I was going to do a write-up on Mid-Ohio Con, which went just fine and it was great to see all the fine folks there. But this just hit my e-mail box so I thought I’d post it:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact David Seidman, Claypool Comics marketing director
davidseidman@earthlink.net
CLAYPOOL IN CRISIS
Independent Publisher Reaches Out to Readers and Retailers
Diamond Comics Distributors has told Claypool Comics of plans to cancel the Claypool titles DEADBEATS and SOULSEARCHERS AND COMPANY, starting with the issues shipping in April, unless Claypool can push their sales up. That move would wipe out much of Claypool’s line.
This news comes as Claypool is in the middle of a group of special issues. SOULSEARCHERS #76 and ELVIRA #153 (shipping in January) and DEADBEATS #76 (shipping in February) are “Jump In” issues written and drawn especially for new readers. Last year, when Claypool inaugurated the “Jump In” issues, they sold very well.
Claypool has asked retailers to order an extra copy of each “Jump In” issue. In addition, Claypool has asked readers to buy Claypool titles now and request that the retailers order the “Jump In” issues. The cover of SOULSEARCHERS’ “Jump In” issue is on the Web at http://www.claypoolcomics.com/uploads/ss76.gif, while http://www.claypoolcomics.com/uploads/db76.gif houses DEADBEATS’ cover.
Claypool is backing up its requests with point-of-sale cards that retailers can put on their counters or use as bag stuffers. The cards tell readers about the issues and include a spot to check off which issues they’d like to buy.
DEADBEATS, by Marvel veterans Richard Howell and Ricardo Villagran, is a punk vampire soap opera that should appeal to fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 30 Days of Night. SOULSEARCHERS, written and co-created by Peter David, is a super-hero satire featuring a group of supernatural investigators, featuring art by Joe Staton and covers by JSA Classified: Power Girl’s Amanda Conner.
Claypool editor Richard Howell says, “Claypool Comics has always had a dedicated base of fans, most of whom are literate and educated people whose needs aren’t always met by the current comics marketplace. A retailer who puts our comics on the shelves will most likely find that they continue to sell month after month. The consistency of our sales is undisputable, and we have every indication that if our books got more exposure, they’d sell strongly for many, many more retailers. Claypool Comics are and always have been a labor of love — love of comics, that is. We’re committed to good comics, and that makes our readers committed to us. Any retailer who wants to profit from that dedication and goodwill is enthusiastically invited along for the ride.”
Claypool, which has published comics steadily since 1993, is known as “the publisher of hidden treasures” — but it doesn’t WANT to hide them!
PAD
• 
Wait, I’m confused. Diamond is a distributor who is acting like a publisher? Can they do that legally or ethically for that matter?
Could someone, PAD or anyone, explain this to me?
I suspect this is all part of Diamond’s newly-raised minimum sales threshold. See also Rich Johnson’s column on same.
I may be a bit cynical this way, but I’ve suspected that this is part of a push by the major companies (mainly DC and Marvel) to clear out some of the competition, since the major publishers and Diamond basically live a symbiotic existence.
I thought this had to do with Bass Master Les Claypool of Primus. While I can say I’m relieved it’s not, I hope these guys pull through.
Claypool should move online, like the Foglios did with Girl Genius and Michael Jantze did with The Norm. They’d find a far wider audience and would be able to sell back issues and TPBs directly to the public (and would be able to print more TPBs! I have the first Soulsearchers volume and want more!)
Webcomics are the future. Egon Spengler said it best: “Print is dead.”
Rob, what this means is that Diamond is saying that, unless Claypool’s orders increase, Diamond will no longer carry Claypool’s product. Diamond isn’t cancelling the books per se, but if Diamond (by far the largest distributor of English-language comics in the world) stops carrying them they probably won’t be able to continue publishing.
Paul
When I started my pull list at my comic shop a year and a half ago, Soulsearchers was one of the initial titles I put on it. Since then, my shop has failed to actually get me a single issue. I’ve confirmed that it’s on my list, but so far, no dice. Sadly, the clerks who are working when I go in have nothing to do with the ordering process, so…
(They also told me they couldn’t find anything called X-Factor when I asked them to add that to my list recently, so I think they might have some problems.)
Alan, are you sure the shop you have a pull list at is a comic shop?
Diamond is sounding more and more like Ticket Master. As effectively the only game in town, the distributor has an awful lot of control over the product. If only comics sold more, there’d be some competitive call for a better distribution option.
I suspect this is all part of Diamond’s newly-raised minimum sales threshold.
This is why a monopoly can be a “Very Bad Thing”.
ARGH! I am the touch of death. Whenever I jump into a book, it gets cancelled soon after. I never even heard of this book until earlier this year, and became hooked! And now it’s in danger. WTF???
I think I’ll pick up an issue of Soulsearchers. To be honest, I never knew that Peter wrote it. The synopsis on Claypool’s site looked pretty good.
P.S. Monopolies are bad. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.
Not just bad but evidently STUPID as well. How is it wise for a distributer to take an action like this which will certainly diminish the variety of product it carries? The readers of Claypool may be a small minority of its customers but when you add all the people who are reading small company books it starts to add up. Some may stop reading comics altogether once their favorites are unavailable (and the racks are full of Marvel and DC product exclusively). Some companies may explore alternative means of distribution, cutting Diamond out entirely. Hëll, maybe someone will even create a competitor, with the inducement to retailers that they actually carry more product.
Seems like a stupid move to me. Bad for the consumer, bad for the industry, possibly bad for Diamond. Good for Marvel and DC, I guess.
At my comic store, I’m the only one that buys it, and it goes straight into my pull list. If you want to have to get a copy, you’ll most likely have to specifically order it.
Alan: If you’re not getting it, it probably means your store isn’t ordering it. Make sure that the comic is on their order to Diamond. If your store don’t actually order it any of the comic, then you’re not getting it.
I have only mustered enough disgust to purely hate (2) people in my life… So while I can’t expend the strength to unconditionally “hate” a corporation like Diamond, you can plant me firmly in the “seriously dislike” Diamond category.
I remember years ago when Capital Distribution was failing, there were scores of “primarily Diamond” retailers gleefully rubbing their hands together in some sort of weird declaration of triumph. Many thought– as “original customers” of Diamond– they would be treated with “priority” over the newly arriving Capital retailers.
To Diamond’s credit, that never happened.
Here’s a little of what did happen though: A lot of those previously gleeful retailers soon found the new “monopolith” that rose from the distributor wars to be a far more bullying behemoth than its’ previous incarnation and– to hear Capital retailers tell it– thousands of times less caring than Capital ever was.
In short, I watched horrified as many smaller retailers struggled and squirmed under the new iron fisted policies forced upon them by the monopolith and it’s newfound distribution “partners” (many retailers eventually just gave up or, in extreme cases, were forced to declare bankruptcy) while larger “national” retailers were allowed to rack up ten of thousands in credit lines each year.
I am always surprised that retailers haven’t fought this monopoly… It’s bad for creators, it’s bad for comics, it’s bad for diversity and it’s bad for business (unless you’re in the Marvel/DC business, of course).
If you think that Claypool possibly being sh*tcanned by these folks is the end, you’re sadly mistaken.
In fact, if I was Mike Richardson– I’d start drawing up incorporation papers for that new distributor right f’ing now.
It’d be pretty hard for a new distributor to gain any traction in today’s industry, since I believe Marvel, DC and Image (and maybe Dark Horse) all have exclusive-distribution deals with Diamond. That’s what drove Capital City Distribution out of business in the first place.
I think Diamond has been investigated on the basis of anti-trust concerns, but I don’t know what the fruits of those investigations have been. Not much, I infer. I don’t know if anyone’s actually sued Diamond on this basis.
This situation is certainly bad for creators, bad for fans, bad for retailers, and bad for comics generally. It’s less clear whether it’s bad for Diamond or for the major comics companies. Being the biggest (or only) fish in a small pond may be more desirable than being any sort of fish in a much larger pond. This is especially true for DC and Marvel, whose comics lines increasingly serve primarily as fodder for their larger media businesses (i.e., television and film and other licensed products).
This may even be true for Diamond itself, since the increasing ghetto-ization of comics may have led Diamond to conclude that there is a practical upper bound on how much larger the industry can grow, and that it’s better off being the only distributor in a monocultural market than trying to change the market to grow it (which might be hazardous to Diamond’s health). It might even have concluded that growing the market is a lost cause.
Aren’t we missing the point of the press release? Not that Diamond is bad (which it is, but I digress…,) but that Claypool, especially Soulsearchers needs your support RIGHT F’ING NOW! Go add it to your pull list and if, as one poster said, your shop doesn’t or won’t or can’t get it in, find another shop.
-BBayliss
I’m ordering an extra copy of Soulsearchers this month, and even though I’ve never read Deadbeats, I’ll order two for next month. I hope people can rally to save Claypool, Soulsearchers is a really fun title.
How long has Joe Staton been drawing Soulsearchers. I didn’t know he was doing this book. I’m a fan of his. I guess I will have to try it.
it’s time to pull the rug from under the comic dealers.
the real problem is MOST mags want those 12 issues in the mail, but comics are for collecting. It’s time for the printer to step up and cut a deal with some temp workers on site to cut out diamond. Why should they get 80% of the cover price…
geez, it’s like those guys it nascar pits, they die for that job. writers go to printers, printers say this is what we have, stores order. Pretty simple…
After reading of Diamond’s actions, I sent an email to my comics shop increasing my Soulsearchers hold from one issue to three. I have friends who will appreciate it and they deserve their own copy. I suggest others increase/add a hold for this book and see what happens.
“It’s time for the printer to step up and cut a deal with some temp workers on site to cut out diamond. Why should they get 80% of the cover price…”
While I can’t quite parse what your post means (it sounds like you want some printers to become distributors, which is not a reasonable or minor sideline; distribution is a tricky business), I will note that Diamond does not get 80% of the cover price. While the exact amount that Diamond gets from the retailer varies based on publisher and the amount the retailer orders, it’s in the range of 50%… and most of that goes to the publisher for the product.
The Justice Department does not treat the direct market or the comic book industry as their own markets, so antitrust lawsuits never go anywhere in the comics industry. The fate of a lot of antitrust suits depend on what definition of a market the government accepts. In this case, comics are viewed as part of the magazines/books industry, so no comic book company or distributor is ever going to get legally defined as a monopolist.
The bottom line on the Claypool books, I’m afraid, is that they sell very, very few copies. Diamond has no interest in sticking it to Claypool, but the reality is that dealers have been complaining for years that the Diamond catalog is too big, taht there are too many comics in the market for them to deal with. So Diamond is out to cut the lowest selling ones.
Claypool has been around for years and years; PAD has mentioned his writing of Soulsearchers many many times. Comic book fans who follow comic books outside of the DC/Marvel/Image contiuum know of ClayPool. But this audience – including, clearly, the great majority of readers of this site – dosen’t buy the Claypool books. This isn’t some evil plot by Diamond or by DC/Marvel.
I’ve been putting of picking up Deadbeats and Soulsearchers. I don’t know why beacause I enjoy everything Peter David writes and also enjoy most vampire stories. After hearing this I’ll make sure that my comis shop orders both on a regular basis for me. And Elvira also.
sorry Nat Gertler
i got the 80% from diamonds web site…
but the middle man should be a helper and a lover NOT a fighter.
Maybe there is a very good reason sales are down. I’ve never heard of it, does these titles advertise?
I got into Soulsearchers pretty late, and I am currently playing catch-up. I put it on my pull list about a month ago and just got issue 74. If PAD can keep the book alive by bringing it to another publisher (or if the current publisher can get off Diamond’s sh** list–or back on, as the case may be), then I’ll be along for the ride.
You want an incestuous monopoly? Try Pegasus. The major book distributor in Canada. Who happen to have as majority owners, Indigo. One of Canada’s two ‘big box’ book stores. And who also happen to have bought out the OTHER ‘big box’ book store, Chapters.
End result? Pegasus gives big discounts and priority to majority shareholders Indipters (or is that Chago?) while happily screwing the independent book sellers.
Yes, there’s a lawsuit in the works over that, but it’s dragging on and on and on and …
As for Diamonds/Soulsearchers, as I commented over a year back, never saw any signs of the latter here and enquiries in our comics shops have never yielded any positive results. But I’m not surprised. I date back to the days before ‘pull lists’ and things seemed a whole lot simpler and more efficient back then. You went into a comics shop with the reasonable expectation of seeing the title you were looking for available on the stands.
Nowadays? Best of luck …
“Diamond has no interest in sticking it to Claypool, but the reality is that dealers have been complaining for years that the Diamond catalog is too big, taht there are too many comics in the market for them to deal with. So Diamond is out to cut the lowest selling ones.”
But isn’t a bigger problem for comic shops are with the books they order, tie-up funds with, only to see them ship late (or for many titles, ship VERY late)
And of those late titles, how many are from Marvel? DC? Image?
How many of these late titles (which hurt the shop owners) that come from the big companies do you think WON’T be carried by Diamond?
It’s just a wild guess, but I’m thinking none.
I think the whole comic industry is poised for some kind of base-level revolution. It’s similar to what television and film is facing. New technology is threatening to replace existing distribution methods. We’re poised to get TV shows beamed directly to us, to view when we want. Ditto for film and such. We can already get some books and comics on demand, directly from the publisher, without needing a distribution network. Moves like this, where the distributor uses too heavy a hand that impacts the availability of product, will only encourage smaller producers to seek alternative methods of reaching their customers. And once those smaller producers have worked the bugs out of those systems that eliminate entities like Diamond, how long do you think it’ll be before the biggies start using those methods? Sure, Marvel and DC may have exclusive deals now, but contracts don’t last forever.
Another vote for moving Claypool’s stuff online. I used to read Soulsearchers regularly, but stopped when my local comics shop stopped carrying it. I’ve been periodically tempted to get back into the groove, but the lack of any easily-available TPBs has really impeded me. I’d gladly pay an annual subscription fee for the rights to get new “issues” online and browse the entire back-order catalog — and nudge Claypool into printing more TPBs in the process… 😉
–R.J.
Here’s a thought: My mom recently (well, last year is recent for her) got a digital camera. A couple months ago, she got a dedicated, portable printer dock for it. All told, she spent probably less than $300 for the whole thing. It’s all portable, so pretty much anywhere she goes, she can plug her camera into the dock, and print out pictures. On Kodak paper. And most of the time, the quality is about the same you’d get have your photos printed at some drug store.
Point being, there’s already technology available to most people that could totally replace the printer AND the distributor. What serious comic collector wouldn’t drop $300 for a printer that could print, collate, and stable indivudual issues that they could purchase on-line? All you’d need to do is encode a print-limit on the transmission, or something. And sure, hackers will always try to get around that, but that’s just a matter of developing the right system. Not that I want to put the LCS out of business, but it seems that the path that Diamond has been on over the past 20 years is doing that pretty well on it’s own. Maybe the LCS could get these printers for themselves, and decide to print out only the books they actually sell?
It all goes back to the market being poised for a revolutionary change in the way comics are consumed. The technology is there, the demand is there….now it’s just a matter of someone on the supply side to provide it.
What serious comic collector wouldn’t drop $300 for a printer that could print, collate, and stable indivudual issues that they could purchase on-line?
Plenty. Y’see, in addition to the cost of the printer, there’s the cost of consumables – and when you’re printing full pages of color, that cost adds up. Printing 23 pages of high-grade color on a home printer costs you a lot more than buying the issue in a store.
Robert: I think you may be on to something there.
I’m really starting to think digital is the way to go – both for publishers and for readers like myself.
I mean, yeah, I really only read Marvel, but I’ve picked up stuff from other companies lately, like DBPro (before they shot themselves in the foot again and again) and Devil’s Due.
But Claypool Comics? Never heard of them. I’m looking at MHC’s website, and they don’t even list them as an independent publisher; I had to search the actual comic on their site to find the back issue listing.
Anyways, the notion of digital comics appeals to me – I’m not so much into collecting as much as I used to (not to mention not wanting to have to buy even more long boxes), but I still want to read stuff.
I have been following SOULSEARCHERS and DEADBEATS since their first issues. This is some pretty good stuff. I would like to recommend these books for all true comic fans. I can’t, though. The reason is that the Publisher has neglected to publish collected version of both titles beyond the first 12 issues. For a gothic horror soap opera like DEADBEATS, I think my friends would figuretively lynch me if I gave them the only two trades and they found out that over 60 issues remain to be read.
Just out of curiosity, how would your friends react if you informed them that every single back issue was available from the publisher, most of them at no more than cover price?
See, that’s why it’s unbelievable that anyone would think that Claypool books are hard to come by. They are, in fact, easier to acquire than any other publisher around.
PAD
My hats off to Nat Gertler and Peter David.
Claypool problems? Or MARVEL/DC FLOOD
Diamond is a Claypool killer, look at the books at Walmart. New books have to sell with books sold in the million, book out for 100 years. That Preview book takes me over a month to go through it.
If there was a simple list 1 of limited runs and 1 for on-going series, the big and little guys level off. Show ONLY NEW BOOKS, nothing reprinted, nothing in great big trade paperbacks!
Image has 8 to 12 issues in on-going, marvel and dc maybe a little more, but title likes Claypool can’t get that lost. (espically if in a-z order)
Sted Leonards, sells fewer items, two or three kinds of peanut butter, rather then twelve, they sell 3 plus more time per square foot then any other grocery store. Diamond could learn from tthem.
I know I rant, but I get lost at my comic book store, the comic wall is 100 plus feet. They hang up signs like new this week and a list on paper to look at, but if it’s sold out I don’t see it. Maybe if they took that list I said, and emailed it to me, so I could look at only new titles, or ongoing titles(that’s aren’t reprints), I would see new stuff.
As to those back issue, I think it’s kewl they’re their.
And to Computer comics they have both ups and downs, I still like to collect, but I don’t like this 9.8 rating comic company, because NM is dámņ good enough for me.
-later
🙂
I applaud Claypool for keeping their entire line in print, but I am no longer terribly interested in acquiring very large runs of single issues. If they had entire series collected, that would be more interesting to me. I am glad they at least have some collections, two each for Soulsearchers and Deadbeats I think. Before this news, I thought they had none.
It’s all my fault. Over the last year, I just got into Soulsearchers, buying the two collections and adding the issues to my buylist while hunting down back issues. I’m hoping the books stay around.
By the way, if your store isn’t honoring pull lists, or you’re not satisfied in any way, STOP GOING! There are enough great mailorder companies that will be happy to have your business. I’ve used mailordercomics.com for the last three years, and LOVE it. And they’ve NEVER missed an issue I put on a pull list. And they’re not the only one out there! Don’t put up with bad service.
I wasn’t aware that PAD wrote a comic called Soulsearchers! I have ordered some copies, one for me, and some other for my online retailing operation in Venezuela!
Claypool problems? Or MARVEL/DC FLOOD
Certainly, one of the challenges these days is that Marvel and DC have become more efficient at parting the customer from their money, leaving less expendable income from the little guys.
If there was a simple list 1 of limited runs and 1 for on-going series, the big and little guys level off. Show ONLY NEW BOOKS, nothing reprinted, nothing in great big trade paperbacks!
Well, that’s fine… but it can’t be Previews. Previews needs to be the listing of the items the retailers can order. Its original intent was as a catalogue for the dealers; it’s sort of in an odd position of being both that and a consumer catalogue as well.
Sted Leonards, sells fewer items, two or three kinds of peanut butter, rather then twelve, they sell 3 plus more time per square foot then any other grocery store. Diamond could learn from tthem.
Except Diamond doesn’t need sales per square foot, they need total sales. If what you’re saying is that Diamond should offer fewer items — that’s what they’re doing. That’s why the Claypool books are at risk.
Anyway, Diamond cannot cut back on the Marvel, DC, etc., listings because those companies have special deals with Diamond. Some or all of them are actually their own distributors, hiring Diamond to be their representatives.
I remembered being frustrated when I first read about Diamond’s new thresholds blah-blah-blah a couple of months back, but now that an actual company with a long-running book is getting hit by it, I’ve moved beyond frustration and now just flat pìššëd.
I don’t get it. What does Diamond get out of no longer carrying these books? An extra column inch or two in their Previews? I’m not a comic publisher or creator (yet), but does it really cost Diamond that much more to coordinate the sales generated by Claypool?
I don’t quite understand. What do they have to gain by doing this?
Craig: I hear ya. I think Claypool should team up with one of the webcomics sites and go digital. Seems to be working for the Foglios.
I applaud Claypool for keeping their entire line in print, but I am no longer terribly interested in acquiring very large runs of single issues.
I think a lot of people feel that way, particularly people who buy indy comics. I realize it may not be economically feasible for Claypool to produce further trade paperback collections, but they do need to offer some other format alternatives for people who don’t want the single issues.
The online suggestion is a good idea. As people have mentioned, it’s worked for Phil Foglio’s Girl Genius, and also Carla Speed McNeil’s Finder.
Okay…now we’re just into weird territory. I mean, are people SO locked into trade paperbacks that they’re literally *incapable* of acquiring back issues even when they’re readily available?
I just don’t get this. When I was a kid, I was a late starter on Marvel comics. I started catching up on earlier issues via reprint packages such as “Marvel’s Collector’s Items Classics” and “Marvel Tales.” As they garnered my interest, I went back and started collecting back issues. It was long and involved but the acquisition was part of the fun.
So what’s the current paradigm? Not only must back issues be easy to get, but they’re only to be had if they’re in a particular format. Trades or nothing. I mean, that’s what’s being said here. Here’s a company that’s teetering on the brink, but if you can’t have the comics in trade collections, you’re not interested. Being readily available isn’t sufficient. They have to be readily available in a permabound format. Why? To avoid the non-existent ads? The letters page at the end?
If it means that much to you, do what many fans in Spain do: Buy the books and have them bound yourselves.
Sheesh.
PAD
There is another solution. STOP BEING SO OBSESSIVE! I read the first two trades, and jumped right into the series. The series is very accessible, and I never felt that I needed to read the issues I missed to enjoy it.
I’m sure eventually I’ll pick up the issues, like PAD said, Claypool does a terrific job making them easy to find, but I have no pressing need for them.
Okay, first how many of the people saying that they have never heard of Soulsearchers and Deadbeats actually get a Previews each month and look at it? Every body who has a hold slot or an interest in comics should be getting a copy every month, even if they have to pay the retailor for their copy. It’s like a little bit of a christmas each month getting to see the whole world of cool stuff you could get.
Question for PAD just to clarify. How many trades of Soulsearchers are there and is the entire print run of the issues supposed to be available through Diamond or do you have to go to Claypool for the back issues?
Cal
>Every body who has a hold slot or an interest in comics should be getting a copy every month, even if they have to pay the retailor for their copy. It’s like a little bit of a christmas each month getting to see the whole world of cool stuff you could get.
Are ya kiddin’ me? I will never pay a dime, muchless $4.95-$5.94, for a catalog of advertisements. I enjoy wading through it when it is provided for free, but I wouldn’t actually purchase on principle alone.
>Question for PAD just to clarify. How many trades of Soulsearchers are there and is the entire print run of the issues supposed to be available through Diamond or do you have to go to Claypool for the back issues?
I recently sold a friend’s 1st and second issues for less than cover on eBay. I’d imagine that they’d been pretty cheap to grab via online auctions, if one didn’t want to go through the publisher to get them as PAS suggested.
Fred
I mean, are people SO locked into trade paperbacks that they’re literally *incapable* of acquiring back issues even when they’re readily available?
Personally, I don’t like trades. I own a couple for the Age of Apocalypse storyline, but then for those, I also own the monthlies as well.
But even if they’re available at near-cover prices, do I have $150 to drop on the series to pick up all the back issues? Unfortunately, no.
There are lots of things I’d love to get back issues on, but, at this point, I’m only doing so for series I’d already started (Age of Apocalypse, Gen X, Guardians of the Galaxy, Force Works, Avengers WC, some others).
It’s just hard to get into something new (from my perspective) that’s been around that long with that many back issues to catch up on.
Btw, Ray, that Mailordercomics.com link looks like a good one. Maybe I’ll consider them for subscriptions in the future.
Although I do have a question: do they require a minimum # of titles for subscription? That’s a problem I have with MHC, they want min. 3 for in-store pull, 5 for mail, and I probably won’t buy that many comics each month for awhile.
Craig J. Ries:
But even if they’re available at near-cover prices, do I have $150 to drop on the series to pick up all the back issues? Unfortunately, no.
Do you have $30 to drop to pick up 10 issues? No?
Peter David: “Okay…now we’re just into weird territory. I mean, are people SO locked into trade paperbacks that they’re literally *incapable* of acquiring back issues even when they’re readily available?”
It’s a matter of convenience. If I’m perhaps looking to pick up a new series and I have a choice between getting 75 back issues from Claypool or five or six collections from someone else, it’s very likely that I’ll just order the five or six items. I’m sick of buying and storing single issues. I’ve got a whole closet full of them. Nowadays, the only books I buy in single issue form are the ones I absolutely love.
PAD: “It was long and involved but the acquisition was part of the fun.”
When I was a kid, that was part of the fun too. It is no longer part of the fun. It’s just another hurdle that I don’t want to have to jump through. It’s a hurdle many other companies do not have.
PAD: “Not only must back issues be easy to get, but they’re only to be had if they’re in a particular format. … Here’s a company that’s teetering on the brink, but if you can’t have the comics in trade collections, you’re not interested. Being readily available isn’t sufficient.”
Yup, pretty much. Being readily available is not sufficient because there are a billion other books out there that are also readily available.
PAD: “They have to be readily available in a permabound format. Why? To avoid the non-existent ads? The letters page at the end?”
So I can stick them on a shelf. So I can lend them to friends easily. So I can throw them in the car and read them in the park. So I can sell them on Amazon if I don’t like them. Bound softcovers are so much easier to deal with than single issues that it’s ridiculous.
PAD: “If it means that much to you, do what many fans in Spain do: Buy the books and have them bound yourselves.”
The thing is that it *doesn’t* mean that much to me. I have only ever been *mildly* interested in Claypool’s offerings. Why go to all that extra trouble for books I was only ever half-interested in anyway? Instead I’ll just move along to see if Oni (or whoever) has something that I’m mildly interested in. Frankly, binding single issues myself isn’t an expense I’m willing to incur at all at this point in time. Maybe someday. For those who are interested, I’ve heard http://www.dpbanks.com/ as a recommended site to do it.
I will also second the recommendation to try mail order shops if your local store is so pathetic and incapable that they can’t manage a pull list correctly. There are a bunch of sites people usually recommend (g-mart.com for me) but I’ve never heard of any of them having the chronic ordering problems that people have had with some local stores. Some are internet-only and some also have a brick-and-mortar location so you can feel like you’re not totally abandoning physical shops. You’re just supporting a different one that’s a few states away that you never visit. 😉
“I mean, are people SO locked into trade paperbacks that they’re literally *incapable* of acquiring back issues even when they’re readily available?”
Taking off my PADophile fanboy hat, and putting on my web developer/e-commerce architect hat for a minute…
Putting myself in the role of the casual comic-book reader, going to the Claypool purchasing web site does not give me a lot of confidence in ordering back issues of Soulsearchers, or any other Claypool titles. To call it a “storefront” would be stretching the term; it’s little more than a list of titles — without even any indication of whether the titles listed are in stock or not — and a hard-to-find request to send an email to order back issues. Where’s the easy-to-use shopping cart? Where’s the “We have X issues of Soulsearchers #42 in stock”? Sure, if I poke around I’ll eventually find a note from catherine yronwode saying “everything listed is in stock,” but as an e-commerce visitor, that page inspires as much confidence in me as Bush’s assurances that he really and truly does have a plan for Iraq.
Revamping the entire Claypool web site is probably something that’s beyond the scope of this discussion, but if they want people to buy stuff from them on-line, a seamlessly easy e-commerce experience is critical — especially given how hard it (already) is to get Claypool comics by conventional means. Considering you can get now free content/e-commerce frameworks that will let you build a fully-functional web site in a day — complete with shopping carts, automatic inventory management, the whole nine yards — the Claypool website is just depressingly uninspirational.
(I see the Claypool “catalog” page says it was last updated in May 2005. It looks even older than that…)
–R.J.
P.S. And to show I know whereof I speak, here’s a storefront I helped launch last week (I’m not affiliated with them other than being the geek-for-hire).