Is Amazon even a ‘necessary evil’ anymore in the indie comics scene?
Now that I’ve got your attention, I’d really love your thoughts on the matter as well. I am aware that this might come across as bitter or disillusioned, but I’m legitimately curious to know what experiences other people have had when they’ve been trying to break into the industry.
Before I get into it though, some context. I self-published issue #1 of my first graphic novel (Guns of Brixton) in August of this year. Issue #2 followed hot on its heels and came out this week. I’m entirely self-funded, I didn’t set up a Kickstarter to get me on my way, nor did I have any pre-existing audience to speak of.
So Amazon seemed like the logical place to start to try and build one.
I remember the days of Comixology being the place to go for digital comics. As a user and reader, I can’t say that I noticed the shift to Kindle & KDP all that much. Any comics I bought were available on my phone and on my Kindle, and life went on. I have generally preferred print titles, both for comics and traditional novels, so it has only ever made up a smaller portion of my reading.
Given this, when I then came to try and find a way to publish Guns of Brixton, Amazon seemed like the logical place to start. I was surprised that most of what I read online essentially dubbed Amazon a ‘necessary evil’, rather than a tool that could help new writers find an audience.
Amazon surely had a large audience, larger than any alternatives at any rate. Kindle Unlimited was supposed to open up untold numbers of readers who would be able to access your book for free, without having to spend money on an unknown writer. When it came to uploading my work, KDP Creator was intuitive and easy to use.
Two months in however, and I’m very quickly starting to question not only whether Amazon is a necessary evil, but whether they are even necessary at all?
One of the first things I’ve learned over my first two months in this industry, is how many genuinely helpful people there are here, who are all not only willing but genuinely eager to help new and emerging writers succeed.
Take the good people at Shift for instance (full disclosure, Shift is where I’ve sold the most copies of my first two books). Not only were the team there super supportive in adding Guns of Brixton to their webstore, they also helped me set up a print to order option, which has allowed me to get my books into local comic book stores here in London as well.
Or let’s take Comix.one. Compared to what works out at over 50% of revenue being taken by Amazon, Comix take a flat 15% commission, giving creators 85% of the value of their sales. When every sale counts, that adds up to a big difference in terms of revenue being put back into the industry. Further, the brilliant founder of Comix Saurabh was generous enough to do a livestream with me at launch of issue #1, and connect me with contacts of his own to review my work and help get the word out there.
And while they are a bigger entity without that personal touch, GlobalComix as a dedicated platform for comics with a quickly growing audience has opened up more readers that Amazon have, with a platform for uploading comics that is almost as easy to use as KDP is (just fix the immersive reader panel creator please!).
All of that compared to Amazon, the behemoth ‘necessary evil’ that have taken over a week and multiple conversations with different support people to rectify a technical issue on their side that is preventing me from editing my bookshelf.
All this does pose one question though. Despite all I’ve said, will I continue to publish the remainder of my series on Amazon? Almost certainly. As a self-funded writer with artists to pay, I am scrapping for every single sale I can get. My modest (if uninspiring) amount of readers on Amazon are a welcome addition to my sales on other platforms.
But will I be actively pushing readers towards my content on Amazon, when there are so many other more supportive platforms out there that are genuinely wanting to help grow the industry? Certainly not.