So, I'm in this local comic book collective, and we put out an anthology recently. So now I've got 500 books, a webpage in the works, and very little idea of what to do with them. The local shops have all agreed to carry them, but at cost. A couple of our members put up their own money (against my better judgment) for part of the printing cost. I want to help them get their investment back as soon as I can. We only need to sell about 100 books at cover price to make the money back.
Our current plans are thus:
*Sell on eBay, for cover price
*Sell from our own web page, for cover price
*Use one member’s dubious Internet fame to funnel people from his deviant art site to our site
*Sell at the few events we have locally
*Sell in local comic stores- with aforementioned problems
* Pimp book on our web comic pages (small readership. my comic is new, and another member dropped her comic when her dad got sick, and another member dropped her very popular comic when her sister died)
We have no budget for banner ads, and would prefer to be as non-obnoxious as possible. So, anyone have any other ideas about getting the word out?
Ok, I have paper books....now what?
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Bustertheclown
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Selling through local shops should not be a "problem". Yes, consignment means giving them over a percentage, usually up to forty percent. (Sometimes it's as high as sixty percent, but that's pushing it. At cost is really quite unreasonable. Try to negotiate. They deserve a cut for the rental of the space, but they don't deserve the whole enchilada.) The shops need to make money, too. That's why the cover price of a given comic is always much higher than printing costs. You need to factor in that this is business, and people are going to want to take a little off the top in exchange for shelf space. Frankly, you should feel a bit lucky that there are shops willing to sell through consignment. I've run into several local shops that ONLY solicit through Diamond, making small press a somewhat hard prospect where I live.
For your benefit, though, let's do the math. You say that the print cost was 20% of cover price per issue. For the sake of argument, if you were to sell through only local shops, and they all charged a consignment fee of 40% cover price, that's 60% cover price going towards cost, leaving you with a 40% profit. At the standard cover price of $3 per issue, that makes a sound $1.20 per issue of pure profit.
True, if you were to choose to sell all of your product on consignment through local shops, it means you'd have to sell up to 300 issues before it's profitable. However, what do you get for that cut? Well, first of all, you're supporting local trade, which is quite a noble thing. After all, these are the shops where you go to buy your comics. Why wouldn't you go to these shops to sell your comics? You are networking with real businesses, and creating local support for future ventures. Think of these places as the galleries that people can come to and actually look at the physical object. You're creating a local presence with your product, which may well garner you a local following. Everyone knows that "word of mouth" is the best advertising, and the best "word of mouth" campaigns begin locally. Plus, do you have any idea how cool it is to walk into your local comic store or book store, and look down to find your book sitting amongst Marvel, DC, Image, and Dark horse? That's a fucking great feeling, and totally worth the charge.
Obviously, it's not going to be too feasible to sell 500 issues of your comic through only local shops. That's a lot of product to move, and they only have limited space and time to display your comic. Realistically, you should plan on putting about 5 to 20 issues on a shelf per local shop. The more shops you have access to, the more shelves you can get on, and the higher potential you have of actually selling some of your issues. If a guy is making his rounds of the local shops, and he sees your book on every shelf, he may just notice it, and buy it. So, if you have three local shops, set aside about 20 to 50 issues to go around and distribute to the local businesses, leaving the rest to try to hawk in other venues. At such a low number, even if you just give your comics away to the shops, it's not really going to cut into your profit margins too terribly. And don't forget local boosterism! It lends credence to your book to have it carried by someone. When you mention that you have a book published, also mention where you're selling it. It's a nice advertisement for the stores, and if enough people come into these stores looking for your stuff, it will go a long way to show the proprietors that you're worth doing future business with. That's a win/win situation.
As to the full game plan? Do everything you've listed. Also, look into Amazon.com. Also, NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK! Get the word out everywhere you can. You never know who might be willing to help you out in some way, like providing links to sales pages, or even taking a few issues of your hands. There are other comic communities which might help you with networking. Digitalwebbing is a good resource, I know there are at least a few people around these parts who are active on Comixtalk, I've always had a soft spot for the SPA. They're as supportive and helpful community. A word of warning, though Dimestore is a huge site, with a lot to wade through. I linked you to the SPA page, but it still might take a bit to get your bearings there. It always takes me some time to re-initiate myself to the site, after being away for awhile.
Also,PRESS KIT, and REVIEWS! You say you've got contributors with some amount of internet popularity. Are they popular enough to be newsworthy? Create a little press kit announcing the anthology, who's involved, and where to buy it, and send it to comic news sites. Send your work out to reviewers. Do you have a PDF of the book, that you could link to for the benefit of reviewers? It doesn't have to be a publicly accessible link. Comixtalk does reviews. I've always really liked The Comics Reporter
I'll be frank with you. All in all, don't have too much hope in getting your money back on this venture. A one-off anthology with a minuscule print run probably doesn't have the power to make much money. However, 500 issues does go a long way toward getting your name out there, if you use it as a tool to market your name and your work. Think of it as a sort of business card. If you work the self-promotion angle right, you could very well make a lot of allies that could come in handy for you further down the road, when you put out another publication. If you approach it that way, and use the comic to make as many ripples as possible, you never know. You may just create enough demand to have to do a second print run.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
For your benefit, though, let's do the math. You say that the print cost was 20% of cover price per issue. For the sake of argument, if you were to sell through only local shops, and they all charged a consignment fee of 40% cover price, that's 60% cover price going towards cost, leaving you with a 40% profit. At the standard cover price of $3 per issue, that makes a sound $1.20 per issue of pure profit.
True, if you were to choose to sell all of your product on consignment through local shops, it means you'd have to sell up to 300 issues before it's profitable. However, what do you get for that cut? Well, first of all, you're supporting local trade, which is quite a noble thing. After all, these are the shops where you go to buy your comics. Why wouldn't you go to these shops to sell your comics? You are networking with real businesses, and creating local support for future ventures. Think of these places as the galleries that people can come to and actually look at the physical object. You're creating a local presence with your product, which may well garner you a local following. Everyone knows that "word of mouth" is the best advertising, and the best "word of mouth" campaigns begin locally. Plus, do you have any idea how cool it is to walk into your local comic store or book store, and look down to find your book sitting amongst Marvel, DC, Image, and Dark horse? That's a fucking great feeling, and totally worth the charge.
Obviously, it's not going to be too feasible to sell 500 issues of your comic through only local shops. That's a lot of product to move, and they only have limited space and time to display your comic. Realistically, you should plan on putting about 5 to 20 issues on a shelf per local shop. The more shops you have access to, the more shelves you can get on, and the higher potential you have of actually selling some of your issues. If a guy is making his rounds of the local shops, and he sees your book on every shelf, he may just notice it, and buy it. So, if you have three local shops, set aside about 20 to 50 issues to go around and distribute to the local businesses, leaving the rest to try to hawk in other venues. At such a low number, even if you just give your comics away to the shops, it's not really going to cut into your profit margins too terribly. And don't forget local boosterism! It lends credence to your book to have it carried by someone. When you mention that you have a book published, also mention where you're selling it. It's a nice advertisement for the stores, and if enough people come into these stores looking for your stuff, it will go a long way to show the proprietors that you're worth doing future business with. That's a win/win situation.
As to the full game plan? Do everything you've listed. Also, look into Amazon.com. Also, NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK! Get the word out everywhere you can. You never know who might be willing to help you out in some way, like providing links to sales pages, or even taking a few issues of your hands. There are other comic communities which might help you with networking. Digitalwebbing is a good resource, I know there are at least a few people around these parts who are active on Comixtalk, I've always had a soft spot for the SPA. They're as supportive and helpful community. A word of warning, though Dimestore is a huge site, with a lot to wade through. I linked you to the SPA page, but it still might take a bit to get your bearings there. It always takes me some time to re-initiate myself to the site, after being away for awhile.
Also,PRESS KIT, and REVIEWS! You say you've got contributors with some amount of internet popularity. Are they popular enough to be newsworthy? Create a little press kit announcing the anthology, who's involved, and where to buy it, and send it to comic news sites. Send your work out to reviewers. Do you have a PDF of the book, that you could link to for the benefit of reviewers? It doesn't have to be a publicly accessible link. Comixtalk does reviews. I've always really liked The Comics Reporter
I'll be frank with you. All in all, don't have too much hope in getting your money back on this venture. A one-off anthology with a minuscule print run probably doesn't have the power to make much money. However, 500 issues does go a long way toward getting your name out there, if you use it as a tool to market your name and your work. Think of it as a sort of business card. If you work the self-promotion angle right, you could very well make a lot of allies that could come in handy for you further down the road, when you put out another publication. If you approach it that way, and use the comic to make as many ripples as possible, you never know. You may just create enough demand to have to do a second print run.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
"Just because we're amateurs, doesn't mean our comics have to be amateurish." -McDuffies
http://hastilyscribbled.comicgenesis.com
http://hastilyscribbled.comicgenesis.com
let me be clear- I'm not critisizing the comic shops for wanting their cut. They have been very good to us. Also, we do not need to make back all $1800 we spent to print it. Only a small part of our printing costs were covered by our members. I was only pointing out that we cant do it all with shops alone. Also, none of the local shops are selling for consignment. In my home town the comic artists are so spoiled that the stores will buy 6 copies outright.
Sadly, we had to give up on Amazon. To list on amazon you have to be a plus member, which costs $40, which we dont have.
thanks for those links though! Thats very helpfull. It seems clear that the internet is our best hope for getting the word out that we exist.
What all is involved in a "press kit"?
Sadly, we had to give up on Amazon. To list on amazon you have to be a plus member, which costs $40, which we dont have.
thanks for those links though! Thats very helpfull. It seems clear that the internet is our best hope for getting the word out that we exist.
What all is involved in a "press kit"?
... you spent $1800 to print this, but you don't have $40 to list the book on Amazon?goldfish wrote:let me be clear- I'm not critisizing the comic shops for wanting their cut. They have been very good to us. Also, we do not need to make back all $1800 we spent to print it. Only a small part of our printing costs were covered by our members. I was only pointing out that we cant do it all with shops alone. Also, none of the local shops are selling for consignment. In my home town the comic artists are so spoiled that the stores will buy 6 copies outright.
Sadly, we had to give up on Amazon. To list on amazon you have to be a plus member, which costs $40, which we dont have.
thanks for those links though! Thats very helpfull. It seems clear that the internet is our best hope for getting the word out that we exist.
What all is involved in a "press kit"?
This makes no sense.
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Bustertheclown
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Okay, now I'm confused. How much is the cover price to this book? How big is this book? At $1800 for 500 copies, where the hell did you get this monster printed?
"Just because we're amateurs, doesn't mean our comics have to be amateurish." -McDuffies
http://hastilyscribbled.comicgenesis.com
http://hastilyscribbled.comicgenesis.com
I for one am VERY interested in learning more on getting things in shops too....
Warren
Comics. Drawn poorly.
------------------------------
It's grey, not gray. And it always has been.
Lauren's Wing - The fund for animal care
Comics. Drawn poorly.
------------------------------
It's grey, not gray. And it always has been.
Lauren's Wing - The fund for animal care
wow. Uhm. I'm guessing most of you have never priced printing before. $1800 is actualy a low price for printing 500 copies of a 100 page black and white book. We checked local printers and international printers. Seriously, this is pretty much the best deal in town. We even asked just about every other indie printing comic artist we know.
And yes, we raised $1800, but dont have an extra $40. We raised the vast majority of those funds by selling ads in the comic itself. We can hardly get more ads now tho, since the book is already printed. No, we couldnt have just gotten more ads.
Bear in mind, thats about $3.50 per book. My most recent chat with comic book sellers estimate the books best shelf price as $12. We were inititaly going to sell it for $7.50, which would mean the 50% coverprice would have been....well...cost. Now were going to price it at $10.00, and get $2.00 of profit per book.
but still. Internet sales have a much higher potential to reach a greater audience than even my beloved local comic shop.
And yes, we raised $1800, but dont have an extra $40. We raised the vast majority of those funds by selling ads in the comic itself. We can hardly get more ads now tho, since the book is already printed. No, we couldnt have just gotten more ads.
Bear in mind, thats about $3.50 per book. My most recent chat with comic book sellers estimate the books best shelf price as $12. We were inititaly going to sell it for $7.50, which would mean the 50% coverprice would have been....well...cost. Now were going to price it at $10.00, and get $2.00 of profit per book.
but still. Internet sales have a much higher potential to reach a greater audience than even my beloved local comic shop.
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Legion of Boom
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Been down the path of traditional printing several times and $3.50 per unit is acceptable for a small run of 500 copies. I printed 1,000 100-page B&W books ten years ago for $2.50 and I too sold advertising to finance the deal as I was a broke college punk. In the future, you may want to consider print-on-demand like Ka-Blam and Lulu if you want to avoid a lump sum printing cost and less risk. But offset-printing is always going to be better quality than laserjet POD.
I sold my $2.50 Tubularman books for $9.95 at Barnes & Noble and some local shops. Some did consignment and some bought 100 units at a time. If you or any of the other contributors have a local following I would schedule some book signings and some local conventions. That's how I eventually sold 1,000 copies of my book with no web presence.
But these days, you need to add web exposure to your promo mix for a wider audience. Hope this helps.
I sold my $2.50 Tubularman books for $9.95 at Barnes & Noble and some local shops. Some did consignment and some bought 100 units at a time. If you or any of the other contributors have a local following I would schedule some book signings and some local conventions. That's how I eventually sold 1,000 copies of my book with no web presence.
But these days, you need to add web exposure to your promo mix for a wider audience. Hope this helps.
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Alschroeder
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3.50 for a 100-page book?? Black-and-white or not, that is INDEED quite a deal--considering most comics cost $3.00 or more for 18 to 20 pages. ---Algoldfish wrote:wow. Uhm. I'm guessing most of you have never priced printing before. $1800 is actualy a low price for printing 500 copies of a 100 page black and white book. We checked local printers and international printers. Seriously, this is pretty much the best deal in town. We even asked just about every other indie printing comic artist we know.
http://mindmistress.comicgenesis.com--MINDMISTRESS
---Think the superhero genre is mined out? Think all the superhero ideas have been done?
Think again.
Also check out http://www.webcomicsnation.com/alschroe ... series.php--Flickerflame</a>
---Think the superhero genre is mined out? Think all the superhero ideas have been done?
Think again.
Also check out http://www.webcomicsnation.com/alschroe ... series.php--Flickerflame</a>
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Bustertheclown
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I was just confused, because you hadn't given details on the size of the book, and the numbers weren't gelling with the assumptions I'd made about the book. It was my mistake. Still, I'd like to know where you got this monster printed.goldfish wrote:wow. Uhm. I'm guessing most of you have never priced printing before. $1800 is actualy a low price for printing 500 copies of a 100 page black and white book. We checked local printers and international printers. Seriously, this is pretty much the best deal in town. We even asked just about every other indie printing comic artist we know.
"Just because we're amateurs, doesn't mean our comics have to be amateurish." -McDuffies
http://hastilyscribbled.comicgenesis.com
http://hastilyscribbled.comicgenesis.com
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Legion of Boom
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I printed the 2nd Edition of my Legend of Tubularman compilation book at Brenner of San Antonio. The good folks at Morgan in North Dakota are good too. These guys specialize in comic books and complation books and its where a lot of pros go to get their work done. Man, I wish they would have paid me for this endorsement. 