Satanic Hell - a digital comic book about a metal band

[Grigoris]

Satanic Hell #1 is coming June 23. I am self-publishing the seven issue series under Zeno Telos Press through Graphicly and the platforms they distribute on (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Apple, Android). They're supposed to be adding four more platforms this month. I'll keep people informed with how the experience goes. Each issue will be $0.99 and come out every six weeks. You can find it on SatanicHell.com.

The only issue I had was the ISBN. Going through Bowker is unnecessarily expensive and Graphicly currently charges $75 for one. At some point, the Bowker monopoly must end and the prices should go down in order to serve the new world of self-publishing. Satanic Hell will also be available on DriveThruComics, which doesn't require an ISBN.

The Story: Broke and directionless, the three members of the industrial metal band Satanic Hell arrive in Texas for a chance tour set up by a mysterious promoter named Sam. Death Priest, Dante, and Exodus quickly find trouble in the bizarre world of Texas, now an authoritarian Christian state controlled by a council of religious fanatics.

Here's the cover for the first issue:

[Max Vaehling]

Best of luck with your comic! Was it hard to get into graphic.ly? Because I'm thinking of going a route like that with my ever-upcoming Conny Van Ehlsing book.

Do you need the ISBN for the platforms you're running the comic on, or is it just a Thing You Wanted? Because in small press, it can be wiser to spare the expense until you really need it (TPB, Amazon, other large distribution channels).

[Grigoris]

Originally Posted by Max Vaehling

Best of luck with your comic! Was it hard to get into graphic.ly? Because I'm thinking of going a route like that with my ever-upcoming Conny Van Ehlsing book.

Do you need the ISBN for the platforms you're running the comic on, or is it just a Thing You Wanted? Because in small press, it can be wiser to spare the expense until you really need it (TPB, Amazon, other large distribution channels).

Thanks Max. Graphicly is easy to use and the staff are really helpful. You can publish on Graphicly's platform for free and receive 70% of sales. It costs $150 to distribute across all the platforms but that includes the publishing costs for Apple (around $75 I believe) and you get 100% of sales through Graphicly. It also tracks all your sales from one area (a feature I haven't seen yet). This service saves a ton of time uploading and tracking multiple platforms. An ISBN is required by Graphicly because at least some of the platforms do require it. I did email Micah, the CEO, about lowering the cost of their ISBNs and he said he'd look into it. We'll see what happens. I agree though that its best to avoid costs if you don't need it. Micah also has mentioned that they are looking into distributing regular books as well (a la Smashwords). Then authors could manage comic books and novels from the same place.

[Max Vaehling]

Thanks for the info. I'll look into it as soon as I get around to making the book. I do like the idea of one platform handling all the outlets, especially since I'm a foreigner and some of them have more complicated ways of dealing with taxes than others. (Not sure about theirs, but I'll look that up when the time comes.) Not so sure about buying an ISBN for every issue of an ongoing book, though, especially considering it's very small-press.

[Grigoris]

Satanic Hell #1 is live! It's up on Graphicly, DriveThruComics, Kindle, and Apple iBookstore. Nook, Google Books, and Kobo are still processing and should be up soon. Graphicly has been great to use so far. The first issue of the seven issue saga is $0.99 and is available from anywhere in the world. Initial reviews are positive and can be seen on the site. Would love to hear what people think.

You can get it through SatanicHell.com or see a preview here.

I could not get the Graphicly widget to work, so here's the first page:

[Grigoris]

The second issue of Satanic Hell is out! Its $0.99 and the first issue is now free, available on iTunes, Kindle, Graphicly, and as a PDF or CBZ (from DriveThruComics). Issue 2 follows the band as they explore more of the Texas dystopia and we find out more about their background. If you check them out, let me know what you think.

Issue #2 will be out on Kindle Fire soon, but is available on the other platforms. Kindle takes a long time I am finding out. To add a book or change prices on Kindle (at least through Graphicly) takes anywhere from one to three weeks. And its not Graphicly stalling. Apple's iTunes/iBookstore posts things immediately for them. Here's a thread that talks more about my experience with Graphicly so far.