New manga self publishing platform? Opinions?

[NDmangaka]

Lately i've been thinking that there aren't really any platforms to somewhat seriously self publish a manga styled book online and be able to gather somewhat of a following as you produce more works. The only platforms that are really available are webtoons and tapas and these two though okay are neither democratic nor made for the manga style. So i was think manga writers and artists how would you guys feel if someone (maybe me) tried to start a website where we could post our manga for free and have them read by the public to gather a fan base. This would be a temporary or permanent platform for people to self publish while they look for traditional publishers or to build up a fan base. The site would be completely democratic aka no webtoon featured page or tapas original page where only certain ones are promoted and paid leaving everyone else in the dust. All will be equal. This would also allow indie manga writers and artist a platform specifically for manga with an individual forum or something like that for each manga as a place to interact and get feedback from fans. Maybe as time goes on as more people become more interested different writer and artist can collaborate on projects, work with other platforms and monetize their work and use this a first step to potential anime or better publication. Because i feel like the trajectory that most manga artist and writers have aka (manga then to comapany (viz, kondansha, sheusia) then to anime) isnt what people on tapas really want or are looking for. Also its almost impossible for any manga styled work in a traditional format to get any sort of notoriety on tapas. If you know the one punch man success story from web manga to anime ideally many series will begin on this platform and end up like one punch man. Any thoughts?

Edit: some people had asked about how i would make sure that quality works got recommended and works that people actually liked if there was no sort of promoting only the "good" manga and to that i would say that there would be a sort of pintrest type algorithm where once you got the app you chose genres you were interested in then you would randomly be recommended manga in that genre. After which the manga that you interact most with and like and what not, a similar type of manga will be recommended to you ensuring you get manga that you like in your recommendations and not just making it a popularity contest.

[shrikha56]

That seems really cool!!!! I am not really sure about whether it is possible but it would really be cool if u started a website which really motivates publishers.Since many put in a lot of effort but they don’t tend to get enough for their efforts​

[starry-sea]

that'd be cool, I don't think it'd be super easy to just completely start a whole new platform though... but if it does somehow happen I'll happily partake

[NDmangaka]

exactly that was the idea i was going for

[CommanderMarty]

You could widen it to comics and manga (they are pretty much the same thing with the only difference being manga is read right to left and comics left to right)

[NDmangaka]

yeah you right i was referring to like manga style or traditional comic style just not like the scrolly things that webtoons do

[CommanderMarty]

Something like that does exist, its called TheDuck.

[NDmangaka]

just checked it out. I was thinking something similar but with a bit more of a serious undertone with it being a gateway to publication or something of the sort like a online portfolio and fan gathering site i guess. Its kinda hard to expain. Think something like viz media's website look. But i don't know just a thought

[CommanderMarty]

I see, if this site happens let me know and I'll gladly publish my comic Uber Upgrades on it. (Its heavily inspired by shonen manga)

[NDmangaka]

for sure! Hope it does happen!

[shrikha56]

Same I will totally publish my comic as well!!!

[NDmangaka]

ok ill make sure to let all of you guys know!

[shrikha56]

Thanks!!! So much....

[CommanderMarty]

I'm looking forward to it dude.

[prankishparty_67]

sounds like a great idea.

[mikeampao1]

I do support this! Do you know Medibang and Globalcomix? Those were had heavily Manga style and Traditional style comic only but they weren't that popular like Webtoons that's why It's a bit risky to create a self-publication traditional-comic-style site only despite how insanely popular vertical webtoon comic style nowadays.

Can you accept Left to Right comic but with colors? It has Manga style influence too.

[Hazumirein]

Smackjeeves used to be pretty good for more traditional page-by-page comics, but recently they changed it to just be a Tapas/Webtoon clone (I published a page by page comic there for 10+ years and it's nigh-unreadable now because the site format changed so drastically). Comic Fury is still good for regular comics/manga but isn't all that popular.

Anyway, this doesn't sound like an easy venture but good luck! Hope to see it up and running in the future.

[artemficta]

I've seen a few of these kind of sites pop up in the past but they've been washed away in obscurity. It's a difficult venture for sure to reach an active user point that makes posting there worthwhile.

[375]

That honestly sounds absolutely amazing just because this is my area! I would be down to help out bc I'm a business major and this sounds cool <3

[jensrichard77]

Sound like hard work with no pay.
Who's gonna pay for the promotion of the site?
Who's gonna pay for the server?
Who's gonna moderate trolls and keep spam bots away?

I think that energy could be used better in creating your Manga and promote it here at Tapas.
Remember, Tapas and WT drag A LOT of readers to the site because of the Pro/Premium/Original/Paid work.
And all the readers that are here is way easier to capture than fighting Google to get your site known.

But feel free to prove me wrong.

Edit:
Tapas has something called Community Picks now