[BarbJacobs]

Month two of Xylia is almost over and we upped our numbers by 13K. December will close out with about 56K hits, which for a three month old series with only a handful of pages is really pretty good. But as I always worry, the numbers have been steadily delining. I realize that the two week break had something to do with that obviously.

I posted several ads today, and that seems to be getting some hits.

I just wish I could draw faster!

I was thinking back to the early days of Return of the Exile when I sometimes posted four pages a week. How did I DO that? Well, for starters, I was working a lot less hours outside of home. And the jobs I had let me do some drawing while I was there!! I was a receptionist for three years and I drew the whole time. Talismen and freelance. For about two years now, I have been working jobs that require a great deal of concentration and time, and when I get home, Im pretty fried.

Also, my kids have gotten a great deal more active in the last three years. Sports, dates, plays, practices, band gigs...every single day.

So, there you have it. I am not in the same world I was when I was first starting Exile. I wish I had that time to put into Xylia. Someday! IT's my goal, anyway to try to get that back a bit.

~B

[Hagar]

Your kids date??? How are you handling this? I bet it isn't easy...
I think the numbers are fantastic! I too hope you'll have more time to drew, in my selfish-wanna-see-more-pages way, but for you. It seemed to me that you need your drawing time as well as food and water.

So I wish you a easier year, with more time to drew, fulfillment at your work place, some fun time, more money, maybe something more, but I'll leave it to you...

Can't wait to see Xylia 2008!
_________________
"Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness."
Samuel Becket
"I don't have a drinking problem, except when I can't get a drink".
Tom Waits

[Strange Ian]

Two months... It seems both much shorter and much longer at the same time. Been two friggin' awesome months, art-wise!

[Elle]

I think it's amazing the number of hits you've gotten, Barb! Then again, I don't have much perspective or real knowledge of that sort of thing. Still, I'm still happy to wait and see what happens.
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This signature is a filler for a much cooler signature.

[BarbJacobs]

Patience is definately something I need to work on!

To put webcomic traffic in perspective...

Phoenix Requiem is about the same age as Xylia, but Sarah has five times as many pages as I do already (she is a wizard). Based on PR Project Wonderful stats, PR is getting between 40-110K hits A DAY. Yes, a day. You do the math kids. Im guessng that the money that Sarah gets with these ads, along with her money from Wowio downloads - Seraph Inn is making her quite a chunk of change. That is a guess though. Somehow she works a full time job too. I dont know how this is done. @.@

i know that Fantasy Realms gets about 5-10K hits a day even though they havent been able to update in a while.

Xylia is averaging 2K hits a day at this point.

So that's the deal. How do I get more visits? I dont know. Its hard to say. It would involve a lot of work on my part, but doing what Im not sure. And of course work=time.

Hagar- about the dating. KID is dating, not kid's'. My son is fifteen and a half, and I let him take his girl to a movie, or go sledding with a couple other friends. Not totally alone, but it was still a date. It's hard sometimes to see how they are growing up so fast, but I try not to stand in the way. To me, one of the worst things a parent can do is not give their kids ANY freedom or independence- which sets them up that when they get into the real world- what a slap in the face that is when they find out how things really are.

Course if the kid lets me down by breaking my trust...well, then he goes in the tower. Lock down. But we have that understanding.

Sigh.


Ah well.

~B

[Hagar]

You'r a good parent Barb.
_________________
"Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness."
Samuel Becket
"I don't have a drinking problem, except when I can't get a drink".
Tom Waits