Online Store Up-date Or, "It's Crunch Time!"

It took less time than I thought though there were times when I was very hesitant.  There is a Minimum Price limit -what it costs to print the book and printers do not do that for free!- so in many cases, such as The Hooper Interviews and Mystery Canids, that is the purchase cost.

Even the smaller page count books have had prices cut right back.  With the anthology Black Tower Adventure all have been priced down to £5.00 which means you get 54-98 pages books that took months of hard work...well, if I stood out in the street giving copies away I'd make more money!  Even the Tales Of Terror (1-4) title, now no longer to be published, you get high page counts for £5.00.

Even the British Gold Collections are down to £5.00 each and I think one has 98 pages in it!

Some books are even priced at £3.50.

Some other books have had £9.00 ($20) cut from them.

I have always stated that I would be open and honest with people regarding comic publishing.  That is something that, traditionally in comics, you never do.  But I have written about how books are put together, costing and much more so it seems pointless putting on a brave face here.  At the very most I think, on the largest book, I make £1 ($1).  For a comic buyer, considering these books are limited only to the number printed on demand, it is a good buy and investment -and there are some cracking strips in these by Gavin Stuart Ross, Ben Dilworth and Paul Ashley Brown -that alone should make them worth investing in.

You see, Print On Demand means that I do not have a huge warehouse or room full of these books. It means that, if say, 10 people order a copy it gets printed 10 times.  That is it.  Not THOUSANDS of copies or hundreds as with other companies -just what are ordered and not available in shops.  So the investment potential is there -even with big collections such as The Adventures of Mark Tyme or The Purple Hood Crime Fighter International -purchased at the minimum cover price.

This cut price deal will last until the end of October, 2015.  Let's be honest, if books have not sold at these silly -and they are bloody stupidly low- prices in two months they never will.  At that point it seems pointless in continuing with anything new as it might as well stay in my head for my own enjoyment!

This is the crunch point.  Obviously, no sales and therefore no point in producing new books means that things such as Comic Bits Online become a pointless distraction.  I do not write that imagining that my honesty is going to be rewarded by people rushing to the online store and buying books to save my business (I may be insane but I am not feckin insane) because if, with thousands of views each day on CBO and Google+ I have never convinced anyone to buy a Black Tower book then this will not.

It's just being honest. Things hit you and you realise that changes need to be made.  I was hit this week and woke me up.

So, please, feel free to check out the online store and if you see something you like and buy it -thank you.  If not...at least you looked!