This has already been a crazy year for comics news, what with Before Watchmen and a number of issues regarding how the industry treats its creators. Digital comics, however, has mostly been business as usual... until now. Graphicly, one of the top digital comics distributors, announced to ComicsAlliance that they are changing their business plan. As of this week, they're moving away from selling digital comics in the Graphicly app in order to focus on their Digital Distribution Platform, which puts comics -- and other media -- onto the iBookstore, Kindle store, Nook store, Facebook, and more. This is a big move with several different repercussions. Read more for an interview with Graphicly CEO and founder Micah Baldwin and a few quick thoughts.
Here's eight things that you need to know about the announcement:
1. Graphicly is going to stop selling digital comics and remove the Graphicly app from the iTunes and Android stores.
2. If you've purchased comics from Graphicly, you will always be able to re-download those comics, as long as you keep the Graphicly app on your device or visit the website.
3. The Graphicly apps will not be available for reinstallation.
4. Your books will not be converted to the new format.
5. What books are available on the various bookstores will be up to the publisher, not Graphicly.
6. Soon, you'll be able to access your already purchased library via HTML5 on tablets and phones.
7. The books will be available on the iBookstore, Kindle, Nook, Facebook, and more.
8. As such, Graphicly has moved from being a digital comics distributor to an ebooks distributor. They will format and push the books to the various ebookstores instead of providing an app and specifically Graphicly experience.
This is a pretty huge change, and Graphicly is the first digital comics distributor to shift their business model like this. Rather than providing a Graphicly reading experience, the comics they publish will be native to the device they're being read on. Graphic novels purchased from the Kindle store will display using the standard Kindle Fire reader, and the same holds true for iPad and Nook. This makes for a more natural reading experience, as it will be tailored to each device.
The new focus, according to Graphicly, is to enable publishers to sell books in digital bookstores, and connect with their customers in a more direct manner, rather than selling books inside their own app. You don't have to search for Graphicly and then a comic; instead, you just search for that comic in the bookstore and it shows up. It removes a layer of difficulty from the process of purchasing digital comics.
This is a situation that we all knew was coming. At some point, some digital comics distributor was going to go under, or stop working, or disappear. Graphicly's doing none of those things, but not being able to buy new comics from them is still a big deal. I'm glad to see that they're maintaining legacy support. Short of releasing the comics as DRM-free files, something I doubt any of their licensors would be down with, this is the best way to keep people happy after the change. You'll always have access to your comics, but you won't be able to get new ones. This isn't the nightmare scenario that it could be, and I'm glad to see Graphicly doing their best to keep everything above board and consumer-friendly, even as they make such a huge change in the way they do business.
Read More: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/04/05/graphicly-switches-from-digital-comics-distribution-to-ebooks-pr/#ixzz1rLuYrC12
