Sales figures (was Re: Posters...)

[Torsten Wesley Adair]

On Sat, 2 Oct 1993, Mark Semich wrote:
> >From: Torsten Wesley Adair <torsten at cwis.unomaha.edu>
> >I haven't seen the yearly Postal Service statistics that most
> >publishers are required to publish, put recent direct market (comic book
> >stores) figures show Gladstone with a 0.25% share of the "fan" market.  
> 
> I remember reading about this 0.25% figure recently, and I wasn't
> exactly clear on what it meant.  From your posting, I gather that
> these sales figures don't include subscription or newsstand sales.  Is
> this the case?  I've also heard theorizing that the current comic book
> glut may push Gladstone out of the market, but I tend to take that
> with a grain of salt.  After all, quality never goes out of style...
> :-)

Correct.  Direct Market means comic book stores, that is, stores which
cannot return the unsold comic books.

Gladstone has a unique market.  The only effect the implosion has on
Gladstone is:  comic book stores closing, non-genre-specific
(collects a little of everything) collectors dropping marginal titles to
buy others, and comic book stores playing it safe by only selling popular
titles.  However, most comic book stores treat the current Disney titles
as childrens books, and so they given their own space in the store.
 
> However, I am curious just how Gladstone is doing sales-wise, and I do
> wish that they would do some sort of advertising or promotion just to
> make people aware of the high-caliber work that's being done these
> days.

Well, Hamilton/Another Rainbow/Gladstone has been advertising on the back
cover of the Comics Buyer's Guide at least since the hardcover Carl Barks
Treasury was issued.  This week, they were on the front and back cover
(Hamilton Comics is publishing a graphic novel titled Sir Charles Barkley
and the Referee Murders (1992 U.S. Olympic Basketball player).  It is
gimick laden, but in a fun way, and will remain in print until June 1994
(when the basketball season ends).

> I know that the comic book stores in Boston sell out in one day of the
> few Gladstones that they order (except for "Donald and Mickey").  In
> spite of this, none of them increase the size of their orders.  So
> there are probably many people who would read Gladstones if they ever
> saw them.

Without a doubt.  Consider that many Disney comic books in the U.S. were
purchased in three-for-a-dollar bags.  Disney is highly visable, although
I wonder why the Disney Stores do not sell them.

> Additionally, there are those who don't normally read Disney comic
> books who would love to read Don Rosa's "Life of Scrooge" series
> (based on it's quality alone) if they knew that it was coming out and
> had any idea at all what it was like.

I agree.  Even though Disney does not expose Scrooge like they do the
other Disney characters, Uncle Scrooge is well placed in American Pop
Culture.  

> And the only marketing I've ever seen from Marvel has been for
> X-superhero-TM-angst books.

Actually, Marvel does experiment every so often.  They released a four
issue non-fiction dinosaur series last Spring, plus there was A Soldier's
Story, but yes, most of Marvel's advertising goes toward the superhero
titles.  Marvel has tried (Star Comics) to publish comic books for children.

Torsten Adair	torsten at cwis.unomaha.edu	Omaha, NE, USA