Con-Exclusive Ashcans: The Ins and Outs
@JustinJordan gave me a copy of his con-exclusive ashcan for "The Family Trade" at NYCC this weekend, and I had a conversation with @EricPalicki about the ashcan he did for "No Angel" — so now the topic's on my mind.
You guys mind sharing a bit about your ashcans? How did they sell? How many copies did you print? Eric, was yours full color or black and white? (I wish I'd actually stopped by your table yesterday and bought one, but as Justin will testify (from simply looking at me!), I was viewing everything through a haze of exhaustion.) Basically, any information about your experiences doing them that you feel might be useful to some of us who might consider doing one in the future?
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I went through RAComicsdirect.com, this time, because that's who Black Mask uses for all their exclusives, they do serial numbering (we did 200 copies, numbered 1-200 OF 200), and they have wicked fast turnaround. The per issue cost was high (about $4 a unit against a $10 pricetag at the show), so I think you can find cheaper elsewhere. I came about 30 copies shy of selling out.
If you have a longer lead time and don't care about serial numbering, check out Keness.com or even Page-by-Page (https://m.facebook.com/Page-by-Page-Copies-and-Finishing-521539421308720/#!/Page-by-Page-Copies-and-Finishing-521539421308720/about/?mt_nav=1), both of which are cheaper.
By design, although not necessarily for the ash can.
I generally write my first pages of my first issues to serve as a self contained encapsulation of what you can expect from the series as a whole, that can work mostly independently. This chunk serves as the pitch to both the publisher and, really, the reader.
The Family Trade does this more strongly than most, because I was straight up going for a Indiana Jones/James Bond cold open.
I typically self-publish one mini-comic (aka ashcan) a year. They're generally between 16 and 20 pages long, measuring 8.5"x5.5" (a sheet of printer paper folded in half). They're black and white. For shorter stories, we'll put the script in the back to bulk up the product. Maybe an essay.
I started selling them at $3 each and then bumped up to $5 a couple years ago. No one blinks at the price.
I generally print between 150-200 copies per book. The artist and letterer print copies, too. The cost at Minuteman Press in Wheeling, IL, is about $1.10 a copy. Rather than dividing sales, everyone keeps the profits on the books they sell at cons.
Now, all of this is very different than an ashcan that's just a sample of a traditional comic that will come out later. But hopefully it's helpful.
Not all my ashcans do as well as others. Burning West did fine, but it has yet to sell out, for instance.