Webcomics.com goes subscription-only.

First of all, many apologies for the radio silence over the past... good grief, months. I made a fundamental error of piling too much stuff on my plate at once, and got pretty burned out as a result - withdrew from the webcomic community for a while, just kept my head down and focused on making my own comic, didn't have much interaction with others. Now, though, it's a new year (Happy New Year by the way), and I'm starting afresh. I'm optimistic about 2010.

Now, on to the news of the day: as you might've heard from Twitter or other webcomics blogs, Webcomics.com is moving to a subscription model - a move that's surprised quite a few people, it seems. For $30 per year, subscribers will be able to access the articles and forums that have, until this point, been available for free.

On the one hand I can understand why the Halfpixel crew have taken this step - they're small-businessmen, and if they're going to spend time on something they need to ensure that it will be worth their while. Writing articles takes time that they could be spending on stuff that'd actually make money. If they're going to continue writing articles, they need to find a way to make those articles earn money. Charging a subscription to access those articles is one way to do it.

However, I'm not sure it's the right way to do it.

Before I go further I should probably issue a few caveats:

I've not been a regular visitor of Webcomics.com for a while now - I initially signed up based on the forums, as I found the opportunity to network and talk shop with other webcomic creators to be valuable. The front-page articles didn't really catch my interest. Then the site had hosting issues, fell over for a while, and when it relaunched on new hosting the forums were MIA. This removed my main reason to visit the site, so I stopped. After a while, hankering for that sense of community, I set up We Make Webcomics as an alternative venue for the webcomic community. As luck would have it the Webcomics.com forums returned very soon after that, thus rendering my own efforts somewhat redundant. The format of the rebooted Webcomics.com forums didn't appeal to me - it seemed pretty impersonal and sterile compared to other forums - so I didn't return, and shifted my attention to Twitter instead.

Also: I understand that the manner in which Halfpixel run their business is totally their prerogative. I'll be interested to see how the subscription model works out, and I'm sure many other people are as well. Monetising online content is a hot topic at the moment, especially with print media striving to find a way to survive and prosper into the 21st century. As soon as someone finds a tactic that works you can be sure that there'll be an avalanche of people looking to emulate their success. May the best business model win.

That disclaimer out of the way, here's why I'm not convinced that Webcomics.com's new approach will work:

First of all, a subscription wall is a barrier to newcomers. Prospective subscribers are being asked to pay money on the assurance that the content provided will be worth the price. It might be easier to convince long-time readers of Webcomics.com to pay for the content as they know more-or-less what to expect, but for those who're new to the site it's likely to be a lot harder - especially since the site's archives are behind the wall too, so it's not even possible to peruse past content to get an idea of what they're buying.

"Here is a box with Good Stuff inside. You can buy this box, but you can't see what's inside it until you've paid. Trust me, though, you'll like it."

Not very convincing regardless of who's saying it. In fact, the subject is touched on briefly in the sidebar on micropayments on p.122 of How To Make Webcomics: "They [the readers] can't access the archives without a subscription, but won't want a subscription until they've accessed the archives."

Admittedly that's talking about the webcomic business model, but I believe it applies to a lot of (if not most) online content.

It doesn't matter how amazing your content is or how reasonable the subscription fee - if potential subscribers can't see how amazing it is before paying, they're not going to risk their money.

No one's going to hand over their hard-earned cash for something sight-unseen, especially if comparable content is available elsewhere for free.

And that's also part of the problem - comparable content is available elsewhere. Halfpixel were certainly trailblazers a couple of years ago, sharing their advice and experience with the aspiring novices and building a sense of community among webcomic creators. But as 2010 dawns there are many more resources for webcomic creators than there were when Webcomics.com (or the Webcomics Weekly podcast) started up - and this erodes the Halfpixel crew's position as authoritative voices on the subject. The community to which they’re catering has come alive and started generated its own content as people connect with one another to share tips and compare notes. There are now plenty of articles, blogs, books and podcasts by webcomic creators for webcomic creators which can be accessed without having to pay a subscription fee.

If the subscription model is going to work, Webcomics.com needs to offer content of a standard that isn't available for free elsewhere, and provide a way for potential subscribers to sample this content before paying for it. There needs to be visible assurance that it will be worth their money.

As long as Webcomics.com keep all of their content behind the subscription wall, that assurance is not available.