InkBlazers Shutdown

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It's been a few days since the news came out to the general public: InkBlazers is shutting down.

This is very sad news for many folks, as InkBlazers was the home of tons of comics and their fans, and offered a centralized community for many to participate in.  Several of our own members have been a large part of InkBlazers, so this has been very difficult news for everyone involved!


What does this mean for you?

If you were a member of the InkBlazers community, this means that the site will go dark on February 1, 2015.

I cannot stress this enough -- BACK UP YOUR DATA.  You can do this by downloading any work you want to save, or copying and reposting blogs and other information you want to maintain long-term.

There's a fantastic Emergency Exodus handbook by omittchi, which details steps to take for this process.  You can find links to it on Google Docs.

If you weren't a member of InkBlazers, you might see some of your favorite artists relocate their comics, open commissions, or reach out to their readers in other ways.



If you were an comicker on InkBlazers before, and you need a new place to host your webcomics, here's a few options for you to evaluate (taken from the Emergency Exodus Handbook).

Tapastic
Taptastic is a community which allows for creators to be supported by their readers, though individual comic sites have limited customization.  It also has a mobile app which can be used to display your comics as well!
You can learn about Tapastic on their site, and find out a bit more about publishing through their platform at on their Publishing page.

SmackJeeves
SmackJeeves is a fairly established fixture in the webcomics community.  It allows for users to customize their sites through HTML and CSS templating.  The front of the community is a bit dated.

The Duck Webcomics
Formerly DrunkDuck, this community has also been around for a good while.  Like Smackjeeves, you can customize your website.

ComicGenesis
Formerly Keenspace (back in the early 2000s), this hosting platform hasn't changed much.  You're able to customize your websites using HTML and CSS, and their own template tags.  While I haven't used it recently, there are parts of their system which are quite dated (such as their comic administration pages).

ComicFury
While I don't personally know a lot about this site, it's another free comic hosting platform, along the lines of Smackjeeves and The Duck.

Amilova
Amilova is a community centered around comics, which also offers the ability to translate comics to other languages.

Comic Dish
JadineR has some input on ComicDish, and says that the administrator on the site is highly active and works to keep the site functioning well for its users!  You apparently can't completely control the design of your site, but that's not a bad trade off for no ads on your site (unless you choose to put them there).



Don't like the options posted above?  You can always build your own website for your comic!  The world of webhosting is vast, and can offer you a lot of opportunities for growth.

When you host your own website, you can build it pretty much any way you please, and design it in any way you want!

A lot of people enjoy using content management systems like WordPress (with the ComicPress theme or Webcomic Plugin) for their websites.

Bear in mind that if you go with independent hosting, you are in full control of what happens on your site.  This means that if you install software like WordPress, you -- not your host (in most cases) -- are responsible for keeping your website up-to-date and secure.


I can't really recommend any webhosts here (as I work in that industry) - but each comes with its own pros and cons.  If you need help choosing, check out the Web Hosting Talk community!

I can give you a quick rundown on the main types of hosting so you have an idea what to look for!

Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is usually a very cheap option.  It's great if you have a small site and are just starting out, and don't want to tinker with the server itself.
Many webhosts offer Linux-based hosting with a control panel (such as cPanel or Plesk) - so you usually won't work with the server directly.
Keep in mind that a shared environment isn't really suitable if you want to run a huge webcomic site, and expect a lot of readers -- you'll end up running out of resources to run your site!
For most folks coming from Inkblazers, this may be the best option to explore!

VPS/Dedicated Hosting
VPS and Dedicated servers offer you your own environment to control.  Unlike shared hosting, you usually are in complete control (unless you pay for Managed Hosting -- where someone handles that for you), and are expected to know how to work with your own environment.  This is really good if you intend to build your own webcomic community, or get a LOT of traffic.

Cloud Hosting
Cloud Hosting often offers you something similar to VPS or Dedicated hosting -- where you have your own environment to work off of.  Unlike other hosting types, however, Cloud Hosting is often readily expansible, so you can add resources to your server as you need.  Many cloud hosts offer you the ability to pay by the hour for resources you are using.



If most of your promotion came through InkBlazers, it's time to find a new platform.  The previously listed webcomics communities can be really great for making friends and getting recognition through that environment, but you may find that you need to reach out to your potential fans in other ways.

The Big Networks
Pretty much everyone has an account on at least one of these platforms, so you can use these areas to your advantage to gain more readers.  I'm no marketing expert, but if you haven't already, start a a place where your fans can spread the love!

Tumblr

Twitter

Facebook

Art Communities
Some of these communities are dedicated to one thing:  Art.  They're great for gaining fans -- and some of these, you may already be well aware of.

deviantART

Pixiv

Webcomic Collectives
These types of sites often offer some linking between the comics in the collective, though you may have to apply to join.

SpiderForest

HiveWorks

Comic Listings
Comic lists have been around forever, and are still a good way to get attention.  In many cases, these lists also rank your site.

ComicRocket

Top Web Comics

Piperka



The Emergency Exodus Guide has a great section covering this -- especially considering that InkBlazers represented a source of income for many.  Many of these links have been shared here as well, so you can check out the options available.

Crowd-Funding Sources
Patreon

Subbable

KickStarter

IndieGoGo

Storefronts
Storenvy

Etsy

Society6

RedBubble

Donations
PayPal

Advertising*

Project Wonderful

Google AdSense

Comic Rocket Ads

*Be sure to keep an eye on what ads go up on your site, if you choose to go this route!



Even with the coming closure, the end of InkBlazers needs not to be the end of a great community and the creations that grew in within it.

Thanks for reading, and we here at Manga-Apps wish you all great success in this tough time!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!