I'm not going to sum up The Ten Commandments of Webcomic Production except to say that you should check it out, as well as the rest of The Webcomic Beacon's podcasts. I might have chosen or emphasized different aspects of webcomic production for inclusion in such a list, but for the most part I agree with the basic tenets. What follows is what I believe are the most important parts of webcomic production (in addition to those already mentioned), sans the KJV language.

1. Be in contact with your readers. If something happens and you can't keep your update schedule, whether the break is small or a full blown hiatus, let your readers know what's going on. Shit happens in life, but I don't agree that all webcomic artists must adhere to a strict schedule with no variation. Things come up and sometimes updates will be missed. But if you let your readers know what's going on and what to expect, the missed update and/or hiatus will hurt a little less.

2. Make your navigation as clear and intuitive as possible. Navigation should require very little thought or struggle. If your readers have to search to find the comic's navigation, likely they will lose their patience with your work as a whole. In fact, try having many simultaneous methods of navigation at once. The more ways a reader can navigate, the easier it is for them to find the mode of doing so that is the most intuitive.

One neat thing to do, if you can, is to have each comic be a link to the next in addition to your regular navigation buttons. That way all the reader has to do is click the comic itself when reading through the archives, making the reading experience much more seamless. And in the end, that is exactly what you want.

3. Even if your art or writing isn't stellar, aim to be as clear as possible. Readers will put up with a lot if the gain is worthwhile, but the fastest way to turn a reader away is if they can't tell what the hell is going on. Here's a thing to keep in mind: if you have to write directional cues in your comic pages (labels, directional arrows), you're doing it wrong. Aim to make the comic as clear as possible without you having to spell it out.

4. This one isn't necessary, but it's something I really prefer as a reader. Have an "about" page where readers can get to know the people behind the work. If you really don't want anyone to know anything about you, or you don't feel like having information not directly related to the comic itself cluttering up the site, that's ok. But as a reader, I love having as much information about the creators as possible. I love knowing where the creators are coming from, what their experiences were, what their process of creation is, etc. It's also a nice way to make yourself more present for your readers.

5. Try not to lock up the main content under payment systems. This one, again, is more of a personal opinion and there are many reasons why one might choose to have their comics be subscription only (adult webcomics or subscription community works might choose to do this, for instance). But for the general webcomic, having the main comic itself require payment in order to read is a good way to alienate readers and make your work generally unaccessible. Have as much extra content, merchandise, donation incentives, etc. as you want, but try to keep the actual comic itself free.

That's it for now, but I will probably add more to this list in the future. Happy reading!