Comixology & Self-Publishing Digital Comics in 2014

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Grigoris

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There’s been a lot of developments over the past year in the world of digital comics that impacts self-publishing options. As the digital comics market continues to grow, it’s even a better avenue for self-publishers to take advantage of. Unless your title’s popularity warrants it, it could be best to forego thinking about making physical comics and to focus on the digital market first. It’s a lot cheaper and easier to publish. When distributing digitally its best to take advantage of multiple avenues to increase exposure. I am still shocked when I find a really cool self-publishing group only selling digital copies from their website. Here’s a look at what the digital distribution world has to offer.

The Demise Of Graphicly
In May this year, Graphicly quickly announced they were closing shop. Graphicly, for $150 and $75 for an ISBN number, would take your digital comics and distribute them for you through Amazon, iTunes, Nook, and their own platform, saving you the time and hassle. As part of the shutdown of Graphicly, the CEO Micah Baldwin and a core team joined the digital book distribution company, Blurb. As someone who championed and used Graphicly, this came as quite a blow. Not only did they not warn their users (I received no emails from them) but they did not pay creators any money owed. Lots of creators lost all their revenue from sales (including me). Graphicly had no regular payment dispersal to creators. You can read about all of this here in Bleeding Cool and CBR. I will be very skeptical before ever using a distribution service like this again. I certainly won’t be using Blurb for books, comics, or anything else. I once considered using Smashwords for my novels, but no more. If you want to take advantage of Amazon and iTunes, just submit to them directly. It takes more time, but it also gives you more control over your work and you avoid getting ripped off. The bottom line is that Graphicly couldn’t compete in the evolving digital distribution market, they weren’t fully transparent with sales data, and in the end began losing lots of money. It’s just unfortunate the creators had to pay for it.

Comixology on Top
Perhaps the biggest news is that Comixology, the leader in digital comics distribution, has opened up their platform to self-publishing creators. Comixology now has an official submissions page and any submitted comic will go through a review process (about 3 months I hear). If the comic meets their quality standards, they will format it for their guided viewing and distribute it with no cost to the creator. Comixology splits sales, with the creator getting 50%. It’s a decent deal considering that with Graphicly, creators had to pay $150 upfront for distribution plus money for the ISBN, the creator had to set up the guided viewing, and the distributors (Amazon/iTunes) would still take their cut. Most creators did not make back the $150 in sales. By not having to put money upfront, the creator can only gain with Comixology. The other big news is that Comixology was bought out by Amazon. I assume it won’t be long before people can use Comixology with their Amazon account and the market for comics will grow even more. This aspect bodes well for indie creators, although there is apprehension about the Amazon behemoth controlling everything. To Amazon’s credit, post-buyout, Comixology also introduced DRM free downloads of their comics.

iVerse/ComicsPlus is another good digital comics platform that accepts submissions from self-publishers. It’s similar in quality and presentation to Comixology, but does not have as many users or publishers as Comixology (but they still have giants like Marvel and indies like Image, Ape, Viper). They also allow self-publishers to submit their works for distribution, but are more vague on who gets in. It seems more selective and they say they only take a “small percentage” of sales with the creator keeping a majority but don’t say how much. It’s still a good option to try.

PDF Collectors
For PDFs, there’s still DriveThruComics, which offers DRM free comics. Any creator can put their works on Drive Thru. You get 60% of sales and can receive money after $10 of sales. They have some free advertising you can use on the site, but DriveThru appears to have the same UI as they’ve always had. It’s functional but needs an upgrade to remain relevant as digital comic distribution evolves. Specifically, the site needs to improve presentation and make login/purchase time faster. Another fine option for selling your comic book PDFs is Gumroad. I used this with the initial releases of Satanic Hell and it worked great. Gumroad allows fans to purchase your digital comic with ease directly from your site. People buying your comic don’t need accounts. They click on the comic they want on your website, it takes them to the Gumroad page with your comic graphic and description, they click on purchase, enter their credit card info, and they receive the comic. You can even give your comic away for free using Gumroad. Sellfy is another similar service that I have seen comic creators using.

The Netflix of Digital Comics
ComicsFix is the newest addition to digital marketplace. Users pay $8 a month to read as many comics and graphic novels as they want. Currently, they don’t have the massive stock that Comixology, Comicsplus, DriveThru or MDC have, but they do have some indies (Hound, Alterna, Asylum for example). Comicsfix actively encourages creators to send them there goods. Your pay is based on the number of reads you get a month. Amazon introduced this concept to a select group of their Kindle books, and if it’s successful, it’s likely to get bigger. This model could be problematic for small press and self-publishers as they might get lost in the ocean of comics if everything goes this route. If someone is paying $8/month, they may follow just the bigger series/releases. Or even if people do read the small press and self-published works, will that be enough to provide any real return? While many creators aren’t making that much anyway, moving to a model that lowers their small revenue even more would be problematic. I tried Comicsfix out and as a reader, and I enjoyed it. There’s a few things they can improve with the experience (the viewer can be buggy), but overall it’s fine. Despite any misgivings, I would still submit my work to them. The more eyes reading your comics, the better.

If anyone has recent experience with any of these options or others not mentioned, I’d love to hear about them.
 

Komic Brew

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Thx for the detailed review, Grigoris, I've learned much from your article. Didn't expect that Comixology submission lasts about three months, though. It seems a bit too long.
EDIT: also, Amazon kindle publishing merits to be mentioned here. Haven't tried it yet, but am planning to, for sure.
 
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Grigoris

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There was some interesting news in the digital comics platform universe recently. Dynamite announced they are bringing their entire catalog to Comicsfix, the netflix-like service that allows unlimited reads of comics for $9.95/month. While not tipping the scales yet, this is a big deal for Comicsfix and could see expanded offerings from other major indies. Comixology is still king and they could always unveil a similar service at any time, especially when their parent Amazon already has this service for books. Still, its another reason to put your comic on Comicsflix. They are creator-friendly and it opens more eyes to your work.
 

Grigoris

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EDIT: also, Amazon kindle publishing merits to be mentioned here. Haven't tried it yet, but am planning to, for sure.

I will be maintaining an ongoing list of digital platforms for comic distribution with the percentage of sales the creator gets here. I added Amazon to the list and updated it with other digital distributors, including iTunes, Selz, IndieTracker and IndyPlanet.

If there's any good ones missing, let me know.

In other news, Amazon is merging Comixology accounts with its Amazon ones. What that means for creators remains to be seen.
 

EMaree

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Glad to see that Comixology is opening its doors a bit more! I love the service. 50% is a VERY high split, but it does have massive potential for attracting readers within its own ecosystem so I suppose it works out.
 

Grigoris

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I have heard recently from creators that submissions to Comixology can take 4-7 months to be reviewed, and that you have to send emails to help push the process forward. Still though, its a good option to pursue and if you do make it, your comic gets its on spot in the new releases section on the front page for Comixology submit. Best for creators to check out the comics already in there to see what their chances are.
 

Novelty Song

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Many, many thanks for posting this rundown, Grigoris. I’m trying out Gumroad for the latest installment of my serialized Graphic Novel and there are definitely some plusses… You can make your work available immediately for one thing, which is a huge advantage over Comixology Submit (when I submitted the first volume about a year ago, it took 4 months for it to hit the store and it seems the backlog has only gotten worse), and If you notice something you’d like to change after you’ve published, you can easily take down a PDF and re-upload. They are totally hands-off, to an almost unsettling degree!

The drawback to Gumroad is that promotion is 100% up to you. While Comixology Submit has a bit of a built-in audience (the first installment of my book actually got some unsolicited wholly because it was on Comixology), Gumroad seems to be something of an unknown quantity.

You kind of can't beat Comixology for exposure when you're an absolute beginner, but it certainly is a crowded scene. One thing I'd love to see Comixology implement is an ability for creators to "gift" copies of their comic to reviewers, etc. You can always send them a link to the original PDF you sent to Comixology but they won't get the full Guided View experience. But then I'd hate for them to take time off to work on this - There's a giant mound of submissions!

Your post is the first I've heard of ComicsFix, but that's an interesting model!
 

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Oops! That should read: "the first installment of my book actually got some unsolicited REVIEWS wholly because it was on Comixology"
 

Grigoris

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Oops! That should read: "the first installment of my book actually got some unsolicited REVIEWS wholly because it was on Comixology"

That's great! I'm wondering how common that is. Because of the massive amounts of media available, it can be difficult to get reviewers to look at your stuff even when you send it to them. As far as Comicsfix goes, I think the Netflix model is where its all headed. I can't see the pay-per-issue model that Comixology uses now being the main way people consume comics for long. There's so much free content out there and its only growing. Comixology will have no problem adjusting to this model as its parent is Amazon. I'm expecting them to launch a similar service alongside their pay-per-issue platform soon. It may be tougher for new creators to make money, but I think their exposure will increase and benefit them.
 

Grigoris

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Speaking of the Netflix model, I've just updated the Digital Comic Platform list for self-publishers with Scribd. Scribd is a subscription service that allows you to read unlimited books and comics for $8.99 a month. Marvel, IDW, and Valiant are some of the publishers included. Self-publishers can submit as well. The platform is nice and I think they will be a powerhouse, as they combine quality with both books and comics. Traditional book readers can easily check out and read comics and graphic novels, which increases the potential audience for your comics.
 
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