Whitechapel - My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/ Lussumo Vanilla & Feed Publisher My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262041#Comment_262041 2010-09-25T15:20:49-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 warrenellis http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2 From the last week or so of warrenellis.com, all in one post for efficiency. I trust this won't be a magnet for sperglords to filibuster while plugging their own blogs. 1. When creators who ... From the last week or so of warrenellis.com, all in one post for efficiency. I trust this won't be a magnet for sperglords to filibuster while plugging their own blogs.

1.


When creators who matter to me start really thinking about the in-app or cliented digital comics form of Comixology or graphic.ly, and start doing, say, 10 or 12 page comics (with whatever notational stuff shoved in the back that they feel like adding) and releasing them for 99 US cents every two weeks or so, I’m going to get interested really fast. And so will you. Particularly when these services perfect series-specific subscriptions that sideload the books automagically into your client locker or push an alert to your device.

That could even loosen up to, say, buying a subscription to a graphic novel, and having the discrete chapters pushing to you as they’re completed, on an entirely irregular schedule that builds up to something of not fewer pages than you signed on for, within an acceptable plus-or-minus of a previously announced timeframe.

(Small print, it say “if the artist gets the Mongolian Terror Trout Flu the whole thing could end up two months late, we’ll keep you posted with alerts and send you twitpics of the artist’s pustules”)

(random thought ends)

2.

In the few quiet moments during the general horror and mess of this week, it’s been sort of dawning on me that I could, as a comics writer, go pretty much all-digital for new releases at this point. (With a few outstanding exceptions.)

FREAKANGELS has been a successful project, doing what lots of people told me (and Avatar!) couldn’t or shouldn’t be done — paying creators to make a weekly webcomic and then making the money back on the (re)print collected editions. It must be doing okay, because every six months I hear from the Avatar compound that William’s rubbing money on his chest and giggling as he drinks gin from an athletic Brazilian girl doing a handstand.

Online, FREAKANGELS gets between 30 and 40 thousand readers a week. (We’re on a veeery shallow constant upward trending curve, but the actual count is a bit more jagged.) I don’t have solid numbers on the book collections, but, like I said, there’s rubbing and crimes whenever a new volume goes out, so I guess they do okay. I know there have been occasions where we’ve done 5K copies of a FREAKANGELS book on release month, and have been continuing to move at least 500 copies of that same book per month several months later. We do okay. We earn out and go into profit.

If this were a print periodical, 30-40K a pop for an indie book about weird kids in London would be kind of a big deal. Not least because forty thousand readers for a monthly comic about people building greenhouses and jabbering about the true shape of the mind would be, in this market, close to impossible.

The stores obviously like selling the collections, though. More than they’d like selling the singles. (And if that were untrue, THE WALKING DEAD would be the best-selling comic in English. As it is, THE WALKING DEAD, probably the best longform serial in American comics today and about to become a prestigious tv series, has taken 77 issues to wrestle to an audience of 27K per month. Its collected editions do extremely well, as they should.)

Which gives one furiously to think.

Which I will be.

(Not fully baked. Must go back to work. I’ll end up with a coherent thought, though. Really.)

3.

From Robot6:

…this past Wednesday Walking Dead #77 not only arrived in comic shops, but also hit the Image Comics and comiXology iPad applications. It’s priced at $2.99, the same as a physical copy; previous issues have been priced at $1.99.

Image publisher Eric Stephenson spoke with ComicsAlliance about it, noting that it isn’t a one-time thing:

“In terms of scheduling, the digital version of the series has caught up to print version, so it makes sense to release both simultaneously,” Stephenson told ComicsAlliance. “With the debut of the AMC television series only weeks away at this point, our aim is to make ‘The Walking Dead’ as widely available as possible, in all formats…”
]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262094#Comment_262094 2010-09-25T21:27:13-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Tom Akel http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2158 I think (as you're probably aware) that this will all happen very quickly, within 6 months. And I credit Freak Angels as a pioneer in making huge headway by proving that digital can only help ...
I wonder what percentage of the 30-40k readers would have spent .99 for every 12 pages if it were available on mobile devices (even though its free here). Even if it was only 5% of those readers, thats a decent enough chunk of change on a regular basis as you'd move towards the collected print edition.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262127#Comment_262127 2010-09-26T02:11:26-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Jon Wake http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=1684 Now that's something I didn't think of-- treating an iPad as a fundamentally different economic tool compared to a laptop or desktop. I wonder if people would pay for an iPad app (as you described) ... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262147#Comment_262147 2010-09-26T05:19:55-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 warrenellis http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2 I wonder if people would pay for an iPad app (as you described) if the comic was still freely available online? I strongly doubt it. I wonder if people would pay for an iPad app (as you described) if the comic was still freely available online?

I strongly doubt it.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262153#Comment_262153 2010-09-26T06:07:19-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Tom Akel http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2158 I don't think one platform cannibalizes the other. There are strong DTO sales, the majority of them on iTunes, of television shows that are freely available online. Just as millions still pay to ...
I guess my 2 main points are:
- consumers will still pay to own content they love, be it digital or a physical product, regardless of that content being free online
- there are many, many consumers who have a preference and habit of how they prefer and access their content, and will want it in one format regardless of how it is packaged elsewhere.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262162#Comment_262162 2010-09-26T08:20:47-07:00 2010-09-26T08:21:08-07:00 an unhealthy shine http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=7355 Wait until the ipad 2 is released at two thirds of the weight of this one. We are only a few years away from the death of paper comicbooks outside of a few POD services for the diehards. Mind you ...
Mind you I wouldn't pay 2.99 for a digital comic unless it was really something, (ironically I probably would pay that for FA, but don't get any ideas!).]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262165#Comment_262165 2010-09-26T08:38:56-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 lazarus corporation http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=630 I wonder if people would pay for an iPad app (as you described) if the comic was still freely available online? I strongly doubt it. I think it depends whether you're delivering any added value ...
I wonder if people would pay for an iPad app (as you described) if the comic was still freely available online?

I strongly doubt it.

I think it depends whether you're delivering any added value in the iPad app - which could be anything from additional story/background material to earlier access (e.g. releasing on the iPad app a week before it's free on the web) - basically anything that falls into what Kevin Kelly called the Eight generatives that make something "better than free".]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262204#Comment_262204 2010-09-26T12:34:00-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 warrenellis http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2 Wait until the ipad 2 is released at two thirds of the weight of this one. We are only a few years away from the death of paper comicbooks outside of a few POD services for the diehards. Aside ... Wait until the ipad 2 is released at two thirds of the weight of this one. We are only a few years away from the death of paper comicbooks outside of a few POD services for the diehards.

Aside from, you know, the people who can't afford computers.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262299#Comment_262299 2010-09-26T23:20:31-07:00 2010-09-26T23:23:23-07:00 D.J. http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=3196 I guess my 2 main points are: - consumers will still pay to own content they love, be it digital or a physical product, regardless of that content being free online - there are many, many consumers ...
I guess my 2 main points are:
- consumers will still pay to own content they love, be it digital or a physical product, regardless of that content being free online
- there are many, many consumers who have a preference and habit of how they prefer and access their content, and will want it in one format regardless of how it is packaged elsewhere.
I'd like to note at this point that anyone with an internet connection and a brain can get just about any comic they'd ever want without ever paying a dime. The moral high ground aspect of it is lessened if it being freely available is through legitimate sources, but I think most people who buy comics are more concerned with supporting the industry and it's creators. Of course, there's also the side who feel the need to own physical copies, but that's not who the iPad apps are targeted towards, obviously.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262324#Comment_262324 2010-09-27T07:17:36-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 longtimelurker http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=7739 Not that commerce is more important than art, but you've got plenty others focused on the artistic side of FA, and I've always been the greedy capitalist of the group, so... 5,000 copies trending ...
5,000 copies trending down to 500 copies a few months later averages to roughly 10,000 eventual copies of each trade sold, minimum.

Six trades at $20... that's over $1,200,000 total gross before merchandise. Was this a conscious goal? "Read FREAKANGELS... the million dollar webcomic!"]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262328#Comment_262328 2010-09-27T07:53:25-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Oddcult http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=214 Warren or anyone from Avatar - can you confirm those figures ^ are about right? And if so, can I request an official press release or something that can serve as a permanent citable source for ...
And if so, can I request an official press release or something that can serve as a permanent citable source for them?

My reasoning is that if there's a statement available that confirms those kinds of figures as a cashflow illustration then it could be included in business forecasts for other people who are looking to do something similar, but need some backing for it.

Of course, there would be some adjustments necessary and there are probably only a handful of creators who could match those exact figures, but putting the information out there in a way that would be meaningful to a venture capitalist or underwriter could potentially help to get some more projects off the ground by increasing confidence in the model.

Obviously, you don't owe anyone this and there may well be commercial or other reasons for not going into it in public, but after wrangling with banks and financiers and underwriters whilst attempting to start a business recently, I'm sure that there are some people it could help.

Ta.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262331#Comment_262331 2010-09-27T08:11:12-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 warrenellis http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2 I'd have to leave that to Avatar. My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262353#Comment_262353 2010-09-27T10:22:29-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Emperor http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=1503 A couple of thoughts: Walmartisation - given the Murderdrome debacle and the fact that the iStore will account for a high proportion of sales for the time being (although they probably won't ...

  • Walmartisation - given the Murderdrome debacle and the fact that the iStore will account for a high proportion of sales for the time being (although they probably won't dominate the market as they do for music downloads) would there be a pressure for comics creators to defang their comics to ensure they get listed? Does Warren have an idea of how much of his output could potentially get blacklisted? Anyone have an idea of where the bar has been set these days?

  • Decompression - fans of American comic books have been "trained" to put up with decompression, but, with recent price rises, a lot of questions have been asked about whether they are delivering value-for-money and this will only intensify with more new/returned readers picking up electronic comics. A cheaper price point would perhaps work in decompression's favour but possibly only with readers who might have dropped the title at $3.99 and could be tempted back to their continuity porn fix through going digital. That said same-day-same-price releases rather torpedo this, as it is surely going to make people wonder how they can justify the price for a product that doesn't incur the overheads of making a physical object (dead trees, shipping, ink, etc.). So I suspect we'll see more compression in digital comics and Fell looks increasingly like the kind of comic we might be seeing more of in a purely digital format - lower page count, compressed storytelling and we should also not overlook the fact you can just pick up the first issue and start reading without having a workable knowledge of a giant fictional universe and years of continuity. The last point helps keep sales moving for those who like their soap operas in spandex, but could be a real turn-off for new comic readers.



So where are we at: shorter, cheaper, compressed and continuity-light (with a question mark over how far you can push the content and not get blacklisted by Apple). Sounds good to me.

Of course, comics like Alex de Campi's Valentine have been out there for a while now and it might be her experiences can help those following on behind avoid some of the potential pitfalls.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262379#Comment_262379 2010-09-27T11:43:42-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 warrenellis http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2 We're not doing the decompression argument here, because it's fanman wank. I hope that's clear enough for everybody. We're going to reach a point soon -- if we haven't already -- where Apple ...
We're going to reach a point soon -- if we haven't already -- where Apple simply cannot police every piece of content sold in-app on every app. And, frankly, if the Murderdrome guys had had more time, they could have embarrassed Apple into unblocking that by drowning them in bad press and expert testimony. (Much of which should have started from "wait, I can't buy this but I can rent JOHN RAMBO and see Sly Stallone cut people's heads off and turn little yellow men into puddle-splashes with a fifty-cal?")

Also, as iBooks gets going, we're going to see Apple doing a lot less micromanaging anyway. They'll have to. Because the minute they list something like, say, AMERICAN PSYCHO, their argument in re: selling violence kind of goes away for good.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262385#Comment_262385 2010-09-27T12:25:36-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 EvJ http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=5957 The first Rambo and American Psycho 2 are already on iTunes as movies, along with various Saw and similar "horror" efforts. A Clockwork Orange is up there too. I don't think they ever had ... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262391#Comment_262391 2010-09-27T12:59:24-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 roadscum http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=7712 Just for your information: I vaguely remember being shown a preview of Freakangels in one of the catalogue things at my local comic shop, i looked at it and thought hmm, more post apocalyptic ...
I vaguely remember being shown a preview of Freakangels in one of the catalogue things at my local comic shop, i looked at it and thought hmm, more post apocalyptic teenagers with superpowers, i can live without that, and left it. A bit later a mate was going on about 'Crooked little vein' while i happened to be reading some old Lazarus Churchyard. Warren Ellis, hmm, didn't he do Transmet too? A bit of google and i ended up here and discovered that Freakangels wasn't in fact something i could live without. Whitechapel is also rather good and has led me on to things i probably wouldn't have noticed without it.

I read all this on my ageing desktop computer at home, when i have a few minutes, hours or days spare time, (i'm an agency driver and my work is a bit erratic). I have no urge to buy a hard copy of the comic, viewing it in HTML on the internets is just fine for me, i much prefer that to any fancy flash (Zuda) or pdf presentations. So far i haven't paid a penny toward anything Freakangel related, though some of the merchandise interests me a bit, still not sure i'll buy anything though. Having said that, i feel like a bit of a freeloader now. Still, no one involved seems short of a bob or two and if an appeal went up for money to keep the site open, i'd chuck a few quid at it. I follow - pauses to count them up - blody hell, about fifty or more web comics, that's my attitude to all of them. If i had to pay a quid a week for each of them i wouldn't, i don't have that much spare cash to throw around.

So, there you go, probably not your typical reader but then, who is? There probably are ways to 'monetise' me but they'd have to be good and easy or i'd probably be to fat and lazy to bother with them.

Having said all that, Whitechapel and Freakangels is damn good and i thank everyone involved for making it available to me free online.

I hope this is of some use to you. Goodnight.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262415#Comment_262415 2010-09-27T16:44:56-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Joeltox http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=9286 Is there room for a kickstartesque model where I pay, say $5.00 extra for the tpb in advance, only now I get a mention on the thanks page, as well as an X day jump on the latest electronic version of ... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262426#Comment_262426 2010-09-27T18:17:38-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Finagle http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=5254 I'd pay a few bucks for a Freakangels app for the iPad (or whatever tablet platform) that did anything more at all than present the static content, or really just eliminate the need to pinch and zoom ...
I could see looking at it as the electronic TPB version, both collecting and adding enhancement.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262429#Comment_262429 2010-09-27T18:35:38-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 warrenellis http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2 Motion comics take control of time away from the comics creators, by and large, and so it's nothing I'd personally spend time on. My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262440#Comment_262440 2010-09-27T19:33:44-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 m3t4lfi3nd http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=4774 My .02 cents If many people are unwilling to pay 3.99 for comics now, they sure as hell aren't going to want to pay that for digital versions IMO I think the traditional medium as we know it will ...
If many people are unwilling to pay 3.99 for comics now, they sure as hell aren't going to want to pay that for digital versions IMO I think the traditional medium as we know it will not be overtaken digitally unless prices per digital issue drop drastically. And undercutting paper copies will be like shooting ourselves in the foot if you place them to compete against one another...it's going to fuck shit up.

Digitally comics have been around for at least a decade now, at the very least when Marvel started selling those DVDs with huge backissue runs on them. I don't think they've been all that successful, although I do not have the numbers to back that claim up. Illegally downloading digital comics has been around just as long if not longer. I'll admit being familiar with this means of access with every form of media that can be seen and/or heard going way back now.

I really think the most successful means of distribution will be a universal, monthly subscription service like netflix or gamefly, at least for the core audience and big publishers. Apple apps, and digital downloads of individual issues will float for a small percentage of readers and new initiates, but for the collector who makes up the majority of the fanbase, single digital issues will be less attractive unless they are coming directly from independent creators. One thing I've noticed about media is people like the idea of the money going to the artist more than a huge corporation. We like to support the creators of what we enjoy, not so much the big company that envelopes them. In this aspect digital publishing can be advantageous and work well.

Eventually I believe electronic paper will be developed successfully and overtake our current form of reading devices. That will probably spell the end for many printed media sources, until then I expect paper to hold an edge on screens. POD might have a place in the scope of things somewhere if it can really get out of the gate or get some industry support.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262450#Comment_262450 2010-09-27T20:51:53-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Richard Pace http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=320 Just finished drawing a comic with motion-comic aspirations -- was a bit of a pain and I think I interfered with my own layout ability to satisfy the needs of the animation. I hope people give up on ...
A screen of comics reads as well as a page, so I see no need for added bells and whistles that actually interfere with the strengths of the medium.

Talking about this over the years I've decided there's no real worthwhile difference between the digital and floppy formats -- both feel disposable and have bad commerce structures. Historically, when digital comics charge they fail, and the floppies are creaking along worse than the Titanic after kissing the iceberg; there's not enough there to justify the 4.00 for 22-pages and cover (or four). The slide toward a hybrid economy is interesting and I think Warren's Isubscribe app idea is worth exploring as well.

While developing something for the current market I think creators have to go in knowing the floppies aren't a viable source for capital, they're promotional materials for trade collection that can potentially cover their own production costs. If that mental step is taken, then free web distribution isn't the bogeyman so many people think it is as it's also essentially promotional material for a trade collection. As promotional material the goal is to hit as wide an audience as possible towards your actual profit-generating material -- a physical book. Anyone developing a new story would be wise to prepare the web promotion and have it start well in advance (a year?) of any floppy edition (if that's a route desired) and price the floppy to break even.

I'm not particularly impressed with most trade collections today -- there's an overwhelming sameness which makes them feel cheap. The physical object has to be desirable and feel like it's unique to the contents. If the comics are readily available for free, then these are really crafted for the collector market, but not the sort hoping the product would go up in value. The physical book should be made so that a fan of the work wants to collect it out of affection for its personal value to them.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262508#Comment_262508 2010-09-28T09:15:48-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 mushi http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=7212 I wouldn't say that Freakangels is that much of a Pioneer, there's the Foglios doing their Girl genious thing since 2001, and stuff like megatokyo and the like, where those authors have gone on to ... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262513#Comment_262513 2010-09-28T09:35:02-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 RichBarrett http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6228 Before I got my iPad I was in the school of thought that there was no way a webcomic creator could sell their book via an app when people could just read it for free in the browser. I now realize ...
Another possible option for even more added value to the digital version: I was listening to a novelist (whose name I can't remember) on one of Mur Laferty's podcasts talk about a brilliant idea he had for serializing his novels through e-book installments. His theory was that a physical book is a "souvenir" of your reading experience. You don't necessarily need to read the story that way but you like to have it up on your shelf to show off that you read it. What he was doing was giving his readers the opportunity to pay to subscribe for his e-book installments and in the end they would get a hardcover copy of the finished novel.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262528#Comment_262528 2010-09-28T11:38:27-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Justin Jordan http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2789 "I wonder if people would pay for an iPad app (as you described) if the comic was still freely available online? I strongly doubt it. " I don't know - JA Konrath is making a pretty ...
I strongly doubt it. "

I don't know - JA Konrath is making a pretty good chunk opf change selling ebooks (he's recently crested over 100,000 sold) and his best selling ebooks are available for free at his website, and were available there before he started selling them. So it may well depend on format and where you're selling them.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262534#Comment_262534 2010-09-28T12:01:44-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 jamaicad http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2853 I was fascinated when Warren posted about this last week, and it's caused me to think about my own webcomic and how to change its format in the upcoming months. I put together a Comicpress website ...
What I would like, as an artist, is an easy way to do this. I barely have time to write and draw the damn thing, I don't want to have to learn programming to release an app for it. Have your creators sign up for an account, and makean easily downloadable program like flickr to batch together your comic images along with a cover and some extra content and at a push of a button send them off to subscribers, and you've got something beautiful.

I love the .99 cents model. But about free content, by putting up my work for free, I've noticed that every convention I've done since then, I'm approached by new readers who recognize my comic, feel like they know me, and buy my graphic novel on the spot. That feeling is awesome. And I sell out of my books pretty consistently at shows, as well.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262550#Comment_262550 2010-09-28T14:42:13-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 RichBarrett http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6228 @jamaicad Yeah, I've been wondering if we will get ourselves a Comicpress-type company for app development. Not that it isn't possible to get small press and webcomics onto Comixology or Graphic.ly. ...
Then there's e-books which I've been starting to look into a little. Much more attainable than apps from a technical perspective. Right now it seems like barely tread ground for comic creators probably because right now the format is mostly friendly to art that will look good on a black and white Kindle screen. But that's changing really quick.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262572#Comment_262572 2010-09-28T19:02:14-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Finagle http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=5254 @RichBarrett - yep, that's it exactly. Aside from the actual motion comic idea and the "DVD Extras", having the actual advantages of the platform exploited well without simply making an ... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262991#Comment_262991 2010-10-01T19:17:05-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Tom Akel http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2158 @mushi Did the Foglios make money off printed editions of the comic or merch? I don't know so I'm asking. If its merch, then its a very different thing. There are tons of site with great IP, I ... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=262998#Comment_262998 2010-10-01T20:13:11-07:00 2010-10-01T20:13:38-07:00 mushi http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=7212 both, same thing with megatokyo and I guess now applegeeks. and I guess now applegeeks.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=263018#Comment_263018 2010-10-01T23:20:18-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Brendan McGinley http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=93 Resistance to a 3.99 print comic stuffed with ads and existing is one chapter of six required to read a complete story has very little to do with whether or not people would pay .99 for a digital ...
If I told you you could buy next month's Wolverine for under a buck and read it whenever you want, day or night, you'd go for it if the only change was when you weren't reading it, it wasn't cluttering up your house. If you really loved the story, you might want to own the trade, to possess the Thing Being rather than its transient cousin, but as it unfolded, you'd probably go for it.

Hell, you could even offer coupon off the trade based on the number of digital issues purchased, and guarantee yourself another $10 gross profit off a story that someone loved enough to have to own.

And bear in mind, today's Marvel or DC reader is very rarely a teen or pre-teen kid hording precious comics to treasure and re-read. He's 20s to 40s, and to him, these aren't hard-won prizes, the sole victors of a scant allowance. The possession isn't the same as it is for a kid.

Or maybe I'm projecting at the end there.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=263035#Comment_263035 2010-10-02T03:51:10-07:00 2010-10-02T03:57:36-07:00 BettyBoolean http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=8924 @ jamaicad an option for distributing you e comic is comic rack which I use a lot its real simple. You put your pages (named in order) in a zip file or rar file and rename them from comic01.rar ...
an option for distributing you e comic is comic rack which I use a lot its real simple. You put your pages (named in order) in a zip file or rar file and rename them from comic01.rar to comic01.cbr or comic01.zip to comic01.cbz and upload it somewhere for ppl to get. its a free application that you can make a donation too if you like. You will need winzip or some other thing like that to work with it.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=263053#Comment_263053 2010-10-02T10:05:39-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 John Skylar http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=8976 This is mostly in reply to Brendan McGinley, but it has wider relevance. One thing that seems to make a tremendous amount of difference in all of these discussions is the value of advertising in ...
One thing that seems to make a tremendous amount of difference in all of these discussions is the value of advertising in each medium. If there's no ads in digital comics, then print is going to have a source of revenue that digital comics don't have. I think that's been a killer for some time now.

However, digital comics and dead tree trades have always held more utility for me than dead tree comics because I don't have to take regular time out of my life just to acquire them. I try to be making things or consuming content with almost all waking moments I have. Going to stores is a huge pain when you've got 12 hours of experiments to do, the coffeeshop is closing soon and you have some writing that needs to be finished, etc. etc. So I see more utility in the digital comic, and I think that utility might be enough to overcome the ad thing.

However, I think ads are an eventuality in digital comics, and then the battle is going to come down to the elephant in the room for all print vs. digital debates. "What is the relative value in terms of new sales generated of a print ad versus a digital ad?"

I ask myself this question every time I hear a newspaper is struggling, because I think if you studied it with Science, you'd see that the print ad actually generates more per capita sales for the advertiser. But I'm just guessing.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=263235#Comment_263235 2010-10-04T02:27:11-07:00 2010-10-04T04:03:06-07:00 Vornaskotti http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6665 (sorry if this goes a bit here and there - sleep deprivation is a bitch) Hmm, I'll also have to disagree with people not paying for an app if the content was freely available. Surprising amount of ...
Hmm, I'll also have to disagree with people not paying for an app if the content was freely available. Surprising amount of people are willing to pay for stuff they really wouldn't need to pay for, if it's made really easy for them. I'm currently working in movies, in a multi million euro budget movie that relies heavily on crowd financing, and people are happy to pay us in a several ways even though the film isn't even filmed yet. Movies and comics are totally different business models of course, but what I think I can take from that side to this conversation is the fact that if people find something cool, they are willing to support it financially. If this works for a movie that's not even made yet, I can't see why they wouldn't pay for an ongoing comic series that produces new material every week.

I think people are happy to pay to support stuff, but also for comfort. All the music you can think of is available for free online, but still people subscribe to Spotify, because it's just so much easier. For me a handy app for following comics would be added value I'd be happy to pay for. Even better, if the app would work for both on my computers and mobile devices. My ideal situation would resemble something like how iTunes and similar programs handle podcasts, which just automagically appear in your library once they are published. I'd be happy to pay for that, and for the content in there.

Also, I strongly believe that people would pay for free net content if it was voluntary and easy enough - just to support stuff they like. If there was a "pay an euro for every Freakangels installment" type of thing available, I'd subscribe to it. Especially if it included some kind of extra content, like creators' commentary or something nifty yet not hard to do (I think in many countries you can't just accept donations for art for legal reasons, you'll have to actually sell something). The thing is, setting up a system like this is easy from the technical side, and when it's up, it practically runs itself and creates free money. I'd like to a voluntary subscription system in more of the free online comics I read - I would like to give the creators some money, without having to order stuff I don't really want or need.

I spend a considerable amount of money in entertainment monthly, even if I could get it all free online. My problem is that I despise and detest having to buy plastic or wood pulp with my entertainment, or having to go and see if an easily copyable thing is available. This is my reason for reading relatively few comics: I just don't want to order them as paper copies, but I find it morally icky to download unlicensed pdf's from torrent sites either. I end up borrowing them from pals, which isn't wholly satisfactory since I'm still not supporting the creators. I for example enjoyed the Transmetropolitan series immensely, having borrowed it from a pal, but I still haven't found a way to thank about it financially (apart from buying the albums, which I don't want to do, because ugh, more stuff on the shelves).

I recognize that by actively shunning all physical copies and wanting to pay for all the stuff I read/watch/listen to I'm not the most typical variety of customers (YET), but just a reminder that people like me exist, waving wads of money and waiting for the entertainment business to let them pay for stuff.

One idea I've been tinkering with is the creators selling a kind of license to their products: you buy a license to an album, a book, a game or whatever, and you are free to get the media in any way you see fit, like downloading it as a torrent, copying it from your friend, etc. So, essentially, you would be buying a clear conscience for downloading stuff and the publisher would be "outsourcing" the actual distribution. Nowadays I'm thinking that the financial structure of the movie business is far too difficult to make it ever work there in foreseeable future, but I'm not sure how this would work in the comics business.

So, would something like this work in the comics business, do you think? On a bureaucractic/technical side, that is. Obviously this could be seen as condoning piracy, which is a windmill the traditional business is still trying to fight, so accepting it might be a rocky road.

1) The publisher offers licenses for albums, with a reasonable price (cheaper than a new, physical album).
2) I buy the license, maybe get something in the mail that says "Yay, you paid for Transmetropolitan vol 1, have fun reading it from where-ever".
3) I go to a torrent site and download the album as pdf's with a clear conscience. If the copyright cops raid my house, I can show them the license: I paid for this stuff, never mind I got it from a torrent.

This would again be essentially free money for the publisher. The interesting questions is how much this would eat the sales of the physical copies and would the new income stream offset the effect. I'm not so sure it would cannibalize the traditional sales too much, because in my experience people who buy albums are collectors, who want massive walls of comics. If anything, it would bring money from the casual crowd.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=263245#Comment_263245 2010-10-04T06:33:43-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 gzapata http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=4899 See the confusing thing I have with digital and physical media is that from my understanding don't we have a right to have a copy of something we own? Like a movie can be copied if we own the ... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=263247#Comment_263247 2010-10-04T06:49:07-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Vornaskotti http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6665 gzapata: It's down to each country's copyright laws. Here in Commie Reindeerland you are allowed to copy stuff you own for your own use provided you don't crack any DRM while doing it, but ...
It's down to each country's copyright laws. Here in Commie Reindeerland you are allowed to copy stuff you own for your own use provided you don't crack any DRM while doing it, but downloading it from a torrent is illegal. No clue how it goes under US law, but I'd suspect downloading it from an unauthorized source is illegal in there too. How stuff like this goes is by no means intuitive.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=263249#Comment_263249 2010-10-04T07:21:45-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 gzapata http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=4899 @Vornaskotti- Yeah I'd forgotten to add in that it must be for personal use only. I don't know about cracking the DRM though or whether downloading a torrent rather than copying directly from your ... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=263250#Comment_263250 2010-10-04T07:37:59-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Vornaskotti http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6665 gzapata: Well, DMCA forbids cracking DRM. But now we are straying from the actual subject, so let's continue this elsewhere if needed. My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=263260#Comment_263260 2010-10-04T10:56:47-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 mister hex http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=4411 Reading this article on iFanboy helped me coalesce some thoughts : http://www.ifanboy.com/content/articles/Format_Wars "Paper's secret weapon" is that you don't need anything special to ...
"Paper's secret weapon" is that you don't need anything special to read it. No fancy gizmo that's going to be obsolete in a few years, no software that's going to be unusable before you know it. In the digital age, things aren't meant to last and if you don't keep up with the tech, you're going to lose out and people will laugh at you.

I am very much not a tech person. I'm one of those people who can barely turn a computer on, much less monkey with code or fix something if it's broken. I just learned how to cut and paste not long ago. I'm a Luddite and I like it. I still have casette tapes that make me cry with a mixture of joy, nostalgia and sadness and I still listen to them. I have twenty-odd year old VHS tapes that are still watchable, still playable. I have lots and lots of comics, on paper, stuff that isn't available in a digital format because a) they're rare/scarce/"an acquired taste", shall we say and b) no whiz-kid techlord has ever seen them/scanned them.

I remember when vinyl went "out" and cd's came "in". Now cd's are "gone", vinyl's "back" and it's all about MP3s. Until they change the format AGAIN. I have Microsoft documents that open up as gibberish because Microsoft's new software can't read them.

So yes, by all means, digital comics. Just don't come crying to me when you drop your collection in the toilet and it's wiped out. Or when you have to buy a new reader every two years. Or when that cherished comic you downloaded is nothing but a random string of numbers and some color bars.

In the immortal words of Granpa Simpson "I used to be 'with it'. But then they changed what 'it' was. Now, what I'm 'with' isn't 'it' and what's 'it' seems weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you, too."]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=263340#Comment_263340 2010-10-04T21:46:13-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Tom Akel http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2158 @John Skylar Agreed, ads are the future biz model of comics. I think we'll see that shift happen over the next 5 years. It will start with 99% of rev generated through DTO, but there are and ...
Agreed, ads are the future biz model of comics. I think we'll see that shift happen over the next 5 years. It will start with 99% of rev generated through DTO, but there are and will be more, ad-supported free comics online, and once the traffic and CPM values reach certain numbers, you'll probably see much more investment in that model.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=266787#Comment_266787 2010-10-26T07:14:29-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Vornaskotti http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6665 Okay, partly spurred by this thread, in the weekend I finally checked out Comixology. Today I realized that in three days I've bought more comics than in the previous decade - really. I have now ...
I have now found a distribution model that makes me a happy paying customer, instead of a "borrow from a pal and feel vaguely guilty" freeloader. The Comixology site usability is horrible, but the iPhone app is great and the reader on the site is good. I don't care about having a shelf full of albums, or amassing a comic collection - I just want an easy way to go browse for something interesting to read, pay with it with a couple of taps, download the comic on the go and spend the train/bus/plane trip, lunch break or a boring evening in a hotel room comfortably reading the comic I just bought. I talked about this online with other 30-something pals and got more than one "yeah, Comixology + the app really has saved my sanity on my work trips" type of comments.

Interest in comics: rebooted. I really hope there will be a larger selection of digital comic shops available soon.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=268368#Comment_268368 2010-11-04T21:18:05-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 ScottBieser http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=477 "Roadscum" is actually a pretty typical web-comics reader, judging by the numbers. Even Freakangels only has one paying customer per 5 to 10 on-line readers (depending on how much of the ...
Betting against Warren's hunches is generally not a good idea, but I'm going to try it anyway, soon. We'll see what happens.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=268445#Comment_268445 2010-11-05T09:58:16-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 arklight http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=5355 here we go again.hmmm.. I can only add my two cents, you guys are deep in the minute details of all this. I can just echo the omitted footage from my interview with david Lloyd where he talks ...
I can only add my two cents, you guys are deep in the minute details
of all this.

I can just echo the omitted footage from my interview with
david Lloyd where he talks about the industry, meaning the
business side of comics as being strangely very underground for an
industry it's size.

The people in the loop are very in the loop and everybody outside
doesn't really have a clue what's going on unless being prodded
by a hollywood movie.

I say this because to have comics very very cheap on digital,
you will need a larger fanbase than even those you have now,
who again would probably go the shop anyway and get the stuff.
That means ..gasp..comics/sequential art will have to be marketed
for the first time just like other media products and not just as movie tie ins
to the general public. This just has never happened.

I mean do you ever remember an advert for a comic/graphic novel
anywhere outside specialist places? But i'm sure you've seen lots
of adverts/flyers/youtube promos for underground musician
with no deals or nothing.

i just don't expect people will know from thin air that
such and such app is on the iphone to view comic products
they never heard of.

There isn't a technological problem, there's a marketing problem.
We just need an itunes of comics fully open to all creators
ungated with no submission police unlike LONGBOX and then
you would really have the true diversity that itunes has created.




Heri Mkocha


http://www.youtube.com/thearklight]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=268530#Comment_268530 2010-11-05T20:31:16-07:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 mushi http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=7212 yeah, but we have that, it's called the internet, and just like "unsigned music" it's kinda specialized. there's the incidental listener and there's the guys searching the internet for it. ... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=269461#Comment_269461 2010-11-11T08:51:47-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Vornaskotti http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6665 Damn! DC opened their own Comixology-powered store - including amongst other things Transmetropolitan and Planetary. DC opened their own Comixology-powered store - including amongst other things Transmetropolitan and Planetary.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278459#Comment_278459 2011-01-13T01:34:24-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Vornaskotti http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6665 Comics Alliance: The Dramatic Data About Who Is Buying Digital Comics -- And What They're Buying Creator-owned practically dominate the top ten at ComiXology in comparison to the Direct Market, ... The Dramatic Data About Who Is Buying Digital Comics -- And What They're Buying

Creator-owned practically dominate the top ten at ComiXology in comparison to the Direct Market, and personally, I find that very healthy for the comics industry. When a series like Chew, which two regular guys thought up and pushed out because they thought it was a good idea, outstrips all but three of Marvel and DC's comics, I think we're in a very good place.

So, who's reading digital comics? I think it's fair to say that the answer to that question is "Not the same people who shop at Direct Market comic shops." The series that sell online are, for the most part, ones that don't sell half as well in comic shops. What can companies do with this data? For one, they can start figuring out who they're selling comics to, since it clearly isn't your traditional Wednesday Comics Crowd. If it were the same old readers, the charts would look a lot different. We don't know who they are, but we can start talking about who they are not. ]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278461#Comment_278461 2011-01-13T02:30:38-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 3millionyears http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=5422 I'm finding that a lot more independent creators are making use of the new way of distribution. There are a lot of stories to tell, and priced right they can get out there to those who are wanting to ... my site.
The fact that people can bypass the apple censorship by letting people buy online, then download the titles - like some of the Graphic.Ly distributed titles helps.
I get the feeling that Marvel & DC are giving a form of 'lip service' to the idea - just to show they are in the market - whereas companies such as IDW and Markosia seem to be making a more pro-active approach.
I know that the digital market has changed my reading habits - yes there are some of the larger titles that I still read, but now I find myself reading more creator owned titles such as Cancertown and Nathan Sorry.
I don't think digital is going to be the death of paper, but there needs to be a way that they can compliment each other. I would also like to see some of the digital distributors carving their own independant niches in what they supply - Graphic.Ly, Comixology, iVerse etc.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278468#Comment_278468 2011-01-13T04:39:49-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 samishah http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=528 One format that might hold some valuable learnings in this way is Podcasting. Majority of the podcasts, like most webcomics, are free. But some are starting to earn revenue through creative ways. WTF ...
The other format that has only worked for one podcast so far is the subscription model used by Never Not Funny. They first did it for free for almost 100 episodes. Then, until now, you can download the first 20 minutes of a 90 minute podcast for free every week, pay $20.00 for a season pass (24 eps per season plus extra free episodes now and then) or purchase individual episodes for less than a dollar each. It's worked brilliantly for them.

not sure how this would work for something like Freak Angels though, but worth thinking about maybe. The archives go off-line and you can buy a digital version of each trade for $5.00 or so maybe? That way if you want to get caught up you need to buy the back issues as downloadable .cbr files or something? Probably not practical but I do think the comics world should be watching the podcasting world or vice versa more closely.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278524#Comment_278524 2011-01-13T14:40:36-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Dan Goldman http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=8262 Hi everyone; I absolutely cannot take credit for this, but my friend Brett has devised something ingenious he calls THE NOT-.99 METHOD that I am itching to implement with my own webcomic series. ... Brett has devised something ingenious he calls THE NOT-.99 METHOD that I am itching to implement with my own webcomic series. It's essentially a fully-DIY, iTunes/whatever-independent solution to selling your any-connected-device-ready PDF comics using only a Gmail address and a PayPal account: no 30% Apple tax, censorship or publisher-profit-sharing.

Allow me to turn the floor over to Brett himself:
THE NOT .99 METHOD

Has anyone tried a variation on this already? If so, please sound off here.
If not, try it now... I'm going to be doing so as well.

---love---> d!
Dan Goldman
Red Light Properties]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278530#Comment_278530 2011-01-13T15:14:49-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 m3t4lfi3nd http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=4774 How the fuck does anyone read comics on a little 3 or 5 inch screen (whatever the iphone is)? They (being some lucky electronics journalist assholes who attended CES recently) say this year is all ...
They (being some lucky electronics journalist assholes who attended CES recently) say this year is all about tablets, and judging by the fact the most affordable of the 10.1 tablets that are worth a crap, key word being "affordable" (the fly touch 2 and Archos 101) on Amazon are out of stock or being sold at absorbent prices then I believe it! I do seriously want a tablet just to read comics on...reading them on a 17.1 laptop is okay, but not really ideal IMO By the end of this year there will be a lot to choose from. I was thinking Asus eeepad (but looks like it will be closer to $500) and the motorola xoom looks great (for a thousand bucks, I'm not rich) but for reading comics predominantly at home and not settling for less than 10", let's go sub $300 range!]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278531#Comment_278531 2011-01-13T15:16:54-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 BettyBoolean http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=8924 There is a trend in music for companies like levis to finance a compilation of tracks by artists they want to associate with their product, the tracks are then available for free, last year i got a ... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278540#Comment_278540 2011-01-13T16:00:35-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Tim Simmons http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2936 How the fuck does anyone read comics on a little 3 or 5 inch screen (whatever the iphone is)? Same way (mostly) that folks watch TV/Movies on them-- which is to say, there aren't a LOT of people ... How the fuck does anyone read comics on a little 3 or 5 inch screen (whatever the iphone is)?

Same way (mostly) that folks watch TV/Movies on them-- which is to say, there aren't a LOT of people that do it-- but they are out there.
The "big two" of digital comics (Graphic.ly and ComiXology) also offer Panel View options-- in which you aren't looking at a whole page on your screen, but rather a panel by panel zoom in. You flick as you progress through each panel.

Sure, it isn't the greatest way to read a comic-- but it is a WAY.

What I'll be interested in seeing (and it's an eventuality) is comics formatted to the device. Right now, we're just taking standard comic book pages and trying to shoe-horn them into a screen dimension. What's going to be cool is when someone comes along and works it the other way around: Creating a comic FOR a screen or device.
For example, take Travis Cherest's SpaceGirl:

Spacegirl

That would fit marvelously on an Iphone in landscape mode. Just flick along to read each new panel/page.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278546#Comment_278546 2011-01-13T16:41:51-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Finagle http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=5254 >How the fuck does anyone read comics on a little 3 or 5 inch screen (whatever the iphone is)? One hopes the software is designed for it. It really isn't that hard to imagine a dynamic zoom ... >How the fuck does anyone read comics on a little 3 or 5 inch screen (whatever the iphone is)?

One hopes the software is designed for it. It really isn't that hard to imagine a dynamic zoom in/ zoom out feature that would intelligently size panels - if they were properly tagged - to be read on such a platform.

Yeah, you aren't going to want to view the two-page sweeping battle scenes on it, but if the artist is aware that the medium is going to include mobile - well, they might make different choices.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278550#Comment_278550 2011-01-13T17:01:28-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 RichBarrett http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6228 @Dan Goldman That Not .99 method sounds really interesting. I think I'm going to start selling PDFs on my website at some point soon. Not sure I need to go so far as allowing the SMS-ordering and all ...
Also, I think I'm going to start selling my book through a new online store focused on selling comics and other illustrated books as PDFs. Just got involved today so don't know too much just yet but I'll post more info later on.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278587#Comment_278587 2011-01-13T19:51:11-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 m3t4lfi3nd http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=4774 Okay that makes sense. I was wondering if they could automatically go panel by panel. That really seems to be only way I could read it without having to pan/zoom all over the place. Whenever I go to ... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278631#Comment_278631 2011-01-14T00:49:06-08:00 2011-01-14T01:20:10-08:00 pauljholden http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=4264 Panel by Panel reading is well establish (notably by Comixology - though prior art exists with some french album publishers). Notably, it's a LOT better than the term 'Panel by Panel' would lead ...
Notably, it's a LOT better than the term 'Panel by Panel' would lead you to believe - in some ways it's actually a better way of story telling than page by page. Panel by Panel is actually predesignated location to predesignated location - so, occasionally you'll get two or three zooms on a single panel - leading you into or out of the page. I've seen some really effective uses of it where the reader is zoomed right into a piece of text "..the devastation..." then whooshed around the page and then, finally, zoomed out to take it all in. Partially cinematic and partially comics.

I'm sure you'll see some video demos of it on youtube.

If I were going for the NOT .99 method, I'd probably alter it to use a dropbox public account rather than google - that way the files are local (and I'd include CBR/CBZ as well as PDF for comics, as the iOS devices can move those files into the appropriate program if you have one...)

-pj
(edit: Changed word 'arbitrary' to 'predesignated')]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278632#Comment_278632 2011-01-14T01:01:04-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 3millionyears http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=5422 How many people here have read comics on the Nook? I'm going to be writing a blog post referring to it and need some thoughts on the buying and reading on it I'm going to be writing a blog post referring to it and need some thoughts on the buying and reading on it]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278697#Comment_278697 2011-01-14T08:23:18-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Emperor http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=1503 The Not .99 Method looks like it could be really useful and I see Warren has blogged it and put out a challenge of sorts to Cory Doctorow, which might prove interesting as I'm sure there are ways to ...
The big pity is that Gmail won't let you autoreply with an attachment (there does seem to be a Gmail auto responder that will do it but you have to pay for that, which rather defeats the whole point of having a free workaround) and there doesn't seem a way to somehow make Dropbox send an attachment either (although you can use Gmail to upload files to Dropbox, which makes it difficult searching for the opposite).]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278756#Comment_278756 2011-01-14T14:08:09-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Tim Simmons http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=2936 Also although it says the link will expire in 7 days it clearly won't and if you have steady sales you can't expire the link as some people might not have had time to download it - the workaround ... Also although it says the link will expire in 7 days it clearly won't and if you have steady sales you can't expire the link as some people might not have had time to download it - the workaround would be to use some kind of redirect service and change the link every week, so you can delete the link after 7 days.

yeah, that was my thought-- it'll take a little handwork, but you could always go into your FTP and change the link name. Comicforweekof1_7.pdf --and then Comicforweekof1_14.pdf--
Naturally, that's a pretty easy code to crack, but anyone could probably figure out a fairly easy and personal code system.

Then, all you'd have to do is revise your Auto-Email to reflect the link change. Sure, there's a little admin work there, but it's a lot easier than personally responding to each purchase.

Good to see that this method is getting some press attention-- hopefully some authors give it a go-- personally, I'm going to start looking into it.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278786#Comment_278786 2011-01-14T17:29:43-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 adam_geen http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=4370 Saw this tonight since DJ was talking about the Not .99 method.... A Better Way to Sell Your Digital Comics Even talks about Warren quite a bit.
A Better Way to Sell Your Digital Comics

Even talks about Warren quite a bit.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278798#Comment_278798 2011-01-14T20:39:42-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Paul Renderwrx http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=8055 I just read Warren's opening monologue, and not to be a kiss ass or anything, but we need some very rich guy to get behind Warrens ideas about the industry and put things in motion. I've seen other ...
Warren as a general manager or editor chief of a company could really shake things up. I know that's not Warrens style, but I can dream.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278804#Comment_278804 2011-01-14T21:41:44-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Emperor http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=1503 Mark Millar has posted his thoughts on the Top Ten list of digital comics sales at comiXology, in which he features a lot. He is still on the fence about it all and the general feeling of the ... posted his thoughts on the Top Ten list of digital comics sales at comiXology, in which he features a lot. He is still on the fence about it all and the general feeling of the comments is that you really need to cut middleman. So this discussion couldn't be more timely.

I'd imagine you'd want to be on comiXology, graphic.ly and the iStore for the extra noses your work gets shoved under (they've earned their cut for that) but you could also sell directly to fans, give them a substantial discount and keep more for yourself, everyone wins.

I'd assume if you wanted to go into this properly it'd be relatively easy to put together some PHP that sorted out the Paypal payments and fired off an email with the comic as an attachment (or offered it as a download). No need to install osCommerce, although that'd work too and might be an option for the small indie publishers for a reasonable catalogue of titles.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278809#Comment_278809 2011-01-14T23:24:18-08:00 2011-01-14T23:36:47-08:00 m3t4lfi3nd http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=4774 Wow - MM made me dislike Apple even more. Didn't think that was possible... My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278861#Comment_278861 2011-01-15T11:11:09-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 ScottBieser http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=477 The trick to cutting out the middle-man, though, is replacing the marketing services the middle-man provides. The iBooks store has tens of millions of customers, at least some of whom don't patronize ...
There may well be a solution for this, at least I hope there is, but it will take some thinking, a fairly large investment of time and effort, and perhaps some coordination among the big-name creators.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278873#Comment_278873 2011-01-15T12:12:05-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 CXXG http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=9929 I followed this MM post all over the interwebs yesterday and today and I have, to be honest, no idea why he's got his panties in a bunch over Comixology. Marvel is his publisher, his gripe is with ...
I think the distribution opportunities like NOT_99 and DJ Coffman's method make good sense for creators with a following but for indie creators in general the benefit of being available in the iTunes store via Comixology's Comics app is worth the commission. I'd rather a percentage of 10,000 sales than all of 100 sales. Plus, there's nothing stopping an indie creator from using all methods of distribution, not that I know of, anyway.

But that's just my opinion.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278874#Comment_278874 2011-01-15T12:12:46-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Brendan McGinley http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=93 I get good traffic on MyeBooks.com for no charge or censorship, but not one of those 55,000 readers has bought a copy from there. Conversely, lifetime traffic on my site pulls a bought copy for ...
So there's more than just exposure that needs to happen in the alchemical mix.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=278891#Comment_278891 2011-01-15T13:08:39-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 CXXG http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=9929 @Brendan - I didn't mean to imply that "exposure" was the primary benefit of being on an app in the iTunes store. The main benefit, in my opinion, is the sales opportunity that ...
The main benefit, in my opinion, is the sales opportunity that availability in the app affords an indie creator.

If my book is in print as a floppy but your LCS doesn't have it available (in stock) then I'm not going to get your sale. If I have an unlimited supply of my book in cartons in my garage, I'm not getting any sales at the LCS. The iTunes store is everyone's LCS and the apps are the printers/delivery method.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=279075#Comment_279075 2011-01-16T15:30:50-08:00 2011-01-16T15:59:18-08:00 Vornaskotti http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6665 I agree that probably the best way to approach distributing a creator owned comic is to both put it up on Comixology, Graphic.ly etc. and also to sell it to diehard fans from your own website, in the ... also to sell it to diehard fans from your own website, in the format you yourself want to. One good point about the digital comics stores is that they sell comics to lazy customers, like me. Frankly, I generally can't be arsed to go searching the web for a comic creator's personal site, to figure out how the payment, distribution etc. systems work on that site and what apps do I need to read that particular comic. One of the reasons I fell in love with the Comixology way of selling comics is that it's so bloody easy. I can just get the push notifications about the new issues and keep clicking "buy - confirm", until something in the back of my head says "umm, quit it, you just blew 70 euros on comics in five minutes - again". Also, I thought I'd hate the idea of having to buy comics issue by issue, but frankly I've became to love the idea of Wednesday being a "yay, new comics" day.


Then again, I understand the sentiment of the certain kinds of fans and online shoppers, who want to do their purchases as much off the grid as possible, and give the money straight to the creators. I can respect that.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=279413#Comment_279413 2011-01-18T23:17:27-08:00 2011-01-19T04:06:29-08:00 Vornaskotti http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6665 I only now read the Millar piece and I think there's one big problem with this logic: Millar: "In other words, keep buying paper comics." Comics Alliance: "So, who's reading ...
Millar: "In other words, keep buying paper comics."

Comics Alliance: "So, who's reading digital comics? I think it's fair to say that the answer to that question is "Not the same people who shop at Direct Market comic shops." The series that sell online are, for the most part, ones that don't sell half as well in comic shops. What can companies do with this data? For one, they can start figuring out who they're selling comics to, since it clearly isn't your traditional Wednesday Comics Crowd."

Hard to keep buying paper comics if you haven't been buying them for a decade in the first place... For professional and personal reasons digital distribution interests me a whole lot, and I've heard "my" story for a bunch of other people I've talked to about digital comics: "used to buy comics when younger, then stopped it for a decade or more, and now getting back to the hobby via digital distribution, can't be arsed to go browse comic stores". Okay, personal experience, biased sampling and all that, but it genuinely seems the digital shops are opening new (or maybe old, depending of how you'll see it) demographics and revenue streams - and maybe helping comics break out of the weird insular bubble they seem to be inside the pop culture.

EDIT: Did some bloggery relating to this: Digital Comics & eBooks – Gone Digital, May Be Out For a While]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=279600#Comment_279600 2011-01-20T17:40:15-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 Emperor http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=1503 Interesting what Rich says about Marvel's conditions for becoming a digital distributor, no sources but I'd imagine Rich would have had Marvel on the phone by now if it was too wrong. The irony being ... about Marvel's conditions for becoming a digital distributor, no sources but I'd imagine Rich would have had Marvel on the phone by now if it was too wrong. The irony being I know at least one publisher who hasn't signed up with the larger digital comics distributors because of the terms they were asking (actually is that why Avatar haven't appeared on these services yet?) - as with many things in life, size clearly gives you one Hell of an advantage.]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=279602#Comment_279602 2011-01-20T18:16:47-08:00 2011-01-21T04:41:40-08:00 Vornaskotti http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6665 Emperor: Oh Christ. The bigger the company, the more boneheaded they seem to be about digital distribution, no matter what the field. EDIT: Well, okay, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited looks ...
Oh Christ. The bigger the company, the more boneheaded they seem to be about digital distribution, no matter what the field.

EDIT: Well, okay, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited looks spiffy, but way to torpedo the third party options...]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=280056#Comment_280056 2011-01-24T07:38:41-08:00 2011-01-24T07:39:37-08:00 RichBarrett http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=6228 A new website just launched today called The Illustrated Section. It's fun by a professional illustrator named Dani Jones and its goal is to give a new marketplace for independent creators to sell ... The Illustrated Section. It's fun by a professional illustrator named Dani Jones and its goal is to give a new marketplace for independent creators to sell comics, art books, sketchbooks and art instruction books. Everything sold is in PDF format so there are no DRM or platform specific issues.

My own comic - Nathan Sorry - is up there for 99¢ for the first 24pg issue.

There is currently an open call for submissions. What I like about this site is that it is not just focused on comics. In fact it's probably skewed a little more to the professional and amateur illustration crowd. So that's potentially a new audience to reach out to.

Here is the website, check it out: http://theillustratedsection.com/]]> My Recent Digital Comics Thoughts http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8975&Focus=280058#Comment_280058 2011-01-24T08:00:09-08:00 2013-05-25T22:59:17-07:00 3millionyears http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=5422 For information - Interview I did with CEO of iVerse Media (creators of the Comics+, IDW and Archie apps) Link
Link]]>