Steven Grant shows just why people call him “comics’ favorite downbeat commentator” in fine fashion as he looks in the direction of comic book stores:
These days, you really have to be in the comics shop business for love, but, just like for comics writers and artists, love’s a whole lot sweeter when it produces a living income. Not that comics shops aren’t still important to the comics industry – for the vast majority of comics published in America, the comics shop is about as close to public exposure as those titles are going to get – but they’ve largely become the industry’s whipping boy, not in the least because bad comics shops tear down the public image of the good. Many among even the current survivors of a once-boom business are short on customer service, and all comics shops are caught between the shifting whims of publishers and customers. It’s common to blame low sales of books on poor orders from comics shops, or the inability of comics shops to sell comics, and while that’s not entirely out of line, those comments are usually made without regard to the quality of comics they’re expecting comics shops to sell, and with little regard for the peculiar challenges facing comics shops. It’s not difficult to understand why many comics shop owners get a bit miserly when it comes to ordering comics, since the direct market is set up to put the financial burden on comics shops, and they’re the ones usually forced to absorb the expense of any overorders, the stock that doesn’t sell through. (As opposed to the book trade and newsstands, where unsold copies can be returned to publishers, who bear the lion’s share of the financial risk.) Their profit margin’s on most items are slender at best, meaning comics sales is a bulk business, and in the last decade this hasn’t been much of a bulk market.
That’s just the start of an interesting look at direct market retailers; well worth a read.
