?
A: What about it? I'm nothing but grateful for the leg up they provided me. The negative publicity they've recieved will pass...

Hi Howie! I have a question.

You seem to imply you knew Penny Arcade would spin your news in a negative fashion (not here, where you seem almost surprised, but y'know, on your blog). You say you're nothing but grateful to Keenspot.

My question: do you feel any personal responsibility for making Keenspot the target one more time again?

I'll hang up and listen to the answer.

[Howard Tayler]

Dear Howard Tayler,

Can I add "Wanged" too my daily vocabulary?

That's the word they use when you get linked by Penny Arcade. I've added it to MY vocabulary, that's for sure.

Someday I hope to be able to see the word "Schlocked" enter the vernacular in the same way that "slashdotted" and "wanged" have. Ah, to touch the stars.

--Howard

[Howard Tayler]

My question: do you feel any personal responsibility for making Keenspot the target one more time again?

None whatsoever. If Keenspot is a target, it's not because of me.

Consider -- the information I provided to Tycho was FIRST provided to the ecartoonists mailing list. I shared it privately with Gav, with a friend over at PV comics, and with maybe half a dozen others who asked me how things were going (including, late in the day on the 14th, Tycho.)

Once the information was out there, it was bound to make it to Tycho, or Scott Kurtz, or SOMEBODY with an axe to grind.

The alternative would have been for me to sit on my hands, making three times what I used to make, and NOT TELL ANY OTHER CARTOONISTS EVER.

You know what? THAT would have made me feel guilty.

Tycho put the information up in front of far, far more people than I ever could have reached, and in the long run I think it will be good for everybody.

Is there a problem? I mean, the negative publicity is easy to weather. 99% of your readers don't care how much you make. If there's infighting, back-biting, or harsh words going on behind the scenes at Keenspot, well, I'm pretty sure I didn't start it.

--Howard