Hello, Gentle Reader.
You're probably a-bed now (if not, stop reading and go to sleep), but your intrepid author is wide awake, thinking blearily about his professional life choices, musing and brooding on the future. I imagine myself as a Byronic figure, glass of Port in hand, looking out over the moors from the moon-filled window of my empty, haunted manor. Brooding is a boring business, and requires a little bit of drama whenever possible.
My egg for tonight (get it? "Brooding"? Never mind...) is Blind Alley Comics, and namely, what we're going to do with ourselves. It seems the gloomy utterings of my co-conspirator, Joe Haines, were prescient on several points, my own blathering enthusiasm notwithstanding; it was he who predicted that our sales will be very small, and skewed cynical on the subject of putting our products in stores. I'm beginning to agree with him that there's a lot of wasted effort going on here, if not in the fact that we are putting our product out there, but in the way we are going about this effort. One of our biggest problems right now is that neither of us have time to keep track of this stuff, to maintain a presence at our retail locations and track numbers. Speaking personally, I feel spread a bit thin. Even five stores may be beyond my capability to handle at the moment.
Here's what I'm going to do now: I'm going to lay everything out. Unroll the carpet, so to speak - look at the pattern, see if it matches the wallpaper, see what kind of bugs fall out. This is more for my sake than for yours - I often need to think out loud - but you may find the process interesting. As I talk it out, I'll start making connections, and perhaps a solution (or at least a different permutation) will emerge to our particular problems.
So, here we go:
BAC's Problems
1. Recognition - Blind Alley Comics is not a very recognizable brand. Many people don't know about it; those who have seen it may not remember it. My comics are known in Howell, among my family, and among the congregants at my church in Fenton (my biggest customers, actually...) Joe's comics are known among his circle of friends and some clients in Lansing. The BAC Facebook page ran an ad campaign and received many "Likes", but "Likes" do not translate into sales - people either"Liked" BAC because they happen to appreciate comics in general, or because they compulsively click on everything they see. Your biggest chance at brand recognition is at a face-to-face level; they recognize my face, they associate it with the comic and label, and therefore are more likely to buy the product. Otherwise, it's really a long shot.
2. Funding - This one I'm only going to touch on briefly. BAC is mostly broke. I make a little money off of sales, but that's about it. The money from my Kickstarter campaign went through a painful trial-and-error circus with The Human Cannonball #1. I've learned my lessons, but I'm also $539 poorer. With any luck, THC #2 will cost half as much, but it'll still clean out the poke. Until we can establish a reliable cash flow, we can forget about the next two items on the list (see below), and kiss any comic-cons goodbye.
3. Distributing - Right now, our distributing system consists of 1) me handing out a copy; 2) me driving out to a different location to hand you a copy; and 3) the US postal service. Post is expensive. Gas is expensive. Want to meet at my place?
4. Marketing - This goes hand-in-hand with Recognition (see above). Our advertising budget is exactly zero right now. I've already used all my Facebook credit. All my posters for THC #1 are gone. The only thing I have going for BAC right now is word-of-mouth...my mouth.
5. Distance - Again, with the gas. I live in Howell, and Joe lives in Lansing - that's a distance of nearly 40 miles, as the crow flies. It may not seem that bad, but at our income level, it's a bit of a haul, especially if you want to meet once or twice a week. We've tried to split the difference, but between our two cities is a whole lot of nothing - a vast wi-fi desert. I've found a little podunk cafe that might suit our needs, but Joe will get a lot of glares from the 4 pm Bluehair Special crowd for being a dirty hippie.
6. Efficiency/Reliability - Let's face it. Both Joe and I have trouble getting stuff done on time. We have tried setting deadlines for ourselves, but as soon as we do, an infinite amount of shit will hit an infinite amount of fan, and we will have no time for Shakespeare whilst we sort out the mess. When we do start getting things going, it takes a long time for each cog in the operation to become engaged - pencils take a long time, as do inks, as does formatting, as does printing and shipping, etcetera, so on and so forth, ad nauseum, in saecula saeculorum, Amen. What this all comes down to is time, and time is something we don't have an infinite amount of in any given week, which brings us to our final problem...
7. Investment - In other words, "How much time and effort we're willing to put into an operation with few foreseeable goals, an uncertain timeline, and little chance of success." People in business talk about going "all-in"; as for me and Joe, we're about half-in. Unless we quit our jobs (suicidal!), there's nothing we can do about this. I wish I could be like Scott Kurtz (creator of Player Versus Player webcomic), just go balls-out and decide to be a cartoonist for a living, but then he was fairly successful by the time he made that decision. Me and Joe, we're just getting off the ground. Sort of standing on tiptoe. Not yet in any wise gaining altitude.
8. Sales - Face-to-face sales have been consistently good. Online sales have been okay. In-store sales have been abysmal. There are several reasons for this, number one being the recognition thing (see above), but also because retailers need a lot of babysitting. You need to provide your own display cases, or your product will get shoved on a back shelf. You need to maintain friendly, drop-in relations with the store owners, or they'll forget you ever existed. Lastly, you need to ascertain when it's time to pull the product. That's the saddest thing of all, but it's often for the best. One reason this is even an issue is because all the stores I've been do sales on consignment: if they bought the product outright, I could theoretically just forget about it; but since payment is based on sales, it is my responsibility to make sure the product gets sold. This is an issue for me, not only because of the whole time and money thing, but because I'm a pretty awful salesman - I hate talking to strangers, especially about my products. They say it gets easier the more you do it, but I haven't noticed.
Okay, so that's a fairly short list of our massive, debilitating problems. Now I want to talk about some solutions, mentioning some of BAC's strengths along the way.
BAC - Solutions.
Sales - There are a couple of solutions to the problem of sales and stores and that sort of thing. The first, with stores, is maintenance: display cases, face-time, and cut-and-run. I was recently at one of my retail locations in Howell where the comics were tucked away on a back shelf. Instead of pulling the product, I decided to give it one more try: I made a small cardboard display case. I do not know what the effect has been - I'll be back in tomorrow to see how sales are going - but at least the chance of a sale is infinitely greater now than if the product was still jammed on the shelf.
Secondly, there's an issue of bias toward large(r) cities. I have comics in Lansing, Howell, and Ann Arbor. What about Brighton? What about Fowlerville, Webberville, Williamston? All down the I-96 corridor? You'd think I'd at least have them between Lansing and Howell. Part of the problem is that those towns don't have dedicated comic book stores; then again, neither does Howell, and both Howell and Fowlerville have gaming stores that may be interested in selling comic books. It'll be a lot of work to establish those contacts, but once I do, it may bear fruit.
A completely different solution that I've hit upon is this: perhaps stores are not the way to go. It's sort of a bragging right to have your product in stores, but it ties up a lot of product, sales are low, and the store is taking a hefty cut of your earnings, no matter how you slice it. What I've realized is that, with a series like The Human Cannonball (and by extension, your next series and so on), you have a built-in customer base. Once you get that first twenty customers or so, you can keep flogging your product to the same twenty people, even as you pull in other customers directly or by word-of-mouth. Within a year or so, you'll get so efficient that more money will be coming in than going out; you can start to expand. Give it another couple of years, and the world will be cowering beneath your towering figure, as you ascend the pinnacle of business success. Okay, maybe not; but it seems sound. We'll see how it works. I just know that for now, having retailers in three cities (all 30 minutes apart) is a bit overextended for our capabilities; if sales are weak in the outliers, we may have to consolidate.
Efficiency - I have one big solution for the problem of efficiency: going digital. Half my trouble would be completely gone if I skip the pencils, skip the inking, and just do everything directly into the computer. I have a Wacom tablet and Adobe Suite; what more do I desire? One issue, of course, is ability: I'm not as good on the computer as I am on paper. It's still exhausting work, no matter how you do it, and who wants to stare at a computer screen all day? In between THC segments, I'll be working on some other comics, including Louie, Kid Prodigy, a two-parter I hope to do completely digitally and have available as a pdf download.
That's at least two problems solved, and maybe a couple other solutions thrown into the mix. The number one problem, in my mind, is that we'll have to consolidate and narrow our ambition for the time being. It's extremely, extremely hard. I'm a very ambitious person, and I know Joe is too (though he hides it well...), so limiting our focus is going to feel like a straitjacket. But it will work for the better in the long run. Patience is key, and taking our opportunities when we can find them.
Rick Out.
You're probably a-bed now (if not, stop reading and go to sleep), but your intrepid author is wide awake, thinking blearily about his professional life choices, musing and brooding on the future. I imagine myself as a Byronic figure, glass of Port in hand, looking out over the moors from the moon-filled window of my empty, haunted manor. Brooding is a boring business, and requires a little bit of drama whenever possible.
My egg for tonight (get it? "Brooding"? Never mind...) is Blind Alley Comics, and namely, what we're going to do with ourselves. It seems the gloomy utterings of my co-conspirator, Joe Haines, were prescient on several points, my own blathering enthusiasm notwithstanding; it was he who predicted that our sales will be very small, and skewed cynical on the subject of putting our products in stores. I'm beginning to agree with him that there's a lot of wasted effort going on here, if not in the fact that we are putting our product out there, but in the way we are going about this effort. One of our biggest problems right now is that neither of us have time to keep track of this stuff, to maintain a presence at our retail locations and track numbers. Speaking personally, I feel spread a bit thin. Even five stores may be beyond my capability to handle at the moment.
Here's what I'm going to do now: I'm going to lay everything out. Unroll the carpet, so to speak - look at the pattern, see if it matches the wallpaper, see what kind of bugs fall out. This is more for my sake than for yours - I often need to think out loud - but you may find the process interesting. As I talk it out, I'll start making connections, and perhaps a solution (or at least a different permutation) will emerge to our particular problems.
So, here we go:
BAC's Problems
1. Recognition - Blind Alley Comics is not a very recognizable brand. Many people don't know about it; those who have seen it may not remember it. My comics are known in Howell, among my family, and among the congregants at my church in Fenton (my biggest customers, actually...) Joe's comics are known among his circle of friends and some clients in Lansing. The BAC Facebook page ran an ad campaign and received many "Likes", but "Likes" do not translate into sales - people either"Liked" BAC because they happen to appreciate comics in general, or because they compulsively click on everything they see. Your biggest chance at brand recognition is at a face-to-face level; they recognize my face, they associate it with the comic and label, and therefore are more likely to buy the product. Otherwise, it's really a long shot.
2. Funding - This one I'm only going to touch on briefly. BAC is mostly broke. I make a little money off of sales, but that's about it. The money from my Kickstarter campaign went through a painful trial-and-error circus with The Human Cannonball #1. I've learned my lessons, but I'm also $539 poorer. With any luck, THC #2 will cost half as much, but it'll still clean out the poke. Until we can establish a reliable cash flow, we can forget about the next two items on the list (see below), and kiss any comic-cons goodbye.
3. Distributing - Right now, our distributing system consists of 1) me handing out a copy; 2) me driving out to a different location to hand you a copy; and 3) the US postal service. Post is expensive. Gas is expensive. Want to meet at my place?
4. Marketing - This goes hand-in-hand with Recognition (see above). Our advertising budget is exactly zero right now. I've already used all my Facebook credit. All my posters for THC #1 are gone. The only thing I have going for BAC right now is word-of-mouth...my mouth.
5. Distance - Again, with the gas. I live in Howell, and Joe lives in Lansing - that's a distance of nearly 40 miles, as the crow flies. It may not seem that bad, but at our income level, it's a bit of a haul, especially if you want to meet once or twice a week. We've tried to split the difference, but between our two cities is a whole lot of nothing - a vast wi-fi desert. I've found a little podunk cafe that might suit our needs, but Joe will get a lot of glares from the 4 pm Bluehair Special crowd for being a dirty hippie.
6. Efficiency/Reliability - Let's face it. Both Joe and I have trouble getting stuff done on time. We have tried setting deadlines for ourselves, but as soon as we do, an infinite amount of shit will hit an infinite amount of fan, and we will have no time for Shakespeare whilst we sort out the mess. When we do start getting things going, it takes a long time for each cog in the operation to become engaged - pencils take a long time, as do inks, as does formatting, as does printing and shipping, etcetera, so on and so forth, ad nauseum, in saecula saeculorum, Amen. What this all comes down to is time, and time is something we don't have an infinite amount of in any given week, which brings us to our final problem...
7. Investment - In other words, "How much time and effort we're willing to put into an operation with few foreseeable goals, an uncertain timeline, and little chance of success." People in business talk about going "all-in"; as for me and Joe, we're about half-in. Unless we quit our jobs (suicidal!), there's nothing we can do about this. I wish I could be like Scott Kurtz (creator of Player Versus Player webcomic), just go balls-out and decide to be a cartoonist for a living, but then he was fairly successful by the time he made that decision. Me and Joe, we're just getting off the ground. Sort of standing on tiptoe. Not yet in any wise gaining altitude.
8. Sales - Face-to-face sales have been consistently good. Online sales have been okay. In-store sales have been abysmal. There are several reasons for this, number one being the recognition thing (see above), but also because retailers need a lot of babysitting. You need to provide your own display cases, or your product will get shoved on a back shelf. You need to maintain friendly, drop-in relations with the store owners, or they'll forget you ever existed. Lastly, you need to ascertain when it's time to pull the product. That's the saddest thing of all, but it's often for the best. One reason this is even an issue is because all the stores I've been do sales on consignment: if they bought the product outright, I could theoretically just forget about it; but since payment is based on sales, it is my responsibility to make sure the product gets sold. This is an issue for me, not only because of the whole time and money thing, but because I'm a pretty awful salesman - I hate talking to strangers, especially about my products. They say it gets easier the more you do it, but I haven't noticed.
Okay, so that's a fairly short list of our massive, debilitating problems. Now I want to talk about some solutions, mentioning some of BAC's strengths along the way.
BAC - Solutions.
Sales - There are a couple of solutions to the problem of sales and stores and that sort of thing. The first, with stores, is maintenance: display cases, face-time, and cut-and-run. I was recently at one of my retail locations in Howell where the comics were tucked away on a back shelf. Instead of pulling the product, I decided to give it one more try: I made a small cardboard display case. I do not know what the effect has been - I'll be back in tomorrow to see how sales are going - but at least the chance of a sale is infinitely greater now than if the product was still jammed on the shelf.
Secondly, there's an issue of bias toward large(r) cities. I have comics in Lansing, Howell, and Ann Arbor. What about Brighton? What about Fowlerville, Webberville, Williamston? All down the I-96 corridor? You'd think I'd at least have them between Lansing and Howell. Part of the problem is that those towns don't have dedicated comic book stores; then again, neither does Howell, and both Howell and Fowlerville have gaming stores that may be interested in selling comic books. It'll be a lot of work to establish those contacts, but once I do, it may bear fruit.
A completely different solution that I've hit upon is this: perhaps stores are not the way to go. It's sort of a bragging right to have your product in stores, but it ties up a lot of product, sales are low, and the store is taking a hefty cut of your earnings, no matter how you slice it. What I've realized is that, with a series like The Human Cannonball (and by extension, your next series and so on), you have a built-in customer base. Once you get that first twenty customers or so, you can keep flogging your product to the same twenty people, even as you pull in other customers directly or by word-of-mouth. Within a year or so, you'll get so efficient that more money will be coming in than going out; you can start to expand. Give it another couple of years, and the world will be cowering beneath your towering figure, as you ascend the pinnacle of business success. Okay, maybe not; but it seems sound. We'll see how it works. I just know that for now, having retailers in three cities (all 30 minutes apart) is a bit overextended for our capabilities; if sales are weak in the outliers, we may have to consolidate.
Efficiency - I have one big solution for the problem of efficiency: going digital. Half my trouble would be completely gone if I skip the pencils, skip the inking, and just do everything directly into the computer. I have a Wacom tablet and Adobe Suite; what more do I desire? One issue, of course, is ability: I'm not as good on the computer as I am on paper. It's still exhausting work, no matter how you do it, and who wants to stare at a computer screen all day? In between THC segments, I'll be working on some other comics, including Louie, Kid Prodigy, a two-parter I hope to do completely digitally and have available as a pdf download.
That's at least two problems solved, and maybe a couple other solutions thrown into the mix. The number one problem, in my mind, is that we'll have to consolidate and narrow our ambition for the time being. It's extremely, extremely hard. I'm a very ambitious person, and I know Joe is too (though he hides it well...), so limiting our focus is going to feel like a straitjacket. But it will work for the better in the long run. Patience is key, and taking our opportunities when we can find them.
Rick Out.
Comments
That might allow your audience to build while keeping the overhead of print runs and consignment cuts low.