Tilting at Windmills - Jun 19, 2015

[CBR News]

This month Brian Hibbs discusses a number of topics, from Kickstarter to "All-New, All-Different Marvel" and an ordering meeting at his shop.


Full article here.

[cranger]

I'm no expert on Kickstarter and Archie has always seemed to only be halfway in on the direct market to begin with, but I can see how that whole thing really probably was not the best idea at least considering how the typical way of launching a comic and leading readers into a series works and what retailers, and readers, rely on.

The number of titles Marvel is talking about is baffling and I don't think it takes into account what will probably still be 6 or so Star Wars books that will be expecting to pull big numbers, and feature top talent. Even DC, and to lesser extent other publisher's, seem to have a problem with feeling the need to offer so much but have no expectations that any of it will sell big.

Which leads me to the one regular part of the column that always intrigues me, and that is rack copies. I mean, I get how this works, but at the same time is still amazes me. Probably 90% of what I buy is done through a pull list. Sometimes I buy something that looks interesting or I forgot about, or some recent issues of something I just started reading, but otherwise I could not imagine going into the store each weak with no real sense of knowing what I would be walking out with. I'd like to say that I do it because it helps my store know what to order, but really it is probably for the more selfish reason that I don't want whatever I was hoping to buy be gone by the time I got there.

[Darth Weevil]

I, too, doubt Marvel can sustain 55-60 series, but I don't think they really expect to, either. They've made plain lately that a lot of their "ongoing" series are really limited series that can't be labelled as such, because even fewer copies will be sold. So, probably 30 of these will continue after mid-2016, with a few more not-really-ongoings coming in as they are "cancelled".

Now, obviously, this is really rough on retailers, but it lets some second tier characters who can't sustain their own ongoings on a long-term basis get out there for a while. Without this model, we wouldn't have some recent gems like She-Hulk, Squirrel Girl, even Ms. Marvel.

Now, where he fat could be trimmed is in the umpteen variations on the team books, esp. if the marquee titles are going to continue double-shipping. We don't need however many X-Men team books we have; we don't need 4+ Avengers team books. Maybe two of each, and then the solos.

[Darth Weevil]

I'm no expert on Kickstarter and Archie has always seemed to only be halfway in on the direct market to begin with, but I can see how that whole thing really probably was not the best idea at least considering how the typical way of launching a comic and leading readers into a series works and what retailers, and readers, rely on.

The number of titles Marvel is talking about is baffling and I don't think it takes into account what will probably still be 6 or so Star Wars books that will be expecting to pull big numbers, and feature top talent. Even DC, and to lesser extent other publisher's, seem to have a problem with feeling the need to offer so much but have no expectations that any of it will sell big.

Which leads me to the one regular part of the column that always intrigues me, and that is rack copies. I mean, I get how this works, but at the same time is still amazes me. Probably 90% of what I buy is done through a pull list. Sometimes I buy something that looks interesting or I forgot about, or some recent issues of something I just started reading, but otherwise I could not imagine going into the store each weak with no real sense of knowing what I would be walking out with. I'd like to say that I do it because it helps my store know what to order, but really it is probably for the more selfish reason that I don't want whatever I was hoping to buy be gone by the time I got there.

I only recently finally got around to setting up a pull list, because I do enjoy going in and browsing to see what's new. I maybe put slightly more work in before going—I'd look at a list of the week's new comics—but mostly it was just seeing where that "new this week" tag was. I finally set up the pull list after my schedule changed so as to make it more difficult to get in regularly, so now I don't have to worry about stuff selling out. Now I can be in and out in five minutes, but honestly that's not as fun.

[tyler_james]

Love the column, and the thoughts from the retailers perspective. And I totally understand a retailer's lack of embracing Kickstarter, and potential fear towards it.

But I do think you're ignoring a lot of things and being a bit myopic about how Kickstarter fits into the 2015 comic book ecosystem...

A thrust of your argument resides on the assertion that dollars spent on Kickstarter are dollars NOT spent in the direct market. That it's all one customer pool... I think there are plenty of reasons why that's absolutely not true.

-- Kickstarter is a global marketplace, with some 30% of dollars raised for comics on Kickstarter coming from overseas.

-- Many Kickstarter backers don't have a good local comic book shop, and buying on Kickstarter is their main (and preferred) way of staying engaged in the comics medium...

-- ...or even more importantly, many Kickstarter backers don't have access to a good locale comic book convention, and Kickstarter campaigns scratch that itch for creator interaction and premium products (prints, sketches, signed copies, that they could otherwise only get at cons.)

I'd venture only a small % (if any) of the $34 million dollars for comic book projects raised on Kickstarter to date came out of your pocket.

As for Archie... I listened to your ordering meeting when talking about Archie books. If your shop's level of interest in their product is any indication of the comic market as a whole, it's not surprising they're flirting with options to cut retailers out of the mix!

As a middle man, your value proposition to content providers is shelf space, volume of sales, and concierge level service to sell their product to your customers.

If you can't provide that... publishers in 2015 do have other options.

And honestly, if our world had a cataclysm-esque event and the comic book industry's system of pre-order/ bringing books to market had to be created from the ground up from scratch, it's pretty safe to say a modern pre-order system would look a hell of a lot more like Kickstarter than the one we currently have.

P.S. How'd Image's Five Ghosts do for you? Or anything by Frank Barbiere? Because that book was initially Kickstarted, which in turn, helped ignite Frank's promising young career.

[JamieCoville]

I've attended a number of kick starter related panels over the last year. One of the common things that get said is the Kickstarter will fund your project, but won't fund you (the person making the stuff). So it's a way of getting the work out there, but not making much money on it. At least, not in the short term.

I think (but don't know) that there are other ways, outside of the direct market, that these creators who do multiple kickstarter creators earn a living. They sell the books online and at conventions, do sketches & commissions, get WFH jobs, perhaps do merchandising relating to their product, possibly sell an option to a movie producer, publishers wanting the rights to translate to another language and sell in their market, etc..

Kickstarter is also a good market place test for an offbeat idea. If it can't generate enough money to fulfill it's goal, then there is no market for it. Many, many, many self publishers have lost their shirt finding out the hard way their idea isn't want the comic buying public is into right now. Quite often the successful kick starter books are for something that's not available in the direct market and probably wouldn't do well there. EG Smut Peddler, do you honestly see the direct market ordering the same number of books that that book sold via Kickstarter? While I know there are more and more female friendly comic shops out there, I'm not sure if all are 'buy porn unashamedly with men standing around them' friendly just yet.

Another thing to recognize is people who fund kick starters may not necessarily be the same people who shop in comic stores. They might be shopping in bookstores or prefer to use the library. In some cases, they aren't really interested in comics at all, but if the book is about a topic they're interested in, then they fund it.

[Steve068]

So my sixteen books this week (and it was a small week for me) is four times the average? That doesn't seem right based what I see in most other shoppers' hands...

[Brian Hibbs]

Which leads me to the one regular part of the column that always intrigues me, and that is rack copies. I mean, I get how this works, but at the same time is still amazes me. Probably 90% of what I buy is done through a pull list. Sometimes I buy something that looks interesting or I forgot about, or some recent issues of something I just started reading, but otherwise I could not imagine going into the store each weak with no real sense of knowing what I would be walking out with. I'd like to say that I do it because it helps my store know what to order, but really it is probably for the more selfish reason that I don't want whatever I was hoping to buy be gone by the time I got there.

I have two stores (small sample size) -- the mainstream super-hero focused store has roughly half the customers with a pull, the graphic novel focused on, it is about 1/3.

-B

[Brian Hibbs]

A thrust of your argument resides on the assertion that dollars spent on Kickstarter are dollars NOT spent in the direct market. That it's all one customer pool... I think there are plenty of reasons why that's absolutely not true.

Hrm, I don't think that is either a thrust of my argument, nor something I even slightly think.

I'm reporting on what I see as actually happening in my actual store(s)

There's more to unpack there... but I'm on my 30th wedding anniversary trip this week, and can't muster an in-depth reponse....

-B

[Brian Hibbs]

So my sixteen books this week (and it was a small week for me) is four times the average? That doesn't seem right based what I see in most other shoppers' hands...

For us, yes, that would be wildly over-average -- an average ticket for a sale is in the $22 range, not $60+

-B

[Brian Hibbs]

EG Smut Peddler, do you honestly see the direct market ordering the same number of books that that book sold via Kickstarter? While I know there are more and more female friendly comic shops out there, I'm not sure if all are 'buy porn unashamedly with men standing around them' friendly just yet.

Great example, Jamie, because my main store is probably the one store in America that SMUT PEDDLER should have been a runaway success -- San francisco, porn-friendly, well-racked, safe-for-women space, queer-friendly, etc etc..... and the book eventually sold the copies we ordered, but it took a loonnnnnnnnng time to do so.

-B

[cuttlefish]

I really enjoyed listening to your ordering discussions, Brian. Thanks for posting.

[El Prez]

I have a small shop in the UK, and standing orders have plunged dramatically, as Marvel and DC pulled the plug (for 2 months or more at least) on most of the titles that our customers pick up regularly, and consequently provide our reliable income,
And a significant number have used this as a handy point at which to cancel those titles should they return.
So, goodbye to a lot of our reliable, regular income.
The Convergence 2-parters sold poorly for us.
Convergence sold as expected - lukewarm
Secret Wars is selling well (as expected), but almost all of the tie-in series are still sitting on the shelves, despite ordering very conservatively.
Marvel (and to a lesser extent, DC) are acting in a very short-sighted manner in my opinion.
Throwing so many #1s at retailers at the same time forces us to play safe with practically all of them, and hampers their long-term viability.
Let's be honest, with so many "unknown quantities" on offer I've probably under-ordered on some that have legs, but better that than gamble on all of them and cripple my business.
I long ago learned that it's better to sell out than sit on too many unsold comics.

Takings are down (my running costs remain the same, obviously), and I currently have more standing orders at a single copy or, if I'm lucky, at 2 or 3 copies than we have ever had.
Add to that more first issues in the last 3 months than at any time than I can remember, and a horde more on the horizon.
A lot of the new titles are going to fail (some certainly unfairly), and confidence in new releases (from the retailers – who place the initial orders) is going to drop as they struggle, as never before, to decide what to spend their limited budget on.
Marvel and DC are taking massive gambles at the moment, and it is the retailers who are going to suffer the most, at first.