The Price is Right?

This impromptu entry is based on an interesting article I read here.  The article provides some insight to the rising cost of comic books from various comic book publishers.  The article was primarily spurred by Marvel Comics increasing more and more monthly books a $3.99 price tag.  This is compared to the typical $2.99 that fans have been accustomed to paying the past several years.  As opposed to spewing everything the article references, I will let you read it for yourself.  

However, I did want to provide my own thoughts as well as some explanations regarding our own price points at Antidote Comics.  

Since we are not paying any freelance or contracted talent at this time, the price of our books is based simply on printing.  The rate we are able to print a book for will be the deciding factor in what we charge.  There is a learning curve to this whole self publishing thing and we are slowly climbing it.  For example:  When we first printed Bloods Own Issue 1 we assumed we would be able to move huge volumes of books at local retailers, to friends and family, and on the convention circuit.  We printed four thousand copies!  Yes, that was FOUR THOUSAND copies.  Aside from our confidence that the book would sell like hot cakes, we also received each copy for a sensational low cost of about a dollar an issue.  The general cover price on the book is $2.99, which is in line with the majority of the monthly books offered by today's larger publishers.  It is also $1.00 to $2.00 cheaper than most other independent publishers of equal or greater production value.  

Unfortunately we have not yet sold out of the book and it's creator, Anthony Lucia has about three thousand of them sitting in his basement.  I am actually okay with this since we can continue to sell them at future shows without having to go back to the presses.  

With our second book, Black Jack we initially ran a small print run of about 150 books to test the waters and see if there was a market in the for it.   Due to the very small print run the books cost to us was about $5.25.  I knew we would not be able to sell the books at conventions for that cost, especially with the economic recession looming overhead.  I did feel that $4.99 would be an acceptable price tag, and I was right:  Within a few months of the initial release we sold out.

A local retailer had purchased some copies as well and was selling them off the shelf for over $7.00 an issue.   

At Minnesota's Fallcon last year, there were people that would stop by the table and check out the book.  Often they would hesitate at the $5.00 price point, but once they learned we were taking a loss in order to pass the deal on the consumer they were immediately at ease and purchased a copy.  That is a technique I learned in sales called framing.  You "frame" the sale so that it makes sense to the buyer.  

With the initial run of Black Jack selling out, it was back to the presses this spring with 1,000 more copies.  Some edits were made to correct some copy errors, and a blurb from creator Phil Hester was added to the cover.   Printing more copies inherently came with a larger print bill, but the cost per issue was significantly less.  We are now able to sell the issues at $3.99 an issue, which is very much in the same range as both large and small press publishers these days.

To me, it isn't a matter of the cost of the book, but more a matter of the quality of it's contents.  I am comfortable paying $3.99 or even $4.99 for a book as long as I feel I am getting my moneys worth out of that book.  You hear on message boards and internet sites all across fandom that people intend on reducing the number of monthly books they purchase in favor of trade paperbacks, others feel that the price increase is the first step of Publishers eradicating the printed comic all together in favors of both trades and web-based comics.  As a traditionalist, I hope this isn't the case.  I love being able to hold the pages in my hand, I love the feel, the smell.   I love being able to read them anywhere; the car, the office, the toilet ( I don't love the smell as much in those cases).

The out cry of the recent price increases across fandom can be understandable for someone on a fixed budget or with limited funds.  If people actually decide to show their dismay by voting with their wallet as they so loudly proclaim then we may see the eventual demise of the printed monthly comic in favor of online digital comics and trade paperbacks.  

As someone who has a fairly decent take on the inner-workings of publishing I can understand that the cover price of the book is going to increase as the cost to actually publish the book increases.  Print cost, distribution, company expenses including salaries to home office people and wages to freelancers are all variables that may fluctuate.  

Those "monetary conscious" fan out there who denounce Marvel, DC and other companies for the increase in price will be the same fans ones to thank when the printed comic becomes utterly extinct. And when that happens it will be those same "fans" who sprint to the message boards and comic forums bitching and moaning about it as well.  

Sometimes you can't win, hopefully you can at least break even.