[...] like a comic that might sell out in a week. If DC is treating it as one (the way Marvel infamously handles its books, similar to periodicals), then that’s another sign that they aren’t yet ready to make [...]

[...] slammed Marvel before for not understanding how to handle book-format comics, and now it’s DC’s turn. Via speedforce.org comes a [...]

Johanna… publishers aren’t ignoring the Direct Market… it is a non-returnable market, after all! Take a look at the monthly Top 300 Graphic Novels list on ICV2.com, and you’ll see that comics shops are selling manga, as well as many other titles (Sonic? Toon Books? Boom/Disney?)

[...] certainly need the book market help, as we discussed here in August 2009. Marvel’s bookstore sales, from observation, are far [...]

[...] from the House of Ideas (since Disney owns the publisher Harper Collins). A post from the site Comics Worth Readings from before the merger announcement takes a look at the bookstore sales charts and wonders why [...]

One thing to point out is that, while the Amazon bestsellers list is indeed updated hourly, it doesn’t rank just what was purchased in the past hour. Rather, it’s some sort of weighted average of books purchased over the past several days, with more recent purchases weighted higher. This was best illustrated back in April when Ivory Madison’s Huntress collection shot up to the top of the chart when she sent out a bunch of review copies using Amazon; there was only one bug purchases, but the title slowly fell down the chart of the course of the next several days.

“But Marvel… that’s all of what they do, and while they’re quite successful at it, is everyone else moving on?”

How does this take into account the Soleil translations? Are those books too small a % of Marvel’s business to count?

“[Marvel] beat DC by 51% to 29% in units, and 45% to 27% in dollars.”

I thought at first this would belong in the Alternate Covers thread – those units are nuts! (And woe to anyone who is not the Big Two, eh?) But I wonder if DC is so far behind, and seemingly content to stay there, precisely because they are doing so well in bookstores? Is Marvel the winner of a game no one else is bothering to play?

I got a free copy in a similar way, back when it first came out. DC (or maybe Warner Books) had sent out press copies of Watchmen, Ronin, Dark Knight Returns, and the Shadow to various media outlets. My brother worked at a university NPR station, and brought home the box.

Then there was the experiment where DC Comics and the New York Public Library selected some YA titles (Books of Magic, Sandman…) to see how they would circulate in libraries. (Circa 1997)

Working now at B&N HQ, I see all sorts of free books from publishers. Yen, Image, Dark Horse, DC are readily seen. Marvel less so. (It could be someone else grabbed them, but I can’t recall seeing ANY in the two years I’ve been here.) Heck, I even get books from Icarus! (Which also offers free downloads on their NSFW website.)

Keep in mind, Diamond Book Distributors is not the same as Diamond Comic Distributors. DBD also gets kudos for distributing many small press publishers which wouldn’t get proper attention from other distributors.

If DBD is doing such a lousy job with Marvel, are Image, Dark Horse, Oni, IDW, Top Shelf also underperforming?

Marvel’s website is problematic, but there are much worse websites (such as Image).

Marvel is cheap…at the recent BookExpo, they had writers and artists signing comicbooks, while most other publishers in the Diamond pavilion were handing out books. (And there were certain BEAs where Marvel had almost no presence, like in 2001, during the first Free Comic Book Day. You know… the same weekend that Spider-Man broke box office records? A table with a few books. No display, no Marvel employee, no literature for attendees to read. Not even an appearance of Spider-Man, and it was in NEW YORK CITY!) Yes, DC wasn’t there this year (heck, Random House almost wasn’t there!), but in years past, DC has not only had major talent, a major booth, but they handed out GNs to passersby like free newspapers!

Keeping books in print… if it doesn’t sell, why keep it in print? I’m stumped at some titles getting printed (Ms. Marvel in hardcover?). Marvel does a better job with publishing kids digests, whereas the Johnny DC titles are almost invisible (yet DC has a stronger media presence thanks to Cartoon Network).

Okay, that’s enough. I think it’s more what’s in the books than how the books are marketed. If the fans want it, they’ll find it, and the retailers will respond.

[...] Why don’t Marvel comics sell better on Amazon? [...]

I believe Chris has come the closest to what make likely be the deciding mark. Certainly Diamond is servicing and selling Amazon, but the connection between the sales reps and the buying/merchandising/editorial at Amazon given to the powerhouse publisher/distributors like Random House (DC), FSG (Drawn & Quarterly), Boom! (Simon & Shuster) or TokyoPop (HarperCollins), to name a few, are going to be the proverbial eight hundred pound gorilla in the room. I don’t know and don’t intend to misrepresent Diamond’s work with Amazon, but I do know big publishers and distributors spend substantial face time and much not-in-person communication about marketing, promotions, publicity and sales spikes in ways that specifically affect the trade bookstore (non-direct) market. The situation is even more dramatic at independent stores around the country.

Random House reps call on every major indie store in the country…does Diamond? Do Diamond reps call on Tattered Cover, Elliott Bay, The Strand, Prairie Lights, Regulator, 57th Street Books, Learned Owl, Vroman’s, Diesel, not to mention college bookstores, regional wholesalers and news jobbers? Random House does.

It’s just my opinion, but Marvel willingly gives up a substantial percentage of the trade bookstore market by having their books distributed to the trade market not by a book publisher/distributor, but by Diamond. No offense at all meant personally to Diamond reps, who have a tough and unenviable job–but there’s places they can’t get into the way a major publisher’s rep does and can.

We had a lot of trouble with the bindings of *Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane*. That’s one of the few non-manga titles I’ve been able to get kids to read, but I won’t order it at my new school because I know from experience the binding won’t last, and the margins aren’t big enough to successfully tip the pages back in.

And years ago, when I was still reviewing for School Library Journal, we got books from CrossGen (see, I said it was a long time ago), DC, and Image, but never any books from Marvel, even when the column chair requested them. I don’t have any SLJ or Booklist issues at hand to flip through, but my faulty memory suggests that Marvel is still under-represented.

“…By the time the hardcover either sells out and there’s a paperback offered, the interest is greatly diminished.

“DC is also pretty guilty of this, as well.”

So are many publishers of novels, short story collections, nonfiction books, etc, that aren’t comics. ;)

In the meantime, I’ve remembered another example of Marvel putting me off buying their products: Runaways. First in digest, then in omnibus, and now also in TPB form. Was buying it from the very start so have a bundle of digests, yet stopped buying as the TPB is clearly superior to the digest, yet I’m loathe to replace all my digests with TPBs, but I’m also loathe to have a mixed collection. So apparently the solution I went with is not buying any of them.

I think the main message I have here – and this goes for DC and everyone else as well as Marvel – is that publishers should identify the best format to put their TPBs out in, and *stick with it*. Chop and change too much, or have too many options, and you’re just giving me reasons to say “I’d rather spend my money on something else, actually.”

Or, to boil it down to five words: it’s the paradox of choice.