Updated 7th June 2019
I think that it is a little sad that absolutely nothing changes in comic publishing. In 2015 when this was first published people were bragging on You Tube and in their blogs about hgow "I believe in putting my money where my mouth is and support Independent comic companies like Image"...Image has not been a small Independent company since it took off. It is considered one of the "Big Five".
Something has changed...out of the 30 or so comic channels I followed on You Tube only one is still going and that tends to be a little hit-or-miss.
When I have sold books (usually once or twice a year via the online store) it is generally to the United States which means I earn about £2.00 because the US taxes me. So after the printer and print in demand company take their cuts -which is far more than I ever get- not much left.
I have sold Some Things Strange and Sinister twice over the last 5 years -one copy to Italy and one to France.
You need to sell a good few books to live off of the money and that is not happening. But I've been over all this before and watched the tumbleweed roll by.
I am re-posting this for a very good reason. The same kind of offer highlighted before has been made to people fairly new to comics and they bit. And lost money as there were no follow up orders. The shop probably had no intention of ordering more. They chanced it and you fell for it.
You sent them free comics at your own expense under their terms -they decided what to sell the books for and pocketed every single penny. They probably then made the offer to someone else.
Back in the 1980s Forbidden Planet in London took copies of my Previews Comic. All sold out. That was about £45 (a lot in the 1980s). I went to collect my money accompanied by the person who was with me when I dropped the books off and got the signed invoice. They would not pay -never heard of the comic. The official invoice -well, they had no idea who the person who signed that was IF it was genuine.
the shop made a lot of money out of my 'free' comics that they 'never had'.
It's a very old trick. Do not fall for it -learn by the mistakes of us Oldies!
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You sent them free comics at your own expense under their terms -they decided what to sell the books for and pocketed every single penny. They probably then made the offer to someone else.
Back in the 1980s Forbidden Planet in London took copies of my Previews Comic. All sold out. That was about £45 (a lot in the 1980s). I went to collect my money accompanied by the person who was with me when I dropped the books off and got the signed invoice. They would not pay -never heard of the comic. The official invoice -well, they had no idea who the person who signed that was IF it was genuine.
the shop made a lot of money out of my 'free' comics that they 'never had'.
It's a very old trick. Do not fall for it -learn by the mistakes of us Oldies!
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Right, I've had to sit down and look long and hard at what I can do based upon the financial situation and the move into Europe.
Firstly, there are about ten stores who will all stock and sell copies of my books to "gauge the market". This means that I pick a certain number of titles I want to go with, say five, and I order them, send them to the store but get nothing back if they sell, however, the store will then decide if they want to then order and pay (at a discount) more copies -postage, etc., payable by me which means IF they took books I would have to sell a lot to even try to make money.
I was explaining this to the old chap runs a stall in St. Nicholas Market, Bristol -he's been in business since the 1940s! He looked at me, mouth slightly open almost as though stunned: "You have not, have you? You haven't?" I told him "no" but that was the deal on offer. His response: "Well, why not ask them if they want ten copies of each of your books and in a year or two they can decide IF they want to pay you or not?" The look of disgust!
He is quite right, though. Say I want to send one copy of the Collected Phantom Detective -I pay for the book but then getting it to the comic shop I have three postal options:
These are standard rates. I DO NOT decide these -the printer has the contract all sewn up so there is no choice.
If I sent a bunch of books this increases and even if the shops were to split the sale 50-50 (which they are not -they have made it clear THEY will decide on what I get) I am quite literally giving these books away (well, I am giving them away). No way am I ever going to get 3% of what they are costing me back. The shops are in fact demanding the same deal as Amazon and others.
This will not get the readership base I need. "Get someone to sell your books at events -you send them the books and organise the table but they will know the way things work" to which I respond: "Oh, like whom?"
Even if I sent books to a relative so I could pick them up for an event it is still going in cold and with no prior build up and I honestly could not afford to lose more money like in 2015!
However, I have had an idea that will help people purchase Black Tower books at a lower cost than via the store front.
Firstly, remember: the postal costs are out of my hands. If you want to order a book I'll let you know the postage options before placing an order.
What I will be doing is, initially, offering ten titles at a discounted price. If you want to order one or more of those books you email me and I will ask which postal option you want and then tell you the total amount. You will then need to send me the postal address and payment via PayPal which protects me and the buyer. That done I will then place the order for you. It then all goes through automatically.
I think it worth trying and you get a book at a cheaper cover price.
So I will decide which books in the next week and then list them here along with single copy postal options if you only want one book.
Am I going to book that world cruise in advance? Give me a break!
Terry, in many ways the problem is what it has always been - to produce comics you need to be your own printer. Controlling the printing means you can decide the quality, the print number and, as it is your time that is being spent - you can take time to get it right. Now - I can offer you one outlet. as you've seen from the few items I've sent you, I can copy off a limited number of items upon request and send them to you - or where ever - at a far more resonable cost than most POD. The quality is lower because it's photocopied, but the chance to have a few items you can sell directly off CBO to people who are interested, at a reasonable price and small profit - that may then encourage them to buy further items from lulu - is at least something. Anyway. The comic examples I'm on about are the Bristol Comics, the Nostalgia comic, the Dark Hopes and the soon to arrive A5's. If you're interested let's discuss it; well- back to work, hohumm.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'll tell you. I tried something similar elsewhere but no reaction to lower prices. I was then told "people don't want to give out their addresses!" But...if they...buy from lulu.com they give out their addresses anyway...? I'm getting that I will NOT be getting a table in October. Thing is not about getting the books its about hands on selling but I'm smashing my head into a wall with that regard,
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