Would you have to opt in for something like this? Like aren't premium comics and novels kinda already doing something similar when you pay to unlock episodes early? Or maybe I'm wrong about that...
And plus Patreon has merch options now, an added bonus that Tapas probably is unable to implement given what the focus of the site is.
Forum on mobile app. A bit tiring to always go to the computer. Also improve their app cause too many bugs.
1,200 ink is equal to $1, which I do agree with you that it's pretty low. Pay to read originals usually costs around 300 ink per chapter and if you could subscribe to an author for 1,200 ink per month, that's honestly not a bad deal if you get to support the author and gain some additional perks as well
It's 1200 ink per dollar, but there is a 30% fee on ink purchased on itunes or google play and a 15% fee on ink purchased on the website. (Ink earned from offers and ads doesn't have a fee) There's a forum post on this as well, https://forums.tapas.io/t/ink-concerns-with-math/385192
Yes, but in order to become a premium comic, you have to get approved by Tapas and partner with them. Tapas should allow any creator to set a price for their comic/novel tbh
This point, I wholeheartedly agree with. Tapas should allow creators to lock chapters, etc, despite the comic / novel being premium or not and simply make it obvious which ones are endorsed by them. Let readers decide what they want to support, don't gatekeep.
Yes but can I just say, I think it is an awful idea to partner with them for this, not exactly sure how this works, but I believe they would have certain ownership over your work.
Like if you wanted to sell books at a convention or if let’s say something crazy happened and a company wanted to make a series from your premise. If tapas owns your work you’ll see none of that profit, or at least not nearly as much as you deserve.
It’s always better to retain your own copyright I think. You are doing ALL the work.
They pretty much much had this feature actually, but removed it when they added the tipping system. So I can only assume that it's not beneficial for tapas to implement this feature. (but you know, without the ink as currency, because this was before ink, since it was removed for ink)
There are some issues with this, like how some creators are children/underage and aren't typically allowed to collect money online. Readers can already earn ink regardless of age to spend as they please, right?
Why would Tapas not have additional fees? What's stopping them from implementing a lower fee percentage to be competitive with Patreon?
And what separates the community comics from the premiums at that point?
The cost of implementation and the whole team of employees that they would need to make it work just doesn't seem practical at the moment.
How would the subscriptions work again? Would a reader have to opt to be a certain type of sub, like tiered subs? Is there a space for free subs?
Thank you for making this point. I've thought about this as well.
However, the more I thought about it, the more I disliked the idea. The site would become potentially a majority locked content site. Right now its appeal hinges on the fact that it's free and people can binge-read. This is my opinion and I could totally be misunderstanding the dynamic.
I realized I have even more questions. If the goal here is to eliminate the need for a Patreon on the side of comic book artists and novelists, then it's fine. However, many people who create comics at least, are also general illustrators who may use patreon as a source of income, especially if they delve in to the NSFW arena. On top of that, they may have other properties that aren't comic book or novel related, maybe they have a youtube channel with a whole other set of characters and settings for that platform that doesn't overlap with their comic/novel. For them another platform for income would be useful.
It's not like what you're proposing is a bad idea, I just don't think it's a sound idea. It'll work for some, but not they majority of creators on the platform.
Like if a comic goes dark for good or goes on hiatus, how will a subbed reader know if they don't check their subscriptions often. Will they have to manually pay monthly? Weekly? Or would it be taken out of their bank account automatically? If it's an automatic thing then that's really troublesome if a comic is still on the website but has stopped updating, even for a short time.
What's stopping a grifter from creating a comic for a few months, racking up some paid subs, stopping uploading, and raking a passive income, albeit small most likely, without providing a service? Or would a paid subscription only amount to occasional bonus content?
And again I ask, do you have to opt into the program, or are you automatically a part of it? Most webomic artists barely have the time to do their comic as is and being required to make bonus content would be an unecessary added pressure.
Does this mean Tapas has to work through PayPal on and even larger scale since they don't have their own money transfer system? (Actually I'm not sure about this point, can someone explain to me how money transfers through Tapas?)
In order to have your support tab enabled, I'm pretty sure that you need to have a paypal account that's linked with a bank. (Not sure if the account has to be verified as well) That would make it pretty difficult for underage creators to collect money online.
Why would Tapas not have additional fees? What's stopping them from implementing a lower fee percentage to be competitive with Patreon?
I think Tapas wouldn't have any fees since this system would promote readers to earn or purchase ink, so their already making profits off of that. And Tapas also doesn't take fees on the the ink readers sends to creators on the support tab
And what separates the community comics from the premiums at that point? The cost of implementation and the whole team of employees that they would need to make it work just doesn't seem practical at the moment.
Many larger community comics has Patreon subscriptions enabled already, so it wouldn't change things by much. You won't have to pay to read the comic/novel as well, the feature is just a way for readers to read a chapter ahead. I definitely agree on how much work this feature would require to be added tho lol
How would the subscriptions work again? Would a reader have to opt to be a certain type of sub, like tiered subs? Is there a space for free subs?
It would be tiered subs, but with a few changes. The first change is that the creator themselves can give away subs for free (Like in a giveaway or contest), and the subscription will last for 30 day. (unlike how Patreon subscriptions ends at the end of every month) Free subs could be added as well, maybe add a channel points feature like the one Twitch has. For example, liking the creator's post would give you 10 pts, reading a chapter would give you 15 pts, commenting on the post would give 10 pts, and the creator can set how much points is needed in order to purchase a free sub. This is just a rough example though, so this could be improved by a lot
I'm pretty sure it lasts that long because some people get paid on a monthly basis and also it's just easier to organize yourself like that. Like someone might get paid on the first of the month, but if the sub period is only every 30 days, then they can miss a deadline to pay. And then on top of that, things would be out of order because not every month is 30 days long.
Good explanation, but I wasn't clear in what I was saying. What I meant was, is there going to be a space for those who do not at all in any way want to contribute to the comic/novel that they are reading. They hit subscribe and that's it. I guess the obvious question is yes.
You'll have to be careful with this since some people might flood episodes with one word comments just for some free points.
