Archive for July, 2008
« Previous Entries[Comic Book Publishing] - How Much Should You Spend to Produce a Comic Book?
Monday, July 28th, 2008It’s an oft-asked question in the comic book industry, but it’s an important one:
How much should a publisher spend on the production of a comic book?
Believe it or not, there’s no standard answer in the industry, and the fees that writers, artists, letterers and editors are paid varies widely between companies. Obviously, Marvel and DC [...]
[Marketing 101] - Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning
Monday, July 28th, 2008Every now and then, someone asks me: “How do I create a market for my product?
The answer is simple. “You don’t.”
Many people who get into product development want to develop products on their own terms. They don’t want to consider the needs of the end user; they want to develop the product first and then [...]
[Marketing 101] - 3 Tips For Selling Books In the Face of a Recession
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008Today, I read two articles that offered distinctly different messages about consumers.
The first was a report that the film The Dark Knight set a box office record during its opening weekend, both in terms of its midnight release revenues and its overall revenues for its first day. This is great news for the people involved [...]
[Comic Book Publishing] - 5 Ways Comic Books Can Cheat Death
Monday, July 21st, 2008In my previous article, “5 Reasons Comic Books Must Change or Die,” I offered several elements that are contributing to the death of the comic book industry. But today, I’m going to outline some ways that comics can change for the better… and cheat death to live on in the digital era.
But first, let’s take [...]
[Comic Book Publishing] - 5 Reasons Comics Must Change or Die
Saturday, July 19th, 2008A friend recently told me that comic books are going through a renaissance lately, and that they’re on their way back to becoming mainstream.
“Really?” I asked. This was news to me — from what I have seen over the last decade, sales in the comic book industry are growing marginally at best, and they’re nowhere [...]
[Resource of the Day] - How To Sell Christian Books
Thursday, July 17th, 2008Today’s Article: Selling Books to the Christian Market
By: Bette Filley
Via: Independent Book Publishers Association
Believe it or not, my entire journey into the world of comic books and publishing began with a Christian comics-themed message board on Yahoo! Groups. There was a time when I was very serious about Christianity, and I wanted to produce books [...]
[Resource of the Day] - Is a Creative Commons License Practical For a Publisher?
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008Copyright law is complicated, and it’s really showing its signs of age now that the Internet is in common use. I have a copyright notice at the bottom of every page of this site that states that this material is covered by US copyright law, and that it may not be reproduced for any reason [...]
[Resource of the Day] - What the Law Says About Fan Fiction
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008Article: Friction Over Fan Fiction: Is This Burgeoning Art Form Legal?
by Grace Westcott
Source: Literary Review of Canada Online
Unlike a lot of folks in the comic book industry, I’ve never been a big fan of fan fiction — writings by fans that take place in an established universe with established characters. But I’m not necessarily sympathetic [...]
[Resource of the Day] - Can Giving Away Ebooks Boost Sales of Print Books?
Monday, July 14th, 2008Today’s Article: Neil Gaiman: Giving Away Ebooks Sold My Print Books
By: Cory Doctorow
Source: BoingBoing
I saw this piece on BoingBoing, but go ahead and check out Neil Gaiman’s blog as well to read more about this story. Basically, Neil Gaiman’s publisher, Harper Collins, decided to give away free ebook editions of American Gods via software called [...]
[Resource of the Day] - Why We Buy
Sunday, July 13th, 2008Book: Why We Buy: The Science Of Shopping
by: Paco Underhill
Website: http://www.envirosell.com/
My recent article on consumer behavior has led me to start reading through some books on the subject. And while this might not seem to be an extremely important topic for a small publisher to consider, I’d suggest that understanding the way consumers examine products [...]
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