Selena Cobb-Jaramillo

Selena Cobb-Jaramillo is a Florida-based writer and artist. Her experience as a black Panamanian-American, raised along the south and eastern coast of the United States, influences her work. Having felt like a fish out of water most of her life from having spent a lot of her childhood moving from state to state, Selena actively seeks out topics that help people navigate the waters of life with ease. When she isn't writing, she spends her time reading, baking, and pursuing other passions

Fahrenheit 404: Censorship?

While burning books have been a practice going as far back as 213 BC, it is not something that can be done with digitally published works. In that regard, platforms simply remove and ban content that violates community guidelines and ban individuals from posting. Nevertheless, in means of less drastic measures, many states and counties have leaned into banning books from the public education systems that cross their conservative views. Book banning, in this case, has risen in practice over the years. As of this year, there was even a book burning in Tennessee back in February where a pastor burned Harry Potter and Twilight books.

Banned and Censored

To combat this censorship, many digital media platforms like OverDrive and Scribd have taken measures to ensure these banned books are still available. For example, doing events like banned book week. However, as of this year, Hoopla and OverDrive have removed books centering around what can be construed as hateful content and misinformation. Hoopla CEO Jeff Jankowski states, “Due to the hateful nature of these specific titles, I have no regrets about having our team remove them from hoopla.” Then he says, “I must acknowledge that this situation highlights a complex issue that Libraries have always faced in curating their collections — avoiding a culture of censorship.”

OverDrive CEO Steve Potash has not made any comments.

The removal came about through librarian suggestions and assistance from the Library Freedom Project. The demand to remove books on behalf of librarians who found them offensive is a paradoxical and inconsistent practice in digital platforms designed to be unbiased in the variety of curated viewpoints held. This is why Scribd continuously has a wide range of voices as a digital library. Ryan Holiday, who partnered with Trip Adler, CEO of Scribd, to make banned books more available, even says:

“America has a lot of problems but people reading books is not one of them. I’m appalled by this campaign to ban or remove books from school libraries and as a bookseller, it’s my obligation to do something about it.”

https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/freedom-of-speech-book-banning-in-2022

It is also why the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) fights to defend the “freedom to speak, the freedom to publish, and the freedom to read, as promised by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.”

Radical Text

However, as of recent hate crimes like that of the shooting in Buffalo, New York, the shooter allegedly published a manifesto citing the “Great Replacement Theory” that was recently removed from online platforms. While it wasn’t published on any digital publishing platforms or libraries, a new law is emerging out of Texas that could later be used to affect digital American publishing platforms. The law is currently known as H.B. No. 20, it prevents censorship of Texans on prominent social media platforms in spite of the potential to incite violence through radical views.

The law would fall in line with the America Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, where the first three rights are:

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

In the future, this could protect books like God is Bigger than Covid by Frances Deanes and A New Nobility of Blood and Soil by Richard Walther Darré. Books that were removed from Hoopla and OverDrive, world distributors of digital content for libraries and schools, due to the nature of their content.

Error Code 404

According to Rebecca Knuth, an author on book burnings and the destruction of libraries, books are targeted because they “are the embodiment of ideas and if you hold extreme beliefs, you cannot tolerate anything that contradicts those beliefs or is in competition with them.” While the books that are being censored aren’t being burned or banned from these platforms because of opposing ideas, they are being censored for promoting radical thought and presumably extremist actions like that of the shooter in Buffalo, N. Y. resulting in missing or deleted webpages—error code 404.

This could signify a new road for rules and regulations in screening works for digital library spaces and platforms in America and for what should be censored on public platforms, affecting all authors alike. Should public digital media platforms adhere to unbiased curated content like Scribd, and soon most major social media platforms, or should certain content be screened for and removed as OverDrive and Hoopla have done?

The MetaJacket

As digital publishing platforms become more expansive in formatting, availability, and range, digital book covers have reemerged in importance. Originally, book covers were ornate designs made for the rich, then a protective measure for books, before finally becoming chest pieces in book marketing. Designs not only had to be somewhat reflective of the book but also needed the ability to draw potential readers. Author and columnist Tim Kreider even states that there are two main “principles of design—in books:”

1. Your product must be bold and eye-catching and conspicuously different from everyone else’s, but

2. Not too much!

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-decline-and-fall-of-the-book-cover

The same principles hold in digital publishing now, as many websites now mimic the appearance of front-facing books in physical books shop: Kindle, Play Books, Libby (OverDrive), ComiXology, Radish. Previously, platforms like Tapas and Webtoon predominantly displayed thumbnails where the covers were constrained to a one-by-one square designed to take a small portion of the screen. Much like Audible displays their audiobooks and how Radish formats their serialized stories now. Nevertheless, in recent years both websites have changed to include a larger thumbnail that mimics the design of a physical book. The change can most likely be attributed as a testament to the quality of the art and story to lure more readers, similar to how traditional publishing markets a book.

Moreover, the cover of an e-book can deter readers from even purchasing a book, and according to Giles Clark and Angus Phillips in Inside Book Publishing, “books without covers on Amazon do not sell well.” It reinforces the idea that digital book covers have become a vital form of metadata that, as Sophie Darling quotes, “acts as a ‘visual portal.” Metadata, in simple terms, is “any data that describes your book.” This, in turn, with the fact that book covers now take up more space in digital publishing platforms, makes book cover designs more crucial to the success of the book in the digital market. Especially since more traditionally published books with proper funding are becoming more easily accessible in these markets. For example, Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles and her Renegades series are slowly becoming available on Kindle Unlimited. Meyer’s book covers have also taken on a more stylized, illustrative, and dynamic design to appeal to a slightly more modern readership after ten years.

Meyer’s original covers for her Lunar Chronicle series.
The new covers for The Lunar Chronicles series. These are the current covers displayed within the Kindle store.

This is a rising trend in print books and among self-published authors in the digital bookscape. Rendering Kreider’s initial belief that “the illustrated book cover, like painted movie posters or newspaper comics, is pretty much dead” as grossly inaccurate. That, along with the idea that book covers were a concept that would phase out. Furthermore, massive digital book platforms like Kindle and Google Play Books display the cover of a book for approximately a few seconds before opening the body of the text. Thus, reinforcing the idea the book cover is essentially promoting valuable ideas concerning the work. As Nielsen, a book retail sales analysis group, states:

“Given the indications that we have for online sales, there is a strong suggestion that supplying complete and enhanced metadata will be even more vital for e-books, where the bibliographic data is the consumer’s only source of information. The implication is that as the book industry takes its next step into the digital age, metadata will not only remain an essential part of the industry but become increasingly important.”

(Breedt and Walter)

However, as important as these book covers are, many self-published authors starting out cannot afford to commission an artist to create any type of cover. These authors often create book covers themselves using free stock images or with their own artistic talents like Kimberly Lemming. To better market their books to make up for their poor metadata book jackets, authors utilize many social media marketing trends like those on TikTok that draw the focus towards the body of work rather than the less than impressive e-book cover. They present presumably the best excerpts from their novels as well as themes they consider impressive or exciting to garner interest.

Nevertheless, a book cover still is, as Bill McCoy says, “an introduction to the experience you’re going to have in consuming this [its] content.” Moreover, as platforms continue to push book covers forward, they are becoming a form of metadata worth investing in. A prime example would be Ruby Dixion’s special edition covers for her Ice Planet Barbarians series. She recently invested in a new cover for a print version of her book, as she finally had the funds to do so. However, as this author grows, she seems to be slowly replacing all of her book covers for this series and updating the metadata in Google. This is an indication that these new stylized, illustrative covers are seemingly testing better with her growing readership and bringing her more readers than her previous book covers.

Bibliography

Breedt, Andre, and David Walter. 2012. “White Paper: The Link between Metadata and Sales.” Nielson BookData UK., January.

Clark, Giles N, and Angus Phillips. 2019. Inside Book Publishing. London ; New York: Routledge.

Darling, Sophie. 2019. “How Are Book Covers and Their Components Represented in the Digital Market?” Interscript Journal, no. 2 (June): 20–35. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444.2398-4732.004.

Success in Serialization

Digital publishing has re-envisioned many of today’s traditional publishing methods, like the serial novel. While serial fiction is a piece of literature released through installments like it is now. Historically, each installment contained its own story loosely connected to an overarching narrative and popularized by The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. Outside of Dicken’s writing style and themes, its popularity came from its accessibility. Besides being inexpensive like the traditional publishing texts, the modern serialized story is composed of episodes, or mini-chapters, that actively support a more significant narrative than individual shorts. Therefore, making it vastly different from its predecessor.

As digital publishing grows, many new outlets for serialized fiction develop, allowing more authors to thrive. The popularity of the modern serialized novel could arguably be traced back to websites like Wattpad, a highly interactive platform for digital publishing. Websites like these restructured how a community can create readership and reader retention, especially with the growth of the author’s note, and allow authors like Pepper Pace on Kindle Vella to become successful.

Kindle Vella

Kindle is not a new market in the field of digital publishing or self-publishing. However, Kindle Vella relatively is. While it did a soft launch in 2021, its official launch in 2022 was successful, albeit through marketing and a free set of tokens for new readers. Its success was thanks to the soft launch—ultimately benefiting many authors.

Reader Engagement

Kindle Vella is user-friendly and allows the reader to be as interactive as the author and platform allow. At the end of each episode, readers can like the episode, follow the story, or continue reading. Polls can even be done if the author wills it. Thus, building a community and allowing personability to negate pitfalls that can be faced in choosing to publish serialized novels, like upset readers from infrequent or inconsistent updates, grammatical errors, or what appears to be filler content that doesn’t move the story forward. Therefore, implying that reader engagement is the sole reason for success on Kindle Vella, as the top five promoted stories are stories that are “favorited” by the audience.

The Serialized Cost

As Kindle Vella is a self-publishing platform for serialized novels, authors have complete control over their success. No contracts hold the author to a particular word count, specific release dates, or approved plot arches. As a result, an author, in theory, can actively work on uncompleted stories like they could on platforms such as Wattpad or Inkitt. Except with compensation and, in turn, more options for revenue later as many outlets have strict guidelines for works that were previously available for free.

However, Kindle Vella charges approximately “one token per 100 words,” making word count crucial for pantsers—writers who don’t plot, plan, their novels—on the platform. Other platforms are successful due to regular updates and consistent costs per episode. Not ensuring these terms for readers can be highly detrimental for authors, even when delving into genres garnered towards adult audiences, making Pace’s success on Kindle Vella notable.

Pepper Pace and Audrey Carlan

Ever since the hard launch of Kindle Vella, the first and fifth place positions for the monthly top five favorited novels have stayed the same. Pace’s The Galatian Exchange has remained in fifth place for four consecutive months since January 2022. Her dedicated installment schedule and her personability through her reader engagement led her to this. The Marriage Auction by Audrey Carlan has remained in first thanks to Carlan’s pacing or, on Kindle Vella’s platform, low-cost installments.

While serialized stories are often accessible because they are generally affordable, Kindle Vella has made many readers feel as though they are being extorted by authors. This is one of the significant issues Pace has faced since the beginning, and it is most likely the reason she has not resin above fifth place. However, because of the platform’s emphasis on the author’s note and reader engagement, Pace has retained readership despite fluctuating prices due to word count. Since most users often don’t look for price explanations in publishing guidelines, as they are readers rather than publishers, Pace took it upon herself to explain. However, she only did so after much backlash in later chapters.

Alternatively, Carlan maintained her position arguably solely based on her accessibility. Though readers may complain about infrequent and short installments, Carlan seemingly follows a similar update schedule to Pace—updating twice about a week, negating such claims.

Knowing the main reasons why each author has achieved success, as well as what sets their levels of success apart, is key to understanding how to maintain success in self-publishing a serialized fiction in the digital age.

Webcomics: Formatting & Publishing

Sequential art has been a part of storytelling for as long as history. However, as the codex—or traditional book—layout became more prominent. Sequential art began to take on more of a blocked structure typically read in “Z” formation within a book, now known as the modern comic book. The movement shifted sequential art away from long canvases such as scrolls and tapestries like Bayeux Tapestry to fit inside a physical and easily accessible book. Nevertheless, the scroll has been reimagined and is now more prominent than ever in the digital era for e-books.

While the traditional format for a comic book is still prevalent in western comics and is accepted across multiple platforms without issue, the scroll or vertical strip has shot the comic market back into mainstream media. This makes it one of the most popular formats for webcomics, thanks to companies like Naver Corp, which founded Webtoon in 2004.

Now, even though novels can usually be straightforward to modify, comics are not. Determining the format of your book is often one of the first steps before creating your story since not every platform can support every format yet. Despite the current scroll format popularity, it is often recommended to begin publishing a story in the traditional “Z” block panel. This is because it is claimed to be easier to modify by artists into the scroll paneling format versus vice versa; however, opinions vary. An example can be shown by Carly Usdin’s choice to release a digital issue of her comic Heavy Vinyl in 2017 before the serialized comic in 2019.

The Serialized Webcomic vs The Comic Issue

Two out of the three most common digital publication options for online comics are known for serializing webcomics as episodes that are initially released weekly. The third option for publishing currently relates more to traditional publishing than digital. It markets digital comics primarily as issues, or volumes, with the idea of possibly having multiple issues. The current formatting options also imply a more traditional background—the lack of the scroll formatting option.

Webtoon

Beginning with Webtoon, as one of the pioneers of the scroll format, the platform is easily available as both a website and an app to the public for free. There are two major sections on the forum that can determine pay and usually quality—Webtoon Originals and Webtoon Canvas, previously known as the discover page. Webtoon allows everyone to freely post a comic, in any format, following the size constraints of the platform if it falls in line with the community guidelines on Canvas. Webtoon has only recently initiated a way for creators who have achieved a certain amount of foot traffic to receive funds through an ad revenue service. However, “there is no guarantee that members will receive net ad revenue as a result of their participation in the program.” Consequently, implying that the only guaranteed pay is for featured authors and artists on the Webtoon Originals section of the platform. A status that is only achievable when the company reaches out to the selected creator.

Tapas

Tapas, previously known as Tapastic, is an “open publishing platform” much like Webtoon. However, making money on the platform is seemingly a much easier feat than its main competitor. The platform hosts both novels and webcomics in multiple panel formats in both free to read and premium. Both sections have opportunities to make money. The former through advertisements or donations from readers called ink. There is even a yearly event called Inksgiving around Thanksgiving to increase support from readers. Donations or tips like this are often motivated by authors on the “free to read” section because ad revenue does not pay much. Last year a user even noted that:

for Tapas, I have about 2.4k subs and 43.5 k views, and I have only earned 0.71$ in total in ad revenue alone in the past six months. — so, like most people say, don’t get excited too much or don’t expect too much on ad revenue.

(“How Much Do You Earn from Your Webtoons/Novels?” 2021)

To have a story placed in the Premium section, one just has to submit a form that pitches the story to studiotapas@tapasmedia.co, which is effectively easier than simply being noticed. Additionally, as of last year, Kakao Entertainment has purchased Tapas and Radish, a dedicated serialized story platform. It now also hosts the top 27 webcomics available on Tapas. Thus, signifying a potential merger between platforms or an increased opportunity for readership across multiple outlets, inherently demonstrating a future increase in foot traffic for revenue.

ComiXology & Kindle

Now, as of February 2022, ComiXology has merged with Amazon, making the webcomic format increasingly available on Kindle for purchase and sale. A few selected comics have even become available on Kindle Unlimited, one of the largest self-publishing platforms on the market. However, rather than the company allowing all comics to be placed on Kindle Unlimited, there is now ComiXology Unlimited. Comics can now be placed on Kindle Unlimited through KDP and on ComiXology Unlimited after acceptance of “nomination,” which can be submitted via email to support@comixology.com. However, neither sub-platform currently appears to accept the scroll paneling format and opts for the traditional “Z” block paneling for paging through an e-book. This can be noted by Usdin’s comic, Heavy Vinyl, layout on ComiXology Unlimited vs. her layout on Tapas. Now, despite having separate sections, all comics are viewable and readable on the Kindle app. However, sadly navigation or discovering a comic for readers can be difficult. Establishing a readership may be slow at first because of the new merger, despite an easier chance of revenue.

Even though each platform currently has its difficulties and obstacles to monetary gains, there are a variety of benefits as well as the potential for growth for both creators and publishers.