 A New Week, A New Comics Controversy
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21st Jan, 2008 @ 11:26 
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I've said my piece about Wonder Woman. Time to stop giving that one air.
Hey! Here's ComicsPro with this weeks geekfight!
For those reading this who don't know what I'm talking about (I know there's at least two of you), Comicspro is an American comics retailers organisation, and they've issued a letter asking a group of major independent publishers to stop selling advance copies of their books at comics conventions. The retailers say that this is an unfair practice, and that when a publisher sells a book early at a con, they are effectively stealing a sale from a shop. Even though the vast majority of comics shops won't even stock books released by the publishers in question, and these convention sales are generally estimated as accounting for as much as a third of these publishers' overall sales.
As usual, ADD is the one to listen to on this. However, here's my two penneth:
Comicspro needs to shut the fuck up.
It is common practice for Movies to have advance screenings at conventions. When was the last time you heard cinemas complain about that? How about when bands make advance copies of their albums available to members of their fanclub? Do HMV put out a press release? No, they do not. Because they recognise that these are important promotional practices. They help build word of mouth- the most effective marketing tool known to man.
Think about this- the implication of Comicspro's position is that every single one of any given shop's customers will be attending their local comic con. How fucked up is that? How defeatist is that? To assume that the comics market has become so insular that the only people who are going to walk through the door of any given comics shop are the most hardcore, dedicated fans of the medium- because, come on, you don't go to a convention if you only have a passing interest in the form.
Every argument the retailers have been making on this issue is predicated on the assumption that everybody involved is selling to the exact same group of people- that this is essentially a closed market, with a finite number of potential sales to be shared out.
Which means that, essentially, comicspro has completely forgotten what it means to be a retailer.
If you run a shop- any kind of shop, comics or kitchen tiles- do you know what your job is? Before anything else?
To get people through the fucking door.
This is not the job of comics companies' marketing departments. Their job is to compete within the market, to try and outshine the book next to theirs on the shelf. It is not the job of comics creators- their job is to make good products for retailers to sell.
Jesus christ- if you can't sell a product to someone who hasn't come specifically looking for that exact thing- with a specific enough requirement that they've actually pre-ordered it, then you might as well shut your doors right now. Go do something else for a living, because retail obviously isn't for you. If you run a comic shop and you never get any walk in trade- well, that means you're doing something wrong. That lifesize statue of Spider-Man in the window? It's putting people off. Amazingly, people who might like Fun Home or From Hell or Fell are not, by and large, likely to walk into a shop with a prominent display of wrestling figures.
Now, Brian Hibbs, one of the most outspoken (and highly regarded) comics retailers had this to say over at The Savage Critics:
"ComicsPRO is, by and large, "the best and the brightest" retailers. The smart ones, the passionate ones, the forward-thinking ones. The ones who outreach to their communities, the ones who get nominated for Eisners, the ones who strongly support as wide a range of material as they can. They're the early-adopters, they're the knowledgeable fonts, they're the communicable-passion carriers who work god-damn hard to move comics forward."
Which is just fine and dandy, except that by issuing this position paper, Comicspro is placing itself four-square into the same category as the worst "Android's Dungeon" style flea pit. Why?
Convention audiences are not the fucking market. They are small proportion of it- they are the hardcore, the die-hards, they most commited hobbyists. They are not the people you should spending your time marketing to. And if they happen to buy, what, maybe as much as a dozen books a year (out of how many?) straight from the publishers at cons, then that should not be having an effect on your business. If it is, then you're running your business badly. The people you should be selling to are walking straight by your front door every fucking day, and you're wasting your time getting pissed off at publishers and fans and creators for not doing your job for you.
Get outside that door, and stop the next person who walks by. Ask them three questions: what's your favourite movie? What's your favourite novel? What's your favourite TV show? Based on the answers to these questions (whatever they may be), you should be able to pick out at least a couple of books that they might like from your existing stock. If you can, then there's your sale to make up for the one you lost at comic con. Stop fucking whining.
And if you can't; well, that's why your business is failing. Concentrate on that before you start complaining about someone else's business practice... especially when the businesses you're attacking are the publishers who are providing you with the diversity of product to be able to reach a wider audience.
EDIT/UPDATE: I should have mentioned earlier that Johanna Draper Carlson and Tom Spurgeon have both been covering this pretty well too, and now Heidi MacDonald has entered the discussion. I still say ADD has the best handle on this, and is working the hardest to bring us every side of the argument, backed up with as many facts as possible- although Ms MacDonald is also pretty damn sharp as usual (I'm vaguely aware that there seems to be some kind of previous bad blood between Alan and Heidi - based on enigmatic references at the Beat- but all I know is they both talk sense).
Oh and if you came here from the link at ADD's site? Have you read my comic? It's not exactly Watchmen, but I like to think it's worth a look.
What? Too blatant a plug?
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Umm plugging your own product, in the words of a sometimes wise, large man I know 'Thats doing your fucking job properly.'
Lee.
| From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: |
3rd December 2008 17:36 (UTC) |
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Boo its pete
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Ok so after two years of what can only be a journey worthy of a novel the dust has finally settled enough for us get tickets to the UK. I had a feeling you where doing quite well for yourself and now I have proof ;). Good to see you are still writing and drawing I want a copy of your book :).
Anyway its been soo long that I have lost alot of peoples contact details hence the post. I will be in london with the family from the 16th to the 21st and you can still get me at my old work email address at positive internet (it would be nice to hear from you). I hope life is treating you well and say high to the Lee and the others . Maybe if your about we could catch up. I hope you check this blog regularly all the best Pete
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