Broken Frontier

Welcome to VOX POPULI Week VI. I just don’t know when to quit—do I?

Thank you to the fine readers who have sent e-mails and PMs to either thank me for writing this column or ask me some tough questions. I’m here for you, so please keep them coming. If I know the answers, I’m happy to relay them to you—or I will find out for you. I am quick to respond. In fact, some have been pretty surprised how speedily they’ve received responses.

What can I say? I will stop what I’m doing to answer your questions… even if I’m in the middle of doing math homework. Well—especially if I’m doing math homework. That junk makes my brain hurt. I believe it’s called a “Math-induced aneurism.”

As promised, this week I’ll be discussing the state of small press comic books. This is a touchy subject for some publishers, but I sent out several e-mails to various small press publishers for their take on the current situation. A few publishers declined comment, and, judging by the sales of their books, I can see why they would do so.

On the other hand, perhaps raising fan awareness would boost your sales. You would be amazed what lengths a fan will go to save a book—or publisher—they dig. Look at DC’s “Manhunter.” Yes, it is finally being cancelled, but the book was pulled from the fire once by the direct intervention of fans. You cannot marginalize fan impact. In fact, if you can endear the fan, you’ll be amazed at what they will help you accomplish. I think Silent Devil is a great example of this. The Beranek brothers are everywhere: comic conventions, message boards—everywhere. Any fan who has dealt directly with Christian or Adam has walked away a Silent Devil fan. The brothers Beranek truly love comic book fans, which is why they are still here.

Another publisher who has made a move to endear fans is Markosia Enterprises. A publisher reportedly in trouble, Markosia recently announced that veteran writer and editor Brian Augustyn had been hired as the publisher’s Editor-in-Chief, and up-and-coming writer Tony Lee had been appointed as Group Editor. Genius. I hope it pays off for them. A lot of good people—good friends—at Markosia.

Onward…

So what is the current state of small press? Okay… you will see small press books in the Diamond Top 300 each month, but what do their overall numbers look like? Short answer: terrible. Small press is in the worst shape they have ever been in terms of sales. I’m not going to quote numbers here because it’s darn embarrassing to creators and publishers alike. But trust me when I say that many small press publishers are struggling to keep their doors open.

About this topic, Silent Devil Publisher Christian Beranek said: “I'm not going to lie; numbers seem to be down all across the board.” Beranek went on to say that “I think late books and a multitude of unfinished titles have hurt the industry, for sure. I think the small press companies that will survive are going to be the ones that recognize the value of graphic novels. Having the completed story to sell and pitch to other media is key, as that is the kind of revenue that will keep businesses alive. I haven't given up on publishing, however, and hope that people will give Silent Devil a fighting chance. We plan on being around for a long time.”

Firstly, I would like to thank Christian for his candor. Secondly, I would like to thank him for responding to this hard question. Small press publishers are not doing as well as they did even a year ago. For some reason, it seems that fans and retailers are simply not willing to take a risk on unknown creators—or perhaps the reasons listed by Beranek are responsible for this steady decline.

During the course of preparing this column, I also contacted my buddy and King Tractor Press Publisher, Shawn Granger. “It's the worst of times; it's the best of times, he said.

“The BAD: The one distributor situation with the low payout for Indies. The Indies make less and less per unit but their cost per unit goes up. The direct market is drying up.  Retailers seem to be dropping like flies. So many of us see our books on BitTorrent before we see it in stores; it's hard to build a large enough customer base as it is without the free books flying around on the internet.  The reality is that you've got to be in the Top 300 list to break even on singles... or hope to break even.  Not many of us are doing that.”

The last line of Shawn’s statement is the reality of small press books. Unless a publisher’s book is making the Top 300, chances are that the book is not even breaking even. If you happen to buy a lot of small press books, are your favorite comics in the Top 300 each month? If not, that may mean your favorite books will not be around much longer. It’s sad—but it’s true. How long can a publisher go on publishing books that sell 500 copies each month? Simple answer: they can’t. And many fine books have simply vanished from the shelves due to this fact.

"From my perspective,” says Jason Burns, Assistant Publisher of Viper Comics, “small press isn't hurting right now and the reason for that is Hollywood.  Producers and studios are extremely interested in what is coming out of the comic book world these days, that in a lot of ways, they've granted us a second life.  Sure, sales could be better on the publishing side, but I think that could be said about the majors as well.  I think it's a very exciting time right now in small press publishing.  I kind of feel like it's an interesting Renaissance period for us and I'm excited to be a part of it.”

What Jason says is true for the minority, but how many small press books get movie deals? Four or five a year? Less than that? Burns gives a diplomatic—and optimistic—opinion of the state of small press. But is it a realistic one? As a creator who has had a book cancelled due to poor sales numbers, I would say that it is not.

While it is true that Hollywood is paying attention to small press publishers, not every book is going to be made into a film, videogame, or cartoon. Most will sell below 1000 copies and drift into obscurity. That’s just the fact of the matter; at least with the way things are now in the small press market.  And don’t get me wrong, some of these books are utter genius. I think this gets back to my assertion that marketing and advertising—or rather, the lack of—is the single greatest detriment to small press comic books.

Well, that’s all we have time for this week, my friends. Or rather, it’s all I have time for this week. I’ve just begun my junior year of college and it is about to drive me nuts. Writers are not meant for college. Seriously… check out your favorite writers of yore. How many finished college? I want to write. It is my driving passion in life—and it’s what I want to do for a living. It’s hard for me to listen to a professor rambling on about nonphotosynthetic unicellular organisms when I want to be home sitting in front of my computer creating exciting new worlds. *Sigh*

Before I close, I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to send an e-mail, PM or posted on the forum in response to my column. I sincerely appreciate it—and hope that you tell your friends about it as well. Perhaps they will find something useful amidst my rambling. It could happen.

To you, dear reader, thank you for indulging me. Remember, VOX POPULI is designed to spark conversation and is not all-inclusive in any way, shape or form. And, as I said last week, this is an opinion/editorial column, so I do not claim to hear from God whilst writing. I hope you’ll check out the column next week when I’ll be discussing “Are There any Comic Book Fans Left?”

If you just went “Huhbuwhat?” then you really need to be here next week to find out what the crazy man is talking about. “See” you then.

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Dwight L. MacPherson is a creator, writer, editor, terpsichorean and poet. He lives in a bat infested bell tower with his three children in the mystical land of Tennessee. Dwight makes up for his deserted whereabouts by being present all over cyberspace:

- E-mail: dwightmacpherson@brokenfrontier.com
- Personal site: www.dwightlmacpherson.com
- Writer’s café site: http://www.writerscafe.org/profile.php?id=4190
- Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/dwightlmacpherson