I hate to say it, but Chris Ware's Building Stories was the last straw. For ten years now I've tried to carry every significant independent title that is put out there. There are dozens per month, of which a few are super important. So I've always tried.
And they rarely sell. At all. Month after month.
Building Stories won just about every award. It was sold out in most places during the Christmas season.
My one copy sat there all season and then on into this year and it sits there still. Lonely. Untouched. Not even looked at.
So -- like a movie theater admitting that art films don't pay, I've got to give it up. I have to stick to proven sellers.
I'll be very very open to special ordering. If someone so much as mentions a title, I'll probably order it. But pursuing an art book policy when there is no art book clientele is just stupid.
How disappointing.
Well, I'll probably still get the most significant titles -- I'd probably still order Building Stories today, but I just won't do it as much or as often.
Part of it is that graphic novels have matured so much that no one bookstore can carry them all anymore. Just like no one bookstore can carry all the books published. For years, it was relatively easy to get just about every significant graphic novel that came out, but not anymore.
There was a period early on when a comic shop could order every comic, but those days are long gone -- at least for me.
So in some ways this is just a sign that graphic novels have become so viable overall that they don't require every shop carrying them to succeed anymore.
And they rarely sell. At all. Month after month.
Building Stories won just about every award. It was sold out in most places during the Christmas season.
My one copy sat there all season and then on into this year and it sits there still. Lonely. Untouched. Not even looked at.
So -- like a movie theater admitting that art films don't pay, I've got to give it up. I have to stick to proven sellers.
I'll be very very open to special ordering. If someone so much as mentions a title, I'll probably order it. But pursuing an art book policy when there is no art book clientele is just stupid.
How disappointing.
Well, I'll probably still get the most significant titles -- I'd probably still order Building Stories today, but I just won't do it as much or as often.
Part of it is that graphic novels have matured so much that no one bookstore can carry them all anymore. Just like no one bookstore can carry all the books published. For years, it was relatively easy to get just about every significant graphic novel that came out, but not anymore.
There was a period early on when a comic shop could order every comic, but those days are long gone -- at least for me.
So in some ways this is just a sign that graphic novels have become so viable overall that they don't require every shop carrying them to succeed anymore.