My DC orders for September are coming in about about double the normal level.
To remind everyone, DC comics are starting 52 titles over again at number #1. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern -- all the big names, as well as a bunch of new (or old, defunct) titles: Nightwing, Batwoman, Justice League international.
It felt like a struggle to keep it down to double. I handed out "interest" sheets, and signed up people for a huge number of new titles.
I got them to fill out the sheet by telling them that the title they express interest in would be "optional". They could buy them or not. And I'm going to tell them they can return them for credit.
The danger is, they will either not buy after all, or they will return them because they don't like them, or they will drop the title after a month or two.
It was a real eye opener for me how many people expressed interest. Some titles I would have had no idea that I should order higher; Justice League Dark, for instance.
It's got me thinking that -- if this works, I need to find an excuse to list all the Marvel titles for people to fill out a sheet; and all the Dark Horse and Image and so on.
Of course, this starting over at #1 may be the trigger I can't reproduce.
My DC are higher than Marvel for the first time in ages. When DC went to a higher minimum per month for the bigger discount level, I found even with all the graphic novels I sell, I would come up just a little short of the level every month, even when I was looking for extra stuff to buy.
Once I can can't reach a plateau, I feel like I have no incentive to order the extra -- in fact, I have the opposite incentive. Since I can't lose the next lower level, I pare it down. So I've been WELL below the that better level for a long time.
I easily hit Marvel's higher level without trying.
It used to be the other way around, by the way.
If nothing else, I'm hoping this venture will push me permanently into the higher bracket for DC. I went into this thinking that if I get a semi-permanent boost in subs, it'll be a winner. I'm not thinking, with any decent response from non-regulars, we might see much more than that.
Of course, the higher the sales, the higher the risk, but that's showbiz.
"Hopefully this relaunch doesn't set off a rush of similar relaunches over the rest of the publishers as a sales incentive as well." A comment from one of the other comic shops.
With all these new sign-ups I've gotten, I actually wonder if it wouldn't be a good thing....
I think what I'm seeing are people who have always wanted, in the back of their minds, to buy Batman or Superman, but haven't because it seemed too overwhelming.
I think I'm seeing people who might sign up for Nightwing or Red Hood, but because they aren't paying attention, miss the first few issues and then skip it altogether.
I hope that I'll have time to absorb the lessons of this surge first, though. It may be that we will have a backlash. Normally, a comic I put on someone's shelf as an 'optional' will be bought; usually if I say they can return it for 'credit' they don't. Usually they continue to buy that comic for awhile.
So we'll see.
Meanwhile, I'm having such a good summer, I'm thinking of holding back a couple of thousand for cash-flow and investing even more in the DC titles -- with the idea that I can return them.
They have three incentive levels.
For some of the biggest titles, we'll get variant covers. For half a dozen other titles, they'll give us 15% extra. For all the rest, they'll give us the right of return, at a 10% charge.
The incentive covers, unfortunately, aren't much of an incentive for me. The 15% extra, more so. The returns seem like a no brainer. But I've still got to PAY for these comics in the short run, even if I get money back in the long run, so I need to be conscious of the cash-flow. One good thing is, I can currently afford to spend a little extra -- with July and August and December in this half of the year. By the time I get the credits -- first half of next year -- I could probably use them...
I've got to mix that alchemy in such a way that I don't lose money.