Another bit the dust. As First revealed on TCJ, , , , , Hiveworks Comicsan independent web comic publisher, will end its printing and publishing operations to focus on web hosting and advertising web services for web comic websites. Hiveworks Will browse all existing crowdfunding projects, but after that, their Hivemill WebStore will be limited to the on-demand printing service and the sale of products purchased from artists. They will provide cartoonists with longer warehouse services and will shut down their crowdfunding efforts. All rights will be restored to the creator.
The news is a shame because Hiveworks was a thriving business at one point, helping dozens of cartoonists publish online and monetize their works through online advertising and merchandise. They also printed physical versions of webcomics and maintained the idea of supporting creators in a fair, fair way.
Before continuing, full disclosure: beats are 2016-2017 Cooperate with HiveWorks for hosting and advertising servicesso I negotiated a lot with the executive team – Xelette Stillwell and IsaMelançon – Over the years. It’s not always a perfect team-a technician who hates WordPress has caused some irritating joy-but we share the same DIY spirit, so I absolutely appreciate where they come from.
Hiveworks owned Some ambitious plans over the years And published some excellent printed books. In 2015 Boasted over 12 million users in one month. In 2020 Cooperate with Qihai. I haven’t followed all their activities so far, but a month ago Zack Weinersmith’s Excellent Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereals (the largest webcomic on SMBC and Hiveworks) Turn to self-hosting and run your own web store. I don’t know whether this is the reason or the symptoms of Hiveworks shutdown.
I would harm a guess that the main part of the HiveWorks system – ad-supported webcomic releases – cannot be cut because Google has turned off searches in favor of AI-powered results. Meta and Google make almost all the advertising revenue on the web, and the few we fight for the remaining chicken bones know how difficult it is. Content I don’t know about, such as how many large platforms like Webtoon and Tapas stand out from their content. Similarly, more and more people are controlling their crowdfunding.
I’m sure there are more stories about Hiveworks, but now I’m going to say I’m sad they’re at sunset. We need more independent publishers, not fewer.
HiveWorks will be cleared for sale from mid-April to mid-May 31 – any remaining products will be returned to the artist.
According to the statement, “Hiveworks remains committed to helping artists share original, creator-owned web comics with audiences around the world in the way they want and will continue to operate their web services.”
