Electronic comic publishing

[Emperor]

Soooo how easy is it to make an electronic comic and get it online and out there?

Pretty easy.

You can make a CBZ* by zipping up a folder of incrementally numbered images and changing the file name (in a lot of zip software you can do this in one go as it lets you set the name of the zip folder):

www.ehow.com/how_5018203_make-cbr-digital-comic-books.html

You can convert a CBZ into a PDF or EPUB format using the eBook management software Calibre:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calibre_%28software%29

You can do this even more simply - Comic Rack will convert a zip file into a CBZ or PDF:

http://comicrack.cyolito.com

You can quickly get your electronic online

• Clickwheel
• DriveThru
• Myebook
• Altern8's iDream

Breaking into comiXology or Graphic.ly seems a little trickier but I am exploring how to do it as they have a lot of people signed up and provide solid iPad coverage.

* CBRs rely on RAR which is a proprietorial format whose compression isn't as good as ZIP.

See also

• The General Self-Publishing Thread

Any thoughts or ideas on this front?

[Emperor]

Graphic.ly have a contest to win mentoring on your comic and then publication by them:

www.talenthouse.com/graphicly-jim-mahfood-get-comic-published

[Emperor]

Breaking into comiXology or Graphic.ly seems a little trickier but I am exploring how to do it as they have a lot of people signed up and provide solid iPad coverage.

LongBox have been quiet for a while now but are gearing up for their shot at this field and they will be specifically setup to allow small press/indie comics publisher get on there from Day One:

The release delay resulted in an accelerated refinement of the production tools, which makes it not only easier for publishers to schedule content, automatically process it, and validate the files, but it also makes it possible for us to support independent and self-publishers NOW, as opposed to 9 months from now (which was the original timeframe).  In fact, Just this week, Mike Jasper scheduled, formatted and uploaded the first two chapters of In Maps and Legends (which started over at Zuda) using the production tools and publisher site with a shockingly small amount of input from us after a day with the system.

www.bleedingcool.com/2010/10/09/bleeding-cool-talks-with-rantz-hoseley-about-longbox-the-adam-tablet-and-the-apple-ipad/

I'll be keeping an eye on this as they will not only be pre-installed on what looks to be a solid competitor for the iPad this Xmas but their reader will be released for iPad, PC, Mac and mobile phones, which could mean excellent coverage. You will want to hedge your bets by trying to get on comiXology and/or Graphic.ly but I still don't know how to get on them so this seems a good bet at the moment.

[Emperor]

Amazon's Digital Text Platform for getting your books on Kindle and the iPad through their own app:

http://dtp.amazon.co.uk

You can also get on the iPad through Lulu:

www.lulu.com/apple-ipad-publishing

[Art]

Interesting news from Comixology: http://blog.comixology.com/2010/11/16/comixology-launches-guided-view%E2%84%A2-authoring-tools-early-adopters-program-to-put-distribution-power-into-creator%E2%80%99s-hands/

[Emperor]

Amazon's Digital Text Platform for getting your books on Kindle and the iPad through their own app:

http://dtp.amazon.co.uk

I've spoken to John Maybury who has put his Erotic Adventures of Space Babe on Amazon for the Kindle and iPad and written about the process:

http://www.spacebabe113.co.uk/sb-amazon.htm

He says you can upload colour pictures, even though the Kindle only works with B&W. It'll display properly on the Kindle and appear as colour on the iPad. So this seems like a great option, especially for those whose comics are already largely black and white.

[Emperor]

I have been told that you can get on Graphic.ly by emailing them via their website and they'll get back to you pretty quickly as they are eager for content. If anyone does this let us know how it goes.

Amazon's Digital Text Platform for getting your books on Kindle and the iPad through their own app:

http://dtp.amazon.co.uk

You can also get on the iPad through Lulu:

www.lulu.com/apple-ipad-publishing

It appears that a cheaper and easier way of getting on the iPad is to go through these folks:

www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords

It also include B&N's Nook reader, you can also sign up here:

http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com

[Emperor]

comiXology are making their developer tools available to select small publishers:

www.newsarama.com/comics/comixology-opens-up-development-101116.html

Unfortunately this won't be made available as a beta until 2011, but interested small publishers can sign up, so you can get on the inside track there:

www.comixology.com/self_authoring_signup/

[antodonnell]

Thanks for all this info Emperor. Digital self publishing has been something I've wanted to research. You've done a great job on that front finding all the publishing avenues.

I'm really impressed with the comixology app on the i-phone. Glad there will be a way to get stuff on there.

[Emperor]

Thanks for all this info Emperor. Digital self publishing has been something I've wanted to research. You've done a great job on that front finding all the publishing avenues.

No problem - there just didn't seem to be the information out there on this so I've attacked the issue at a number of venues and managed to winkle out most of the information I was looking for. Seems like Smashwords is a good general service for getting comics out onto a number of platforms and that it should be possible to get onto Graphic.ly and eventually even comiXology.

The only real remaining question is how to get on Longbox, as they launch preinstalled on a number of tablets in the next month or so and they should prove popular.

[Emperor]

Analysis of comicXology sales show that the digital comics sales are nothing like that of the Direct Market with Image making up half the market there with mainly creator-owned titles in the top ten:

www.comicsalliance.com/2011/01/12/the-dramatic-data-about-who-is-buying-digital-comics-and-what/

[Emperor]

This is very interesting - it is a technique to sell electronic comics yourself for free:

www.massivesqwertz.com/the-not-99-method-the-diy-ibookstore-alternative-for-indie-books-comics

I picked it up on the Whitechapel forums but it could rapidly take off as Wicked Uncle Warren has just blogged about it and put a shout out to Cory Doctorow. So it could get big quick and I suspect some crafty bugger will find a way to tweak the technique to make it more streamlined.

Watch this space, it could get very interesting indeed.

Of course, you get in front of a lot more eyes through the iStore, comiXology or Graphic.ly and it'd be worth giving them a cut for being let on them (if you can, as it is still tricky at the moment) but this'll allow you to sell directly to you core audience with no interference and all the profits going to you (a biggie as the cut can be around 30%).

[pauljholden]

Instant thought: I'd use Dropbox for file storage rather than google - using the dropbox public file function (it gives a public url to the file) makes updating/changing a snap.

Also: CBR / CBZ files can be downloaded into a comic book reader on an ipad (as epub files can be downloaded into the iBooks app) so I'd suggest making PDF AND CBZ/CBR (or ePub) available.

On drawback: I haven't checked, but is the paypal pay via mobile option america only?

-pj

[Emperor]

For the record this is where it popped up on Whitechapel, where Ellis got it from:

http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/?CommentID=278524

Instant thought: I'd use Dropbox for file storage rather than google - using the dropbox public file function (it gives a public url to the file) makes updating/changing a snap.

Also: CBR / CBZ files can be downloaded into a comic book reader on an ipad (as epub files can be downloaded into the iBooks app) so I'd suggest making PDF AND CBZ/CBR (or ePub) available.

Good points. Now if there was a way to get Dropbox and Gmail to work together to send files as attachments...

On drawback: I haven't checked, but is the paypal pay via mobile option america only?

I don't know but the technique does include allowing people to buy using a link from a page, so there are other ways of getting the payment, but yes it'd be great if both would work.

[Emperor]

Analysis of comicXology sales show that the digital comics sales are nothing like that of the Direct Market with Image making up half the market there with mainly creator-owned titles in the top ten:

www.comicsalliance.com/2011/01/12/the-dramatic-data-about-who-is-buying-digital-comics-and-what/

A lot of the top ten are Mark Millar's creator-owned comics and he has posted about this:

Okay, I'm loving the fact that Millarworld books account for 8 of the top 10 downloads in 2010. That's cool, but what superficially looks like a great deal for creators is less so under a little scrutiny. Yes, you're eliminating paper, printing, comic store and distributor costs, but there's hidden costs here I haven't seen highlighted anywhere.

1/ Apple take 30% right off the bat.
2/ In the case of Wanted, Comixology then splits 50/50 with the publisher.
3/ Then the publisher pays the agent and creative team out of the remaining cash depending on their deal.

In hard numbers, the digital comic is normally half the price of the paper comic, but you have just as many percentages to pay out as a creative team to an electronic distributor and publisher. So effectively the creative team is getting half as much money. For creators, this isn't great and for comic stores this is awful. I don't mind paying thirty percent to a local store where my friends work and the guys care about the product. But do I want this money going to Apple?

http://forums.millarworld.tv/index.php?/topic/96375-my-big-concern-with-comic-downloads/

Makes that Not .99 Method sound even more attractive.