The Reader Identity Problem
As in the previous entry, let it be known readers are belittled by corporations who label you “consumer” and think of you as cattle. Where they wish for you to have little thought in consuming stories manufactured to be popular and profitable. Macaw House however sees the reader for who they really are, a person capable of critically validating the stories presented to them. This platform is built by artists for artists, but artists don’t create for each other, they create for the reader. If artists define what is right for their labor, then it is you who define the legitimacy of their craft.
Other platforms failed you in hosting stories without the fear they’ll go on indefinite hiatus due to near impossible workload demands for the creator. To add other problems readers face: Addictive freemium phantom coin models, invasive advertising, burial of stories, belittlement labeling, and lack of a community. An environment like this only benefits those who seek short term profit gains. Aiming for profit over sustainability forces the individual to be seen as nothing more than a number with a wallet to constantly harvest, not a person looking for great stories to read.
Macaw House however will not harvest you, enforce invasive algorithms, and create a platform that isn’t beneficial to readers or creators alike. Instead this platform will support a community of story loving individuals who’ll have access to a well-crafted library of them. Where participation is encouraged, and hard work is rewarded. Everyone involved can feel belonged in this environment. A platform of a community culture is possible, below are the stages on how we can achieve that goal.
Stage 1 – Foundation and Trust
Starting the Snowball Effect
A community and platform cannot form immediately. Readers and creators need a reason to come here. If there are no stories, readers will not come. If there are no readers, creators will not publish. Since I am the only creator, I must solely establish the culture of this platform. A place of curated works, of quality over quantity. Every story I write must mean something other than surface level. I’d like them to be intuitive, constructive, humanitarian in nature that openly discusses the human condition. Where these stories leave you questioning your opinions and feeling empowered after reading them.
This is the stage of promise, a promise that the architect of this platform will deliver in producing self published works and kickstart the platform into being. Now is the time to experiment, see what works, what brings people to the platform. Earning trust is crucial.
The Reader/Creator Dilemma
After the short stories, the first ongoing series will be published sometime later. This title needs to captivate you. You may wonder, “This site is for other artists too right? Why not allow them to published yet instead of solely relying on your works to populate the catalogue?” Again it’s not about allowing others to join, but the fact others wont join until theres proof this site is able to attract readers. Artists create works for an audience. If an audience doesn’t exist, why bother creating works? On the other hand, readers will not come until theres works published here, and wont stay until theres proof the catalogue will continuously be updated. It is my job to start the snowball effect.
When a reader base is present, it is then other creators would be incentivized to publish. Not that I expect creators to join in this stage, but I wouldn’t be surpised if they did. If some do, only a few can be hosted at this stage, to prevent the supply and demand problems on other sites. For every creator, there should be around 1000-5000 readers for a healthy ratio. Not everyone can join immediately, even if they align with the culture of this site.
Allowing any creator to join anyways is exactly what causes the dillution of art, vision, community, culture on other platforms and creates the degenerative catalogues. When you are constructing a building, you do not grab anyone around to build it. No. You need people who know how to keep the building standing and durable. Who knows how to make the facade aesthetically pleasing, the floor plan not confusing. If I allow any creator on this site in the beginning they would not understand the ideology and ruin it. The building will fall. In order for this platform to come into being and not crumble, a culture of curated works and being strict on what gets published to make sure it aligns with the ideology of the site is a must.
Stage 2 – Monetization: Valuing What You Enjoy
Monetization Models
This is arguably the most important stage. The final trial to know if this site has what it takes to become a platform. There are two ways the stories would be monetized.
- Pay per digital title where you’ll have access to individually purchased works (Profit goes to the individual creator).
- Subscription where you’ll have access to all titles on the platform (Profits are split between all full-time creators)
These models will replace the addictive phantom currency models which does not benefit either reader or creator. This gives everyone involved more options that suit them according to how they want to monetize.
The Monetization Question
Creative works being free devalues creators’ labor. For full-time creators, monthly payments for monthly updates economically liberates them. Meaning they can have more time to create the stories you enjoy without the unnecessary financial stress.
We must understand a paywall does not equate to inaccessibility. Paying doesn’t gatekeep you, it improves your experience. You fund a platform dedicated to providing you valuable art, instead of funding a platform for the business executives end goal. On here you do not support creators with the optional donation/patreon charity cause, or with monetarily ineffectual likes and comments. You support them by participating, by being an active member of the platform and community.
Free works encourages indifference and underappreciation for both readers and artists. Monetarily valuing works however is proof the reader validates the artists labor, which in turn encourage said artist to create the best works possible for the reader, further strengthening the community in all.
But lets know this, many short stories and all first chapters of a series on here will still be free to read, a sample if you will. Artists need the support yes, but readers need to know why they should give that support.
And to address this again, ads are not a viable option. They are an invasive tool to extract information from you, and pays creators, if they’re lucky, a sandwich for the month.
Commerce
If this phase proves this site can handle monetization, then the next step builds upon that. Some may think introducing a shop this early is inappropriate, I think not. This phase begins when the first physical volume of the ongoing series is published.
Should I only have the books avaliable on Amazon and not on the platform where the story calls home? No, this hinders both you and the artist and I’ll explain why. Amazon doesn’t play nice with creators, they take more revenue from them than resonable. The Amazon model forces creators to sell their books more than double the printing cost to make any substantial revenue. There are ways to avoid this however.
Using Amazon, creators can sell the book on Macaw House, and cut the price of the book. For example, a 100 paged B&W book would need to be priced 9.99 USD in order to make any substantial royalties. On this site however, that same book could be discounted at 7.99 USD, and yet the artist would make more royalties. Another example, a 400 paged full color collector edition hardcover would cost the reader 79.99 USD on Amazon. Yet that same book could only cost 49.99 USD on Macaw House. The buyer saves 30 dollars. If someone wanted to buy a whole series of full colored collector editions, instead of paying 400 USD for 5 books, they could pay 250 USD on Macaw House instead, saving 150 USD. Do you see why a shop is appropriate now?
Books would be the main product, but not the only one. Other products would be available on the store. T-shirts, hoodies, hats, shoes, mugs, metal prints, paintings, mouse pads, phone cases, even dog collars. The philosophy of products on the site is the same as the stories, quality products that are affordable. Meaning just like quality checks of stories, any product wouldn’t just appear on the store.
Stage 3 – Growth Without Mediocrity
From a Platform of Few Creators, to One of Many Creators
This is the stage that makes Macaw House a true platform. By now the culture I enforced would have been cemented. The handpicked hobbyist creators who published before would had reflected and strengthened that culture. Readers would have grown in numbers and the site would finally have enough funds to support professional creators. If there are 10k readers at this point, around 10 creators (both hobbyists and professionals) would be present for the optimal healthy reader/creator ratio. The ratio is necessary, but it can create a stale environment if not handled well.
Therefore, after the first handpicked creators publish their series, anyone will be able to pitch their story ideas on the website. The audience, who now understands the culture, can go and explore these ideas and concepts posted by others to see if they’re interesting. With a large enough positive feedback, these ideas can turn into published series. If you’re a hobbyist wanting to show your work and make side income, you can pitch. If your aim is to be a full-time creator and live off your works, you can pitch.
Of course the already established full-time creators have the final say in who will get published. Their decision however largely depends on what you, the audience, would want to see get published. Remember it is you who validates the artists work, if they succeeded in producing something that speaks to you. The audience is who legitimizes the craft of the creator, and this site will never forget that. Your legitimization would be the true judgement of who deserves to be published. This can only work if more readers join the community. You must spread the word of this site, recommend your friends the stories on this platform, inform others this place exists. The more people come, the more creators can join. Meaning 10, 100s, possibly 1000s of curated quality titles in multitudes of genres around the world could be published without abandoning the ideology of the platform, so long the reader population grows.
The Stages Are Complete
With those stages being complete, the promise I gave you would come into being and fruition. That you the reader would be treated with dignity, how your efforts for supporting your favorite creators wouldn’t dissolve into a void. How everyone in this community would be treated not as a consumer who lives on a farm of exploitation, but as the person of which they are. Someone capable of much more than the powers that be deny. Every decision I make for this platform, I do so for the interests of those who wish to contribute on here, because they receive little to no rewards of what they contribute elsewhere.
What Can You Do Now?
The honest answer here is if you want change, you must actively participated in building this platform and other platforms who are working on challenging the flaws of this industry. You cannot ask for a community to form for your benefit, without being part of said community in the first place. Make no mistake in believing a platform is what creates a community because it is you, the reader, who creates it. Theres already an audience for comics, but other sites don’t provide the structure for them to truly express themselves. What we can build is an outlet, a place for that community to call home. Your interests in stories alone are the foundation of said community. The foundation is already there, but it is up to you to decide if you’re willing to allow your interests/passions to be used against you, or to be used in favor of you.