Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Following are questions that didn't make the Movie Poop Shoot exit interview, while great answers they just didn't "fit" the overall interview. These are Jamie's thoughts on comic prices, Free Comic Book Day, coming up on Saturday, July 3, 2004, and one last parting shot at comic conventions.
Denny Haynes: Fact or Fiction: If comic companies lowered the price of comics more people would purchase them and make up for any loss in profit due to the price decrease?
Jamie S. Rich: I think it's a bit of fiction. I think yes, some folks would buy more titles, but not all. And I think we'd still be stuck with the same amount of buyers, not any real increase in audience, so even if everyone lived up to their word who claimed they'd buy more titles were the comics cheaper, it would still not make up for the change in costs.
I think a lot of fallacies end up in discussions of price point. I am fond of saying comics cost what they cost because that's what they cost to make, and I believe that's true. I think a lot of fans think along the lines that if they pay $3 for an Oni comic, it goes right in my comic. They probably know that isn't right, but when they are complaining about price point, it tends to come down to, "I gave you $3 for this." When in reality, we sell it at a discount to Diamond who then sells it at a discount to the retailer who then goes up to cover price to make his profit. So, we only receive a portion of that cover price, and we share our cut with the creator.
The biggest problem ends up being I end up cutting my cover price, and that means less of a profit yield for my distributor and my retailer--but without any change to any of our operation costs. Let's say, for the sake of argument, I cut my books down in price by 50%. Do you think the printing plant and Fed Ex and all the other companies whose services I am using are going to cut their charges to me in half? Not a chance. Is it fair, then, for me to ask the creative teams to do the same work for half the price, too? In indie comics, that's a pretty big hit. So, it costs me the same to make my product, and I have to sell twice as many just to make the same money I was making. And if I have to build a new audience based on these new prices, I am probably going to go out of business trying to do so. They aren't going to show up out of thin air.
Even if you, as a reader, now buy two Oni books, I still have to sell double what I was selling of those two books or take a big hit on both of them. That doesn't make a lot of business sense, does it?
Trust me. We all want bigger sales and would love to deliver a higher quality product cheaper, but it's not reasonable. And a lot of solutions offered are not really feasible in the brass tacks of publishing. Cheaper paper is a big one. Paper is priced based on bulk, and due to the high demand of newsprint, a small print-run black-and-white is not going to save any money on newsprint. We have to pay through the nose to take stock that has been allocated for much bigger projects.
DMH: Free Comic Book Day is coming up, what are your thoughts on this outreach event?
JSR: I think it's made a good start over the last few years and the people behind it are working to sort out the kinks. I don't think it's been entirely successful as of yet, I worry we're just putting comics into the same hands as get them already. But I tend to back away from this subject because I think it's one where far too many people weigh in and it seems to be a nightmare for the people who are trying to make it a real, breathing thing. Honestly, they should just say, "Shut up and let us do it." Life would be so much better these days if more people said that more often.
DMH: What are your thoughts on comic convention experience?
JSR: What are your thoughts on having a hose shoved up your ass and lemonade sprayed into your body until it squirts out your nose?
DMH: Thanks for the memories, the books, and most importantly that mental picture Jamie.
And visit Jamie's blog at: Confession 123
That's All Folks!
