Ask HN: How would you monetize a webcomics publishing platform? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How would you monetize a webcomics publishing platform?

5 pointsrayalez4 comments

Hi! I'm working on a personal project, a platform for posting/reading/discussing webcomics.

I want to ask for your advice - what would be the best way to monetize such project?

I'm not going to have ads(don't want to compromise the quality of the website, plus adblockers will soon make it pointless anyway), so I'm looking for ideas about a right way to monetize(that is convenient both for artists and readers).

Any ideas/advice really appreciated =)

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- Merchandising comes first in mind - connect your platform with a printing API (e.g. theprintful.com), allow publishers to upload artwork for their own t-shirts, posters, mugs and commission on each purchase.

- Author tipping, receive commission.

- A Pro account for the readers - subscriptions, reminders, additional content newsletter (interviews, artist sketches, tips), access to high quality images or access to live chat events with the authors.

- A monthly subscription to a printed comic book with selected (or themed) comics and share the income with the authors. My guess is that comic fans are one of those people who really like touching physical paper. This one requires more manual work, but can be offered for a higher price.

- If you gather quality authors - a paid and easy to use mobile application. You can share the income with authors based on percentage of views.

If you had enough contributors, a sponsored "spotlight comic" feature could work. Or you could potentially offer subscriptions to a "webcomic round-up" type service, for people who want the best comics (potentially in certain categories) packaged together as a digest for them.

Monetising for you, or for them?

Patreon's rapidly becoming the dominant monetisation method for webcomics (right behind ads, which you've said you don't want), so for them, I'd recommend integrating Patreon really well, and doing a bunch of research into how to optimise for Patreon conversions.

For you - probably just charging for hosting would at least be worth considering. I'm a webcomic author myself, and if you developed a really high-quality platform I'd be more than willing to pay for it.

I'd say work closely with the authors on merchandising. I see comics as a pretty personal kinda thing, there's a valuable relationship between authors and readers.

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