Marvel Digital Comics

I feel betrayed. I went in with Marvel on their whole Digital Comics Unlimited. I felt that it could be a great tool to get people reading more comics. Letting them read some older stories that now tie into current storylines. Read the first issue of a trade that is coming out soon. Huge possibilities. Then the iPad came. And I still saw the same possibilities.

But yesterday they announced that they are going to release Invincible Iron man Annual #1 online the same day as they release it in stores. They are pricing it oddly, so that it actually costs more digitally than the print version. And they are calling it a test. But my big fear is that no matter the result, they will announce it as a huge success and will go forward with releasing digital content the same day as print sales across the board.

Was this inevitable? Yes, probably. But I don’t understand the big jump into the lake. They didn’t even bother to get their feet wet first. IDW, who has been doing online sales for the PSP for a while now, started with a one month delay between print and digital release. Fair enough. But Marvel decided to throw caution to the wind and do same day, because that’s what the internet wants.

Here are my problems with this:
1. I buy my books from Marvel non-returnable. If a book sucks, I am stuck with it. I have no more information about an issue that you do from the info in Previews or the internet. Now, I am going to have to compete with Marvel directly for sales. How much of an impact will this have on my sales? I have no idea. If my Marvel sales drop 10%, not only do I lose those sales, but I am also stuck with more books than I need because Marvel cannibalized those sales. Do I start cutting my orders now as a preemptive strike? Probably.
2. Marvel has the largest percentage of the new comics sales in the industry right now. Cutting that country-wide will have a very negative effect. Stores that are just hanging on will close. And if this proves not to be the be all and end all of the comic future, there is no way to bring those stores back. Comic stores are not great money makers. No one does this to get rich. We do it because we love the products and the medium. Chasing those people away is a bad idea.
3. Does Marvel even have a plan? I don’t know. My biggest problem with this is that Marvel didn’t tell us. We learned about it the same way as everyone else. No press release to stores. No mention even on the Marvel Retailer Resource Center, that I have to pay for to get Marvel information. I have a question on the retailer forum there as to how soon they expect to got full-line digital. I am very interested in how it is answered.
4. The iPad has only been out for 2 months. That really is not enough time for Marvel to have been able to really see how their digital download system is working. Its still so new and a fad. I was interested in seeing how it was going in month 6. To see if it was really viable for comic reading. My fear is that Marvel is jumping too fast and doijg irreparable harm to the industry with out getting the necessary data first. Kind of like they did in the 90s with heroes World. That didn’t work out too well for everyone (Marvel went into bankruptcy after that I recall, Diamond became a monopoly). Its disappointing to see them making the same kind of leap again.
Digital distribution has been hanging over our heads for a while now. No one knows what impact it will have. Same day distribution cannot be a good thing for us. I can’t compete with cheaper. Marvel sets the price on the books and I get a discount off that price. It has already be shown that the iPad has a built in mechanism to allow the copying and distribution of files online, so not only will I lose sales, but the pirates are now going to have nice digital files rather than scans to get. I get the impression that Marvel is expecting to get a large percentage of illegal downloaders to now suddenly pay for them. Good luck with that, guys.

And while this may be well and good for Marvel, I think it will really be bad for the industry as a whole. I bet that everybody has bought something they did not expect either through a recommendation or just by seeing something in the store and flipping through it. Now imagine looking at hundreds of covers on and iPad and trying to determine what is good. I also think that trades will suffer a huge hit with fewer comic book stores. Go look at the selection in a book store. They don’t carry 1/10th of what I have here in the store. Amazon? Great if you know what you are looking for. But not so good for browsing.

It is going to be a very interesting summer for comics. I will be glued to the news wires, since that seems to be the only place I can find out what is going on.

Comments

No, I haven't been deleting comments I don't agree with. I have been getting a ton of spam comments lately. So just now I changed the setting to only allow registered users to comment. I am sorry if this in any way keeps you from commenting. I am just tired of having to delete spam comments every day.

Cancellations

Every week, I get a list of orders that are cancelled. Many are due to late shipping, some are cancelled by the publishers. Most are backorders I place that do not fill. I am including this weeks because it demonstrates one of my biggest problems with publishers. Now, most of these are Image books. And most of these will probably be resolicited at some time. Maybe. I don’t know. All I know right now is that my orders are cancelled on all of these books.

APR082168 AMERICA JR TP VOL 02 (C: 0-1-2) 9.9900

JUN082241 TELLOS COLOSSAL HC VOL 02 (C: 0-1-2) 39.9900

JUL082174 YOUNGBLOOD BLOODSPORT #2 (RES) 2.9900

JUL082178 YOUNGBLOOD BLOODSPORT #1 DIRECTORS CUT 3.9900

JUL082198 GEMINI #5 (OF 5) 3.5000

AUG082274 M-THEORY #2 (OF 3) 3.5000

SEP082230 AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS GN VOL 02 MONSTER LOVE 19.9900

SEP082266 M-THEORY #3 (OF 3) 3.5000

OCT082288 FIREBREATHER SERIES #5 3.5000

OCT082296 PERHAPANAUTS #7 3.5000

NOV082251 WONDERLOST TP 14.9900

NOV082256 FIREBREATHER SERIES #6 (RES) 2.9900

NOV082264 JACK STAFF #21 (RES) 3.5000

DEC082240 DISPLACED PERSONS GN (RES) (C: 0-1-2) 19.9900

DEC082278 KITE DAY HC 9.9900

JAN092376 GOLLY TP VOL 01 CATCHING HELL (MR) 14.9900

JAN092394 FIREBREATHER SERIES #7 (RES) (NOTE PRICE) 3.5000

JAN092395 GOLLY #6 (MR) 3.5000

FEB092385 SMASH (ONE SHOT) 3.9900

FEB092392 MOBY DICK HC 12.9900

FEB092401 DAWN TP VOL 02 RETURN O/T GODDESS (NEW PTG)14.9900

MAR092409 ARMAGEDDON NOW JADA (ONE SHOT) 3.9900

MAR092426 DAWN TP VOL 03 THREE TIERS 16.9900

MAR092454 LUCHA LIBRE #7 6.9900

MAY090298 ARMAGEDDON NOW THE BEAST #1 (OF 5) 3.9900

MAY090308 LIBERTY MEADOWS SUNDAY STRIPS HC VOL 01 29.9900

MAY090349 GUERILLAS #5 (OF 8) 5.9900

MAY090352 LUCHA LIBRE #8 6.9900

MAY090992 CURSED PIRATE GIRL #3 (OF 3) (C: 0-0-1) 4.9500

JUN090372 ARMAGEDDON NOW THE BEAST #2 (OF 5) 3.9900

JUN090375 BAD DOG #4 (MR) 2.9900

AUG090349 BOMB QUEEN VI #2 (OF 4) (MR) 3.5000

SEP090321 BOMB QUEEN VI #3 (OF 4) (MR) 3.5000

SEP090330 FOUR EYES #4 (RES) 3.5000

OCT090412 BOMB QUEEN VI #4 (OF 4) (MR) 3.5000

DEC090059 STAR WARS DARK TIMES TP VOL 04 BLUE HARVEST 7.9900

Now this very well just someone cleaning out old orders. It is a lot from one publisher at once. I left the order codes in to show how old the orders are. APR09 means it was in the April 2008 Previews catalog.

Now none of these were ordered in huge numbers. But it did take me time to read each solicit, look at my orders for previous issues, sales numbers for previous issues and decide how many to order. So a little bit of wasted time. But the ones that kill me are books like Gemini #5. I have people who bought 1-4. I know one customer who asks every once in a while where the last issue is. Well, I ordered it in June 2008. And we have been waiting since. There are others where I received just issue #1. I sold some and have some left. So, some customers may never find out how the story was to go and I have some books that are pretty worthless. So, when these creators wonder why the orders for their books are so low, its due to the fact that I don’t trust them to finish the series. Now, sadly, I can’t remember who they are. I don’t keep a list of creators who cancel their titles (maybe I should). But it makes me take a cautious look at every small title by people I don’t know. Some are ones I do. Liefeld, Faerber. Some had big buzz. Remember being at the Diamond Summit in Las Vegas in Oct 2008 and Joe Keatinge from Image telling me how much buzz he was getting on Guerillas. Well that’s great, but we only got half of the story. So what good is that buzz now?

So, what is my point with all of this? It’s to say to the creators, when you ask me to purchase issue #1, you are making a deal with me that you are going to finish the series. If it is 1 of 4, I expect you to put out all four issues in a reasonable amount of time. When you ship #1, you are also making a deal with the readers that, if they spend their money on #1, you will also make the rest of the issues available for them to buy if they like #1. Issues 1-5 of Golly shipped, but you are not going to finish it? That’s not fair to them. What recourse do they have? Not to even bother trying the next book that comes out. So, not only are you hurting yourself, but you are hurting your colleagues and people who haven’t even started yet. Yes, I understand that there are unforeseen circumstances. Real life gets in the way. But, once you start down the road of putting out a book, you need to finish it. That’s all I am really asking for here.

Clarification of a Point

In my last post, I made a point about DC needing to cut the crap. I used some examples. I want to clarify this point a bit.

I did not mean to imply that the books I mentioned are crap. To be fair, I have not read some of them (Magog and Azrael). DC did not do a good enough job to convince me that I needed to read them. I have enjoyed Great Ten, but I don't really see the need for this book.

Here is what I want to see:
- If you are doing a mini-series on a character, make it the best story about that character ever. Make it a story that I can sell as a trade for years. Stop the random mini-series that tie into some big overarching story that no one will care about in a year.

- If you are going to do a new ongoing series about an obscure character (Web or Shield) there has to be a publicity blitz. Everybody reading a DC comics for the weeks leading up to it need to see an in-house ad telling them why they have to read this book. If you can't, don't put the book out.

- Keep your books important. I stopped reading Justice League when it was Vixen and Company. That's not the Justice League, and I don't think I was alone in stopping reading. Lets get back to books needing only to be relevant to themselves. Tell some great Titans storylines, without anything crossing to any other book.

- I want people to come in and ask if I had read a certain book because it so excited them and they want to talk about it. I've been getting that with Blackest Night and Green Lantern, but not with anything else. In a long time.

- Find a way to get new readers into your books. Why should I read this book? Why should I jump on board? Make some buzz. Get the internet talking about it.

- Keep what you have worked so hard to get. Green Lantern has doubled for me with the Blackest Night story. Now keep them. Batman and its family of titles have grown with Reborn. Keep them. As soon as you hit a stinker of a story, they will find a reason to walk away. Keep them relevant.

- While I understand the desire to spin off from other titles, be careful not to cannibalize you audience. Putting out books like Justice League Lost Generation is that it is really only targeted at your core DC audience. It doesn't look like something I can switch a newly won over Green Lantern fan onto. Give me more books that I can. Give me more books that you don't need 15 years of DC knowledge to enjoy.

They cannot become #1 by getting the DC fans to simply buy more. They need to get more readers buying more. When I was growing up, I read Avengers AND Justice League. I read Uncanny X-Men AND New Teen Titans. Now, my Justice League sales are half my New Avengers. My Teen Titans are 1/4 of my Uncanny X-Men. That is what they need to change. Build it and they will come. Put out books that they cannot NOT buy. They have the characters. Write the stories!

Things I'd love to see from all companies:
- Thought balloons. That is one of the things that made comics unique. You could see a characters actions, but you also knew what they were thinking. The Beat had something about Stephen King wanting to use thought balloons in American Vampire and was told that they weren't used anymore. I think that is a big mistake. I truly think that there are two reasons for the disappearance of thought balloons:
1. Decompression of comics. When a story was told in one issue, the writer had to maximize each page. A well-placed thought balloon could go a long way to moving the story along. Nowadays they can use 4 pages of non-dialogued action to show it.
2. The Hollywood factor. Comics now look like storyboards for comics and if you can't see it, it doesn't happen in a movie.

- Better house ads. When was the last time you saw a house ad and it reminded you to grab a book? Its been a while. Or a page promoting all of the books shipping the next week? Somebody call Stan Lee and ask him how to promote a new book. You could all use the help.

- Better covers - When was the last time you bought I book you had no intention of buying solely because of the cover? This weeks Power Girl was the first book in a while I have flipped through solely because of the cover. Enough of the pin-ups. It is the best sales tool each book has, but companies are ignoring them. The last Irredeemable had a guy sitting in a chair. 1, that didn't even happen in the book and 2, who would pick it up because of that? If there is nothing in the book that is exciting enough to put on the cover to grab a shoppers eye, you need to rethink your strategy. I am sitting here thinking of classic covers and very few are pin-ups. The issue before last of Uncanny X-Men had Magneto meditating. Ooooh. Gotta read that! But there was an Iron Man a bit ago with Ghost coming through him on the cover that would make you want to see what happened.

- A Plain English Retailer Version of Previews - It would be much easier for me to order if I could get the info without the hyperbole. Ie, Captain America #605 - Cap and Falcon continue their search for bad guys, Part 5 of 6. The Previews solicits are now written for consumers and I have to read between the lines to get what I need. And when I have to do that I am going to miss stuff, like that stupid Deadpool Rank and Foul book that shipped this week. Just say Deadpool Handbook.

OK, that's enough for today.

DC Wants to be the #1 Publisher

So, one of the news bits coming from the ComicPRO meeting in Memphis is that DC wants to be #1 in the Direct Market. First some explanation. ComicsPRO is a group of Comic retailers who have gotten group together as a means of speaking to publishers, distributors, et al with a united voice, rather than 3000 individual voices. And some publishers have decided to listen. Which is a good thing. Sadly Marvel has not, which is a problem, but also a great opportunity for DC. More on this in a bit. I did not go because I couldn't really figure out a way to be closed Weds-Fri and survive. Maybe next year.

As of February, Marvel led DC in Unit sales 45% to 34% and dollar sales 41% to 31%. Now part of the dollar figure can be based on more Marvel books being $4, but that is just conjecture on my part. The more DC gains, there will be some erosion of Marvel, presumably, DC need less than a 10% swing. How they go about this will be interesting to see.

Over at Bleeding Cool, Rich Johnston suggests DC is going to expand their line, greenlighting more projects than usual. This is scary, because I only have so much room for titles. Seeing one publisher flooding the shelves in an effort to push other books off is a scary thought. Comic shops like me buy the books on a non-returnable basis. We generally have very little to go on when ordering, especially with new titles. Action Comics has a track record and barring a major shake-up, I have a general idea of how many copies of each issue I will sell. New titles are a total guess. And if what Rich Johnston hints at says is true, there may be a lot of titles by unknown talent that will be a total guess. Now, having it coming from DC rather than Left Foot Comics is a little better, unless they are advertising and promoting each one, they are going to die on the shelves. My shelves. Books I paid good money for. I gamble on a lot of books every month, but the thought of a publisher intentionally flooding my shelves is scary. The fact that returnability is mentioned is intriguing if they are going to offer returnability with all of these new books, but I haven't read that yet, Just read it into what is being said.

Another problem is how much can my customers support. Generally, a customer drops a book they haven't been enjoying to try a new one. I know they don't have infinite money to add books. They can spend X amount. Throwing too much out there will result in stagnation. "I can't try them all so I will pass on them all." I don't know, but its scary.

When I first heard DC wanted to be #1, I started thinking about what they can do. What has worked lately. Well, Green Lantern has been a fantastic sales story for, what, 2 years now? Now, it was a well thought-out and executed series. Some stuff has been a little much, crossing over through all of the books, but the ring promotion was a great success for me. Do I want to see every lone go through something this expansive? No. Here is what I would like to see:

1. Core Characters - These are the bread and butter for publishers. Spider-Man, Captain America, Batman, Superman. From these, everything else grows. DC needs to shore up their core characters. For the last year, Superman was not in Superman. Not good. Its very hard to get that new or returning reader into the book. "Where is Superman?" and after you spend 10 minutes talking about New Krypton and Mon-El, their eyes glaze over and they move on to something else. The Batman change has been very well received here in my store, with all new titles doing very well. Better than all of the Superman line. But it is still a problem for new readers. "This is Batman, but its really Nightwing who used to be Robin." "Is Spider-Man still Spider-Man? I'll get that instead."

2. Too much crap - There is too much crap out there to wade through for most people, so they ignore it. It would be different if the stories were brilliant or cutting edge, but they haven't been. Was there really a pressing need for a spin-off character from a team book (Magog) or a new character with an old name from, what 20 years ago? (Azrael). Or a spin-off from a low selling spin-off (Nemesis). Or a spin-off from a 3+ year old story (Great Ten). Someone needs to tell me why I should order these books. Why will my customers be interested in them. I would love to get a little retailer insert for Previews for all of the new titles. Oni Press does it in their listing (Will appeal to...). I need it for many of these.

Lets have some fun. I just pulled out the current Previews. Lets look at DC's new offerings:
Brightest Day - No idea how these will sell, but DC is making them returnable, so I will guess a little higher than I may have.
Justice League: Generation Lost - Tying into Justice League International from the 90s. Why do I need this? Considering Justice League has lost about half its readers since it restarted, what is going to make this special.
Birds of Prey - OK, Gail Simone back on the title she is best known for. Good. I have known demand for this.
Flash - Good, about time. Just make it special.
Titans: Villains for Hire Special - New team, new direction. Trying to spur interest in this? Will sell less than regular series, so why not just make it part of the regular series and promote that?
DC Universe Legacies - Old guys telling old stories. Why is this special?
Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne - OK. Batman is doing well. This will do well. hopefully it will finally explain what happened to him because the "Omega Beam" answer wasn't doing it for most people.
Superman War of the Supermen - Big Free Comic Book Day intro. This will do well. Only a 4 parter. Good. People will stay for 4. Not so much for 12. Even better, its weekly.
Mighty Crusaders Special - Please just let this bad idea die.
Legion of Super-Heroes - Paul Levitz. Good good good. Known audience and may regain more.
Doc Savage - Old character, but great creative team and lots of buzz. Good.
Spirit - Last series tanked bad. may get some buzz, but with creative changes already taking place before it starts, I have little hope this will fly.
Zatanna - Really? Good creative team, but is there really a lot of demand for Zatanna. My hope is that they have a brilliant idea for the first arc that will make every reviewer scream that this is a must read. That's about the only way this will do well.

Now, what I'd like is a one page promo from DC about why I should order these. What is it going to be about, not "Things will never be the same!!!" Tell me the truth. Help me help you.

3. Less Editorial Edicts - What I mean by this is less crossovers. Less tying issues into other stories. Wonder Woman died an early death because I don't think the writers were able to tell their stories. Everything had to fit into something else (Amazons Attack). Let the writers tell the stories they want. Things get too herky jerky. Was Adventure supposed to cross into Blackest Night when it was pitched, or did that just happen? Let the stories flow. Let the writers find their way. I was reading a review of Starman saying how it took Robinson a while to find his voice with it. How would it have worked if he had to crossover into other storylines once a year. Let the writers write.

4. Don't Give Up Editorial Control - Books need to be on time. And each book has to be good. No space fillers. And I really wish there was a tighter gauntlet for getting books done, not a looser one. Why did we need a Red Tornado mini-series? Why did we need Black Lightning Year One? Sell me on the book. Don't just put it out there.

5. Wildstorm - No idea, but something has to happen with this. Or let it go for a year and then bring it back. Take a year to figure out what you want to do with the titles. The relaunch was so badly botched. And the Authority: The Lost year? Did anyone really think this was going to pull big numbers? Pick some writers and artists and have a conference, like Marvel does. If you come at me with a plan, I'll push it. Just throwing stuff out there is not working.

6. Creative Continuity - Changing writers and artists willy nilly does not help readers get comfortable with a title. Titans started strong, but has floundered down to Teen Titans levels.

Now, I like the people at DC. I like the effort they give to getting me promo material, overprinting books so I can get more when it is hot. They have the best trade paperback backlist out there. If they can make me care about their characters and want to read stories about them, they should have no trouble being top dog.

I am not a creative guy. I couldn't write my way out of a bag and a stick figure is the extent of my abilities. But, I know what I like to read. And right now, DC is a little staid and boring. Other than Blackest Night, there is no DC buzz. Lots of Marvel, IDW, Boom buzz. But other than BN, there is no DC buzz. If they can fix that, they may be able to do it.

Snow, Snow Everywhere

I didn't open Saturday. 20 inches of snow overnight. I didn't finish getting the driveway shoveled until 1:00pm (and I started at 7:00am). Plus the township issued a State of Emergency. Sunday was really light. Closed today. And more snow coming tomorrow. Couple that with a very light week of new releases and this week is looking like a bust.

Gah. I know that February is traditionally a slow month for comics sales. The publishers certainly arent' helping in that respect. We got Siege last week, but no other tie-in books (don't get me started on Embedded). No Blackest Night or Green Lantern books. And nothing coming out this week either. Why are the publishers back-loading the months lately? January was like this as well. I just don't get it. There are 4 weeks in a month. There is really no excuse to ship all of you main books in the last 2 weeks.

Or, if they are going to make a habit of this, and I was a small press publisher, I'd make sure my stuff came out the 1st two weeks of a month. People would be 50% more likely to at least see your book. With no Avengers, X-titles, Justice titles or Green Lantern titles shipping, people are looking for things to read.

OK, enough complaining. Time for me to concentrate on selling things other than new comics.

2009 Sales Breakdown

I found this interesting, so I thought I'd share.

Apparel .33%
Back Issues 2.99%
Card Games 3.04%
Games 3.65%
Graphic Novels 24.23%
Magazines (& Lead Figures) 3.36%
Miscellaneous 1.72%
New Comics 47.97%
Posters .04%
Supplies 1.76%
Toys & Statues 11.14%

A few clarifications.
Sadly, the system groups Toys and Statues together. I would like to see those separate. Maybe something to work on for 2010.
The lead figures are classified as Magazines and that is the bulk of that category. I don't sell that many Wizards.

So, my quick analysis-
- I sell more lead figures than I do back issues. The new side should change that, or I am going to have to seriously rethink back issues.
- For as much as people are screaming that comics are dead and trades are the way to go, comics outsell trades 2:1 here. I am happy with both of those numbers though.
- For the new side to really start paying for itself, I need to get games and cards both up to 5% and back issues up to 10%. in store gaming and the new back issue racks should help that.

Now these are only for March-Dec because that's when I got the new POS system.

Top Selling Comics
1. Blackest Night #1
2. Blackest Night #2
3. Green Lantern #43
4. Green Lantern #44
5. Captain America Reborn #1
6. Blackest Night #3
7. Blackest Night #5
8. Blackest night #4
9. Batman & Robin #1
10. Green Lantern #45

Top Selling Graphic Novels
1. Boys TP Vol 4
2. Boys TP Vol 2
3. Boys TP Vol 1
4. Boys TP Vol 3 (Yes, I feel shame for pushing these so hard)
5. Walking Dead TP Vol 10
6. Watchmen TP
7. Mini Marvels TP Secret Invasion Digest
8. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies
9. Walking Dead TP Vol 9
10. Joker HC
(tie) 10. Wolverine Origin TP New Printing

For fun, Top Selling Lead Figures
1. Green Lantern
2. Robin
3. Batman
4. Flash
5. Deadpool
6. Wonder Woman
7. Superman
8. Hawkman
9. Green Arrow
10. Catwoman

New Years Resolutions 2010

Aside from my standard "Lose 30 pounds", I figured I would make some for the store this year. Since I can no longer use "I am out of room, where could I put it?" as an excuse anymore, I figured it may be cathartic to actually write them down and in a place where I, and everyone else, can see if I am accomplishing them. So here it goes:

1. Get more organized
While I have always blamed this on space issues, it is really more of a "me" problem. I am not and organized person, and it kind of shows in the store. Things are usually where they should be, or close, but my space is a mess. If I can focus on this, I see lots of things improving. And this has a lot of sub-categories:

a) Get inventory in computer correct once and for all. It is mostly correct since I started using it in March 2009, but it does not have all of the inventory in the store prior to then. I have been adding it piecemeal since then, but it is still not correct and I know that is hurting me by not having the product on hand.
b) Get back issues organized. If I get this done, the new side will start paying for itself. It was strictly a space issue before (Why spend lots of time organizing and pricing stuff when i had no place to put it.) It is a huge time sink though, and that has been keeping me from really jumping into it. Plus you can only look at so many boxes of early 90s Image stuff before your eyes glaze over.
c) Better organized overstock will let me be able to keep the racks thinner and not falling over, while still having easy access to those books.

2. Get Online
Yes, I know I am there, but I need to do it better. I need to do this more often. I need to do more with the website than just print shipping lists. Facebook, Twitter. Ebay. Again it is more of a time issue than a lack of desire. I will work on it

3. Read more comics.
What? Don't I read enough already? No, not really. I need to read more of the oddball stuff, so I can promote it. I still need to read the biggies so I know what is going on, but I need to read more. A lot more. I can't remember the last Superman family book I read. And that is not good. If you can't ask me about a certain book, who can you ask?

4. More promotions
Now, I don't mean more sales. Who doesn't love a sale? The bank. I have lots of ideas, but I generally run out of time. I need to take one of these fancy Marvel calendars and mark it up. These 3 weeks, I will promote X. Then I will do Y. It will make things more interesting for the customers and will help me move product around, get more books in front of people. It worked well when I did Brian Wood month. I really need to do this more.

Well, that's all I have for now. If I can master those in the next 12 months, I think things will take a pronounced surge in the right direction.

Skip Week

I have to admit that I am kind of looking forward to a week without new books. There is a lot of work getting ready for the new shipment, from updating pull lists to moving the shelves to make new spaces for new titles and moving the new tags. Now, it is mostly routine for me now. Tuesday at 4pm, make the holes and move the shelves. 6pm start moving the new tags. But it is still a good bit of work that I have been doing every week for, gah! 165 straight weeks. So a week off is a bit of a break. Oh and the chaos that is New Comic Day. A week off of that will be nice too. I will be nice just to have a big ale. And it gives everybody a chance to get caught up on their reading.

Now don't get me wrong; I need new books every week to stay afloat. As of Saturday morning, over half of my sales for December were new comics. This is a trend the past few months. For the longest time New Comics were in the 40-45% range.

New comics are probably the hardest part of my business. Ordering correctly is a bit of a bear. Anticipating drop-offs or growth. Figuring out which new books are going to be hits and which are stinkers. I am doing the December order right now and it tough as well because for some DC books, the most recent data I have is for Blackest Night tie-ins. Will they sell at their higher level because of the cross-over or will they drop back down to their prior level? Or will it be somewhere in between. I guess somewhere in between and hope I'm not too far off. And Marvel now has all of the Siege tie-in issues. How much will this affect books like New Avengers and Thor? I'm sure there are some "Event" people who will pick them up because of Siege, but how many. They are (or were in the case of Thor. How do you NOT expect a drop-off when you title an issue Giant-Sized Finale? Kind of like yelling "Everybody Off!!!")

It is fun to read the comments on The Beat's Sales Chart analysis and see people commenting about retailers don't know how to order and that is the reason for the large drops in titles sales. I always laugh and want to reply, but I know it would be screaming into the wind. There are 2 Black Widow mini-series out right now. Exactly what sales data should I use in figuring out how to order them? I took a wild guess. Then you have the fun where one sells well and the other not at all. How do you plan for that?

Well, this went off on a bit of a tangent. All in all, next week should be a little more low key for me and I am looking forward to it.

Stress

I am ready and prepared for the stress of the holidays. Do I have the right product in the store? Will people come? Even the family stress. Will she like it? Will it come in time? The stress I was not prepared for was the "Not Being in the Store" stress.

I have to go to my Sister-in-Law's wedding in Texas this weekend. I did everything I could to get out of it, but family harmony prevailed. The stress comes from the fact that it is 3 weeks before X-Mas and I will not be in the store to: 1) let customers know that their special orders have come in, 2) let people know that I have something they are looking for coming, 3) make recommendations that go along with what they are buying and 4) various other things that only I can do. I am not the be all and end of comic retailing, but in my store, I am the only one who knows what is going on. There is no way I could leave notes that would make any sense.

"This guy, who likes Buffy books, asked about the Buffy lead figures that came out. If he comes in, show it to him. No, I don't know his name, but I'd recognize him if he came in."

So, my fear is how much am I going to lose in sales by being gone this weekend? I fear that it is a lot, especially in the unquantifiable way. No one who will be working here will have access to the Diamond site to see if something is available (I'm not giving anyone access to my account. That could be very very bad).

It is such a crucial time of year. And no one understands my concerns.

Gah. Hopefully it will all be ok.

Publishers, Why Do You Hate Yourselves?

This weeks shipment is a massive one. About double the number of titles shipping as usual. Now the months are usually heavy at the end. In order to not be late, the books must ship sometime during the calendar month, so the end of the month is normally heavier than the rest. This one just happens to be exceptionally heavy. The problem I have with this practice is that, while I can expect it, it really hurts the smaller titles.

Lets look at Marvel. Along with big books like X-Force, Hulk, Fantastic Four, New Avengers, Punisher and Secret Warriors, they are also shipping a bunch of their mid-level titles, like Nova, Incredible Hercules, Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers Initiative. And throw in 2 Dark Reign List one-shots (sure wouldn't want to space those out weekly...) 3 Wolverine books and the kick -off of the next X-Men storyline (X Necrosha). Plus 2 of the 3 Ultimate Comics titles. Then they think that the small titles like Spider-Man Clone Wars, Anti-Venom Models Inc and Marvel Holiday Spectacular will have a chance. Even the most devout Marvelite isn't going to be able to pick up all of their books this week. So what get dropped? Its easy to say people will just pick the books they can't this week during a slower week, but it doesn't work out that way. People will make a decision this week to stop getting certain books. Its going to be those books that they really aren't enjoying. Or that are in a storyline that they don't care about. Where they would normally keep getting it out of habit, Marvel has helped them make the decision to stop getting it. So, how does this help anyone involved? The head of Marvel sales, when confronted with this problem, continuously states that the schedule is set evenly, but some books get behind. Since it happens just about every month, you'd think they could adjust for that.

DC is no better, shipping both Blackest Night and Green Lantern the same week. The main story is going through 3 books. There is really no reason for 2 of them to come out the same week. Plus we are getting Detective, Batman and Superman all the same week. I remember back when I was getting ready to open and DC would schedule Superman, Action, Detective and Batman for separate weeks. 3 in one week is crazy. Space them out over the month, please.

The other thing that frustrates me from all of the publishers is late books. The last issue of Kick Ass was so late that people have given up. I sold 17 less copies of #7 than I did of #6. How can I plan for that? Had the book shipped on a regular schedule, that wouldn't have happened. And to make things more fun, Marvel has manipulated the system so that these books are not technically late, so I don't have the ability to return unsold books. DC, while playing with the same system, still makes late books returnable.

But late books really hurt the small publishers. I realize that they need the money and have to get the books out as soon as they are done, but I really wish that they would have all of the issues of a small series done before starting to ship. And this isn't necessarily just small guys. Image is notorious for late stuff. Bad Dog was at least 6 months late. I have no idea where Four Eyes is, but I doubt anyone that was reading it will care when the next issue comes out.

My only real requirement for telling if a book is good is "Do I want to read the next one?" Unfortunately, out of sight out of mind. I might be loving a book, but if I forget about it, I am less likely to grab the next issue when it comes out. And if it were to come out on a week like this one, it really wouldn't stand a chance. "Do I want to get the next (insert big event tie-in) or get this book that I think I liked but its been so long I really don't remember what is going on in it?" So they kill their own sales and wonder why the market won't support them. And for every small company title that gets abandoned and never finished, the entire industry loses the trust of a customer and store in ordering small company stuff. That is wasted time and money for all involved.

So, please, don't ship all of you books at once. And if you can't hit some sort of schedule, please wait until you have most of the work done before sending it out.

Your readers and buyers will thank you.

Buying Comics

While my main goal is to sell comics, another part of my business is buying comics. And I buy a lot of them. Many are attic finds, or from the basement of a relative. Many are just thinning a collection. Far too many are people looking to cash out of their vast fortune of early Image and late Valiant comics. "But I have 6 copies of Spawn #1?" To which I answer "And if I buy these I will now have 258." But lately I have gotten some very nice collections. And it is reassuring. For all the crap I have taken in, it is nice to finally get some stuff I can put up on the wall. And with the recent expansion, it is also nice to have a place to put these books out for sale.

So, here is a quick lesson on how I buy books. One of my favorite questions I get on the phone is what percentage of book do I pay. Not all books are created equal. In the card (sports and non-sports) there are many card that are just called commons. Nothing exciting and minimal value. Most comics fall into this category. While the price guide my list these at cover price or a little above, that is more a factor of the guide not wanting to show that a comic is ever worth less than cover price. At worst, it will say "Cover price or less". But, sadly, during the overproduction (and poor quality) of books in the early 90's to early 2000s, many books can easily be found in Quarter or Dollar boxes. For these books, I typically pay $20 a longbox and hope I can turn them at a quarter each. While I may profit on them, the goal is more to make them go away. It puts books into peoples hands, but not a real profit maker.

Getting back to the "What percentage of book to I pay?" question, even if you have great books, I don't think you'll like the answer. I am buying books at wholesale and hoping to sell them for a profit. At some time. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe in ten years. Asking me to pay you $20 for a book that guides at $40 isn't going to happen. I sell most of my back issues when they are on sale. So buying a book for $20 that I am more likely than not to sell for $20 doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And if it doesn't sell for several years, I am really out. So unless it is a book I know I can sell right away, my offer is going to be less. I just took in a nice collection of Thor, but it may take me 10 years to sell all of those books, so my offer was much less than book value.

This all brings me to a situation that happened this week. I bought a large (19 box) collection of books that ranged from commons (a lot of them) to really really nice books. My problem was this. The commons aren't worth a lot. The really nice books may be too nice in that they are very valuable, but because of that I don't know when or if I will be able to sell them. And all of those concerns were factored into the buying decision.

Now is it all as easy as this. No. Each case is different. but the overriding thing that I have learned is that I am not going to pay too much for books. If the customer takes my offer, great. If not, oh well. Most people that refuse my offer are for books that I didn't want in the first place. If you really want good money for your books, sell them yourself. Put them on eBay or get a table at a flea market. I'm not here to help you get rich off of your books. I am buying them in the hopes of being able to resell them. Given that back issues are a very small part of my business, I am not going to overpay for anything. It just doesn't make sense.

And Away We Go!!!

Dear Brave Followers and people who have stumbled across this,

Since the beginning, my goal was to have a daily blog. How hard could it be, really? Something interesting or exciting had to happen daily. Right?

Well, maybe not. But I am sure that I can put something up here every day. At least more often than my semi-monthly dispersals of info.

So check back every couple days. Hopefully I will have put something up.

Almost Done

The "Mom/Girlfriend Waiting Area"
The big hole
Back of the old side
View from the counter
Much more open now.
From the back towards the front
The small opening in the back, into the new side
From the new side looking into the old side



I just took these Saturday. I will post more when everything is neat and tidy.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Well, there certainly have been a lot of changes going on in the comic world in the last week. Disney bought Marvel Comics. DC Comics corporate owner, Warner Brothers, decided that they needed to shake things up, make the properties more marketable and in the process their publisher, Paul Levitz left.

What does this all mean for comics? I don't know. And that scares me. I just signed a new 5 year lease for my expanded store. Will anything on comics be the same in 5 years. I don't know. They are the same as they were 3 years ago when I started. But, now? I don't know where they are going.

It has always been comics people in charge. But now its movie people in charge. Will it be for the better? Maybe. Maybe we need to shake things up. A lot of things do seem to comfortable. The end of every storyline always seems to be the beginning of something else rather than giving closure to the story. Maybe that will change.

I would love to see more stories about the story, rather than just continuing a story forever. Read Incredible Hulk 601 and tell me you would have any idea what was going on without reading the last couple of years of books. I love Daredevil dearly, but I don't even know where to tell someone to start reading. A customer came in asking about Superman. How do I help them make headway of that one? While I don't think they need to be dumbed down, making them more accessible would be great. How about some one-shots or two-parters? How about and Avengers book with actual Avengers in it. Or a Justice League with a regular Justice Leaguer?

This is my frustrating part about comics. I love them and I love selling them. But they don't make it easy to bring more people in. Selling trades of older stuff is great, but the new books are getting tough. And here is where the movie people come in.

Iron Man - Movie did great, in comics he was the most hated man in comics. Now, I will give them major props for starting the new book at the same time.
Batman - Movie did great, customers coming in were in the middle of the RIP storyine.
Green Lantern DVD - Not the best of time to try to jump in on Green Lantern.
Wolverine - Lots of interest, but in the middle of the Old Man Logan never-ending saga. Starting the new book at the same time was good, but not great, as there are already too many Wolverine books.
Maybe the movie people will help coordinate accessible comics when there is a movie coming.

But on the other hand, it is fun putting out the Whiteout book, so people see the new movie was a comic first. Same with Surrogates.

The thing that lead me to write this was on a comic retailer site, a comic news reporter was surprised that there was not much discussion about the DC shakeup. There had been a lot of commentary about the Disney/Marvel deal. What I wanted to say was this:

"The Marvel thing was a left hook to the body. Didn't see it coming. It could be good or bad. But even if it was bad, we could roll with it. DC is strong and steady. The DC thing was the right cross to the jaw. Didn't see it coming. It could be good or bad. But even if it was bad, we could roll with it. Except that Marvel is not the partner that DC is (or was). Paul Levitz was always concerned about us, the direct market. Marvel seems to see us as a necessary evil to get their books in the hands of their customers. We no longer have a rudder in DC. If both companies do things that are not in our (comic book stores) best interest, we could be gone. The basic business of comic retailing is the same as it was 3 years ago when I opened. I just signed a new five year lease. It's scary not knowing what things are going to be like in 6 months. Or a year. Or two years. Let alone 5 years. I'm not talking about storylines, I mean actual business. Will both of these parent companies decide to get rid of comics? Will they accidentally make decision (Heroes World) that will have major unexpected consequences on my ability to do business. What if Disney stores become the only outlet for Marvel Comics? And Warner Brothers follows suit? I can think of dozens of bad things. But not many good ones. I think most retailers are just sitting here hoping for the best."

So right now, I will go to the store and do the best job I can to make my business as strong as I can. maybe now would be a good time to get more into the gaming business....

Expansion!!!

Wow, I haven't done this in a while and there is a lot to say.

After getting the news of the rent increase, I started looking around. I missed out on one spot that would have been really good. Too good, so I knew I was too late. Then I kept looking all around the area. Nothing was as cheap as what I am paying now, even with the rent increase. My neighbor was already on the fence about renewing, so with the increase, she decided to move. This lead to an opportunity for me, to take over her space as well.

They broke through the wall today. They are making a 6 foot opening and a 3 foot opening between the 2 stores. This was limited because they had to put a beam up to support the ceiling. But it is just as well, because I need as much wall space as I can get. I don't know exactly what I am putting where on the other side, mostly because I didn't know exactly where the holes were going to be. There is a big difference between what I can fit in 5 feet of space and 6 feet.

Here is a picture of my new hole.

The store is a disaster right now because of having to move things quickly to make space for the hole (right in the middle of my new comic wall.

Here are the rest of the pictures of the work in progress.

I will post more pictures as soon as I can figure out how to format them better

Rent, Leases & Landlords

Lots going on, mind swirling, emotions in full rage and stomach flip-flopping.

My lease is up the end of August. For the last few months, I have been including a note with my rent, asking to talk about renewing my lease. So, it really wasn't a mystery that I wanted to stay. I thought that would be appreciated by my landlord, especially in this economy. I can't imagine that there are that many people looking to open new businesses right now.

So, when I get home Wednesday, there is a package in my mailbox from an attorney. "What did I do?", I wondered. Well, I opened it up to find a cover letter about signing and returning my new lease. As I look it over I see my base rent is going up $1 a sq ft. Not unexpected. But wait. Base rent? I was just paying rent. So I keep reading. They are now adding a "Common Area Maintenance and Taxes Fee" to my rent. And adding this to the increase in my base rent increases my total rent by 50% over what I have been paying. That is quite a hike, in my (and every one of my customers that I have told about this's) opinion.

I understand the concept of Common Area Maintenance fee. But this is not a shopping center. It is three stores in one building. About 4000 sq feet total. There are about 10 parking spaces and a little strip of grass. I don't understand what maintaining this area could be. For the first 2 years, she had someone weedwack the weeds every couple of months. There is usually a large hole in the middle of the parking lot that people have to drive around. The hole has been filled for a bit and they have actually been cutting the grass every other week or so since the spring. But I am not paying thousands of dollars for that. Property taxes are there problem. That is what I am paying rent for. For them to pay the mortgage and taxes on the building. Why make me pay for their property taxes AND also pay more in rent. That's like getting the best of both worlds. "We don't have to pay taxes or maintenance anymore. Lets raise their base rent to so we can make even more profit."

So, after not sleeping all night, I give them a call when I get to the store. Lo and behold, they are on vacation until today. Seriously, you drop a bomb like this on your tenants and then are unavailable? Not cool. If anything could have made me more angry, that was it.

Wednesday night I had emailed some of the big commercial places that had spaces available. I know that most are out of my price range, but you never know. Many have been open for a long time. On the way into the store Thursday, I drove around the area writing down numbers of available properties. I planned on using my typically slow Thursday morning to call around and maybe go see some when my help arrived. There was a specific place I new about. A boring 1500 sq ft rectangle, but not a bad location. In the building next door there was a 3000 sq ft space available. Way more than I could ever afford, but I wrote the number down anyway. "What the heck, it couldn't hurt to call, right?" I called both the numbers and arranged to see both places around 4:00. Luckily, the day was much busier than a normal Thursday. I talked with my customers about the potential move somewhere. Everyone was shocked by the 50% rent increase.

So, I finally sneak out of the store to go see the 2 places. Both are on a main road here. My current place is 1 block off the main road, but on a still busy road and right across from an entrance to a big shopping center. I am peering through the windows at the 3000 sq ft place. Hmmm, lots of windows and doorways. Not good for me. I need lots of walls for comic racks and bookshelves. There is also a big wall with what were changing areas for the dress store that used to be here. It looked like a lot of work to get it ready. And the fact that it is 3 times the space that I have now. I can't afford to triple my rent, and being on the main road, the rent per sq ft would probably be even more than I am paying now, so it is probabaly way out of my price range. The landlord, gary, gets there and we go in. Well, its may not be too many windows because there are a bunch of mirrors I thought were windows. The dressing area could easily come down. Not structural. There are a couple of extra rooms that I don't need, but may be able to do something with. OK, this could work. But how much? While it is more than doubling what I am paying now, it is only $900 more than what I will be paying under my new lease. $900 for better location and 3 times the space. That could work.

I leave and go look at the other place. A 1500 sq ft rectangle. I really don't like the space and the price is way too high for what it is. Only $250 less than the 3000 ft place. So my wife is out and about with the kids. She wants to see the big place. So we go look. I brainstorm some ideas about what I would put where. We both like it, but we are worried about the increased rent. I am comfortable with what I am paying now. More than doubling that is scary. Will I do enough extra business in the new place to cover that increase? I don't know, but at least I was able to sleep.

After talking it over that night and morning, we agree to go for it. The space is too good to pass up. I am completely out of room where I am and I need the extra room. This is far more than I would have looked for, but it is too good to pass up. So, I call Gary and tell him I'll take it. He had mentioned before that he was waiting for a guy to sign a lease on it, but he was still getting his numbers together. He is planning on gutting it and putting $25,000 into it to remodel it. I will take it as is. He said he was giving the guy this weekend to get back to him. He called him Friday and his business was closed for the holiday.

So, I should find out today what is going on. He is telling this guy he needs to sign now because he has another another guy (me) who wants the place. What will this unknown guy do? I don't know. My fate is kind of in his hands. Gary wants to rent the place. Its been open for a while and he could use the income. So I don't think he'll let this guy play him for long. I hope not.

My tummy is all flip-floppy. I am excited about the prospect of taking care of my sudden rent problem quickly. I love the idea of more space. I am doing my best not to think about what I would do in the new space so I won't be too disappointed if the other guy signs. But I am also scared of the new rent amount. Its not like I have that extra amount just laying around at the end of each month. I am also concerned about what all will be required to actually move the store. A bit of a logistical nightmare. It has to be done all at once. Close Saturday at the old place, reopen Tuesday at the new place. Coordinating the phone and all that stuff. So I am excited and scared at the same time. Kind of like when I signed my first lease.

I am 90% sure I am not going to get it, that the other guy will sign and I will have to continue my search. I am a firm believer in fate and what was meant to be will be. If I don't get it, I wasn't meant to. I have been needing more space for the last year, but I was willing to resign at my current place for convenience. I am looking at this whole thing as fate's way of saying I need more space and its time to move. So it may or may not work for this space. Hopefully I will know something in the next few hours. Then I'll be able to eat.

The End of Another Great May

Another May has come and gone, leaving in its wake my best month ever. You'd think that Christmas time would be my best time of year, but instead, its May. Last year, May became my best month ever. And I blew past that number this year. The only explanation I can come up with is people are getting their tax returns.

So thanks to everybody who helped me raise the bar. Now to keep it going all summer.

If you've been by the store lately, you've seen the changes I made on Tuesday. 3 more bookshelves (Thanks, Ikea!) and new display shelves for some of the statues. I think at this point, I am pretty tapped on on what I can do with my floor space. I do have one more idea, but it would result in losing all of my in store storage, so I am not really excited. But it may get there.

This summer is going to be a huge sidewalk sale for me. I need room, so I am going to be moving stuff out. I lost room for the toys, so I am blowing them all out - 1/2 price. As soon as most of them are gone, I will be bringing 24 boxes I have at home in the basement. I brought them home to sort and bag one weekend while my wife was away and I never got them back to the store. 24 boxes is the exact number that I can fit on the 2 8-ft tables outside. So I am going to bring them in and sell them all for a buck a piece. Lots of good stuff. I just don't have the room for them even if I price them.

This week I am getting in several hundred trades and hardcovers that are all going to be half off or more. If you are looking for some good summer reading, now is the time. How I am going to display them, I have no idea.

I am also going to be getting stuff up on eBay, so any out-of-towners can help thin my inventory as well.

So, I have a very full plate ahead of me this summer. But I can't complain, because it is all fun.

Back To Normal

Well, Free Comic Book Day has passed once again. What a great and joyous experience! Lots of new faces. Lots of new kid faces. A great day of sales (possibly the 2nd best day ever). And a whole lot of fun.

I was lucky enough to have Dave Hawksworth, an outside sales rep for Diamond Comic Distributors in the store both Friday and Saturday. His primary job is to make sure we are aware of lots of good, award winning trades and other products. He also usually takes pictures of the store and does a little profile on the Diamond site for other retailers. He didn't take any photos on Friday and I think I impressed him by having all but one of the books he was promoting. I had sold the other one, but had not reordered it. I even sold him 2 books so he could promote them at other stores on his voyage.

Dave came back on Saturday to take pictures during the Free Comic Book Day festivities. Luckily he was there at about the busiest point of the day, with lots of kids in the store. I was waaaay too busy on the register to talk to him, but I could hear customers talking me and the store up to him, and I really appreciated it.

Dave gave me lots of compliments and heaped praise on me and the store and how I am running the store. Now I do see this 2 ways. 1st, I doubt he ever tells anyone they are doing a crappy job. But, 2nd, he sees a lot of stores in his travels. So he knows good and bad, and I really do think he thinks I am doing a good job.

I am not the biggest store in the area, either in sales volume or in store size. But I do try to carry a very diverse stock. It was nice to have almost all of the books he was recommending. Its also fun to surprise people by having the oddball books they are looking for.

So I guess I will keep doing what I am doing. Hopefully, I'll keep getting better at it. And thanks to everybody that came down this past weekend. And thinks to everybody that shows up every week or month. I couldn't do it without you.

Diamond and the Small Press Situation

The more I think about the whole Diamond restructuring order minimums thing, the more I think it will help me in the long run. Instead of just blindly ordering from the publishers in the Diamond previews catalog, I am going to have to look on the web for more information about the different companies. I am already getting set up with a small press distributor and there is another that I need to look at more closely.

Now will it hurt these publishers, at least initially. Sure. They are going to lose a large chunk of the people who may order their books. But I know there a lot of stores that don’t even bother with back of the Previews stuff anyway. I love that stuff. It’s what makes me different from the grocery store.

The thought of having to keep track of multiple orders from multiple distributors at first seems like a big hassle, but hopefully it will end up making me more organized. (And hopefully my new POS system will do some of the work for me as well)

The funny part, for me, is that Diamond had this ginormous “monopoly”. (I don’t think it is legally a monopoly, under the true definition) There was literally no reason to get your books anywhere else. They had the big companies (Marvel, DC) and you could get all of the rest there. But recently, stores have been going through book distributors to get graphic novels that Diamond was spotty about keeping in stock. Or at a better discount than Diamond was offering. And I have recently had to go direct through the publishers to get some books that Diamond was not restocking, or stocking at all in the case of hack Slash. I am opening an account with Haven Distribution. They have some books in stock that I have had on back order with Diamond for a long time. Now, their list of publishers is pretty small right now, but I sure expect that to grow in the near future.

I realize that Diamond was losing money on some of these publishers. I just question the 70% jump from in publisher order requirements. Seems awful big all at once. But maybe this is the kick in the butt those publishers needed to make changes to improve themselves and the industry as a whole. Who knows, maybe this will even help the entire distribution chain in the long run.

It is definitely making for interesting times.