Comic Book Commentary v2.0 and Other Stuff
Random, somewhat connected thoughts on the site, traffic and future plans… ITEM: Ever since I got back on the blogging horse late last year, traffic has been on a steady upswing, which is very nice. January was our best month since our peak early last summer, and February is tracking quite nicely. Many, many thanks
On Soliciting Reviews, Entitlement and Reaction Sheets
“You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.” –Isaac D. Gonzalez, 6 years old An interesting debate broke out over the weekend at Johanna Draper Carlson’s blog, Comics Worth Reading, in response to a post entitled, Stupid Publisher Tricks: Review Copies and Guilt Trips (and its follow-up, Another Argument Against Review Copies), that
5 Good Reasons Against Opening a Comic Book Store
1) “Bookshops’ latest sad plot twist” THIS is the paradox of modern bookselling. Even in an entertainment-saturated age, people still buy books. But the casual reader has many other places to get bestsellers and topical books, from warehouse stores to the mall. Meanwhile, book nuts — the ones who simply must buy several volumes a
On the Shelves: 2/7/07
Reading is fundamental. Don’t waste your time reading bad comics out of habit! My weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 2/7/07. The full shipping list, as always, is available at ComicList. [NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure
Marketing Monday: First Things First
Among the myriad challenges comics publishers of all sizes face, one of the biggest — and most frustrating, personally — is marketing. Way too many publishers believe that marketing is little more than sending out badly written press releases and snagging previews, reviews and interviews from Wizard, Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, et al. While some
Blogaround Challenge 2007 Update
…and the Massive Archaia, Viper & Spider-Man Giveaway! 3 Prize Packs, 33 comic books…FREE SHIPPING!!! On your own blog, in a post titled “Blogaround Challenge 2007”, write a brief review of three blogs that are not currently on your personal blogroll. Mine the blogrolls of your favorite blogs, Google’s Blog Search, the Watchtower, or the
On The Shelves: 1/24/07
Reading is fundamental. Don’t waste your time reading bad comics out of habit! My weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 1/24/07. The full shipping list, as always, is available at ComicList. [NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure
Amazon POD Update: Raves for Sale!
Last month I posted a brief item about Amazon’s Print-on-Demand services, offered in partnership with BookSurge, suggesting it might be “worthy of consideration for potential self- and micro-publishers.” On Friday, Slate posted an interesting article entitled “Raves For Sale” that reveals one of the options available to its customers is “a personally crafted review written
CBC’s Massive Archaia, Viper & Spider-Man Giveaway
…and the return of the Blogaround Challenge! Back in September 2005, Laura “Tegan” Gjovaag of Bloggity-Blog-Blog-Blog issued the Blogaround Challenge, asking comics bloggers to poke around the blogiverse and write a short bit about the blogs they came across, the goal being “to meet new bloggers and see new stuff.” (My entry is here.) Since
Stephanie Fierman: Villain, Victim…or Scapegoat?
According to Rich Johnston, as reported in yesterday’s Lying in the Gutters, DC’s outgoing SVP of Sales & Marketing, Stephanie Fierman, “is still on contract at DC for another year and will work on special projects with DC Publisher and President Paul Levitz while she looks for a new position within Time Warner.” If true,