I left the poll for naming the new sub-site that will replace Spotlight Sunday open through Election Day here in the US, and the results of that should not surprise anyone.

Very few votes resulting in a tie.

Yep, that checks out.

I could do another poll to try to get a tiebreaker, but I’m not going to bother. At some point, I’ll do a coin toss or something and just choose one and finally get the site created.

Of course, one could argue that the real result of the poll is that I shouldn’t bother creating the site at all – or, indeed, continue on with OpenDoor Comics – given the lack of engagement, but I remain steadfast in my stubborn refusal to give in to despair.

Still, it does have me thinking some things over, though that’s hardly anything new, and considering what sort of direction I should take with this whole idea.

Anyone who’s checked out the site over the years – or talked about it with me IRL – knows the basic idea: creating a platform on which creators can post their original comics. Beyond that, it’s meant to be a platform that encourages collaboration, allowing people who have the ideas for creating a comic but not the skills, or the skills but not the ideas, to find each other and work together.

Then, of course, the plan was to build from there, to begin employing skilled people and offering paid tiers of service to prospective comics creators and doing something a bit more ambitious in terms of publishing content.

And there are plans beyond those plans as well, which I won’t get into, but with all of the plans centering around one unifying idea: comics are for everyone.

With that in mind, I started this site thinking that I could at least provide some basic functionality, functionality that I knew was implemented better at other sites, but I had hoped that I could attract some like-minded people who could overlook some of the shortcomings and start building a community with me that would lead to growth and improved functionality based on feedback and examination of what works and what needs improvement.

That hasn’t happened, and honestly, I haven’t really even been pushing for it to happen, as what’s on offer here isn’t really up to snuff for even the basics. There’s legitimately no reason to choose to post comics here when the experience is no different than simply creating your own free WordPress or other provider blog, and the potential revenue is less than what you’d get if you just created your own AdSense account and put ads on that free site, as a percentage of any ad revenue comics creators earn here goes to OpenDoor Comics. (At least, that’s the idea.)

Beyond that, there are other limitations to the platform I’ve chosen, in that I have unlimited storage space, but can only host a limited number of files, which is something I was not aware of when I chose my hosting service, which limits the amount of comic content that could be hosted here.

It’s not that, even with these limitations, I would be opposed to working with anyone who does want to try posting comics here, it’s just that I would prefer to be able to provide a better overall experience. I’m not giving up on that vision for the site, but I am going to change the focus to building community and trying to drive traffic in a way that will generate some revenue to allow me to find a different hosting solution and to provide a more bespoke user experience.

How am I going to do that? I’m not entirely sure, but the new sub-site for writing about comics – whatever it ends up being called – is part of it, as I hope to post content more regularly than I did with Spotlight Sunday, and to open it up to contributors who can possibly draw in members of the communities that they’ve built for themselves.

The main site itself will get a visual overhaul. Some pages may disappear entirely, others may be rewritten, and some new pages will appear, in particular, pages that will solicit feedback from potential creators. I’ll also be looking into what other hosting options may be available based on recognized current needs and potential future requirements.

And I’ll be making a bigger push via some of the newer social media platforms that are swooping in to fill the void that will be left by Twitter’s ongoing implosion.

Ultimately, the point of this post, as has been the point of many posts before it, is to say that there is more to come, while also being at least a little bit salty about what has already come to pass. (Only 9 votes? Seriously? *Sigh* Okay…)

In the meantime, as I continue to try to figure this out, I’ll remind you that..

Supporting OpenDoor Comicsis a thing you can do, by whitelisting the site in your ad blocker, by purchasing something from the OpenDoor Comics Shop, by creating your own comics on the OpenDoor Comics platform, or through directly giving money via Patreon or PayPal.