However, I have heard that once something is released online it is a lot harder to get it picked up for a novel.

Self-publisher Carla Speed McNeil is now serializing her FINDER stories on-line in their entirety, then print-publishing them as trade paperbacks. Avatar is serializing Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield’s FREAK ANGELS online in its entirety, then selling trade collections.

And Big Head Press (my publisher) is serializing creator-owned comics in their entirety on-line, and even paying advances to creators, then publishing trades to make its money.

If the books you publish are primarily plot delivery devices, then making the contents publicly available beforehand will probably cut into your sales, but if the content is art/lit-oriented and the production values are nice, then anybody who liked it online will buy it in print.

That said, however, we certainly aren’t seeing XKCD kinda numbers — as Stuart said, that’s a tough nut to crack.

On the other hand, many claim that the monthlies are hurting hte overall product, which are now written with trades in mind. Just look at Final Crisis, which was criticized a great deal for the way it was presented as a serialized comic. When you sit down and read the entire thing straight through, it’s a much, much better product and you can clearly see all the threads and connections and plots lining up like ducks ina row. It’s a completely different book in trade/one sitting and I think the general concensus would have been much more positive if it was released as a trade only compared to the way it ended up.

I also think writers would be able to ‘perfect’ work before it sees print with the lack of deadlines if we switched to trades and we wouldn’t be seeing the increased decompression style of work and stop and start feeling of many titles.

Im not sure what hte solution is, but I can point to the success of several European comics, which are often times released as trades/”graphic novels”. It’s a different industry over there, though, at least in regards to non-imported American works.

One of the biggest obstacles facing any kind of trade oriented push would have to be Diamond though. They helped the industry when it was at its lowest but now have a stranglehold on it and are pushing out smaller indie books and their pricing (like 60% or so discount on any solicit) automatically cripples any high cost trade-like product not coming directly from marvel or DC and even then, neither company is rushing to put out non-monthly-first trades.

Not sure what point I’m working to here, so I’ll just end it there.

Sure, it’s steep– and “a certain age” might refer to both ends of the spectrum, as I’ve witnessed in the young a tendency to, say, tweet or IM rather than work, because that’s hard.

But I don’t think it’s any harder than any other freelance occupation, as market research, legwork, advertising and networking are as much a part of the traditional model as they are at being successful online.

I’m just saying the serial long-form model, at the very least, provides a platform (and one that can be ameliorated on the fly) for print solicitation- and audience-building while adhering to a(n albeit arbitrary) deadline. Moving Pictures is 140 pages longer now than it was two years ago; it would have been very easy to spend that time playing XBox or some fool thing instead. Those sausages aren’t going to make themselves…

My experience with the webcomics community (WC journalists, ad networks, site hosts, etc) is that it has not been worth the effort to attempt to enter the scene; perhaps that’s just me. I agree that insularity is not unique, but if strict online success is the goal, I’ve personally found it a challenge. MP is therefore more of a “comic on the web” than a “webcomic,” as I have more or less given up trying to garner notice on the net alone.

And yeah, Torsten, that was kind of my point. I don’t think that periodical comics are necessarily tied the pamphlet format. I’m interested in the future of periodical comics, which may-or-may-not contain ‘comics magazines’.

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Chris Arrant Said: The closest thing I’ve seen is creator-owned comics appearing online as webcomics before getting picked up for a graphic novel (i.e. Kevin Colden’s FISHTOWN … I don’t know of many publishers who would put the whole book online prior to a print graphic novel.

Yeah, and I think that’s a real problem. I don’t believe that the audience for the two is entirely distinct. I do think that some people only need the content of the story and not to physically own it. It’s is why monetizing the content during serialization becomes important… But I do think that there’s enough of an audience that will read a work and then buy the work, or NOT read the work and buy the collection. Forward-thinking pubs like Dark Horse and IDW have already figured this out (although I don’t profess to know reliable sales figures for their work).

Stuart Immonen Said: “A cartoonist doesn’t have to be smart to serialize on the web– all the tools necessary are freely and readily available, save one; self-reliance.”

I don’t entirely agree, I think there’s a steep learning curve to working online, particularly for folks of a certain age. And I think the impetus to publish online (either instead-of or in-addition-to traditional print publishing) requires a certain amount of smarts as well.

“Even if one cannot crack the insular webcomics clique and become a hit online, a serial endeavour can (well) serve as a first pass before print– a critical editorial step many comics see completion without.”

The last bit is an excellent point. The first bit about the insular nature of webcomics? I’m not sure I agree. I think that all communities are insular, defined as much by shared commonalities as the differences of people they exclude. Webcomics aren’t unique or really noteworthy in that regard.

“But then, I’m just another vanity author.”

Strictly speaking, sure, you and Kathryn do self-publish. But I’d say it’s pretty clear that I don’t think all vanity publishing is necessarily bad, just bad vanity publishing. Do you feel I painted you with too broad a brush? If so I’m sorry.

I read Flog through Bloglines and it seems to work just fine, no repeated posts…just FYI.

Alan

Even if one cannot crack the insular webcomics clique and become a hit online, a serial endeavour can (well) serve as a first pass before print– a critical editorial step many comics see completion without.

But then, I’m just another vanity author.

Hmmm… analyzing ad pages in NEWSSTAND comics (mainstream titles found outside comicbook stores), most of those titles contain publisher ads or licensed property tie-ins (either owned by the publisher or related to the title, itself a licensed property).
Periodical comicbooks help pay the cost of production, generate some publicity, allow the publisher to guage demand for a trade collection, and basically are 32-page advertisements for the company. If costs are cheaper online, then companies can publish excerpts there to build brand awareness, sometimes more effectively than via print.

One note… “periodical comics” is a nebulous term, like “comic books”. Webcomics are periodical comics… comics published on a frequent schedule. “Comics magazines” might be a better term.