Back to Basics: What is Zingerding?
We’ve introduced Zingerding to you before on the blog, but I want to talk a little bit more in depth about what we’re doing.
Zingerding is a free, open platform for cartoonists to publish their comic strips. We’re creating slick publishing and comic organization tools. Each cartoonist will have their own “Publishing Studio” where they can manage their work and connect with fans. Marketing tools will be built right into Zingerding so cartoonists can find more readers, and reward the ones they already have.
Each comic series will have its own profile page; a home for that comic. This will be a launching pad for readers to discover more about the comic beyond the individual strips.
Zingerding is a destination for comic strip readers. We’re building simple, fun features for fans to read, enjoy, share and discuss comic strips. Each reader will have their own “Zingerhome” where they can build their own custom funny pages with just the strips they like to read. An easy, unified design across all comics fosters a better experience for readers to stick around and enjoy more comics.
Zingerding is a community around comic strips. We’ll have public online forums for anyone to talk about the strips they enjoy. Cartoonists can join in the conversation as well. Future features on the site will be interactive and outer-connected so that people can rally around their favorite strips.
Zingerding is the future of comic strips. It’s going to take time as we roll out future features but we will incorporate the latest in web and social technology. This means mobile comics, integration with other networks and innovation in digital distribution.
Zingerding is a serious business. We intend to create an economy around comic strips where cartoonists can benefit financially and otherwise. We’ll make money too but we really, really want to create real career opportunities for cartoonists online.
Zingerding is a revolution! It’s more than a publishing platform, a community or a business. It’s an uprising of cartoonists and fans! It’s the transformation of an industry! It’s what needs to be done for the art of comic strips to survive!
Great blog entry. People have been asking what Zingerding’s all about and this really helps! Keep up the great work guys!
Sure thing, Caz. We appreciate your support!
I still have questions and doubts. You say that this is a serious business, this is what I want more information about. I’m a cartoonist, I want to know the specifics as to what I am receiving before handing over 30% of all revenue.
I mean, it’s all very well having a nice website with the latest social media, but I want to know how much money you’ll front to advertise, and where you will, and for how long. Sure, these things change for each individual strip, but some examples would be nice.
I’m more cautious than excited about this service right now, and the most alarming red flag is your link to the store on the main page (http://www.printfection.com/zingerding). That store is just a print on demand thing, which everyone knows gives you the least profit for the least risk. So 1) Are we going to be making 70% of the 2 dollars we make from selling a t-shirt through that and 2) Do you have a more lucrative store/shipping plan ready? If you do, I’d love to hear it.
You might wonder why I sound so negative/defensive, forgive me, but I am especially cautious when you ask for 6 cartoonists to submit work when we cartoonists have no idea of the details of what’s in it for us. Can you post a contract we would sign?
Matt
Matt, thanks for in-depth comments. You bring up a lot of good points, some of which will be addressed in future blog posts and as we near launch.
But I will say this now, as a startup, we don’t have a giant budget for advertising. Advertising has its place but its not the only solution for getting people involved. We have marketing plans and I’ll talk more about that soon.
As for the current Zingerstore, that is something we put together to offer some products sooner than later. It is not the store that will eventually be where people can buy things related to comic strips, i.e. a shirt with a specific strip or mug with an illustration of some characters, etc. We do have more involved plans for e-commerce giving each cartoonist their own storefront, but it isn’t going to be something available at launch. It’s a feature further down the line.
And lastly, you make a good point about the lack of understanding of the legal terms. You’ve inspired me to address that shortly.
I understand your hesitation. We’re making big claims about changing things for comics and that comes with a lot of questions to answer. We’re getting to it!
I share Matt’s concerns. So Steve, while you are preparing a post on the legal framework, could you also shed some light on publishing rights? i.e. If I have my own website can I publish strips simultaneously on yours and my own, can I sell my own merch from my own website etc?
I’ll work soon on gathering the legal stuff together for public display. It would make a REALLY LONG and BORING blog post but I’ll link to it from the blog when I get it up. Twitter too.
But as far as publishing rights, we are not going to claim exclusivity. If you publish elsewhere, like your own site, you are free to do so simultaneously, and sell stuff too.
My concern is that I had to ask nicely, personally for every single vote I received at http://zingerding.crowdcampaign.com/ Is good the way it is humbling of course.
Robukka, we really appreciate you submitting. As you know, Zingerding is pretty new so we’re just starting to get the buzz going.
Once many of these questions are answered, there should be more signups, more people, more votes, etc. All things, no matter how big, start from a small group of people. We’re thankful for your trust as an early submitter.
As Steve pointed out, we’re working hard on the site — Printfection allowed us to get a simple store up quickly, but we have much grander plans! Our focus right now is on getting the core of the site up as quickly as possible. Ditto for http://zingerding.crowdcampaign.com — we chose to use that tool for our Zingerding Six search so that we could keep our development effort focused.
We’re looking forward to your feedback once we go live!