Crowdfunded comics have a major problem. It’s not the stories themselves, those are written very well with unique plots and strong characters. It isn’t the art, there are a variety of styles from the cartoonish to realistic that will catch your eye. It’s not even the price, sure they can be a bit higher here and there but sometimes they are much cheaper. So what is this major problem? Accessibility. And I mean that in the basic sense of simply acquiring the comic itself. Outside of the initial campaign, before the next campaign starts, it is almost impossible to get your hands on the comic either digitally or physically. Why is this the case? Why do I have to go down rabbit holes just to find your website with no comic purchase options? Why am I waiting forever for the next crowdfund campaign? Why am repeatedly checking your social medias to see if you are actually selling what you made? Crowdfund creators, why won’t you let me buy your comic?
“Why can’t you just support the next crowdfund campaign to get the comic?”
Funnily enough, crowdfund campaigns are some of the worst ways to get a digital comic. Wait hold on, allow me to clarify. If you want the specific issue that the campaign was made for then it’s a perfectly fine and necessary(if it doesn’t get funded the comic probably won’t exist) way to get the digital comic. Where it becomes one of the worst ways is when you want the previous issue, but you have to support the next campaign. Now you have to pay for the issue you want AND the following issue. So most times you could be paying the twice the amount for a series you aren’t even sure you’ll like.
For argument’s sake let’s just say that you don’t mind paying for two digital issues at once. That should make crowdfund campaigns a great method for acquiring past comics right? Unfortunately, this is still incorrect. The reason why it’s wrong is because you have no idea when the next campaign you can support is going to start. It could be three months after the last one, it could be eighteen months, it could even be next week! Who knows? Half the time they won’t even tell you when it’s supposed to start, the other times they give you a date that could get pushed back like an album release.
Even if you’re fine with paying for 2+ digital issues at once and having a random start time there’s also an additional, irritating, and opinion souring event that could occur. No it isn’t the constant project updates that fill up your inbox and tell you nothing. It isn’t even the frequent messages telling you to support other campaigns. It’s actually the unnecessarily long wait for you to receive what you paid for. You could end up waiting months for the digital copy of a comic that was funded in the last campaign to hit your inbox. Sometimes they make you wait until the physicals are shipped to send the digital, which is disrespectful to those who only supported digital! I really don’t understand why this is the case. Now I understand waiting for physical editions, the creators have to pay the printer, buy packaging, and then ship it off to a bunch of people, that’s obviously not easy work. But why are y’all taking so long to send the digital?
*If it was unclear, most of these critiques are aimed at digital copies of comics, as physical editions require a lot more work and aren’t as readily available.*
“Why are you so mad about this? Why does it matter if creators don’t sell their comics outside of their campaigns?”
Most crowdfund creators are in it for the love of the game. They’ve loved this genre their entire lives and they are determined to make their mark by creating riveting plots and gorgeous artwork. Some of them even have day jobs because the money they make from campaigns isn’t enough to pay the bills. It’s situations like these that baffle me when that same creator isn’t making their work available anywhere online. Doesn’t every sale matter? If I tell my brother that I read a good comic and he’s fully willing to purchase it what am I supposed to tell him to do? “Wait until this next Kickstarter campaign starts which could be two months from now and have at least ten bucks on hand.” He’s either going to instantly stop caring, forget about it, or ask me why he can’t just go to an online store to get it. Should I just send him a digital copy? Nah that’s piracy, it wouldn’t be right. So now you’ve lost a potential reader because you didn’t have anything prepared for them to buy. It’s like setting up a table at a convention and telling people to wait until the next con to actually buy something. I know that the bulk of funding comes from larger-scale campaigns but selling a few copies(specifically digital) during the time between them certainly can’t hurt.
Another problem with only selling comics via crowdfund campaigns is that it gives off the vibe of “intentional hipsterness” or “forced scarcity”. For example, if I visit the League of Comic Geeks and see an interesting and highly rated crowdfunded comic that I think is right up my alley, where am I supposed to get it? This isn’t like classic vinyls you can only find at thrift stores or out-of-print baseball cards. Digital copies exist already, so allow potential readers the opportunity to get one! I have posted over 200 reviews of comics that aren’t for sale anywhere whether that’s in physical or digital format and it just makes me feel like I’m dangling something in people’s faces that they’ll probably never get. It’s almost like I’m saying, “Look at this comic I read that you’ll never get your hands on!” or “This is a great comic that does everything right, but you’ll never be able to read it because the author/publisher is refusing to sell it. Sorry!” Some of you creators have me out here comically teasing and leading on potential readers.
“All I’ve heard are complaints and criticisms, do you have any helpful solutions?”
Actually I do! SELL YOUR DIGITAL COMICS ONLINE. And sell the physicals ones when financially feasible, but we’re gonna focus on the digital ones here. Now the most obvious way to sell your comics online is with a website. Some of you already have websites filled with info and links and a purchase page that leads directly to a crowdfund campaign that ended months ago. Please stop doing that. And please maintain the page, I have so many comic reviews with broken or dead links. Here is an example of what I would consider to be an ideal website for selling your comic:
Actionline Studios
Unfortunately websites aren’t known for being cheap so I’m gonna drop some viable alternatives(with links) in rapid succession:
itch.io – Lawful Evil Comics
Patreon – Sirk
Ko-fi – Brendan Albetski
Etsy – Chris Askham
Blogspot – Pulp Girls
Gumroad – Lawful Evil Comics
GlobalComix (It’s not just for reading, you can sell PDF’s too!) – Saltara Comics
I’m certain there are other sites with built-in storefronts that you could use but these are the ones that I see most frequently. I also have a page on my site that lists a good amount of different online indie comic stores (link here) that I’ve come across and there are not nearly enough links on there. Go get your store up and running so it can be added!
“So let me get this straight, this whole article was about crowdfund comic creators not selling their comics online outside of a campaign?”
Precisely. It pains me to see stories I like come to premature end because the creator is operating at a loss. I hate seeing people who craft fascinating worlds filled with interesting characters being forced to take long breaks between installments because they don’t have enough support. If creators took that extra step to sell their comic online then maybe word of mouth, social media, and crowdfund comic fans could help drum up interest in these extremely indie works. Think about all the supporters you could have. And think about all the people who wanted to get your comic in the past but couldn’t. Crowdfund comic creators, please let us buy your comic.
