Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Wrapping up the subject of Marketing No-Brainers from two weeks ago, the final no-brainer is the PowerPoint presentation — a portable, printable document offering an overview of all relevant information on the publisher and/or product based on the intended audience. This presentation should bring together all of the other elements of the no-brainer puzzle into one informative, visually stimulating picture, and has a number of uses.

1) It should be flexible enough to double as the basis for an actual in-person presentation as well as an informational leave-behind or promotional mailing piece.

2) It should include your “elevator pitch”, a short mission/vision statement, and strong preview art.

3) An overview of where your product(s) fit(s) in the marketplace, including any advance reviews or press coverage, and bios for notable creators and/or editorial staff.

4) An overview of the marketing plan, including scheduled convention appearances, planned retailer incentives and reader engagement initiatives.

5) Full contact, release schedules and ordering information.

6) Finally, it should be no longer than 16 slides/pages.

The distributor/library version will be slightly different from the retailer version, which will be slightly different from the target reader version, with the former serving as the base template for all variations as well as related marketing efforts. The physical format will also vary depending on the target audience and budget, with choices ranging from presentation folders with photocopied presentations inside, to full-color brochures or pamphlets, to PDFs, HTML or Flash on a USB drive.

NOTE: The presentation should neither be seen as the equivalent of, nor a substitute for, an annual catalog. While there will be similarities, depending on the size of your upcoming schedule and backlist, your catalog will be much bigger and more detailed. See Archaia Studio Press’ 2007 catalog for a good example of an annual catalog. (Right click and “Save Target/Link As…” to download 12MB PDF.)

Simple Marketing Fact #5: YOU are your best spokesperson.

In almost every industry, trade shows (aka conferences, conventions, seminars, etc.) are considered the most effective marketing tool for converting prospects to sales because it offers the opportunity for face-to-face interaction with a targeted, qualified audience and no one is going to sell your product(s) better than you can. Myriad research studies have shown people tend to look to such events as their primary source of information when they’re ready to make a purchase, and when targeting potential distributors, retailers, libraries and influential taste-makers, such events offer the best opportunity to market to them directly.

Having a free, informational giveaway in lieu of simply giving away sample copies (which you will want to have budgeted and available for major distributors, librarians and retailers, as well as influential reviewers) will be important for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is respecting an individual’s ability to carry around a limited amount of material, and in the case of potential readers, those on limited budgets. It’s always better to have someone walk away with something to remember your product by, and a targeted promotional presentation is ideal for this purpose.

No display ad, banner ad, high-profile review, postcard, message board, or YouTube teaser video offers a better opportunity to generate a sale than a face-to-face presentation.

While trade shows are a vital component of your marketing mix, they can be prohibitively expensive, so choosing which ones to exhibit at, and what sort of presence you should have at any particular one, will depend specifically on your product, its target audience and, of course, your budget. At the 2006 New York Comic Con — an ideal (but expensive) show for targeting distributors, librarians and fans — First Second and Jason Rodriguez chose to work the convention floor instead of having booths, the former wearing promotional T-shirts, the latter armed with a full-color pamphlet promoting his proposed anthology’s concept, both speaking with as many people as they could.

First Second, whose books hadn’t arrived from the printer in time for the Con, later launched to critical acclaim and had several high-profile hits in 2006, including American Born Chinese; Rodriguez was able to assemble an impressive roster of creators and will see his anthology published this summer by Villard Books. I missed this year’s NYCC so I can’t report on any specifics, but First Second had a booth this time around and Rodriguez’ Postcards swag was reportedly on prominent display at Random House’s booth (Villard’s parent company).

Of course, these two successes can’t be directly attributed to any one weekend spent working a trade show, but they are both perfect examples of how trade shows can be effective components of a successful marketing plan. Neither made the significant investment an exhibitor’s booth (or Artist’s Alley table) calls for, opting instead for a more creative approach, and both are instructive for start-up publishers and up-and-coming creators alike who don’t [yet] have the backing of a major publisher to support their efforts.

*****AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION ALERT*****

Having covered the basics of developing a marketing plan and the no-brainer efforts every publisher and/or creator should be willing and able to implement before soliciting their first (or next) publication, it’s time to delve a little deeper into the specifics of the Simple Marketing Plan. Whether initiated by a publisher (ideally) or a creator (sadly, the norm in comics), every single title needs a marketing plan of its own in order to be profitable. Amazon.com is littered with books no one’s ever heard of because they lacked an effective marketing plan, and there are numerous examples of Diamond rejecting certain titles because of a legitimate or perceived lack of saleability.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be fleshing out a marketing plan for a hypothetical new comic book series featuring unknown creators and targeting a specific niche (all TBD!), but I’d also like to open the floor to any creators or publishers who have specific questions they’d like answered, and separately, offer to develop a marketing plan for one specific publication.

For either option, simply drop me an email at glecharles (at) gmail (dot) com, with plan candidates needing to include their elevator pitch and current status of their project. Questions can remain anonymous, if desired, while, for obvious reasons, the chosen candidate for the marketing plan will need to be willing to be identified and comfortable with aspects of their concept and business plan being analyzed and criticized publicly.

So yeah, “minor” surgery is still surgery, and coupled with a drug industry and medical profession that takes “side effects” a bit too casually, I missed the entire NY Comic Con. The whole damn thing. The PopCultureShock party, too, which pisses me off the most, actually, as I was hoping to meet up with some people I hadn’t seen in a while as well as putting some faces to blogs I enjoy.

Ugh.

Anybody out there who did attend the party? I can live vicariously through your feedback!

I spent most of the past week laid up in bed, periodically hobbling around the apartment to take a break from marathon sessions on my rarely used Xbox: Destroy All Humans!, Just Cause and Fable: The Lost Chapters. Not a single comic book tie-in among them, although throughout Fable I was thinking what a great license it would be to adapt for comics. It features a pretty solid storyline that’s ripe for embellishment, especially since the main character is so malleable, by design, but driven towards his destiny by forces beyond his control, that much of the subtext takes place in the player’s head.

I wonder if the rights are available and how ridiculously expensive they might be?

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Adam Kubert, today’s Marketing Monday column will be delayed until later this evening.*

So far, we’ve looked at the five basic steps to developing a simple marketing plan and how they specifically relate to marketing comics. Last week, I put forth five specific marketing efforts, no-brainers that every aspiring publisher should be ready (and able) to implement in order to separate themselves from the hobbyists with a Previews solicitation, a blog, and idiotic message board posts** whining about the state of the industry and how stupid superhero comics fans are. (Oh, look! Another one. Sigh…) This week, we’ll take a closer look at a couple of them.

Marketing No-Brainers

1) Professionally designed logos and trade dress.

2) A non-Flash Web site, with a regularly updated blog; separate landing pages for each title and creator, with links to reviews and interviews; PDF and JPG samples of all titles, current, upcoming and backlist; publisher and creator contact information; release schedules and retailers list; viral downloadables, ie: wallpaper, screensavers, AIM icons, signature banners, podcasts, etc.

3) A PowerPoint presentation promoting the publisher’s niche in the marketplace (actual and/or hoped for); titles — current, upcoming and backlist; creators, awards, reviews, press, etc.

4) Basic marketing materials, ie: business cards, booth signage, brochures, postcards, pins, pens, etc.

5) Well-written, informational press releases with a specific call-to-action.

The latter two are pretty obvious, if not always properly implemented, and I’m not going to spend any time on them right now. There are tons of non-comics-specific resources available that address both of them, and other than booth signage and promotional giveaways, they’re all free or relatively inexpensive. The first three items, though, are extremely important and can be the difference between distributors and retailers ordering none, a couple or several copies of your comic book or graphic novel.

Simple Marketing Fact #3: Vestis virum reddit.

“Vestis virum reddit” is the only Latin phrase I remember from my one-and-a-half years of high school Latin — it means “the clothes make the man” — and I had to Google it to get the spelling right. Nevertheless, it is a marketing truism, the publishing equivalent of the most common advice to new salespeople to “look the part” and “act like you know”.

The next time you’re in your favorite LCBS, take a step back and scan the shelves in front of you. Which front-facing titles stand out from the crowd? Which spines are immediately identifiable, no matter the thickness? Which logos properly communicate the tone of the story underneath the covers?

Focusing on the spines of TPBs and OGNs for a second, one thing that stands out to me is how Marvel and Image prioritize their own branding, placing their logos at the top of the spine, while DC, Scholastic and First Second, among others, all give the title of the individual publication that primary position, placing their logos at the bottom of the spine. Neither approach is right or wrong, but both are very specific and notable long-term marketing decisions that are important to consider at the beginning.

Now, visit your local bookstore and do the same thing. What’s similar, and what’s different? How does a Stephen King novel differ from a Charlie Huston novel, and how do they both differ from the latest Star Wars or Forgotten Realms novels? Can you tell a Harper Perennial from a Beacon from a Soft Skull? Do you need to?

When developing the logos and trade dress for your own comic books, don’t assume that just because you have a great artist that they’re also a great designer, too; logos are to art as poetry is to fiction, and rarely does the talent for both reside in one person. You also have to look way beyond the comics industry for good examples, especially those publishers whose attention is focused primarily on the direct market. One of the most important marketing investments you’ll make in the beginning will be in your logos and trade dress, and there are many resources available that focus on these things, either offering advice on how to do it yourself, or companies who specialize in designing them for you. Use them.

Simple Marketing Fact #4: Fail to plan, plan to fail.

Your Previews solicitation cannot be the first time someone hears of your book. When developing a marketing plan for a new comic book — whether an ongoing or mini-series, trade paperback or original graphic novel — the implementation needs to begin 6-12 months before its expected publication date. The process will be somewhat different for a periodical publication targeting the direct market vs. a TPB or OGN targeting the direct and mass markets, particularly the timeline, but the ultimate goal for both is the same: maximizing your publication’s visibility and convincing distributors and retailers of its saleability.

Having a fully functional, informational, search engine optimized Web site is an essential second step. Once your logos and trade dress are designed and approved, before the first press release goes out to announce your existence, you MUST have a viable Web site established. It can be via a free service like Blogger or WordPress, or it can be something fancier, if your budget allows, but it’s an absolute must-have and you’ll need adequate storage space and bandwidth available to avoid any unwanted surprises.

Registering at least a primary .com domain is not prohibitively expensive, and there are hosting plans as cheap as $4.95/month, so there’s simply no excuse not to have a Web site.

As I said last week and repeated above, this Web site should NOT be Flash-based, because not everyone can, or wants to, view Flash sites. They’re also not search engine friendly and are more difficult to update than a traditional HTML-based site. Flash sites look cool, but letting your ego make your marketing decisions for you is a recipe for disaster.

Your Web site should, at a minimum, include:

1) Definitive URLs (“.com” and “.net”) for the publisher and individual titles

2) A regularly updated blog

3) Individual landing pages for every publication and creator

4) PDF and JPG samples of all publications, current, upcoming and backlist

5) Mailing list

6) Publisher and creator contact information

7) Release schedules and distributor/retailers list

Online store, via CafePress or similar POD provider, for brand-extension merchandising

Additionally, any feasible viral downloadables should be made available, including wallpapers, AIM icons, signature banners, podcasts, screensavers, etc. These are the things that can encourage virtual street teams to organically develop, spreading your marketing message far and wide, acting as brand advocates and demonstrating your publication’s ability to attract an audience.

I’ve purposefully left message boards off of this list because they are a tricky proposition and can lead to various levels of frustration and/or embarrassment. Poke around the various forums on Image’s site and in most of them you’ll find a dozen or so people hanging around, an awkward combination of fans and sycophants, most aspiring creators themselves, cheerleading the efforts of their fellow creators or talking smack amongst themselves as if they were hanging out in each others’ living rooms. Several other publishers host almost barren forums that are little more than repositories for unread press releases and updates on shipping delays.

An abrupt To Be Continued… this week as this one’s getting too long and we still have to cover The Presentation and its importance in reaching distributors and retailers you may never have the opportunity to meet with face-to-face.

****** Quick Marketing Tip: Throwing colleagues under the bus is a major no-no, even if you’re Geoff Johns and you apparently think your shit doesn’t stink.Doing so to “protect” one colleague over another is even worse.Comics are a collaborative art, extremely dependent on a level of trust between all involved to ensure the best possible end result, and as Salvador Larroca made clear a little while back, an artist who doesn’t have a vested interest in a story is one less inclined to stay on schedule: “When I am not so interested on the story, I tend to work less and take time to play tennis and other sports.”

Johns should know better.

** SIDE NOTE: Snarking on the internet is not a smart idea for fledgling publishers (or creators). It’s an insular, thin-skinned industry and as easy a target as some people may be, snark is best left to pundits with nothing to lose, or established, influential creators who can [theoretically] afford to piss in other people’s Cheerios. Remember, marketing is everything a company does to acquire customers and maintain a relationship with them.

Last week I covered the first three steps of Kevin Stirtz’ “Smart Marketing System”, focusing on a marketing plan’s Goals, Market and Message, and this week I’ll take a look at the final two pieces of this simple but apparently often confounding puzzle:

1. The GOALS or objectives you want to accomplish
2. The MARKET you want to reach
3. The MESSAGE you want to deliver to your market
4. The MONEY you are willing to spend to deliver your message
5. The MEDIA you will use to deliver your message

Money and Media, of course, are pretty much inseparable, with the former usually dictating the latter, and they’re also the two aspects of a marketing plan most comics publishers seem to approach like a game of darts with Previews ads in the Bullseye, if not representing the entire dartboard.

Simple Fact #1: You have to spend money to make money.

There are many basic marketing efforts publishers can implement at little or no cost, and most of them are relative no-brainers that aren’t going to set them apart from the real competition, but will at least give the impression that they’re a legitimate publisher with a shot at still being around a couple of years from now.

Marketing No-Brainers

1) Professionally designed logos and trade dress.

2) A non-Flash Web site, with a regularly updated blog; separate landing pages for each title and creator, with links to reviews and interviews; PDF and JPG samples of all titles, current, upcoming and backlist; publisher and creator contact information; release schedules and retailers list; viral downloadables, ie: wallpaper, screensavers, AIM icons, signature banners, podcasts, etc.

3) A PowerPoint presentation promoting the publisher’s niche in the marketplace (actual and/or hoped for); titles — current, upcoming and backlist; creators, awards, reviews, press, etc.

4) Basic marketing materials, ie: business cards, booth signage, brochures, postcards, pins, pens, etc.

5) Well-written, informational press releases with a specific call-to-action.

If a publisher doesn’t have these five items taken care of before they solicit their first publication to Diamond (or Ingram, or Bookazine, or whomever), they’re simply not ready for prime time. These items, alongside other fundamentals like contracting with a printer and securing ISBNs, represent the most basic aspects that separate the hobbyist from the professional, and without them, your chances for profitability are pretty slim.

And what’s the primary goal of marketing? Profitability.

So, that’s the no-brainer, stop-reading-now-if-you-don’t-have-them-in-order stuff. What about the fun stuff? The display ads in Previews, Wizard, and Entertainment Weekly; the 20×20 trade show booth; the local radio and TV commercials; the t-shirts, hats and private label beer?

All things in time, grasshopper.

Simple Fact #2: Wax on, wax off.

Taking nothing for granted, we have to focus on the fundamentals first. For most publishers, these No-Brainer items represent a significant investment in both time and money, and are the most likely things to be overlooked or half-assed in the rush to the printer.

If you flip through the back of the current issue of Previews, I’d wager that more than half of the publishers soliciting material there don’t have all five of these items covered. Even Marvel and DC screw up the informational press release, and almost every publishers’ Web site is lacking at least one or two of the items needed to maximize their usefulness as an effective marketing tool in the Google Era. This applies to mass market publishers, too, many of whom have Web sites that were conceived and designed back in the 20th Century and have not been updated since.

Next week, I’ll break down these Marketing No-Brainers, showing why they are the most important step in determining the Money and Media portion of our Simple Plan, the crude oil that, once refined, will become the high octane fuel that drives our profit-making marketing machine forward.