Broken Frontier

Part I
Part II
Part III

15. Variant Covers

Think you want alternate covers? Well, think about it hard. They may sound like a great way to sell extra copies but variants should only be printed if you really want them and there is a demand for them on your book. If you don't know how popular your book will be, coming out of the gate with a bunch of covers may not help your sales and actually piss people off instead.

Additional covers cost additional setup fees. Expect to pay around $400.00 more in printing setup fees for an additional cover, along with the incremental costs of the individual covers.
And do you want that extra cover to be full color inside and out too? Well, remember the extra cost for 4/4 covers I just mentioned? The expense adds up quick! That doesn't even cover things like getting a heavy card stock cover, or shiny foil, or fancy gatefolds, etc... all of that adds up real quick! Variant covers are only any good if you really think you can sell them. Otherwise, you are probably throwing money away. My suggestion is to pass on variant covers unless you have a hot product on your hands. Even then, make sure it's a cover people want.

Yeah, I can hear some people complaining now that I'd even suggest doing variants for self-publishers with popular books. But comics is a business if you are publisher. This is a tough biz and you have to get sales however you can. This article should give even the fans a reality check on how hard this business is for a publisher. If you can sell something and you don't feel guilty about it, I say do it. Ignore the handful of vocal internet fans who complain about most everything. Of course on the flip side, do bear in mind that it may alter public perception of your company in a negative way if you have a tendency to go variant cover crazy all the time.

You've thought about how you want to print it, you've called around to all the printers and asked for estimates, and you've decided on who want to print with. Good, on to the next phase.

16. Forecasting Your Budget

All of these facts are useful (I hope). But it's always wise to run an estimated budget to know what to expect. This type of forecasting is a smart way of approaching your comic. For your budgeting equation, let's be generous in your favor… just for the fun of it. Let's say your comic, regardless of how many copies it sells, only costs you 40 cents a copy to print. This is JUST for our equation.

17. Shipping

But what about shipping costs? Shipping generally applies for comps (compensation copies, or merely books you have sent to yourself or to your artists), extra copies that you want to hold onto for online sales/comic shows, any copies you have overnighted to check out before it hits stores and so forth.

‘Overnighting’ copies is an extra $30.00 to $40.00 a pop. The number of comps you have sent to yourself can cost anywhere from $20.00 to $100.00 or more via Ground delivery. It just depends on if you are keeping all of your over stock, if you printed a lot for yourself to give out, etc.

You also need to worry about getting the bulk of your comics to the distributor per your preorder sales and whatever overstock they request (if any). Quebecor has a drop off setup for comics, so they generally include any fees associated with this in your quote. If you go with another printer, you MIGHT have to pay to have the books shipped to Diamond Comics Distributor. If they haven't mentioned shipping in your quote, be prepared to pay. Like I said before, make sure you ask your printer when they prepare your quote to include shipping costs. A short run of 2000 books can be shipped by FedEx or UPS ground, and will probably cost you $100.00 to $200.00. If you have a LOT of books, shipping a skid of books (a wooden palette loaded up with boxes of comics) via a freight company can cost you $400.00 or more to ship, just depending on the weight.

For our equation, let's say you have no shipping. That will never be the case but we're being generous just to give you the maximum profit in the end... if you had magical powers and could will this stuff to work in your favor, that is. So still, each comic is only costing you 40 cents to create.

18. Advertising

Now we're down to advertising. My suggestion is to be smart about advertising. The internet is a GREAT way to create awareness for your product and most of the time it won't cost you a dime. Spread the word on message boards (if they allow that), send out press releases to major comic news sites (they don't always post them, so don't feel insulted if they don't… they get a lot of those things) and so forth. Be respectful to online news and review sites. Send them free previews if you can. Give them any information they want (if it's not going to jeopardize any big secrets about your book). They may say or do something you don't like but everyone has an opinion. Just respect what they have to say and realize that even bad press is good press.

This next part may piss some businesses off, but it's just how things are. You have to protect your budget, because no one else is going to do it for you! You may be insistent on seeing an ad for your book in Wizard Magazine. Well… I hope you have deep pockets! Because a full page color ad in Wizard is valued at around $6000.00 minimum! No joke! A half page will run you around $4000.00.

That's a lot of money and for most independent publishers, that kind of advertising is an impossibility. But Wizard can charge that much because non comic companies can afford to advertise things like video games, toys, food... things where sales aren't as depressed as comics and an advertising budget exists. Wizard is a business too and this advertising helps to bring in much needed money to help pay for the rather large operation they have in place. It sucks for the little guy who wants to advertise their comic in a comic magazine but until Wizard opens the door to indy publishers with better rates, that's the way things will stay.

Okay, so Wizard may be out of the equation. What about Previews? You know, Previews? It's the catalog Diamond Comics Distributor sends out each month to retailers filled with all the goodies you can order. Previews is really the place where not only consumers will see your product but especially retailers! Retailers are in control of your destiny. Be nice to retailers. You could have a million people clamoring for your comic... it won't matter in the end if the local retailer decides not to order. So getting them to notice your book is key.

So, how much does advertising in Previews cost? Heh heh, well, it's not as bad as Wizard! But it ain't cheap! A full page color ad is over $2000.00! A black and white full page ad will run you over $1200.00 and it goes down from there. This money helps to pay for the printing and distribution of these catalogs each month, along with the employees at Diamond who put it together.

So let's say you've reviewed the options, and you've decided to pass on advertising as well in favor of the free press you hope to get online. Fair enough. That still leaves you at 40 cents a copy. Fate is on your side for our little example!

To be concluded next week…

- Val Staples