Amazon's delivery fees for Kindle books putting a hurt on publishers of graphic novels, comics

PW: "However, while there is a nascent market for comics on e-book readers like the Kindle and B&N’s color device, the Nook, Amazon’s recently introduced digital 'delivery fee,' charging publishers 15 cents per megabyte to transfer a book’s file to the Kindle, has forced some comics publishers to rethink using the Kindle platform. While novels are text-based and unlikely to run up a delivery charge much over $0.02, graphic novels have a much higher bandwidth, and could be forced into a lower payment/royalty rate and higher list price because of their file size, directly because of these Amazon fees. In addition, Amazon also has a recommended file size which affects graphic novel pricing."

2010: The Year in Digital Comics

Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources: "What a difference a year makes! A year ago today, the iPad not only didn’t exist, it hadn’t been officially announced yet. People read comics on their iPhones and iPod Touches, but the screens were too small for a good experience (and therefore, no one wanted to spend much money on them). The iPad changed all that, with a big, full-color screen that is just a tad smaller than a standard comics page (and a tad larger than a standard manga page), and publishers started taking digital comics seriously. The distribution was already in place, thanks to the iPhone—comiXology, iVerse, Panelfly—and now the publishers not only jumped on board with those platforms but also started developing their own apps. ... "

Dark Horse Comics To Launch Digital Program in January

PWxyz: "In the wake of the ICv2 Digital and Comics Conference that kicked off this year’s New York Comic con, it’s no surprise that some of the biggest stories coming out of the show will likely skew to digital. Dark Horse Comics didn’t waste anytime and announced the beginnings of a comprehensive digital publishing program that is not only looking to bypass some of the restrictions of the App Store but also claims to offer features aimed specifically at including physical store retailing. ... "

You Can Read Comics On Your Kindle With Mangle

Gadget Lab | Wired.com: "Sure, iPad users may flaunt their many comic-reading apps and vivid color screens. But Kindle users can read comics too. In fact, for black-and-white comics, like The Walking Dead, the Scott Pilgrim series, or most Manga, it looks pretty good once you get the files onto your e-reader. That’s where the open-source software tool Mangle helps out. Mangle (Manga Kindle = Mangle, get it?) was designed by FooSoft’s Alex Yatsov for the bad old days, before the Kindle had decent orientation tools. But it’s still really useful for getting your comic images in the right alignment and order. Plus, it’s compiled for Mac and Windows, or you can run it right in Python."

eComics

My old friend and colleague Byron Preiss would have loved this. From the Wall Street Journal blog Speakeasy: "It's a sure bet that any device with a screen will eventually be able to display comics. Micah Baldwin is working to make that happen as we speak. The CEO of Boulder, Colo.-based Graphic.ly (previously known as Take Comics) works with publishers like Marvel Comics to create apps so that valuable properties like Spider-Man can be available on any computer or mobile device. 'This is the future,' says Baldwin ... "

IDW Developing Digital Comics Across a Wide Range of Platforms

From Digital Spy:

The publisher is working with companies including Apple and Sony, making its comics available on the iPhone, iPad and PSP. Among the products being offered is Jeff Smith's legendary Bone comic and his current series Rasl.