The Marketplace

Last updated: 12/8/2021

Introduction

Built from the ground up, the Comic Rebel Marketplace is designed to be a more efficient way for comic readers and creators to buy, sell, read and discover new and classic comic book titles.  The purpose behind creating such a marketplace is to address as many problematic issues with the comic book industry as possible.  This page is dedicated to explaining the problems that we intend to correct in the industry and how we plan to do it.

More Money to Creators

One of our biggest objectives is to fix the profit margin issues for indie comic creators.  After the app stores get their cut, ComiXology takes 50% of whatever is left, leaving you with just 35% of the full price of your digital comic.

We do it much differently. Our percentage depends on whether it's an in-app purchase, or a purchase on our web site. It also depends on what price you set for your book. The point is, we're not greedy. We need to keep the lights on, but it's your work. It should be your money. That's why we strive to give you at least half of the full retail price. If you charge more for your book, you can make up to 86% of your cover price!


How We Calculate Our Cut

Comic Rebel takes 30% of every transaction on digital comic sales.  We believe that creators should get as much money as possible when selling their creations, which is why we offer double what ComiXology offers back to the creator.


Why We Do It This Way

We do this for two reasons. First of all, we are trying to change the industry and make it better for creators. Secondly, it encourages you, the creator, to create and sell your best work and charge more for it. The higher you set your price point, the higher percent of return you get.


How is this going to help the industry?

Comic creators have long waited for a day where they can actually make enough profit to make a living. There are so many expenses to the comic creation process that by the time the creators get paid, it's down to pennies at a time. We believe Comic Rebel is a major step in the right direction for creators finally being able to earn a living doing what they love.

A Better Marketing Strategy

One of the most difficult things for creators to do is to get their comics in front of the right potential readers.  In this day and age, it's crucial to not only be a comic creator, but a business person and entrepreneur as well.  

Whereas we believe that you should always do everything you can to promote your books on and offline, we have some ideas on how we can do our part in helping you get your book in front of your targeted audience.


A Matchmaking Recommendation System

When you see a comic that has a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, what does that really tell you? Nothing.

Instead of a rating system, we have invented more of a "feedback" system where creators are the only ones that can see the results of readers' feedback. By reviewing that feedback, creators will be able to see what the public thinks of individual characteristics of their stories. Readers will be able to rate books by artwork, story, color, dialog and other metrics. Those results will then go into a realtime report so that creators can see where they can improve for the next book.

But wait. How will readers know what other people think of a book before they buy it?

Instead of readers seeing a star rating, they will have the option to tell our search engine what they value most in a comic book. Our system will then use machine learning to recommend books based on their preferences. Those recommendations are based on other users' feedback, so readers can trust that they are getting the recommended books that they are actually looking for.



How is this going to help the industry?

Most readers gravitate toward mainstream comic titles like Batman and Avengers, not only because they are fired up about recent movies, but also because there is security in them. It is difficult for a lot of readers to give a new title a chance. But them doing so is crucial to the success of the indie comic. So, we are helping readers pick what is right for them so they can buy with confidence and minimize buyers' remorse in books that aren't right for them. This new system of trust and confidence in indie comics is going to propel the industry forward.


Creator Spotlight Program (Optional)

Creators will have the option of checking a box for their titles that will enter them into the Creator Spotlight Program.  This program does two things:

  1. It occasionally displays your comic at the top of searches and browse screens so that it stands out among other listings. This insures that your comic will never be lost in the stack of titles from your fellow creators.  
  2. It allows readers to occasionally win a free copy of your comic as a reward for tasks like spending a certain dollar amount, for experimenting with unfamiliar or new titles or for taking the time to rate their purchased titles.

This feature is optional, but very beneficial to creators.  It's an additional way to make the public aware of your comic and also entices readers to spend more money in the marketplace, which is a win/win for everyone.


Transparent Sales Data

It's practically unheard of to get access to a company's sales data these days.  However, this is one of the biggest reasons that comic creators cannot thrive on their own.  We will be releasing all of our sales data to members in The Business Center section of the community.  To learn more about this, click here.


Achievements and Collectibles

Achievements

As part of our ambitious plan to gamify this entire industry, we are allowing readers to earn achievements by taking different actions in the app and on the web site.  Encouraging readers to take certain actions and then rewarding them to do so is a great way to promote new titles and influence the new directions into the industry.

For example, we may decide to reward a reader with a "Dedicated Fan" achievement, which is a badge that is publicly displayed in their profile, when they purchase 3 digital comics that they have never read before.  This makes the reader feel recognized for accomplished something important and encourages them to keep doing it.  This behavior benefits you, the comic creator, by making it fun for readers to give you comic a chance, even though they have never heard of it, before.

Collectibles

Alongside achievements will be "Collectibles", which are like digital trading cards that readers can collect when they earn certain achievements.  These collectibles are images uploaded by comic creators for readers to earn and trade with other readers.  Creators may choose to opt out of creating collectibles artwork for their comic titles, but it's an excellent way to further draw attention to your comic and entice readers into giving your comic a chance.

There will be a limit to how many collectibles a creator can create for each title.  Although the exact amount hasn't been set yet, we are dancing around the limit of 20, which could change at any time.

When a creator creates artwork for a collectible, it's usually of a character, team or characters, place or other single identity within a story.  Applying this concept to X-Men, you might have a separate collectible for Wolverine, Colossus, Cyclops and Professor X.  You might also have one for different locations that the X-men have fought, like one for Genosha, Asteroid M and Muir Island.  All of these would be collectibles that readers can collect and trade.


Multi Level Referral System

To really make a change in this industry, it's going to take all of us.  We want to thank you for referring your comic creator friends by offering you a percentage all of their sales.  For example, if you refer 5 colleagues that all sign up with Comic Rebel and post their digital comic for sale, you'll receive a cut of all of their sales from then on out.

You're probably wondering why we are calling it a "multi-level" referral system.  Well, imagine if your friend refers one of their friends.  You'll make a profit off of them, too.  And what if they refer a friend.  You'll make a profit off of that, too.  In fact, we offer you a profit for referrals that are 5 levels deep.  It's completely in your best interest to refer everyone you know so you can make as much money as possible.

You don't have to wait to do this, either!  Preregister right now!  When you get your welcome email, it will contain a link that you can give to your friends to sign up. When they do, you will get credit for it.  Start building your network before we even go live!


How is this going to help the industry?

The only way we will be able to give companies like Marvel a run for their money is if we all band together. We have to have a voice that is loud enough to shake those companies out of apathy. To do that, we need to build an army. The fastest way to build that army is through referrals. This way, we can all work together toward this common goal.

Platforms

The Mobile App

The first priority on our list of to-do's is to get the Comic Rebel Mobile App up and running. This app is going to enable readers from all over the world to discover your comic, buy, read it and trade collectibles with their friends.

This is what we are working hard to finish and get live right now!


The Web Site

In addition to the mobile app, we're also going to make available a complete shopping experience on our web site that basically does the same thing as the mobile app.  The big difference will be in your profits.  

Since Google and Apple take 30% of all in-app transactions, and there is really nothing we can do to change that part, you will make more money for transactions made on our web site versus the mobile app.  That being said, we are going to create an amazing purchasing and comic book reading experience on our web site so that you can push your fans to make purchases there, if you wish.