What more can we do to help retailers sell our comics?
The conversation about Eric Stephenson's ComicsPRO address has got me thinking about that. But then, I think about it a lot.
I'm going to throw a couple ideas out to get the ball rolling. I'd like to hear your thoughts — both on the things I'm bringing up, and about the topic overall. What can we as creators do to get more people into shops, and to encourage the people already in the shops to pick up our work?
Market your books to people who don't read comics. A number of us do this already (@RussellLissau): We go to horror conventions or anime shows or similar, and hand-sell our work to people who don't already read comics. For a lot of those people, that's where it ends. But some of them are inevitably going to read our comics, like them — and go into a store looking for more.
Ad campaign for pre-ordering? I'd love to see some kind of awareness campaign in comics for the importance of pre-ordering. Pre-ordering is so important for the life of our work... but such a small percentage of fans seem to do it. Personally, I feel like a lot of that has to do with a lack of awareness on the customers' parts.
Maybe we need a website (preorder-your-comics.com?) explaining how to preorder and how it helps YOU the customer out (which is really how I think we need to think of this: How does preordering add value to a comics reader's life?)? Maybe a nice ad (full page and half-page options) with a CC license, saying "Independent comics wants YOU to preorder your comics!" and explaining how to do it and how it helps you? And a matching poster/flyer that stores can post in their shops? (I think any ad or poster, to work especially well, is going to need to be really well-designed. Eye-catching and memorable.)
In-Store Street Teams? The accepted wisdom is that street teams don't work for comics the way they do in music and in marketing other products. I don't know how true that is. But recently I've been thinking about starting a specific street team: One composed exclusively of comic and book store employees. Lots of comic store employees like my work, and hand-sell it — I talked to four or five comic store people at Wizard World New Orleans alone. So I'd like to encourage that, and reward people at comic stores who make an effort to support my work.
What form would that take? Probably an email list to keep them aware of when my new books are coming out, maybe some talking points and "for fans of [similar titles]' comparisons, plus maybe exclusive posters/prints for the stores, bookmarks/post cards/business cards they can put out, and maybe something like an individually-signed postcard from me that they can put in the box of people who subscribe to my work, thanking them from me (and maybe giving them an exclusive free comic PDF or something?). That's off the top of my head. There'd need to be cool swag or free comics or something for the people on the street team, too.
Anyway. What do people think?
Comments
I help the stores where I shop by recommending books to fans, doing signings and referring people to the stores when I'm asked "What's a good comic book shop in the Chicago area?"
On the other hand... Most of the things Brandon mentions above don't help the retailer, but the book producer (whether it's creator owned or publisher owned). And all are good ideas.
On the other hand, they are likely to be flooded with e-mails from every rookie trying to break in but so not ready that it would clog the system. It could be worse than the slush piles publishers face.
Damn, another fine idea shot down.
At every single comics convention I do, as the show is winding down I take a stack of my unsold books to the vendor booths. I ask for the manager, I introduce myself and I offer to sell them some signed books at cost for their stores. They always say yes. At Appleseed last year, a store owner was thrilled to meet one of the Strawberry Shortcake writers (me), because the book killed at his store. I give them a business card and a good handshake whether they buy books or not.
It lets them know that I, the creator, appreciate their existence. It builds rapport. It builds sales.
ALSO: I visit comic book stores when I'm traveling. I introduce myself to the manager/owner. I drop off business cards. Again, it builds rapport/sales.
Basic sales and marketing techniques, and they've worked for ages.
Oh, one more thing: At my LCS, I tell them my books are coming out
and ask them to order heavy. I do signings and promotions. And I tell
them that I'll buy whatever they can't sell at their cost. They won't
lose a dime on me, and they make money hand over fist.
http://assortedfoliage.tumblr.com/post/78558184094/joekeatinge-want-to-pre-order-shutter-1-then
Marketing isn't just any one thing, it's a lot of things that bounce off each other.
Dunno.
Likewise, I like the postcard idea.
(And I am working on developing said list)
Another thing I'm going to roll out is giving some tips on HOW to sell my book - an elevator pitch, who I think fans would be (as in, if they read X show them Spread) - although I won't probably couch it as such.
that wouldn't make the difference in being cancelled or not. I would
need thousands of pre-orders, which would make a logistical mess and a
small fortune in shipping to give out all those incentives."
This is sort of fuzzy, because pre orders have an effect beyond just the number of issues preordered - the retailer becomes more aware of the book and may choose to order more (or any), if a store gets, say four preorders that may think it's a hot book and order more, people who fill out preorders might be more likely to tell their friends, and so on.
But how much these things happen is debatable and would be difficult to quantify.