Capeology 101
Every once in awhile, everything falls into place and we get what I shall dub "Star Indies," which are publishers that get big enough to register as blips on the Big Two's radars. We've had only five in the period covering 1991-2004. Crossgen, Image, Valiant, BIG, and Chaos! Yes, Crossgen didn't compete with the Big Two in the spandex race, but they were still competing for the same fans' money. I'm pretty sure books like Sojourn wouldn't appeal to the Persepolis crowd, at any rate. The next Star Indy that comes along will have the failures of those five companies to learn from. Image taught as art isn't enough. Valiant taught as story isn't enough, either. Chaos! taught us how NOT to expand you line. And CrossGen and BIG affirmed what we knew all along: spandex is the key to long-term survival.I mean, come on, that should be the FIRST THING anyone concludes about this business.
Marvel and DC have been around as long as they have because of spandex. Image, Valiant, and Chaos! became as big as they did because of spandex. Dark Horse and Kitchen Sink remain as small as they have because they stay away from it (and I think they prefer it that way).
So, CAPEOLOGY 101: HOW TO STEAL MARVEL AND DC'S READERS
Lesson 1 - Create a Buzz.
I think this might be the most insecure industry ever. There's a burning desire to be accepted, from fans, creators, and even publishers themselves. We're even trying to call them "graphic novels," or "comix" these days. That's probably a discussion for another time, so I'll leave it at that.
That insecurity can be exploited. >=D (By the way, this wasn't in my original letter-- told you it'd get cranky...)
How does one create a buzz? Well, it all begins online. Sometimes letting the work speak for itself isn't enough. Good, quality work isn't always enough if you're an indy, everyone knows that. As people like Brian Bendis and Mark Millar know, you have to sell yourself.
Another good avenue upon which to prostitute yourself is through the direct market-- the retailers. It doesn't take too much effort to send a few preview pages to them via snail mail, does it? You make them happy, they might give you some positive, face-to-face advertising, and of course, the all important rack space.
Its important to start small. Two books should be enough. There's nothing more less cool than a company that's trying to expand too quickly, and trying to stuff their product down our throats. Also, I believe that there should be some sort of unifying theme to the line, to establish a brand identity. Chaos! infused spandex with horror. BIG and CrossGen went a bit too far, totally ignoring spandex for sci-fi and fantasy, respectively.
Lesson 2 - Steal Their Creators
There's a LOT of talent out there with pro experience. Mitch Byrd, Tim Truman, Steve Niles, Andy Smith, John Ostrander, Sergio Cariallo, Jay Faerber... it goes on and on. Heck, Alex frickin' Ross just did a cover for some indy!
No money? Okay, fine. There's still a LOT of talent out there. Hire someone who can draw, and who's cheap. LIKE ME!!! Or at least, like the many artists I see surfing around the various message boards. Not quite sure about writers, colorists, and letterers... but I'm sure they're out there.
Lesson 3 - Bigger
Now's when the hard part begins, and you go from a teeny-tiny company into a less teeny-tiny company.
Expansion at this point should be slow, excruciatingly slow. And all the books have to stay within your core competency. At one point, Chaos! was doing fantasy stuff, and CrossGen was doing sitcom-ics. Doesn't take a genius to know how those turned out!
Prices have to be competitive, because by doing spandex, you're competing with Marvel and DC, so you should be just as affordable. IDW, Top Shelf, and DH can charge higher rates because they offer titles that the Big 2 don't. They also have better production values.
For the financially challenged, there are many ways to "fake" production values. You could try design-oriented covers, a la Losers or Tim Sale's Batman work. You could add behind the scenes stuff like Burlyman. Try compressing your stories like what Ellis did with Apparat. All those thigns didn't cost anything, but they can make a comic SEEM to have more value.
And of course, one should never stop marketing. A website helps. Every publisher should have a website with a message board. Why the $#& not? Instead of getting diluted information from retailers, you can go straight and speak with your audience. Heck, Grimjack BY ITSELF has a cool website.
At this point, you're a farmer, and you have to tend the crops-- your audience AND your books-- regularly.
Lesson 4 - The Main Event
So, you've got the talent, you're producing good comics regularly, and there's a buzz around your little line of books.
At one point in a successful publisher's life, you have to take the extra step, if you want to achieve that oh-so-coveted position of being a blip on the radar. Because let's face it, that's what you want right? To get your own slice in that pie chart thing that Diamond does every month?
Its time for your Big Event.
It could either be a marketing push ("Birthquake," "Armageddon 2000") or a major storyline ("Chaos Effect," "Negation War"), but it has to happen. And you have to time it just right, or you'll screw it up, wasting your resources and in all likelihood putting yourself out of business.
Chaos! pulled the trigger too soon. CrossGen held off too long. Image... I wasn't surprised when Shattered Image tanked, because Image WAS the event, and they didn't really need a crossover.
Now Valiant, Valiant did it right. They dropped Unity on the masses just as their buzz was peaking. Its what transformed them from a lameass Joe Indie into a big, macho, Mensch that had enough clout to strongarm Wizard into kissing their collective rear ends. (then they had to go off and fire Shooter, ruining everything)
But still, there it is. That's what can happen when its done right.
CONCLUDING REMARKS:
Remember that you are basically a thief-- you want to steal readers away form the Big 2. Carjackers don't just sit around waiting for a Nissan to drop on their laps (that'd probably hurt anyway). They go out, look for an opportunity, and take it.
posted by butch @ 5/03/2005
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