Other Sleep

This is, more or less, a cry for help. Well, not necessarily. It’s more of a…I dunno, asking a favor. Just a small one.

I’m proud of the work I’ve put into Other Sleep, and, obviously, I would like for as many people to see it as humanly possible. I want this comic to be a major stepping stone towards making a career out of my comics and art. I’ve been trying to promote it in a bunch of ways, screaming at friends on Facebook, distributing postcards, going onto forums and other sites to tell people about it, and emailing people too.

I’ve always been of the do-it-yourself mentality, and I don’t enjoy asking for help, but, honestly? I can’t do this by myself.

It’s a strange and common belief that if it exists on the internet, then hundreds, if not thousands, of people have seen it, and I don’t think that’s necessarily true. Or maybe it is, I don’t know. My personal website was only averaging about 10 unique visitors per day, but lately it’s dropped. Any piece I upload to Deviantart usually only gets 5-10 views. I have all kinds of social networking accounts that no one really pays attention to, and I have to admit that sometimes it’s discouraging. Not that it stops me, no, not at all, but when you’re an aspiring artist who hopes to one day make a living doing his thing, you kind of hope for more people to take notice, yeah?

And that is where YOU come in. The best way to get people to look at Other Sleep, and my work in general, is if YOU talk about it. All I’m really asking is that you spread the word. If you really liked the first chapter, why not post a quick link to it on Facebook? Or maybe you know one or two specific people who you think would really enjoy it, go tell them about it! Got a blog, or a Tumblr, or something similar? Share it on there. “I read this weird new webcomic, check it out here.” That’s it. That’s all you have to do. That’s all I ask of you.

Promoting my work is an uphill battle, especially when it comes to Other Sleep. Being monthly as opposed to posting pages two or three times a week is one thing that makes building interest difficult. And, well, the number of webcomics out there on the internet is MASSIVE. Making things even more difficult is the fact that, unlike most of the popular webcomics these days, Other Sleep is not a gag comic. It doesn’t reference anything remotely popular like Star Wars or My Little Pony or videogames. There are no superheroes or moe-blob underage girls for the otaku to obsess over. It is its own unusual, unique thing, an original creation that I’ve put a lot of myself into, not to mention time and effort.

It’s a sad truth that original work DOESN’T get as easily and frequently seen as some dork’s Dr. Who/Adventure Time mash-up does. I mean, I see people sharing memes all the time. ALL. THE. TIME. Can’t you, just this once, rather than re-share something George Takei posted on Facebook that most of your friends have probably already seen anyway because they also like George Takei, can’t you help build interest in something new, something different, something that has nothing to do with Game of Thrones? JUST ONCE?

Your friends probably wouldn’t notice anyways because someone else will have posted a wacky screenshot from Draw Something, so what does it matter?

But no, in all seriousness, if you tell one friend about Other Sleep, or just post the link to the website, or like/share the Facebook page, just one small gesture like that, I WILL BE SO GRATEFUL TO YOU AND WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER.

Just…just think about it, won’t you? My birthday is this weekend, and you can do this for me as a gift. Thanks.

(also: Chapter 2 should be up in the next week or so! GET PSYCHED!)

[Brett]