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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2019 2:16:30 GMT -5
New readers aren't coming to periodicals though, so why continue on with a format that is just leading to ever diminishing returns? They will when they stop making comics a premium specialty item.
They became a niche market product because mass market outlets didn't want to carry them because they had too slim margins and were too labor intensive to stock and sell as periodicals. The direct market offered a lifeline when newsstands were drying up, and not that model is becoming less viable, but the newsstand option just doesn't exist anymore so they need to find a new viable model, they cannot go back. -M |
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Post by mrbrklyn on Jul 1, 2019 2:21:06 GMT -5
I understand what your saying but there is no profit in that model. Books are a dieing business. And there is no profit in the digital model either. So if there is no profit in the periodical model as well, then it might well be best for DC and Marvel to close shop... but they won't. And the reason why they won't is because the collateral profits are too great to pass up. So there best solution is to break from Diamond and make inexpensive periodical materials broadly available as a lost leader, if necessary, so that they remain part and parcel of daily living. Otherwise they are really out of business. And you need to check your facts, books in print have experienced a boom in growth the past 5 years or so after shrinking for several years. They are not what they used to be, but they are currently a growth market, Umm the book market is not even a fraction of what it was and there is very few outlets left. I agree that they have to find distribution. I don't believe it is actually that hard to do. Instead of newspaper stands we have convience stores like 7-11 and more could be done like the walmart push. There are still trains and station and gas stations... etc |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2019 2:31:40 GMT -5
And you need to check your facts, books in print have experienced a boom in growth the past 5 years or so after shrinking for several years. They are not what they used to be, but they are currently a growth market, Umm the book market is not even a fraction of what it was and there is very few outlets left. I agree that they have to find distribution. I don't believe it is actually that hard to do. Instead of newspaper stands we have convience stores like 7-11 and more could be done like the walmart push. There are still trains and station and gas stations... etc It is smaller than it was, I said as such, but after several years of shrinking, it has been growing the last 5 or so years again. It has not continued to shrink, it is in fact gaining ales and units moved, so it is a growth market. And have you seen a periodical rack inside a 7-11 or convenience store lately? It is about 1-2 feet wide and maybe 1 shelf tall and has about 6-8 titles on it. And most of those are tabloid type papers and fantasy sports magazines and are priced at about $8-$10 an issue, plus a couple $20 special issues of Time featuring something like the Beatles, or the Moon landing that recycles old content with a couple new essays on it. Walmart's periodicals are not much larger and mostly consist of craft magazines in addition to what the 7-11 has. Hell, even the comics Wal Mart carries are either in the book section not the periodicals (stuff like Dog Boy or Smile) or on the collectible shelves somewhere else int he store (the DC Wal*Mart exclusives and the shrinkwrapped 3 packs of Marvels). Why? Because they don't want to carry comics there because the price point is too small and the margin too slim. To get in those places, cover prices for comics would have to be higher to find anyone willing to carry them. Putting comics there would not make them cheaper again. -M |
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Post by mrbrklyn on Jul 1, 2019 2:40:23 GMT -5
It is smaller than it was, I said as such, but after several years of shrinking, it has been growing the last 5 or so years again. It has not continued to shrink, it is in fact gaining ales and units moved, so it is a growth market...
there is no growtrh there worth considering. 10 increase of nothing is nothing. I've been in on the development of and problems in the book market since the 1990s. What you see is the deadman bounce.
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Post by mrbrklyn on Jul 1, 2019 7:29:31 GMT -5
Where you in the business then, because this is just not true. It is more likely the case now, not so much because of price, but small sales and the need for big racks. Limited runs of comics can be made available everywhere... the problem is a distribution channel, that is someone to pick up the books at the printers and bring them to the market.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2019 11:35:19 GMT -5
It is smaller than it was, I said as such, but after several years of shrinking, it has been growing the last 5 or so years again. It has not continued to shrink, it is in fact gaining ales and units moved, so it is a growth market... there is no growtrh there worth considering. 10 increase of nothing is nothing. I've been in on the development of and problems in the book market since the 1990s. What you see is the deadman bounce.
I'll bow to your expertise then, even if it contradicts every industry report, account and opinion I've seen over the last five years. You keep asking for evidence then dismiss any evidence other than your own experience or opinion; it is absolutely pointless to continue the discussion. -M |
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Post by mrbrklyn on Jul 1, 2019 20:32:59 GMT -5
It is smaller than it was, I said as such, but after several years of shrinking, it has been growing the last 5 or so years again. It has not continued to shrink, it is in fact gaining ales and units moved, so it is a growth market... there is no growtrh there worth considering. 10 increase of nothing is nothing. I've been in on the development of and problems in the book market since the 1990s. What you see is the deadman bounce.
I'll bow to your expertise then, even if it contradicts every industry report, account and opinion I've seen over the last five years. You keep asking for evidence then dismiss any evidence other than your own experience or opinion; it is absolutely pointless to continue the discussion. -M Honestly, there is nothing to bow down to. All one has to do is look at the NY Times best sellers lists and numbers. The publishing business is a small fraction of what it was in the 1970s, from books, magazines, journals, and even news papers. It concerns me a great deal as to how this will affect society as a whole and education in particular. You can say there has been a recent rise, but sooo what. The industry has already been gutted. |
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