Diamond raises benchmark to $2500

[Harry Markos]

Now that Diamond has officially raised the benchmark again to $2500, what do people think is going to be the result in terms of the Indy publishers?
It effectively means that a $3.50 book now needs to secure 1750 orders for Diamond to distribute it, otherwise it will be cancelled. It will mean that many small publishers will not see their books in comic stores any more, as many as 50% in my opinion.
For us it means that we will go straight to graphic novel with most if not all of our titles. The monthly books were our shop window, a way to show people that we were around and regularly publishing, a way to show people we were viable.
It means that we have to rethink the way we do everything now, from marketing, promotion and packaging. It may ultimately benefit us as we will be around for a while but for most?
What do you think? Got any ideas as to how small publishers will get through this? What would you do?

[John Freeman]

Hi Harry

This doesn't sound good -- I imagine that given what we know of Virgin Comics' sales figures before it went under (Dan Dare settled at about 6000 I believe) many smaller publishers must be about to face real difficulties.

I suppose you could argue, of course, that it will encourage publishers to up their game in terms of quality, scheduling etc., but if you're doing that already then what else is there?

Seems to me that one problem here is the small number of distributors, something oft-complained about,

You might want to take a look at this thread about a new promo project called STACK, which has been set up by a varoety of small indie magazines. Maybe there's something there for small comic publishers too, either by seeing if they can join it or doing something similar.

[Harry Markos]

Hi John

I have looked at STACK and it certainly is an interesting option. I do have reservations though:

1 - Most comics are either ongoing or mini-series, so the random placing idea won't work for such books as readers will end up getting a book half-way through a series or something.
2 - The subscribers to STACK did so for magazines, who is to say that they would be interested in comics?
3 - Has anyone actually contacted them on behalf of the comic fraternity? Or have they made any contact with us? Maybe they have suggestions that could work?

I do have an idea though!
Instead of just one comic, how about we do bundles, like a complete four-issue mini-series? That would work and would be an excellent way of selling back-issues which otherwise wouldn't work much for the publisher.
Alternatively, and this is more radical, how about trades/graphic novels? Obviously the price point is an issue, but I wouldn't be too upset about getting £3 or £4 for a trade we released into the general market a couple of years ago, at least we'd continue our cash flow.

The main stumbling block for me though would be whether there would be an acceptance by the subscribers to a format which is greatly different from that which they signed up for.
It would be great to find out from STACK themselves what their thoughts are.

Harry

[John Freeman]

I think we're thinking on similar lines about graphic novels, suggested it on the STACK thread. I've got a contact for STACK if you're interested but I'm going to contact them anyway. Let me know off list.

[richard bruton]

Hi Harry,

I've been reading a lot of things about this over the last few days and we've put something up about it on the FPI blog here.

And there's more to come tomorrow.

One thing I think we all have to agree on is that it's not an "evil Diamond" thing. They have to do what they must to keep themselves viable. God knows it would be better for the industry to have more distributors. But we haven't. And let's face it; if Diamond went out of business, most of the comic shops would go with it before someone else stepped in to fill the breach. Like it or not, Diamond's continued survival is vital to the industry as it stands now.

I do agree that it will make everyone rethink how they do things and may well hasten the ongoing transition from comic pamphlets to graphic novels as the primary format for the comic medium.

Uncertain times.

[John Freeman]

Hi Richard

That's a great overview and analysis of the situation and response from creators and publishers. Kenny's follow up post is very interesting, too.

One thing you said was interesting:

“Why don’t the shops just get theses books that Diamond wont stock from alternative distributors then?” you may ask. The sad answer to that is complacency and convenience on the part of the retailer. It takes a lot of extra work to source a new distributor and even more work to use and operate accounts with more than one distributor.

It's not just taking on a new distributor though, is it? It seems many retailers won't even deal with publishers direct. I know that Spaceship Away has approached several retailers - including Forbidden Planet London, because I personally handed a sample of the comic to their buyer on his behalf and Rod Barzilay still hasn't heard from him three months later. That "complacency and convenience" is telling but I'm sure it's also down to a shortage of time on the part of retailers already fighting to get customers through their door.

If however retailers are not preparedto deal with publishers direct (or physically can't), then how are small publishers going to market their books if Diamond won't? All this seems to indicate is that if a book doesn't sell well in Diamond's eyes then it's a failure. That would include the titles you quote, like Bone when it launched or comics such as Cerberus, neither of which I would consider failures in terms broader than simple sales.

Perhaps Diamond should introduce a readers' panel into its assessment of new comics and create a new (but, of economic necessity, small) section in its catalogue 'platforming' new, edgier launches, a section that would at least give new creators a chance at getting in? (Sorry, this is a bit half formed, but it's early in the morning...)

[bambos georgiou]

Aren't Diamond also about to raise their UK prices as well, or have they done that already. This is on top of news that Marvel will be raising their own cover prices this year. Or have I got this all wrong and it's just idle gossip? Can anyone enlighten me on this...

I remember sailing through the last recession with no impact on my comic work, and as I work for UK rather than US direct sales market I'm hoping it'll be the same this time.

I wonder how many hits the direct sales retailers can take. If the books they already order are more expensive and new books have to be more expensive to break through, won't we be losing one of comics' major selling points: their affordability? Will people be as willing to try a new comic if they have to spend $19 on a book as they were when they only had to spend $2.95 on a first issue?

[Harry Markos]

Hi Bambos

That is a very good point. And this is where, hopefully, the digital revolution can assist.
Most small publishers already have many of their books online for free viewing anyway, at sites such as myebook.com and wowio. These will eventually generate a little revenue also, wowio already does albeit very little, but in essence it is revenue from the marketing of a title which is a good thing.
People can read the first or more issues for free online and if they like the look of them then they can buy the trade. There is no substitute for the real thing but we need a new generation of readers and they won't mind too much.

Harry

[richard bruton]

I think Diamond increasing their prices is purely exchange rate related. And from what I remember reading, Diamond had actually kept the UK prices artificially low for a long time.
God, I'm beginning to sound like PR for Diamond here!

[bambos georgiou]

I'm not blaming Diamond for putting their prices up, although I can't see it being a good idea, I'm saying that two or three different situations are all coming together at the same time, each having a negative effect on sales, and possibly the viability of comic shops.

Maybe direct sales comic shops have a captive market.Maybe their customers will keep on buying Marvels and DCs (the biggest sellers) no matter what the cost. Oh and let's not forget about rising energy costs and growing unemployment. Is this the right time to be making it difficult to find new customers and keep the ones shops already have?

Maybe Diamond were losing money on too many Indie comics and have to get rid of some to stay in the black. After all no publisher can expect a distributor to carry their book if they keep losing money on that book.

All these different factors are coming together at the same time, and we'll just have to see who's left standing when all the dust settles.

[Nic Wilkinson]

Hi All

The complacency and stagnation and "this is the way it's done" has been covered already so I'll not go into that again, other than to say I agree.

Of course Diamond needs to make money, and we all know that the independent comic shop is becoming something of an endangered species with around 100, give or take, in the UK and around 5000 in the USA being the last count I heard. Diamond's business model has never really been appropriate for "indy floppies", I think. It is geared towards distribution of regular on-going titles. That isn't "evil" although it may be outdated and, now, shockingly blinkered given changes in consumption patterns in other media.

Anyway - with these numbers we are basically looking at every comic shop ordering at least one copy of a floppy. Realistically this is not going to happen, especially relying solely on previews to generate enough interest to get those orders. All you get is a postage stamp sized image and a few lines of text. If I was a retailer I would find it hard, especially in the current climate, to go ordering a book from a publisher I didn't know if I could trust to deliver (Diamond quirks in indy shipping aside), from a creative team I had never heard of, that I don't know will sell. Surely it is safer to give the shelf space to a dead cert?

As I have said to Crawford Coutts (MD) since joining Insomnia "we can still go in with Diamond if you want, but that is not where most of our sales are going to come from, and in marketing terms it is next to useless". So far I think I've been right.

I didn't mean to get into a ramble - in fact I came over to post about why Insomnia had decided to go the "trade only" route as our core business model before all this new thresholds stuff even came up so here goes:


1) A bright side is that many more people are discovering the medium from many angles, and by many routes, the audience is diversifying incredibly and the demand for a huge variety of styles and subject matter is increasing. Many of these people do not even know that "comics shops" exist and want to buy from bookshops or online anyway.

2) Many of non specialist shops have no place for single issues in their ordering, stocking or shelving systems.


3) A book has a longer "shelf life" than an individual comic which has one month "on shelf" (probably tucked away in the Indie section, realistically, as shops have limited shelf space and have to have guaranteed sellers on show) before being consigned to the back issues boxes and no longer visible to potential customers. This is a big problem for indie books that people may not have heard of, or know to ask for.

4) Many retailers and readers are nervous about taking a chance on a new indie book - will it finish its run, will it come out regularly etc. It is much easier to try something new if you can get the whole story at once.

5)Reviewers like to read a complete story to make a complete review, especially when they may not have encountered the creative team before. Readers like reviews that cover the whole story. It is easier to decide if you want to buy something on a "this was great" than a "this looks promising". We let people read the first chapter for free as an ebook in most cases as well.

6) Our books are mainly for an older (15+) audience, and, within that, people who may not think of themselves as "into comics" or ever have been to a comic shop and having no "history" with comics do not see what is great about having your story cut up into 24 pages per month.

7) The most important reason of all, though, is that we are trying to provide a new route into the industry for the many extremely talented creators who want to do something different / interesting / challenging with creator owned books, but who have not yet been able to (or perhaps don't even want to) go full time as comics professionals.

By putting a complete book out in one go we are able to agree schedules with our creative teams that mean they can fit working on the books around day jobs, page rate work, other commitments etc without the pressure of a monthly schedule which would not be realistic for them. Everyone is keen and people always over promise - for the right reasons - and things always go wrong. All the reader or retailer knows is that another book has "slipped again".

Also the "traditional routes" through the major publishers may not be suitable for the types of stories that some people want to tell - and you usually have to be a pretty big name before you get to use your own characters at larger publishers.

8) Finally it also allows us to include some of the "extras" like concept art, script pages, interviews with the creators etc that you normally have to wait (and buy a new edition) for - or wait for the floppies to show an ROI before it is financially viable to do so,

The Diamond model is not right for what we want to do, and we are not right for what they want to do. That's all perfectly fine. It would be nice if there were some other alternative centralised methods of distribution we could all turn to to make things easier. So it will be hard, but not, I feel, impossible.

And if that's not enough Barak Obama is a Spider-man and Conan fan :)

[Steve Causer]

I like what Nic has said here...it gives a great insight into a publisher knowing its market....

One thing I will say which is not said to say it is a bad thing....BUT I hae found that over the past 5 or so years the number of independants has grown massively..even titles from Image / Vertigo etc has increased to an almost saturation point. Perhaps this benchmark will help to revitalise the industry again.

Okay the quality of indies has improved but Image for example has too many titles that are new that are hard to sell....