Sweet Shop brings Steam

Last week saw the launch of Sweet Shop, a new digital comics marketplace looking to fill the void left by Comixology’s demise, bringing massive launch day bundle sales for new users. To celebrate the launch of the platform, Sweet Shop has kicked off with the “Comics are Sweet” sale introducing new users to a “Steam-like” experience and a host of buy-in incentive deals. Sweet Shop is brought to you by Kenny Meyers and the rest of the Sweet team who also launched comics/tech startupsBindings (a digital marketing tool for creators) andFind Your Comic Store (a tool to find physical comic shops). 

Sweet Shop launched with the “Comics are Sweet” sale because founder Kenny Meyers has always wanted there to be a digital comics storefront like Steam, according to this Reddit postpromoting the sale. Steam is a digital video game storefront known for hosting seasonal and themed sales with significant savings. These Sweet Shop launch bundles also put aside a portion of all proceeds towards the Book Industry Charitable (BINC) Foundation. According to an email exchange with Beat Staff, this model of sales was intentionally modeled after Steam. 

ISAAC SWINDLE: Was that [Steam] an intentional model that Sweet emulated?

KENNY MEYERS: 10000000% Steam is the best and we think their model is amazing. Steam + Letterboxd is what we’ve been saying since the beginning.” 

SWINDLE: Will it continue into the future of Sweet Shop with other themed sales or seasonal sales?

MEYERS:1000000000000% we’re already talking Halloween and Christmas. Our poor publishers really came to bat with short notice on launch and sales, so we’re grateful to them.

SWINDLE: I especially like the partnership with BINC, it’s very reminiscent of a Humble Bundle sale as well. Was that another consideration?

MEYERS: I think it’s obvious we thought the charity component was rad. We love the people we’ve met at Humble Bundle, hopefully we can figure out a way to not step on each other’s toes. It’s a rising tide, in our opinions. 

MEYERS:Sweet’s goal is to grow comics so organizations like BINC are incredibly important, especially in the US without socialized medicine. Also, more comic stores need to reach out to BINC in crisis! They tell us there are not enough. 

MEYERS:We’re looking to support more organizations like Heroes Initiatve as well, but we’re comic store kids first, so BINC fit naturally. We thought if we combined BINC with Steam like sales it could go well. More comics for everyone, more money for charities that support making more comics happen.

Meyers’ Reddit post, as well as previous press releases for Sweet Shop, emphasize that the platform has, “taken NO outside capital to get to this point and are not venture-backed.” Previous communications from the company also state that, “No AI or AI translated comics are allowed on the Sweet Shop app.”

In the Reddit post, you can find links to each bundle, as well as a breakdown of what’s included in each one. These include DRM-Lite bundles for both the Hellboy and B.P.R.D. series, the entire Massive-verse or Ignition Press titles DRM-free, or a TMNT with DRM bundle, plus many more.