What are your opinions on hiveworks?

[Tweekling]

Thank you so much for the info. I'm afraid of applying because I am afraid of losing readers. I am afraid that if I somehow get accepted to Hiveworks, I'll end up losing my readers and gaining nothing. Do you think this is the case?

[Zanreo]

In my case... it doesn't seem like it's for me. I don't like how I can't keep any mirrors on other hosting sites - I understand WHY, but for me, the communities in places like Comicfury is something I feel a strong connection to and wouldn't feel okay dropping out of. I mean, I could still hang around on the forums and just give my readers a note I moved but still... eh... I would feel kinda bad about it. Getting more readers would be great and I expect most people who liked my comic would just follow me to the new place, but still...
It also seems slightly more "career"-based, and I'm really just making comics as a hobby, not aiming to make money off my comics (as in, I wouldn't mind if I did get some extra cash from it of course, but comics aren't my first choice for career - games are - so making my comics a business isn't a priority at all) And somehow I imagine that might feel like more... pressure? idk
Literally the only thing it could do for me personally is getting me more readers and a bigger fanbase and if that's not even a guarantee... then there's a not a lot of point in it for me

Also seeing how they don't allow fan-comics (which my comic might arguably count as depending on who you're asking)* and seem to require a "schedule" update (since even if I could keep a "same day each week" for regular one-shot pages it would be different for the multipage stories just by necessity) it probably wouldn't be a good fit anyway

For people who are more serious about working with comics and doesn't mind not posting other places, it seems pretty good though

*as in, I'm in kind of a weird position regarding this - it's not a "fancomic" in the traditional sense, taking place in an existing world with existing characters (and the occasional fancharacters) from another series, but it's still not completely "original" - the characters themselves might be my original creations, but they're based on existing game companies, the stories/jokes are mostly based on real events, and I basically consider it "an affectionate parody of the game industry".

[aspiderjonny]

I'm trying to work on my submission pdf for HiveWorks (Characters designs taking a long time) along with comic pages.I'd like to get in to have a better chance at getting a large fan base , but I guess I won't be holding my breath.

If it doesn't work out I guess I could try SpiderForest. Thanks @CyndiFoster for the link.

[nelmathyria]

Thanks so much for sharing all this info! It's really great to have some specific details from someone on the inside. That's awesome that you've had such a good experience with hiveworks and on the off chance I get accepted it sounds like they'd be really beneficial to me too.

[Alli]

Readers are not exclusive to Tapastic. If they want to keep up with your comic, they will follow you wherever you go as long as your site functions.

[Anthea]

Do what's best for you. Like you're doing really well, fans wise so HW just might not be for you. They open submitions every may and June now so it's not like you couldnt ever try ever.

[Anthea]

I sent my submission yesterday. Both happy and super nervous. Even if it's a no, I'm still glad I put myself put there and tried.

[elixiadragmire]

Interesting facts!
I've submitted bit I'm not holding my breath XD
Very cool of Isa to be your editor, she gave me some cool tips last year when I asked for a crit after applications closed. I'm wondering who gets in this year, it's like watching the Oscar's red carpet

[Tweekling]

I went ahead and applied because so many people said it was a good idea so. I tried. The thing is I really don't expect to be accepted so I'm not too worried, I just felt like I had to. Might as well, I think it's the next step up for comic making.

[Gatsumann]

So I planned on joining this site anyway, but did so just to replay to this post. Hiveworks, not only seems immensely unprofessional, but their prices are absurd for advertising. Completely. I noticed it was mentioned we could advertise with them, that brings me to my central point.

They were never cheap but they used to be more reasonable. There was a minimum $250 up front buy in, it is now a $1000 minimum! Which got you 250,000 impressions (at the current rate of 1000 per $2, it now only gets you 500K impressions, despite the increased price). That's an incredible double of pricing and halving of impressions given. So it's not simply an increase to the minimum one has to spend but gets the same equivalent impressions, but they cut it in half. Highway robbery.

It's terrible for those of us with comics that are very compatible with what is in their collective already and would benefit from exposure to their readers. The original pricing was already steep, but now it's absurd. I was willing to shell out 250 minimum, MAYBE even 500, but 1000$ minimum buy is absolutely ludicrous.

[nerosmoke]

I think hiveworks is a lot better then Taptastic with the pick of webcomic being more or less the best. so you don't have to waist time on comics that are not. it is a much needed quality bar for the webcomics community.

[nerosmoke]

You comic is not bad. you would likely get on to some other hive sites.

[GoldenPlume]

According to their website, their pricing is $2 CPM which is actually below average for many online advertisers. That said the cost is prohibitive when you consider what most want to advertise there . . . more webcomics. Since the average click thru rate is around 1:1000, essentially you will be paying $2 per reader of your webcomic. If you are selling a car for $25,000 then paying $2 a click is reasonable, if you are giving away your webcomic, paying $2 a click makes little financial sense.

DeviantArt changed their advertising and is doing $1 CPM. Half the cost, more reach, similar crowd.

[gateofselidor]

I wonder if they're even aiming at other webcomics here. Even for a comic with a successful Patreon or other form of income, $1000 is a huge amount of money for an indie creator who isn't charging for their content. Maybe they've found other, more lucrative sources of ad money and don't need to rely on webcomic creators.

[KrispyKremeBits]

I applied last time there submissions were open, I didn't get in lol. But! It was a very good experience and my first time applying for anything art wise so it was kinda fun. Honestly I like Hiveworks, the people that run it are super nice and some of the comics they got on there are my favorite, others not so much. I do like the variety of different art styles and stories they having going on, just wish they would tell us why they don't remove or notify us when ones stop updating, like BBR. But I guess they leave it up to the artist. Always apply when they open there submissions, even if you don't get in, just keep on trying and improving!

[nelmathyria]

I agree! It never hurts to apply. I applied too and didn't get in either, but creating my pitch was a good experience and forced me to write a concise summary of my story, which I would advise any comic artist to do.

[Alli]

Hello! I'm the one who mentioned buying ad space there earlier.

They have an option for those who have a budget lower than $250. There is a video tutorial on how to do so on their site. That being said, the entire point of advertising is to get a positive return on investment so if you don't think you could do better than breaking even then I wouldn't bother. Hiveworks is an excellent place to reach a whole lot of people within the niche of webcomic readers who are more likely to check out your comic than hundreds of thousands of people on a non-comic-related site that might charge less. That was the point of my recommendation.

If they see fit to charge more for their adspace I am certainly in no place to complain as I benefit directly from it. Like I said, they only take their cut after I start making $1000 a month. The more they charge for ads the more their creators are being paid.

Be advised, do not spend money on ads unless you have a fair amount of content ready and waiting.

[JessJackdaw]

@Alli Thanks for all your insider information, Alli! I'm kind of curious, Hiveworks holds rights over the webcomic itself, but what if you choose to do other things with your intellectual property? For example if you want to post breakdowns or animations on Youtube, do you have to get permission from Hiveworks if it involves the comic in any way?

Also, if you need extra prints or merchandise for a con do you have to go through Hiveworks to make said merchandise?

Sorry just wondering how far the contract actually extends. I would be rather said if I had to get permission for every little thing I did involving the comic.

[haleymewsome]

They rejected Unfamiliar right before I started posting it here. ;w; Tapastic has my undying loyalty now haha. Not many sites give you total freedom -and- a cut of the ad rev. Plus, I feel like the interface here is so much more appealing for a casual reader? Like, having an account, being able to favorite things and talk to the creators on their comic and on their wall is such a good system, especially when a series is ongoing. Hive is only really good for binge reading comics imo, it doesn't encourage you to come back again and again each day in the same way Tap does.

[Gatsumann]

Again, I already explained why their pricing is utterly abusive and absurd previously in financial terms....The method by which they want you to advertise via google is horrid and impractical, including arbitrarily guessing where to "cap" your impressions (which is why so few if any other places use the same method for lower budget marketing campaigns). It's incredibly unprofessional, archaic, and impractical. I was doing content marketing and advertising and all sorts of related things for years as a side business. But if you want/need to advertise on comics of the like which they have gobbled up and put behind an obscene pay wall, well you just gotta suck it up right? Ridiculous. I have watched their video many many times.

What Hiveworks charges is highway robbery and they know it. It was already very expensive, but when there was a minimum buy of 250 which had vastly more impressions, it was at least still feasible. Now they quadruple the STARTING minimum price, and give you far less impressions despite that huge minimum buy in, reducing the impressions by at least half, for your trouble? You think that's a positive? Well the people looking to buy adspace on a regular basis sure don't. And I must say, when I look at most of the ads being shown most often, it is google adsense ads, not the premium stuff they are now asking an utterly insane 1 grand for, so clearly people must not be buying as often, especially given that unrealistic bump in cost, big shocker.

They lure in lots of popular longform comics, because they have some false sense of quality about them, and then charge out the nose for advertising, well who is buying then? Certainly not all those who could and would benefit most, that's for sure. There are only so many places to advertise a comic, especially one of a similar nature to those on hiveworks, so it kinda forces those of us who need to build our readership to pay blackmail prices, which is pretty uncool. It's not a simple matter of "oh well, gee whiz golly, guess I will go elsewhere".