About Victor

Co-Founder of MangaMagazine.net. Permanent site stalker :)

Free Access to Premium Series Extended on the iPad App

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Victor

We are very grateful for the amazing support the community has shown. Within two weeks, we reached the first 5000 downloads of our iPad app thanks to your support! As promised, we are extending free access to all premium series until August 20th. It is our hope that more people will get to enjoy a different kind of online reading experience!

Search for INKBLAZERS on the App Store, or go here appstore.com/inkblazers

Click here to talk about the iPad app on the community page.

*Commenting and sharing will be included at a later date

**Illustrations will not be supported

About Victor

Co-Founder of MangaMagazine.net. Permanent site stalker :)

Comic Con: Making a Living in Manga

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Victor

I was lucky enough to be invited by Deb Aoki last week to participate on a panel at San Diego Comic Con on “Making a Living in Manga” and it was an absolute blast! It was my first time at San Diego Comic Con and it is amazing to see the work of so many smart, talented, and hard working professionals (not to mention the great cosplayers). It’s difficult to describe, but the energy and types of people at Comic Con are a little different than a large Manga/Anime convention like Fan Expo, Otakon, etc and it is fascinating to just walk around looking at different products and attending panels. One thing the panel reminded me is how small the Manga and Comic world can be at times. I was lucky enough to run into Myung Hee Kim, author of Simon Sues on the same panel!

I wanted to share a few thoughts from the panel and talk about how it relates to MangaMagazine as I think this is a very important topic and something that we as a company work really hard every day to try to achieve for all of you.

Our very own MYth on the front page of the presentation!

One unanimous comment that everybody on the panel spoke about was that making a living as a comic/manga artist is tough and that in order to succeed, an artist must work their butt off to get noticed and above all act as a professional at all times. I won’t dig into this too much as this has been discussed by many artists, publishers, and editors alike. The panels at Comic Con of course continued to hammer this point home.

What has been changing the last few years though and mentioned by many artists and companies is that working for a major publishing house isn’t the only option available to authors and artists anymore, independent publishing is no longer a embarrassing or closet activity you avoid telling people.

Professionalism, consistency, and sincerity are necessary whether you want to publish under a large publishing company or if you want to publish independently. However, with traditional publishers, it is all about the destination; finishing your series and publishing/selling your comic according to a schedule and targeted reader. With independent publishing on the other hand, the key is the journey and the discoveries you make along the way interacting with your readers of what works and what doesn’t. This is why we have invested so much time and effort into the MangaMagazine community and methods for authors and readers to interact.

We believe in independent publishing and opening a path for authors on MangaMagazine to publish and make a living with their comics. In the next few weeks we will be launching both our print on demand service as well as marketplace which will complement our existing efforts with our iPad app and subscription pool to build what we believe is a critical and sustainable means for MangaMagazine authors to continue their independent publishing journey.

We are extremely grateful for all your support as readers and authors and look forward to continuing our journey with all of you!

Sincerely,

Victor

Continue the discussion HERE

Making a living is no laughing matter! But we sure enjoyed ourselves talking about it.

About Victor

Co-Founder of MangaMagazine.net. Permanent site stalker :)

New Inkblazers App for iPad, Premium Content on iPad free for 2 weeks

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Victor

After months of development and polishing our iPad app, we’re now ready to share it with you. We created an iPad app to deliver the quality reading experience you’d expect from us and give you the flexibility to use different platforms to read.

For the first two weeks all content including premium is free! After that, for every 5000 downloads of the app we will keep the premium content free on the app for an additional two weeks.

You can expect us to roll out more updates going forward so let us know what you think about the app and how we can improve it!

- The MangaMagazine Team

Search for INKBLAZERS on the App Store, or go here: appstore.com/inkblazers

Click here to talk about the iPad app on the community page.

Media Contact:

Justin Ordman

[email protected]

(617) 236-0500

MangaMagazine.net Unveils iPad App for Anywhere, Anytime Comics Access

San Francisco, Calif. – July 18, 2013 – MangaMagazine.net, a digital comic publishing platform, today unveiled its InkBlazers iPad app, making the site’s diverse range of comics accessible on-the-go. Whether your interests are action, adventure, romance, fantasy, sci-fi or anything else, the sleek interface packages all MangaMagazine.net original content for easy, swipeable, page-turning functionality in a user-friendly layout that facilitates the discovery, sharing and reading of new comics. Available as a free download through the iTunes store, InkBlazers lets fans access their favorites anytime, while giving the site’s comic creators another platform on which to distribute their content.

“As a huge comics fan since childhood, I’ve always been frustrated by how difficult it was to engage with my favorite authors and discover new and exciting content,” said Victor Chu, MangaMagazine.net CEO and co-founder. “Through MangaMagazine.net and our InkBlazers app, we are shaking up the publishing industry and helping fans explore countless new Web comics and manga from some of the most talented artists on the Web.”

Founded in early 2012, MangaMagazine.net has amassed more than 55,000 registered users, who are made up of both comic fans and artists. The site gives artists full control over the editorial direction and rights to their work, while also giving them the opportunity to monetize their content through revenue sharing and e-commerce. Artists who have demonstrated a certain level of success – as determined by a series of criteria that takes into consideration staff selection, number of fans and other statistics – are promoted to the site’s Feature Tier. The top performing Featured comics are then selected for the Premium Tier where the artists can earn income from a $20,000 monthly pool as well as receive additional advertising, merchandise and marketing support. By tapping into feedback from the vast network of comic fans, artists can learn and adapt via crowdsourcing, helping them move through the tiered system and strengthening the reader bond and their content.

“Since publishing my work on MangaMagazine.net, I have significantly increased my fan base,” said Wave, creator of ERA IBUKI. “With the new iPad app, I can now offer my current fans a medium to read, share my work anytime, from anywhere. The app also provides potential new fans with a platform to easily and quickly search and discover my work.”

InkBlazers offers both free and premium access; those seeking up-to-date access on premium content will be automatically charged $2.99 per month or $11.99 every six months. Free users will have access to any premium content uploaded after a two-month lapse.

Premium content will be available for free to all users in the two weeks following the launch of the app. Every 5,000 downloads will extend the free access by another two weeks. To download the app, click here: http://ow.ly/mtNYj

Additional resources:

About MangaMagazine.net

Founded in early 2012, MangaMagazine.net is an open ecosystem of creators and readers who are passionate about manga and comics. The digital publishing site acts as a platform to support creators and connect them to readers who are looking for unique, eclectic and professional content. With more than 55,000 registered users, MangaMagazine.net takes input from readers to create a curated experience that fosters higher-quality content. For more information, visit www.mangamagazine.net.

# # #

Commenting and sharing will be included at a later date
Illustration is currently not supported
Apple, the Apple logo, iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

About Victor

Co-Founder of MangaMagazine.net. Permanent site stalker :)

Interview: Trouble Next Door by JigokuNeko

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Victor

JigokuNeko is our latest Premium artist and author of the romantic comedy, Trouble Next Door! Check it out in the Premium section!

Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed, JigokuNeko, and welcome to the Premium tier!
Thank you, I’m happy to be here, in the site’s “roof garden” as it is!

So how did you first get interested in comics and manga?
I’d always been reading comics, every since I was a wee bundle of mischief. I think the earliest stuff was some comic adaptation of a Disney movie about a stray kitten and the standard European stuff like Asterix. Around middle school I found a comic book shop importing from the US and proceeded to leave some serious part of my allowance there on indie comics. Then, when I was wrapping up university (that’d be economics, I never took art classes actually) I woke up one day and decided to learn Japanese because I saw a travelogue and found it a very beautiful place and the kanji fascinated me. Of course, most of the people there were into anime and manga. Somebody loaned me Inuyasha and I was so hooked! Then my good ole comic book shop started importing the Tokyopop stuff and more money left my pockets.

Your style is very unique! While there’s shades of the manga style, there’s also obviously some other influences I can’t identify? What influences you the most as an artist?
I guess it’s a cocktail of manga and European-style with a lime slice of American mainstream and a topping of realism? I have no visual preferences, I will like the weirdest things and emulate elements of them until it all becomes so bastardized you can’t tell what in Chtulhu’s name it is! Though, what most inspires me is not images but music. I may like an illustration or photograph but true inspiration and the need to create something comes from hearing a song I really like.

You also have a pretty quirky sense of humour that can be seen in both your comic and some your illustrations. What are some of your favourite comedies?
I don’t actually like comedies per se, go figure! For me humor must be couched between slices of something else, like adventure. For example I love the humor in (the most amazing show ever!) Firefly, the way the differences between characters create the jokes. And the Harry Potter books had some laugh-out-loud burn moments Rowling doesn’t get enough credit for. As for romcoms, which you’d expect me to like since I make them, I actually haven’t seen a Hollywood-made one that I can even tolerate to watch again. I find them grossly unfunny and promoting totally wrong stereotypes for women…and just as often men. Virtually the only romcom I liked was “Bridget Jones’ diary” but hey, that was heavily based on Pride and Prejudice so it sorta counts.

Let’s talk a little bit about your series, Trouble Next Door; Can you tell us where you came up with the idea?

Er, well, actually, I was listening to an AKB48 song (don’t judge my taste in music, I have more horrifying things in my playlists!) and I had this image of a bouncy, happy girl who leaped over steps two at a time because she was in a hurry to get somewhere. I found I could make her an interesting character and started building everybody and everything else around her. Aaaaand, that was Ilona, named after an actress in a Polish sitcom my parents were watching fanatically at the time.

Have you ever had trouble with any of your neighbours in the past? Are any of the interactions in Trouble Next Door influenced by your own experiences?
I’ve been at odds with the neighbors quite a few times though nothing as cute as what goes on in the comic. Mostly it’s embezzlement of the building funds here, but hey, that’s the national pastime. And another time I duct-taped a “Do not park in my spot again” note to one of the asshats’ Benz who was all “too much fuss to park in my own spot”. And when I say taped, I mean taped all around the window. I must have left half my tape on it. But nobody ever parked in my spot again.

The main character of Trouble Next Door, Ilona is training to be a vet. Is there any particular reason you chose this profession? Do you have a love for animals yourself?
Would you believe that was tacked on with me having already drawn several pages? The script I had then was open to any type of student and I was having trouble deciding. I had to resort to googling lists of professions and at one time Ilona almost became a librarian. But yeah, I do love animals. In fact that’s also my people-filter: I don’t want anything to do with people who treat animals badly.

I see that you have two other series, Love Song and 9Lives, can you tell us a little bit about those series?
Well, Lovesong had its web run between 2010 and 2011 (so I’m only uploading revamped pages, don’t go thinking I can crank out so much!) and it’s another romcom although it’s more of a soapopera than slice-of-life. There are a lot of similarities in character-design, themes and tropes between this and TND. Basically every element I enjoy remains pretty much the same in every comic I do and only the story changes. On the other hand, 9Lives is a bit of an odd fruit. It’s a full-color oriental fantasy heavily influenced by my sightseeing during the time I spent as an intern in Istanbul, Turkey. In my free time I’d go visit all the palaces, bazaars and mosques and the aesthetic of their history fascinated me. Well, that and a trip I took to Egypt way before the riots and political unrest. I remember standing in the fringes of the desert and thinking “whoa, that’s a lot of sand to get lost in!”.

Do you have any future projects that you’re working on for your readers get excited about?
I’m heavily leaning towards a scifi adventure in the spirit of Firefly (have I mentioned this is my all-time favourite show? Have I?) with a band of outlaws fleeing the corrupted law across the planets. I know it sounds like so many shows and anime and games out there but I love that setup. Anyway, my stories rely heavily on character charm to get them going and less on action so that will be the focus here as well. I’ve done fantasy comics before but never scifi and I want to try my hand at it. I’m sorta curious to see how it goes since I plan for it to be more background-heavy as well as more heavily inked.

Well thank you for taking the time to answer our questions and once again congratulations on your well-deserved promotion!
Thank you very much! *enjoys sorbet at the roof garden*

Discuss the interview here!

Guest: JigokuNeko

About Victor

Co-Founder of MangaMagazine.net. Permanent site stalker :)

More great press coverage: Wired.com and Toonbarn!

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Victor

What a great week! Another two great articles about us were posted in the last few days! Check out these articles if you get a chance and let us know what you think!

Crowdsourcing: Why Publishers Should Rethink Content Acquisition

Toonbarn Feature: Interview with MangaMagazine.net’s Victor Chu

You can participate in the discussion here: http://www.mangamagazine.net/blogs/More-press-coverage-Wired-and-Toonbarn/detail-page/4814

About Victor

Co-Founder of MangaMagazine.net. Permanent site stalker :)

New Author Promotions! (July)

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Victor

Hope you’ve had a good June, let’s start off July with some awesome new promotions!

Premium Promotion

Trouble Next Door by JigokuNeko

Prepare to laugh with our brand new premium series, Trouble Next Door!

Summary: Ilona hates her new neighbor! Sure he might be a tall, athletic, motorcycle-riding hot model kind of a guy but he’s snarky and rude. Just like the jocks in school that used to make fun of Ilona because she was a nerdy tomboy girl. And did he say something about Ilona’s panties?!

This means war! Ilona wants him gone, right now! Because he’s a horrible person…but wait, he actually has a kind side? …and how come he’s always helping her out when she’s in a pinch? Could she have been wrong about him?

About Victor

Co-Founder of MangaMagazine.net. Permanent site stalker :)

Press coverage: Techie.com and Boston Magazine

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Victor

A very important part of building out MangaMagazine is interacting with the press and helping get coverage about our site so more people know about us.

The last few weeks were amazing as I was able to speak to the amazing folks at Techie.com and Bostonmagazine.com to share with them a little bit about what we are trying to do and achieve. I hope you enjoy these articles as much as it was for me speaking with them! Hopefully this is the first of many more to come! You can expect some other big announcements soon as we have lots of exciting things in the works!

Manga Magazine takes a crowdsourced approach to publishing

Harvard Alum Plans on ‘Disrupting’ the Comic Book Publishing World

Victor

About Victor

Co-Founder of MangaMagazine.net. Permanent site stalker :)

New Author Promotions (June)

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Victor

Summertime is upon us, so let’s welcome our brand new promotions!

Premium Promotions

Urban Reality by JonLock

Have you heard the story of Urban Reality? Well it’s one of our new Premium series!

Summary: Takes place in the modern era, where urban legends are more than real to Detective Gretchen Adler, who was born with ability to see things that no normal humans can. With her unique gift, she does her best to help people who have been abandoned by the justice system. Of course, she doesn’t realize that the more and more she encounters these strange cases, the more she’s letting herself sink into the depths of the City of Urban Myths.

About Victor

Co-Founder of MangaMagazine.net. Permanent site stalker :)

The Premium Author, De-Mystified

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Victor

Summary:

At MangaMagazine, we do our best to support independent comic and manga authors. That’s why we created MangaMagazine’s Premium Tier.

Purpose

The idea behind the Premium Tier is to create an environment where serious creators can really focus on doing what they love to do and make money doing it. Everything on our website, from our handy Dashboard to our online library is made with this in mind. We know that there are lots of creators out there who want to tell their stories using manga or comics, but struggle doing it on their own.

Benefits

There are a lot of great reasons to work with us. Here are just a few:

1.) We handle the financial side:

We pay our artists every month with a guaranteed minimum stipend plus a percentage of our $20,000 pool! No more worrying about how much your ad space is selling for on Google adwords or trying to sell merchandise through PayPal. We take care of the messy accounting, and you get a nice payment every month. It doesn’t get much easier than that!

2.) We’ll Market For you

Let us handle your advertising! We’ve got a team of seasoned experts who understand the best way to place your ads. Don’t fret over which CTR ratio is higher or what a CPM or CTC is. Leave those acronyms to us.

3.) Advertising matching

We believe the success of each author helps our site grow. So, for every dollar a premium author puts towards Google adwords advertising their series each month, we match fifty cents up to $400. So if an author chooses to spend $400 in advertising, we match an additional $200. We take care of all the details for preparing and tracking your ads, you get a clean report showing your results at the end of the month.

4.) No sneaky contracts

Unlike many comic publishers, we don’t make our Premium Authors sign any contracts. Our authors are free to post their comic wherever they like! This is directly from our terms of use: “The above licenses granted by you in Content you submit to the Service terminate within 30 days after you remove or delete your content from the the site.”

5.) Author-owned copyrights

When you join MangaMagazine, you maintain all the rights to your work! This means that if you decide to take their comic off of our site, we retain no rights to publish, advertise, or use any of your work without your consent. The author’s rights belong to the author, and we go out of our way to make sure they always will.

How it Works

Each Premium Author is expected to produces at least 15 pages of content per month (ads, filler illustrations, and copyright pages are not counted in this total).
Each Premium Author receives a percentage of the $20,000 pool based on the paid traffic they bring to the site each month. Paid traffic is calculated the number of page views that month by subscribers.
Each Premium Author is paid a minimum stipend of $150 as long as the minimum page limit is achieved.
The payment cycle resets at the end of each month, so if the page limit requirements are not met, the Premium Author will not receive any payment for that month.

Requirements

There are a few requirements that need to be met before an author gets accepted into the Premium Tier.

You have to be at least 18 years of age to qualify.
You must have a manga or comic with at least three chapters worth of high quality content. In the case of a new series, you are expected to provide evidence that you
have created a regularly updated series in the past that meets this qualification.
We’re looking for professional-quality comics, so consistency in pages is needed.

Please visit the Author Levels section of our FAQ if you have any question or feel free to send us a question through our Contact Us form. You can also read our site Terms of Use to double check our content rights guarantee.

About Victor

Co-Founder of MangaMagazine.net. Permanent site stalker :)

Comic Veggies: by #Manga-Apps and MangaMagazine.net

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Victor

We here at #Manga-Apps and MangaMagazine.net are excited to bring to you Comic Veggies! A series of fun activities to help you improve your skills as we go into the new year. Every few weeks we will post a new activity for you to complete and share with us. At the end of each two week period, the #Manga-Apps and MangaMagazine.net staff will review and select a representative sample of work and provide expert feedback on areas of improvement. We believe each of these activities you participate in will help improve your skills critical to drawing a great manga!

Here is the first activity: Draw a face from three different angles

One of the most challenging things to draw is a face due to the amount of detail necessary to bring the face to life. Maintaining consistency across three different angles adds additional difficulty

How do I participate?

Draw a face from three different angles using the template below. A great place to start for tutorials and guidance is: http://manga-apps.deviantart.com/gallery/24266193
Create an account on Mangamagazine.net
Upload your image as an illustration to the site with the title “Comic Veggie: Faces”

Template:

Right click to save the image to your computer.

When does this activity start and finish? This activity starts on January 2^nd and ends on January 16^th!

We look forward to seeing your work!

The Manga-Apps and MangaMagazine team

About Victor

Co-Founder of MangaMagazine.net. Permanent site stalker :)

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