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Stephen Churay Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009 Location: United States Posts: 8369
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Posted: 04 December 2014 at 5:24am | IP Logged | 1
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Darin, I wish you the best of luck. $5.99 for 64 pages is a pretty good deal. Material wise that's three comics worth, for half the cost.
I wish I knew the name of the other company that's about to put out there first books. There business model is interesting. Ad space paid for the book and overhead so the book is free.
But, I'll be looking for both of you.
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James Woodcock Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7788
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Posted: 04 December 2014 at 7:26am | IP Logged | 2
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Find a way to grow the sales base. Sell comics in cinemas. Have comics come out regularly, on time. Have stories be penetrable to new readers. No story should last more than 4 months. Cut down on the boobs, blood and be-headings. Realise that to a kid, 4 months is a very long time. Six years is an eternity so don't make them wait that long for pay offs (that are then rubbish).
I think if people had the guts to do this it might just work.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 133328
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Posted: 04 December 2014 at 7:33am | IP Logged | 3
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Setting aside problems of cost, distribution, missed schedules, etc, the Number One thing that has served to slit the throat of comics is that they no longer offer something that cannot be found elsewhere.Remember, most people who read comics were not connoisseurs of art and story. They were just looking for a certain kind of bang for their buck, and when movies and even TV* can provide bigger and louder versions of those bangs, well......... _________ * "Free!"
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Greg Woronchak Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 September 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 1631
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Posted: 04 December 2014 at 8:25am | IP Logged | 4
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Interesting point. Maybe a nostalgia factor explains much of the dwindling readership who long for Wednesdays, hoping to find something similar to the buzz of days of yore.
When I introduced my girls to comic books, they thought they were cool, but they now gravitate more to the Scholastic 'graphic novel' format and concepts.
Again, accessible, complete stories with a reasonable 'bang for the buck'. Makes sense to me!
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Rick Whiting Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 April 2004 Posts: 2215
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Posted: 04 December 2014 at 11:42am | IP Logged | 5
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while others laughed and whooped and said there was nothing to worry about, enjoy the wild ride!
____________________
Kind of like they are doing now whenever a comic book movie or TV series is a huge hit, or whenever the naive mainstream news media does a story about the latest stunt.
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Brian J Nelson Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 August 2014 Location: United States Posts: 365
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Posted: 04 December 2014 at 4:28pm | IP Logged | 6
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Well, they may also be doing it now because comic sales figures have significantly trended upward for over a decade by 149% ($350 million in 2003 to $870 million in 2013).
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Gilbert Roland Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 June 2008 Posts: 124
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Posted: 04 December 2014 at 5:01pm | IP Logged | 7
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Brian, is there a website that shows those sale figures?
Edited by Gilbert Roland on 04 December 2014 at 5:01pm
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Rick Whiting Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 April 2004 Posts: 2215
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Posted: 04 December 2014 at 8:24pm | IP Logged | 8
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Well, they may also be doing it now because comic sales figures have significantly trended upward for over a decade by 149% ($350 million in 2003 to $870 million in 2013).
___________________________
But that rise in sales mostly due to short term sales gimmicks like variant covers and mainstream news media grabbing stories (like the death of major characters,a minority or female character taking up the role/mantle of a white straight male character,or a long time straight character being retconned into being gay,bi,or lesbian). These stunts are mainly aimed at speculators (most of whom are non comic book reading civilians) and not so much at attracting brand new readers. Also, the "rise in comic sales" are sales sold to comic shops, not to actual walk in store customers.
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Stephen Churay Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009 Location: United States Posts: 8369
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Posted: 04 December 2014 at 9:24pm | IP Logged | 9
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But that rise in sales mostly due to short term sales gimmicks like variant covers and mainstream news media grabbing stories (like the death of major characters,a minority or female character taking up the role/mantle of a white straight male character,or a long time straight character being retconned into being gay,bi,or lesbian). These stunts are mainly aimed at speculators (most of whom are non comic book reading civilians) and not so much at attracting brand new readers. Also, the "rise in comic sales" are sales sold to comic shops, not to actual walk in store customers. ========= Don't forget the current prices of the books as well. You don't have to sell as many copies of a book when the price is $4.99.
The current run of gimmicks, both physical and story are traditionally short term. But, if the sheep continue to support this sales model month after month, year after year, is it still short term?
The shops don't seem to mind either. In fact, they use the variants as a way to recoup some of there lost earnings from books that don't sell through. Ex. Let's say a shop orders ten copies of a book and with that they get a free variant or a variant at there regular issue cost. The shop sells four copies of the regular issue and is stuck with six copies that will probably wind up in the 50 cent bin. It's a lot easier to absorb that if that one variant sells for $25-$35. Now, that title has become profitable for that month.
The question is, is this a sustainable sales model? Well, the trend has been going on for a few years now with no let up in sight. Why stop and create all age books to appeal to a broader potential audience when everyone is ok with what there getting now.
The aggravating part is, they could be doing so much better but it requires a little front end risk. Right now, there isn't really an 8-13 year old market to speak of. But, if they dropped the number of titles to a level that the average buyer could buy the entire line every month and make it all ages so you can build new readership. You could wind up making as much or more money, with less publishing cost.
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Rick Whiting Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 April 2004 Posts: 2215
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Posted: 04 December 2014 at 9:33pm | IP Logged | 10
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The shops don't seem to mind either. In fact, they use the variants as a way to recoup some of there lost earnings from books that don't sell through. Ex. Let's say a shop orders ten copies of a book and with that they get a free variant or a variant at there regular issue cost. The shop sells four copies of the regular issue and is stuck with six copies that will probably wind up in the 50 cent bin. It's a lot easier to absorb that if that one variant sells for $25-$35. Now, that title has become profitable for that month.
________________________________
Even that's not a sure thing, since not all shops are able to sell those variant covers at an inflated price. Then there are those shops who refuse to ripoff their customers by charging above cover price for those variants.
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Trevor Smith Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 3543
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Posted: 05 December 2014 at 1:53am | IP Logged | 11
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"Don't forget the current prices of the books as well. You don't have to sell as many copies of a book when the price is $4.99."
**
That was my immediate question - how much of that increase in dollars is due to price increases? That dollar figure does nothing to indicate how many readers are actually out there.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 133328
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Posted: 05 December 2014 at 3:58am | IP Logged | 12
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Cover price hikes have rarely been about increasing the publisher's profit margin. Mostly, they are a fairly honest representation of what it costs to produce the comics. Several years ago someone did a cost/price comparison, and showed that the only time comics had gone up more than they needed was when they went from 12 to 15 cents!
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