Claypool has recently made public the news that they told me in confidence some weeks ago: That the print end of the line would cesae to exist.
Personally, I think this should send a serious chill through the industry. For the first time that I can think of, an entire publishing line has been canceled, not by the publisher, but by the distributor. The distributor should theoretically be the middle man. In this instance, however–again, for the first time that I can think of–the middle man has taken the lead position and shut down the publisher.
And any publisher who thinks he is immune from this monopolistic maneuver is kidding himself.
And the real killer is going to be the chorus of fan voices saying, “Claypool Comics? What’s that? Never heard of it.”
PAD
• 
Agh. You must’ve known when I e-mailed you to congratulate you on the book’s seeming resurrection, but couldn’t say anything. Sorry 🙁
Of course, I don’t think it’s news that Diamond is a dead end. The future lies in bookstores. When comics truly take off in that venue, there will be room for an upstart to challenge Diamond in the direct market.
On a related subject, do you own the characters outright, or is there a possibility you could secure the full rights? ‘Cause I’d really like to think there’s a chance of seeing them in the future.
I really enjoy Soulsearchers. I’ve also been buying Elvira just to support the company, though I can’t say it’s in my top 10. I’m really sorry to hear the bad news. Diamond should be ashamed of themselves. When you’re the only game in town you should represent everyone, not just your top earners.
Well, it’s not BS that Diamond is acting like a monopoly when they are a monopoly (do you really expect them to do differently?), its BS that there is a monopoly this embedded in any market.
I said that if any publisher can do online only, it might just be Claypool. They have a loyal, if too small for Diamond, fanbase. They have years of experience in the industry. I hope that they can make it work, and I hope others follow.
Very bummer news! A customer of mine was a faithful “Elvira” fan, and I showed a number of people “Soulsearchers” and “Dead Beats.”
I can’t say that it’s the first time this has happened, as a lot of small, idependent publishers have felt Diamond’s wrath. Some may have had only a few comics, maybe eben only one or two comics, but I still think that qualifies.
It’s never good to lose another comic book publisher. Hopefully, things will happen so that Claypool can come back in the future.
On a happier note: PAD, I plan on seeing you in Chicago. I plan, also, to bring the envelope you sent to me with money for a (intentionally) bad picture I did on the computer of Wolverine vs. Storm. (Remember that? ;-))
If I can, I hope to have you autograph that envelope.
Thanks!
Matthew Hawes
COMICS UNLIMITED
http://www.ComicsUnlimited.biz
Dr. Obvious: “…Well, it’s not BS that Diamond is acting like a monopoly when they are a monopoly (do you really expect them to do differently?), its BS that there is a monopoly this embedded in any market…”
What sucks is, tecnically, Diamond Comics is NOT a monopoly! It sucks because nothing can be done to break Diamond’s stranglehold until Marvel, DC, and to a lesser extent, Darkhorse and Image STOP signing those dámņáblë exclusive contracts with the distributor!
Other comic distributors are out there, they just don’t carry Marvel, DC, Darkhorse and Image because those publishers have exclusive arrangements with Diamond. We, in the comic book industry, know that they have a “virtual” monopoly because of the power they weild with the biggest publishers in their back pocket, but Diamond does not a real monopoly, strictly-speaking.
The Justice Department did investigate this matter years ago. The matter was dropped.
Matthew Hawes
COMICS UNLIMITED
http://www.ComicsUnlimited.biz
Hmmm. This news ruined my day. It was going so well until I read the posting on NEWSARAMA.
This news suck. I looked forward to reading my issue of SOULSEARCHERS immediately after reading a depressing comic. I hope that you can keep it alive, somehow.
As for Claypool, while I am a comic book buyer, they really should have been pushing out more trade collections. After over 70 issues of SOULSEARCHERS and DEADBEATS, it is a crime to have only collected the first twelve issues.
I assume that when “print” is specified that Claypool has some form of digital presence? Forgive me if this is a seemingly ignorant question, but I’m not up on Claypool Comics current practices.
Diamond has shut down many comics over the years. All they have to do is refuse to distribute. This has been going on for well over a decade. Capital and pre-Marvel Heroes World were much more small press friendly.
To echo what Walker just asked, are there digital distribution options? Your wording seems to be pretty specific, which causes me to hold out some hope that the comic itself may survive in a different form.
Why did the distributor cancel it? What were the reasons given? I’m really sorry to hear about this, Peter.
So… Diamond should be forced to carry a product they no longer want to carry, why? Are we suddenly no longer living in a capitalist society?
I’m not saying they should dump the line, provided the line isn’t actively costing Diamond money (if is costing Diamond money, then it’d quite frankly be wrong not to dump the line) just pointing out there’s no reason they should have to carry the line.
And don’t get all “monopoly” on my ášš. Diamond might be the only game in town for selling most comics to most comic stores, but they’re hardly the only game in town to get a product into the hands of customers.
Fact is, if enough people wanted to buy Claypool comics from Diamond, people would be able to buy Claypool comics from Diamond. The demand is not there, so why should Diamond have to act the part of the supplier?
On the plus side, they’re sending one of the books over to the webcomics format. Wave of the future, here, people. Think digital!
To Luigi, this goes back to Diamond’s announcement last year regarding a “profitability” level that publishers need to meet for Diamond to distribute. At that time, Claypool had been warned (for lack of a better word as I’m typing) that the numbers coming in for the entirety of the Claypool line fell well below the threshold–I was never clear on the *exact* levels, because there was a dispute as to whether a publisher had to meet the figure based on a formula of [Orders Received x Cover Price] or if the formula was {Top Retailer Discount x [Orders Received x Cover Price]). Obviously, those numbers would be quite disparate. If the level was $2500 (for example), that meant that Claypool would need to receive monthly orders of just 1,000 copies (at a $2.50 cover price); however, if that $2500 factored in the TRD (let’s say just 50%–I’m really not sure what discount Diamond’s top retailers get for Claypool’s book), then Claypool would need 2,000 copies to meet the threshold. After going back through several months of sales figures, “Elvira” has not been selling even 1000 copies for a long time. The last figure that I checked showed around 850 copies–and that figure was from January 2005. CBG has monthly sales figures available at http://www.cbgxtra.com/Default.aspx?tabid=695 if you want to investigate figures for yourself. I only checked the past 3 months’ worth of figures, then went back to January 2005–that depressed me enough to not want to look any further or between the two periods. It bears reminding that both “Soulsearchers” and “Deadbeats” are bi-monthly, so they would both have to have relatively equal sales levels so that Claypool’s figures for those when combined with the monthly “Elvira” would have a chance to meet Diamond’s threshold every month. (Again, I emphasize I don’t know Diamond’s exact requirements for a company to meet the “profitability” requirement. If “Elvira” is selling around the 900 level and “Soulsearchers” and “Deadbeats” are each selling any substantial fraction of that amount, then it would seem the exact numbers Diamond expects must be higher than what Claypool is getting.)
To ETM: Are you then suggesting that local comic shop retailers should order product that they can’t sell? Diamond should not have a “right” NOT to distribute a line of comics just because they’re not making enough money from that line. Why should Diamond get to decide how much profit they get from a publisher? Your local retailer doesn’t get that option. The local retailer orders what his customers want, and what he THINKS he will sell above that “want”, but he’s still taking a chance. If he’s got one customer who orders one Claypool title, he’s going to order that book for that customer. If he doesn’t, the customer will go to another store (if he’s got that option which is increasingly less of a certainty). At least, until no one can GET a Claypool title to sell because Diamond has decided it no longer wants to carry the line.
When a company decides to cancel a title (or several titles) for whatever reason, we don’t have much option but to accept it. The reader can either replace the title with something new or just go with the books he has left.
See, when Marvel decided to handle their own distribution back in the mid 1990s, they forced every retailer who wanted to survive to open a second account just to get the Marvel line. No retailer could afford to tell Marvel to go to hëll because Marvel took at least 1/3 of the total comics market. If a town had more than one comics retailer, at least one of those retailers would break down and get a Marvel account. A retailer which didn’t would lose a good chunk of their customer base, plus any other customers who were getting more than just Marvel but didn’t want to waste time by dealing with more than one store. What happens the next time Diamond decides to change their “profitability” margin? Believe it or not, that is one reason for the pretty standard $2.99 cover price minimum at the Big 4. Claypool only has 3 ongoing titles–one monthly and two bi-monthly titles. So it’s not like the company is pulling a CrossGen and trying to expand far too rapidly. It doesn’t lock its creators into exclusive contracts. Its books don’t really have so much backstory that a new reader can’t get caught up (especially with “Elvira”–that book usually features two stories per issue, and most are done-in-one). The books haven’t undergone numerous relaunches nor do they feel the need for cheap stunts (no multiple covers, no gimmick covers, no “events”). Claypool doesn’t do any of the things that most “fans” constantly complain about as being so harmful to the continued good health of the business, and yet, Claypool doesn’t make enough money for Diamond to want to continue distributing the company’s wares.
No, Diamond shouldn’t be “forced” to carry product they no longer want to carry, but Diamond needs to tell their customers (retailers AND the buying public) how much money Diamond feels it NEEDS to make. You might feel a bit different, however, if a small publisher that sells a book that you really enjoy becomes the next to succumb to Diamond’s “profitability” margin.
Diamond needs a competitor, and both should compete for exclusive distributing rights, just as Marvel and DC compete for exclusive writers and artists.
It’s a shame they can’t self-distribute online (rather than just publishing online); I think most of their loyal customers wouldn’t mind buying directly.
This is sad news.
When Claypool announced they were having trouble, I put all 3 titles on my pull list and found I was the only one in the store who got them out of 250+ subscribers (who all order from Previews so they do have the opportunity to know about the book).
The saddest part about this is there isn’t anything we can do about the Diamond monopoly because from a legal point of view they aren’t a monopoly. Diamond just distributes “periodicals” and the law doesn’t differentiate between comic books, Time, Newsweek, People, TV Guide, etc. They are all just periodicals. Diamond probably has less than half a percent of all periodical sales so in the eyes of the court they wouldn’t be considered a monopoly. This means the small publishers get killed off one by one. The only way to stop it is to support the small publishers by buying their books.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have worked for Claypool.
Thanks, Joseph.
It’s a shame they can’t self-distribute online (rather than just publishing online); I think most of their loyal customers wouldn’t mind buying directly.
I’d buy directly.
Soul & Co. is a title that I’ve been buying since the late 90s. I kept waiting to get the second trade so that I could read the whole shebang; unfortunately, this also means that I’ve been unable to suggest it to anyone else. For me, the only merit it needs is “Written by Peter David” on the spine and I’m good to go.
In the words of the penquins from “Madagascar”; “Well, this sucks!”
Welcome to our coporate future. Don’t think this is isolated to comics. There is currently legislation going through Congress that will allow the Internet Providers to decide what websits and traffic they can prioritizes. In other words, they give bandwith to whoever they choose and take it from those they don’t like.
It’s the distributor deciding what you see.
There is a movement called Net Neutrality that would treat all web traffic the same. Of course the Republican coporate shills in Congress oppose it.
Paul O’Brien on the fall of Claypool:
http://www.ninthart.com/display.php?article=1130
JosephW: “…See, when Marvel decided to handle their own distribution back in the mid 1990s, they forced every retailer who wanted to survive to open a second account just to get the Marvel line. No retailer could afford to tell Marvel to go to hëll because Marvel took at least 1/3 of the total comics market. If a town had more than one comics retailer, at least one of those retailers would break down and get a Marvel account. A retailer which didn’t would lose a good chunk of their customer base, plus any other customers who were getting more than just Marvel but didn’t want to waste time by dealing with more than one store….”
Yep, that sounds about right. I’m one of those retailers that had to deal with THREE comic distributors back then. Marvel fired the shot heard ’round the industry, and DC, Darkhorse, and other publishers scurried, signing exclusive contracts with other distributors.
DC, Darkhorse, and Image worked out a deal with Diamond Comic Distributors that effectively finished what Marvel had inadvertently started: Diamond’s near-total control of the distribution of comic books in the direct market.
Poor Capital Comic Distributors. Caliber and Kitchen Sink signed exclusively with the distributor, but that wasn’t enough to save them.
I was dealing with Capital, even though most of my customers bought comics from the bigger publishers, because I wanted a fuller line. But, and this may be speculation, it seemed I was getting charged unreasonably for shipping costs and some other things. Was Capital, in its final days, trying to make up for lost revenue by sticking it to the customer (retailers)? I’m not sure, just speculation, as I said. Regardless, Capital’s days were numbered when Marvel purchased Heroes World and the three next-largest publishers became exclusive through Diamond.
I’ll never forget the call I placed to Capital in late 1996 (I think it was still 1996, maybe early 1997 — I remember the call, if not the date). I had an issue with the shipping costs on an invoivce and placed a call to my representative at the distributor. I was greeted with “Thank you for calling Diamond Comics, how may I help you?”
Did I call the wrong distributor??
No, that’s exactly how many retailers learned that Capital had been bought up by Diamond Comic Distributors.
And then there were two.
Until Marvel discovered that it couldn’t handle being its’ own distributor, that is!
And what brilliant move did Marvel do when it closed the doors to Heroes World? The publisher signed EXCLUSIVELY with Diamond! Arghhh!!!
And then there was one.
At least, only one real distributor as far as most shops are cioncerned. We all know that if a shop that deals in new comics doesn’t carry DC, Marvel, and/or Darkhorse, and Image, it is sunk.
Again, to break Diamond’s hold, Marvel and DC have to stop signing exclusive agreements with Diamond, or any other distributor! These publishers have to realize that this short-term thinking has hurt the industry and will ciontinue to do so.
Matthew Hawes
COMICS UNLIMITED
http://www.ComicsUnlimited.biz
This development reminds me of a few years ago when Wizard (I think) published a list of the “25 Most Powerful People In the Comics Industry” (or something similar) and listed the usual creators, editors, etc. etc. The Comics Journal responded a couple of months later with their own list of the “25 Most Powerful”… all of them were employees of Diamond, with, I believe, the front desk receptionist at #25.
I thought at the time it was snarky and cynical. Looks like the joke’s on me!
Elayne:
“I think most of their loyal customers wouldn’t mind buying directly.”
I think that if they had enough loyal customers, then they wouldn’t have to suspend operations. The cause of the problem is not Diamond, it’s simply not having enough readers.
Sorry to hear that, Peter. I’ve been buying Soulsearchers ever since I found out about it (which equates to about 2 years) and have enjoyed the heck out of it.
Sorry to hear that, Peter. I’ve been buying Soulsearchers ever since I found out about it (which equates to about 2 years) and have enjoyed the heck out of it.
Sorry to hear that, Peter. I’ve been buying Soulsearchers ever since I found out about it (which equates to about 2 years) and have enjoyed the heck out of it.
Peter, I must admit I haven’t read “Soulsearchers,” or any other comics in the Claypool line (although I have indeed heard of them). Nevertheless, I’m sorry to hear about the demise of their print line, and with it the cancellation of the “Soulsearchers” series.
I’ve read articles that refer to the “Soulsearchers” as “Peter David’s creator-owned title.” Is that correct? If so, is there a chance for the book to find a new home elsewhere?
That may sound odd coming from someone who hasn’t read it. But my comic-book budget shrank to almost nil about six years ago due to losing my job. I was just starting to get my financial house in order, but now my current employer’s future is uncertain, to put it nicely. When my financial situation is more stable, it’s certainly a book I’d like to try — if it’s not too late.
The obvious problem I have with the end of Claypool is that it threatens the other little fish in the pond dominated by DC, Marvel, Image, and Dark Horse.
Some will blame Claypool. I can’t do that, because I don’t think every comic should have to sell like the big boys to survive.
Some things are niche for a reason, and the independents foster creativity when the big guys don’t necessarily need or want to.
Everybody makes it sound nice and easy with the “well, if you want to survive, sell more comics” mantra, but it’s never as simple as that. Diamond certainly isn’t in the business for the more the merrier.
Hardly the first publisher Diamond has killed off, but probably the biggest and longest-lived. Small publishers get cribkilled by Diamond all the time, and while it may not be final (i.e. Lethargic Comics was killed by Diamond, but came back online and has since put out paper compilations of the webcomic via Diamond), it’s certainly not good.
While the knee-jerk reaction is to blame Diamond for their Monopoly and stranglehold on distribution let’s not forget to level some blame on the retailors as well.
Yes, I know that the job of a retailor is to sell what his customers want but how many Comic Shops (and I know of at least five) will order ONLY the number of copies of Independent titles that are on their customer pull lists and order none or maybe one (if they’re feeling generious) for the new comic rack.
How can ANY new title/concept/idea find it’s audience/readers when they can’t get more than one copy out on display while the lates Marvel mutant title or DC crisis gets multitudes of copies on the rack.
(and don’t say it’s demand, most of those main stream titles continue to collect dust months later sitting on the shelves.)
I plan, also, to bring the envelope you sent to me with money for a (intentionally) bad picture I did on the computer of Wolverine vs. Storm. (Remember that? ;-))
Hans Sehaw!
Peter, is there a possibility of doing Soulsearchers as a series of novels? While I enjoy the characters and the premise of the series, I admit to not buying it after Amanda Connor left as series artist. None that followed her seemed to capture the magic of the issues you did with her. Still, if it’s just your prose, I would certainly buy their tales once again. Cheers! Jose’
Peter, is there a possibility of doing Soulsearchers as a series of novels? While I enjoy the characters and the premise of the series, I admit to not buying it after Amanda Connor left as series artist. None that followed her seemed to capture the magic of the issues you did with her. Still, if it’s just your prose, I would certainly buy their tales once again. Cheers! Jose’
Peter, is there a possibility of doing Soulsearchers as a series of novels? While I enjoy the characters and the premise of the series, I admit to not buying it after Amanda Connor left as series artist. None that followed her seemed to capture the magic of the issues you did with her. Still, if it’s just your prose, I would certainly buy their tales once again. Cheers! Jose’
Matt Adler, you remembered!!! 🙂
Yeah, it’s funny… That piece I put on eBay started out as a joke between me and a friend. The link got posted on PAD’s board, he put a bid in and won, and I have a fun story to share with people!
Weird how things can happen like that.
Matthew Hawes
COMICS UNLIMITED
http://www.ComicsUnlimited.biz
It’s too bad, but I said all those years ago when Marvel pulled a stupid and bought Heros World they were killing the golden goose.
Costs increased for the retailers thus driving a lot of at the border retailers out of business. This resulted in a decrease of circulation because junior could no longer jump on his bike and ride down to the local shop for his weekly fix of comics. Suppressed circulation numbers lead to increased cover prices, which in turn made people like me cut their monthly purchase numbers thus killing titles and reducing profits for the retailers and further killing off retailers.
We are at the point that in an area that once supported 15 comic shops at a time there are NONE! And frankly since the big guys really care so little for their customers I’m out of the comic business. It’s not worth the coverprice or the hassel of trying to track down the books. Visiting the comic shop for me was like walking into Cheers, everyone knew your name, you caught up with old friends and had some fun.
You’d think some calculator pusher at the big three could crunch the numbers and realize that without wide distribution thru multiple channels in this type of industry is far more profitable. But no… they killed that golden goose.
As has already been pointed out, the future of comics is digital. Although not as webcomics. There is an important distinction that must be made between downloadable content for a fee and content that can be viewed through a browser. Already, almost any comic from the last 60+ years is available illegally for people to read on any one of various portable computing devices. For the industry to survive, it must adopt a reliable, affordable and most importantly, universal, digital distribution system.
But the company that likely unifies the industry in this manner will be Diamond Digital or some such thing.
The cause of the problem is not Diamond, it’s simply not having enough readers.
Not entirely true. I have been ordering Soulsearchers from a subscription service (Best Comics in New Hyde Park) for about 10 years (and buying it off the rack since #1). Soulsearchers is about the only book where I miss about an issue a year, and I know the problem isn’t with the comic book store.
If it was the store, more books would be missing. Therefore, the problem must lie with Diamond.
If the book were self-published, or sold through a subscription, I would buy it.
I’m really going to miss Elivra Mistress of the Dark and Soulsearchers & Co.
Considering that Diamond was the one that shut the company down ought to give everyone pause.
Hurricane Heeran
I have a question for Matthew or anybody else who wants to answer it. Disclaimer: I’m not familiar at all with the business side of comic distribution/retail. Why do stores only carry books from one distributor (Diamond)? This seems to be the main problem to me, cause else Claypool could’ve simply switched to another distributor. I can see why every store owner wants to work with Diamond to get the Marvel/DC/Image/DH comics but why not work with other distributors too? Is it simply too much of a hassle for them to deal with small distributors or does Diamond discourage it somehow?
Most retailers do not even see the point in bothering past Marvel or DC. Complicate their system by using multiple distributors? Not a popular approach. The difficulty in finding a distributor who works with the same discounts, volume, shipping range and reliability, along with accounting, is enough of a deterrent for retailers who already have a hard time understanding why they should order titles from smaller publishers to begin with. Hence, Diamond denying to distribute books with smaller print runs (something they swore they would not do when they first acquired Capital) is a death sentence. This instance with Claypool is not the new. This has been going on for a decade or more.
What a shame. I just discovered Soulsearchers last year at San Diego, and I enjoyed the book.
Mark Gerrits: “…I have a question for Matthew or anybody else who wants to answer it. Disclaimer: I’m not familiar at all with the business side of comic distribution/retail. Why do stores only carry books from one distributor (Diamond)? …”
For some retailers, it’s a matter of budget. Most distributors require that a retailer order a minimum amount of product in order to have an account with them. Also, there would be more shipping involved, so there’s more shipping costs to consider. Also, many retailers carry games and action figures that come from toy and game distributors, so that should be considered when realizing why retailers must be budget concious.
The best for everyone involved (fans, retailers, publishers, the over-all market), except Diamond itself, natch, is for the publishers to stop signing exclusive agreements with distributors. The major publishers, if they worked together, could make a notable and positive change for the industry.
If more distributors could carry the top publishers, retailers could pick and choose which distributor to carry and smaller and larger publishers would have more distribution and control.
Matthew Hawes
COMICS UNLIMITED
http://www.ComicsUnlimited.biz
Just to clarify on the matter of where Diamond’s threshold is for ceasing to take solicitation: it is not on a line-wide basis. Rather, it’s on a per item basis. Also, it’s not based on cover price, but on the amount that Diamond is paying the publisher per issue – which is something that is easy for Diamond and the publisher to track, but not as easy for the outside observer.
Basically, Diamond wants to be purchasing $1500 worth (at the wholesale rate they’re paying) per issue. They do definitely feel flexibility in this regard; if something is lower but showing a likelihood of growing into range, for example, they’re not likely to invoke the threshold.
While I don’t know Claypool’s exact terms with Diamond, this $1500 would translate to about 1500 copies per issue.
“What happens the next time Diamond decides to change their “profitability” margin? Believe it or not, that is one reason for the pretty standard $2.99 cover price minimum at the Big 4.“
Don’t believe it. The brokered publishers are not subject to this policy; they have a very different deal (actually, likely individual different deals) with Diamond.
–Nat, publisher, About Comics
A dámņ shame. I agree with all the frustration, both at Diamond and at the inability of anyone to really do anything about it.
I’m concerned, though, about PAD’s final line:
And the real killer is going to be the chorus of fan voices saying, “Claypool Comics? What’s that? Never heard of it.”
I initially read this as saying that the above chorus is what “really” killed the line, and was about to take some mild umbrage. On a second read, I think that this “real killer” means that last little item to make everything even more frustrating, which is much more understandable.
Even so, I’m worried that this is painting with slightly too broad a brush. I agree that a LOT of comics fandom has probably never heard of Claypool — but consider that you just managed to bring an awful lot of people over to IDW, most of whom had probably never bought from that publisher before.
Frustration is understandable — I just would rather not see the people ’round here who *are* familiar with Claypool painted with the same brush as the people who’d never think of going outside the Big Few.
[Full disclosure: Soulsearchers and I parted ways after a few years. No obvious reason … it just stopped grabbing me as much as it had.]
In any event, I’m very sorry to hear of Claypool’s demise. They were and are made up of Good Folks.
TWL
Claypool Comics? What’s that? Never heard of it.
This is just horrible news. I can’t say that I’ve read either Elvira or Deadbeats, but I thoroughly love and enjoy Soulsearchers and Company.
Ðámņ Diamond! Ðámņ them to Dante’s last circle of hëll!
It’s too bad Claypool didn’t take retailers suggestions seriously, especially about publishing collections of work done by big name creators.
The issue that Diamond or any other distributor should not have this much power over a publisher aside, how come only Deadbeats gets to continue on the web?
I can understand not continuing Elvira probably because of the licensing issue(s), but Soul Searchers could continue on the web too.
The only reason I can see is that Richard Howell is the main person behind Deadbeats. This way, his overhead is greatly reduced. I can’t say I blame him if that is the reason.
But in any event, I do wish him well and hope to see him on other projects as soon as humanly possible.
I don’t think Claypool just ignored suggestions to put out compilations. It may have been simple economics: that is, they couldn’t afford to based on their certain expenses versus the antcipated rewards. Their publishing always seemed limited by what they could afford to do, not what they wanted to do.
It’s a question only someone inside could answer.
I will miss Claypool.