Commentary and advice on marketing, mostly for publishers (traditional and brands) and writers, but sometimes from a broader perspective.
An email I just received via my resume on Monster.com:Dear,I've recently obtained your resume from the Monster Board and I was very pleased when I read it. I believe that you possess many of the skills and qualities that are consistent with some of our most successful Financial Services Representatives here at MetLife.I am seeking to expand our Agency and I would like to share information with you regarding a career opportunity in the Financial Services industry that you may find quite interesting. We can offer...- A sales training program - one of the best in the industry today, with…
APComics 2005 PreviewCharging full-price for marketing promotions isn't cool. If this were a Free Comic Book Day offering, or even a $0.99 promo, it might have earned an A.Catwoman #44New creative teams are always a good time to peek in on a title you've never read before, or dropped a while back, and Pfeiffer and Woods get off to an entertaining start that's relatively accessible to new readers. Deal with the Devil #2Schwartzrock's art is solid, blue collar work that complements the real-world feel of the story. Unfortunately, it's more plot-driven than character-driven, and while sporting an interesting premise, its…
With less than a week to go, the full court press is on to promote Batman Begins. I stated in a previous post that my Dad asked me when it comes out. The marketing gurus of DC's prized possession must be grinning ear-to-ear when they can get a 52-year old who was never into comics asking that question.2-3 weeks ago the country had only been treated to a handful of trailers promoting the release of the film, but now they're bringing out the big guns.Synergy is the name of the game, and all companies willing to pay, can play. Verizon…
Miller owns up to mistakes, promises 30 years of comics Alias Enterprises burst onto the comics scene a few months back, hot on the heels of a trio of successful titles published under the Image banner: Lullaby, The Imaginaries, and Lions, Tigers and Bears. With multi-page advertising spreads in Previews, and an all-out internet PR-blitz promoting their relatively little-to-unknown creators and/or properties and their $0.75 first issues, Alias was poised to make a bang throughout the month April with an aggressive slate of 12 brand new titles all scheduled to hit the stands before Free Comic Book Day. As the…
A month or so ago, Top Shelf Productions was running a great sale on some of their backlist, with an assortment of graphic novels and comix for $1 and $3. [EDIT: The sale is apparently still on, here.] A mixed bag of titles, the vast majority of which I'd never heard of, I decided to randomly pick several that caught my eye and see whether or not any of them could match the subtle brilliance of Craig Thompson's Blankets, a highly acclaimed Top Shelf publication, which I finally read earlier this year. A rather lofty standard-bearer, for sure, but when…
A few weeks back, we took a trip south to visit my mother in Virginia, and I decided to hit Diamond's Comic Shop Locator to see what the four-color world was like outside of New York City. Punching in the zip code of her suburban Richmond town, I was surprised to see only three shops pop up, none in Richmond itself. I input a few more zip codes for Richmond proper and parts due north, and still came up with the same three shops. Odd, I thought, but Virginia is a bit of a conservative state - to this NYer,…
This guy I work with says, "I've really mellowed out the past month or so."We're preparing for a massive move over the weekend, almost everyone on my floor is shifting places, and he's calming himself down as he tells me and a co-worker about the storage facility where we can send the overflow of boxes of media kits, etc."I lost my mother last month."I hate moments like that, especially with people I barely know. I never know what to say and, not being particularly religious or anything, even the simplest platitudes like "God bless." are awkward. Worse, though, is that…
