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Graphicly is a platform for publishers which offers work flow integration, self-publishing, digital distribution, conversion, and promotion for digital content. The website was initially a platform for comic books, but now supports children’s books, art books, and magazines. Graphicly currently has more than 3,500 publishers, including Random House, Capstone Publishers, EA, Marvel Comics, Chronicle Books, Image Comics, as well as more than 10,000 independent creators.

History

Beginnings

Graphicly was founded in 2007 as "Take Comics." The website was part the 2009 class of TechStars, a startup accelerator. Micah Baldwin had been a mentor at TechStars since 2007, and after mentoring the Graphicly team through the program, joined the company as founder and CEO.

Steve Ballmer gave the first public demo of Graphicly during Microsoft’s keynote presentation at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. Graphicly was selected because they fit within Microsoft's vision for Windows 7 and the "connected living room."

Growth

The company raised a $1.2 million seed round in January 2010, led by DFJ Mercury, with additional investments from Starz Media, David Cohen, Dave McClure, Paige Craig, Jake Nickell, and Chris Sacca. In January 2011, Graphicly raised an additional $3.8 million in a Series A round from a group led by DFJ Mercury with additional investments from 500 Startups, Dundee VC, Ludlow Ventures, and Venture51. In addition to the established angel investors, Graphicly’s advisors include Tim Ferriss, Jay Adelson, and Gary Vaynerchuk. At the time of the announcement, Graphicly had relationships with 150 publishers, their app had been downloaded more than 600,000 times, and their monthly sales had doubled every couple of months.

In February 2010 Graphicly acquired iFanboy, a comic book community and news platform. This bolstered the interactive elements of their site, which had already pioneered how comic books were read and shared. In November 2011, Graphicly acquired Double Feature, a mobile comics reader application.

Description

Baldwin described the initial vision for Graphicly as iTunes for comic books. The company allowed comic book creators to distribute their content digitally through Graphicly’s native app, which is available for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. This led to over 600,000 downloads of the Graphicly app in the first 5 months of its existence.

The following year, Graphicly shifted the company's focus to their digital publishing platform, which allows authors and publishers to release their books on platforms like the iBookstore, Amazon’s Kindle Store, the Kobo Store, and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store. Baldwin noted that although Graphicly's marketplace strategy had proved successful, the company focused mainly on marketing the highest-selling comics like Spider-Man and X-Men, a departure from their initial goal of helping all publishers, especially independent publishers, gain an audience. In January 2012, the company unveiled an all-in-one self-publishing platform with automated tools that can convert, distribute and promote image-based content. The platform also offers real-time analytics integration, allowing creators to track their content across all the marketplaces, a first of its kind.

Business Model

Publishers pay a flat fee to Graphicly, yet retain full ownership of the revenue stream afterwards. In the first week after the new platform was released, the company signed up over 1,500 authors and publishers at an average of $650. Graphicly's user base doubled in the first 6 months after the launch of the new distribution options. The transition also attracted content creators outside of comic books, and currently 40% of all books submitted through Graphicly are non-comics. In an average week, as many as 9 of the 10 top selling graphic novels in the iBookstore are published through Graphicly.

Together, this has lead to higher sales for Graphicly's content creators, and sales outpace the old Graphicly app 5 to 1. Currently, more than one book is downloaded every minute across Graphicly's network.

Community

Graphicly hosts an active social community which allows users to comment within the pages of the digital books on the story, artwork, cover art, and overall experience. The discussion allows creators and fans to connect directly, and greatly increases Graphicly's reader engagement. The website features a social stream, where users can see activity including recent purchases, comments, and share recent favorites with other users.

Baldwin has called the community the biggest driver of growth for Graphicly.

Reception

After Graphicly's debut at the 2010 CES, Steve Ballmer called the company a standout example of Microsoft's BizSpark program and VentureBeat named Graphicly as one of the "best from CES." Graphicly's self-publishing platform has been described as "disruptive" and has been praised for bringing a sense of community to digital comics.

CNN named Graphicly CEO Micah Baldwin as one of "The geek heroes of 2011," highlighting his focus on the community aspect of the website. CNN also described Graphicly as one of "the best of the new Chrome OS apps." Graphicly has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, and VentureBeat.

External links

• Official Website
• Graphicly Twitter

References

1. ^ Zax, David. "Graphicly an Online Comics Community, Nabs $3 Million Funding". Fast Company.
2. ^ Cheredar, Tom (January 25, 2012). "How Graphicly is paving the way for self-published digital comic books". Venture Beat.
3. ^ Siegler, Mg (January 25, 2011). "Digital Comic Startup Graphic.ly Draws Up $3 Million To Take 2011 "Beyond The Page"". TechCrunch.
4. ^ Holiday, Ryan (May 9, 2012). "Graphicly's Micah Baldwin: Why Storytelling Matters". Forbes.
5. ^ Brothers, David (April 5, 2012). "Graphicly Switches From Digital Comics Distribution To Ebooks Distribution". Comics Alliance.
6. ^ Cheredar, Tom (April 5, 2012). "Graphicly shutters iOS & Android comic book apps to focus on self-publishing service". Venture Beat.
7. ^ "Graphicly: About". Graphicly.
8. ^ Nishi, Dennis (July 24, 2010). "Comic-Con 2010: Comics Enter the eBook Era". Wall Street Journal.
9. "10 Start-up Incubators to Watch". Inc. Magazine.
10. "TechStars Incubator Hatches 10 New Companies". TechCrunch. August 6, 2009.
11. ^ Van Grove, Jennifer (October 27, 2011). "Graphic.ly Founder on Startup Life, Internet Fame & Getting Sober". Mashable.
12. "TechStars: Mentors". TechStars.
13. ^ Matthew, Ellis (February 9, 2010). "Getting Funded: An Interview with Graphic.ly Co-Founder, Micah Baldwin". Fuel Your Venture.
14. "Official Pinterest Blog". Pinterest. December 20, 2010.
15. ^ Bradshaw, Tim (January 8, 2010). "Comic fans flock to Graphic.ly". Financial Times.
16. ^ Warren, Christina (January 06, 2010). "Graphic.ly Creates the Digital Comic Book Store". Mashable. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. ^ "Windows 7 Helps Bring Touch PCs to the Tipping Point". Microsoft. January 7, 2010.
18. Choi, Kevin (January 8, 2010). "Graphic.ly debuts in Microsoft's keynote address at CES". Aving News.
19. Joseph, Tartakoff (February 17, 2010). "Graphic.ly Buys Comics Community iFanboy". Paid Content.
20. Reid, Calvin (November 08, 2011). "Graphicly Acquires Digital Comics Reader, Double Feature". Publishers Weekly. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. Ha, Anthony (March 1, 2012). "Graphicly Opens Publishing Platform To Everyone, Looks Beyond Comics". TechCrunch.
22. ^ James, Tyler (April 16, 2012). "Talking Graphic.ly with Micah Baldwin". Comix Tribe.
23. ^ Ha, Anthony (April 5th, 2012). "Graphicly Kills Its Mobile Apps To Double Down On Publishing Tools". TechCrunch. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
24. Baldwin, Micah (April 5, 2012). . Graphicly Blog.
25. Esposito, Joey (January 23, 2012). "Graphicly Offers Self-Publishing". IGN Comics.
26. ^ McCarty, Brad (March 1, 2011). "Graphicly looks beyond comics to bring analytics to every ebook platform". The Next Web.
27. Pilkington, Mercy (February 2, 2012). "Graphicly Launches Cross-Platform eBook Distribution". Good eReader.
28. ^ Brothers, David (June 9, 2011). "Graphicly Redesigns to Bring a Sense of Community to Digital Comics". Comics Alliance.
29. SALKOWITZ, ROB. "Behind a Pivot: Graphicly Closes Marketplace, Refocuses Business". Fast Company.
30. "Graphicly's Micah Baldwin Talks Digital Comics & Community". Comic Archive. February 18, 2011.
31. Langshaw, Mark (June 10, 2011). "Graphic.Ly expands community features". Digital Spy.
32. Ostrow, Adam (September 09, 2010). "How Graphic.ly Plans to Transform the Comic Book Business". Mashable. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
33. Pierce, David (January 8, 2010). "The best from CES (so far)". VentureBeat.
34. Strickland, Ashley (December 30, 2011). "The geek heroes of 2011". CNN.
35. ^ Mangalindan, JP. "The best of the new Chrome OS apps". CNN.
36. Brusilovsky, Daniel (January 4, 2010). "Graphic.ly Raises $1.2M For Comic Publishing". The Washington Post.

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