There are a LOT of comic book superheroes in existence, and there are also a LOT of comic book super villains in existence, as well. But, far from being a threat to independent comic book publishers,
super villains actually help promote the comic art form, and they also help to drive sales and enthusiasm.
In that sense,
super villains are one of the best things to have ever happened to independent comic book publishers. In other words, they're the good guys, too! Being a good guy isn't just for superheroes, anymore.
The
real villains that indie comic book publishers face off against are those things that are obstacles that posit themselves squarely between the indie publisher and the end user of the product that the indies create -
namely, the readers.
Now, in all fairness, you probably didn't come here, today, expecting to be hit with a pop quiz. Nonetheless, pull yourself up a seat, and let's see how well that you do.
Name for me all of the obstacles that manifest themselves between an indie comic publisher and potential readers.
Go on! Grab yourself a sheet of old-fashioned paper, and either an ink pen or a pencil or even a crayon will do, and
jot down as many obstacles that you can think of.
Odds are, you barely scratched the surface. And the irony of this particular pop quiz is that there can be a near-infinite number of correct answers. Yet, you wonder why
independent comic book publishers always seem to have such a big mountain to climb, and especially when they are just starting out.
Most of the comic books that I encounter, I never bother to buy, much less read. Hey, do you have any idea how many comic book publishers are out there, these days? I don't.
More than you can shake a stick at, that's for damned sure!
On the one hand,
there can simply never be too many superheroes and super villains. After all,
the human imagination is more than big enough to accommodate them all. The human imagination is, for comic book purposes, infinite in size and shape and scope.
However, not everything is infinite. Spending budgets for entertainment purposes and available free time to allocate to the purpose of reading comic books are a couple that come to mind, right off the top of my head.
If you are an indie comic book publisher, or if you hope to be, one day, then all of those other comic book publishers that are out there are your competition. Again, I ask you, do you have any idea how many comic book publishers are out there, these days? If not, then
your awareness of the extent of competition in a like-market has room for improvement.
Finding comic books is easy. Online, they're seemingly everywhere.
The comic book industry is a content-rich industry. It is an industry that is awash in comic book titles that run the gamut from superb to dismal, from professional grade publications to rank amateur output. One thing that you, as an indie comic book publisher, has going for you is that
personal taste in comic books is as diverse as the product selections that are on offer.
Since
comic books are a form of entertainment, ask yourself this question: How many different forms of entertainment are there? The question is relevant, because your comic books also have a plethora of non-comic book forms of entertainment to compete with, also, on both the budget count and on the available free time count. If your aim is to be successful, as an indie comic book publisher, then
it really helps to grasp just exactly what you are up against, in your bid to sell people on not just the value of your comic books, as an entertainment product, but also upon the "need" for them to rearrange their entertainment priorities to which they have likely already long since grown accustomed. In other words,
on top of persuading them to part with their money, you also have to persuade them that it is to their entertainment benefit to change their entertainment habits.
Old habits can, indeed, be hard to change! It's hard enough to change your own habits, but
when the task before you is to change the habit of other people, then you really might want to assess, anew, just exactly what it is that you are bringing to the entertainment table.
And to think, we haven't even really gotten into talking about price points in earnest, yet.
Speaking of which,
how much do your comic books cost? In a day and an age when the entertainment consumer of can purchase a lot of entertainment value via Netflix, how does what you offer compare to that? Think that just because you're an independent comic book publisher that you are not in competition with Netflix?
Think again!
On a month in, month out basis, my monthly subscription to
Netflix nets me more entertainment content than I can ever hope to consume in a month's time. Now, that's a LOT of entertainment value! Again, what is it that you, as an indie comic book publisher, are
bringing to the consumer's entertainment table?
Realistically, most consumers of entertainment that purchase entertainment in some form or other have a limit to how much that they can afford to spend on all of their entertainment, on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis. This is a really good time for you to consider whether
the price point for your comic books presents not just a viable option for the consumer that you are hoping will buy your comics, but an option that generates a LOT of enthusiasm when they come into contact with it.
Otherwise, the alternative is that your entertainment product -
namely, comic books that you publish - suffer from an enthusiasm gap. If so, then
what is your Plan B to remedy that core deficiency?
Oh, sure, you're excited about all of the comic books that you publish. But, you're not the one you're trying to sell your own entertainment product to, are you?
Of course, it may not even matter. None of any of this may even matter, if the entertainment consumers that you hope to target with your marketing strategy
aren't even aware that your comic books exist, in the first place. That you have a website or a Facebook page should not be mistaken with your comic books generating awareness with the public at large. The less people that are aware that your comic books exist, the
more lost opportunity that your entertainment products suffer from.
Ask yourself this question:
What is your own budget that you have for spending on entertainment options that you are aware of which appeal to you? Now, pick any website that carries a large number of indie comic books from a wide variety of indie comic book publishers, and ask yourself how many of those comic books by other indie publishers that you, yourself, purchase on a recurring - or even a first time - basis?
Every single day,
consumers of entertainment have lots of choices readily available to them. Do they go and see a movie at the cinema, or do they buy a comic book from a comic book publisher that they may have never even heard of, before? Thus, do they go with
an unknown entertainment commodity (a movie that they have never seen from a known entertainment publisher that they already have a degree of familiarity with), or do they go with an unknown entertainment commodity (your comic book) from an
unknown entertainment publisher (you and your independent comic book company)?
If you want people to buy your comic books, then even if you somehow or other manage to
resolve the awareness dilemma, then another obstacle immediate rears its head - that of the influence dilemma. If you want to change someone's entertainment habits, in order to accommodate your entertainment products, aka your comic books, then you are going to have to figure out
how to successfully influence the entertainment consumers that you pursue. And your plan to do this is what, exactly?
Or are you in this race for the entertainment consumer's dollars with no real plan to speak of?
Beyond this, even if they buy a comic book from you, then how do you
gain or earn repeat business from individuals who, by now, already enjoy some degree of familiarity with what you bring to the consumer's entertainment table? Or are you content with being
a one-shot deal with consumers? To be certain,
the repeat customer dilemma is its own beast to be contended with!
The whole point of this article is not to discourage you from publishing comic books. Rather, the whole point of this article is to engage with you on the subject, that you might
put more thought into your current chosen approach to entering the never-ending gladiatorial battles for consumers entertainment dollars and their respective allocation of time allotted to entertainment.
Before this article is done with you, though, care to join me on a short jaunt across the Internet?
Where should we start? Which independent comic book publishers should we volunteer to be the objects of our attention for this article's duration. Where does an entertainment consumer even begin, and that's assuming that they even know what a comic book is, in the first place?
Let's start with an indie company called
Argo Comics. I picked them, because I was on their site earlier, today, and because I want to demonstrate how comic book publishers often unwittingly create even more obstacles between their comic books and entertainment consumers. Additionally, Argo Comics is an indie comic book publisher that is
already on my radar, from an awareness perspective.
Argo Comics is located at
ArgoComics.com. Once on their website, let's head straight to the
Shop section of their site. Immediately, six possible comic book choices pop into view of my monitor's screen. Two are for issues of Argo 5. One is for a title called
Sorority of Power. Two are for
Argo Comics Anthologies. And the final of those six offerings on display is for a comic book titled
Pickleman.
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| Argo 5 Issue #24 from Argo Comics |
All well and dandy, but not a single one of the comic book images on display on that page can be clicked upon. Not a one of them can be added to a shopping cart. Thus, a consumer who wants to better inform themselves on any of these six issues suddenly finds that they have to go elsewhere, in order to do that.
Obstacles to the end consumer being able to inform themselves about a potential or pending purchase are
frequently resolved by consumers against the merchant, by clicking off whatever web page that the consumer is on. I ask you, is this approach good for business?
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| Argo Comics Anthology #1 |
That aside, let's assume that I wanted to go ahead and purchase one of the comic books in display, here. In order to do that, Argo Comics's own website requires that I leave the Shop section of their website, and head on over to another website run by a third party. In this particular case, that third party site is a personal favorite of mine -
IndyPlanet.
Specifically, the link on the Shop section of the Argo Comics website leads me to the
Argo Comics section of the IndyPlanet site. Why not just eliminate that extra step, to begin with? Who knows? My point is simply this - each click of a hyperlink that you, as an Indie comic book publisher, places between the potential buyer of your product and the product, itself,
is an opportunity for the consumer to change their mind. Do you not have enough competition, already, that you will also saddle yourself with more opportunities for entertainment consumers to change their mind about buying your entertainment products?
Compare this approach to how Amazon approaches things.
In fairness, the Argo Comics site's Shop section even clearly states at the top of that page:
Some of our titles you'll find at Indy Planet. Yet, the thing about obstacles of the kind that this article has been discussing is that they take many forms, and the more of them that you can eliminate or avoid outright, the better off that your chances for comic book success may well end up being.
Obstacles are kind of like the straw that breaks the camel's back. They just plain have a way of adding up, and that's to YOUR comic book company's detriment!
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| Argo Comics Sorority of Power #12 |
Clearly,
Argo Comics is doing something right, because on the Argo Comics section of the IndyPlanet website, a total of fifty-one results are available for your perusal. Argo Comics also has a
Facebook page, if you care to check that out. That they have so many comic book products on offer is an indicator that Argo Comics has been around a while. If you want to get a quick visual glimpse at a LOT of Argo Comics' artwork, then you can also head on over to the
Gallery section of their DeviantArt page.
Though I have mentioned them several times, already, in the span of the last several paragraphs, this article really isn't about Argo Comics. Rather, it's about obstacles, so let's continue our journey, shall we?
Next up? The
Peep Game Comix site.
Talk about a great site!
I only recently discovered it. Yesterday, in fact, unless I have encountered it at some point in the past and recollection of it has fallen from my memory.
When I came upon this website, yesterday, let me tell you -
It was love at first site! All kinds of different Indie comic books just waiting to be encountered.
A comic book treasure worthy of Smaug's envy, no doubt!
So much visual energy just slapping you in the face. This is the kind of website that will
rouse the comic lover inside of you from a state of slumber. It sure woke me up, that's for damned certain!
It's
like being a kid in a candy store. So much to look at. So much to choose from. I just started clicking on link after link after link. Beware, though! For if you visit the Peep Game Comix website, prepare to stay a while. It's just
a real smorgasbord of visual energy, a gathering of some really fine comic book talent.
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| Malkia: Warrior Queen from Youneek Studios |
'Twas here that I first encountered
Malika: Warrior Queen, which is published by
Youneek Studios. I haven't bought it, yet, but I will take this opportunity to single it out. Many independent comic book publishers
only sprinkle a couple of preview pages on the potential customer. Some don't even do that much. And the irony that inheres
in this ye have eyes, yet see not approach is that comic books are, by their inherent nature, objects that have historically and traditionally placed
a heavy emphasis upon the element of visual appeal.
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| Malika: Warrior Queen |
In other words, unless what you're putting out isn't pleasant to the eyes, then your comic book, itself, is
arguably the single greatest tool in your arsenal to sell it to prospective buyers, to connoisseurs of the fare. Malika: Warrior Queen features more than a dozen pieces of imagery on the Peep Game Comix site to all the better tempt you with. Thinking back to when I was a kid growing up, I don't remember ever buying a single comic book that I didn't "browse" the contents of first. In many instances, I would read entire issues, while my parents shopped in the drug store or the grocery store beside it, where we bought most of the new comic books that I read.
The content, itself, is what sold me on issue after issued after issue. think about that, the next time that you're tempted to let the prospective buyer of your entertainment product shop blind, or nearly so. With comic books,
when you hide the visual temptation that you design your entertainment product to create within readers, you are also
creating an obstacle to tempting people to buy your product.
In the coming days and weeks, I will at some point purchase a copy of Malika: Warrior Queen. That decision has already been made. I, a comic book entertainment consumer,
have already been persuaded. The publisher, Youneek Studios, even without knowing it, has already
influenced me successfully to buy this particular entertainment product. If you're an indie comic book publisher reading this, then if you're looking for
a sure fire way to sell people less comic books, then hiding the temptation that you have lovingly crafted into your comic book products is unquestionably
one of the most efficient ways to lose potential sales.
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| Malika: Warrior Queen |
But, why stop here? Even old Scrooge had to deal with three ghosts at Christmas time. Why stop at Argo Comics and Youneek Studios, when we can toss at least one more example into the mix of this article's brew?
This time, let us take on the
Powerverse, a comic book multi-verse concept that I am
already on record on as liking the concept of.
Website-wise, the Powerverse is currently headquartered at
WillPowerComics.com. One issue that I have been pondering over the last few days whether to buy or not is The Powerverse Present: The 101. On
that site, this comic book is listed for a selling price of $1.99, for a digital copy. Yet, over on the
IndyPlanet site, a digital copy of the exact, same issue will only set you back ninety-nine cents. While
marketing can be a complex beast all its own, at times, one question worth pondering as it relates to the overall issue of obstacles to selling comic books is, how can a publisher sell the exact same digital comic book for less on a third party site, than on their own site?
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| The Powerverse Present The 101 |
Now, a single dollar difference isn't the be all nor the end all of anything, much less when it comes to comic books. But, since pricing structures can - and quite frequently do -
create obstacles to getting more comic books in more people's hands, I think it to be worth considering at length how to best go about doing just, exactly that.
If a prospective comic book buyer can save a dollar here or there, then
that very same prospective buyer can also partake of a wider selection of comic books, whether from the same comic book publisher, or from a broader cross segment of comic book publishers.
Plus, if you are an indie comic book publisher with an eye towards increasing your readership base and broadening your readership cross segment, price point can be
a central opportunity just waiting to happen -
but, only if you let it.
And you let it (or you preclude it) by the decisions that you make, where your engagement of prospective comic book buyers is concerned.
And to underscore
the irony that inheres in approaches to marketing, dollars saved here and there by consumers, due to instilling consistency in pricing of a given item across various points of distribution to the end consumer by the indie comic book publisher, aside from
enhancing the comic brand through consistency in consumer experience no matter where they encounter the product in question at, could well be gained by the indie publisher through other marketing mechanisms - such as by bundling multiple comic book products together in special offers or bundle deals that result in more dollars changing hands from the comic book consumer to the comic book publisher, while simultaneously getting more titles -
or more issues of a given title - in the entertainment consumer's hands, in a shorter span of time. In turn, that
helps to drive brand recognition and brand loyalty.
