I'm at 963 backed on Kickstarter and wouldn't be shocked if I make that quadruple digits by years end. So many great indie books to read - though I tend to go digital as shipping to Canada can triple the price.
It's still early for that poll, but seeing 0 folks saying they'll buy comics at conventions makes me feel a lot better about scaling back that part of the business. With table fees having gone way, way up, it's feeling less reasonable to fight to get into those shows.
Yeah, that's surprising, especially considering a lot of the longtime ComixTribe fans first met us at conventions. But maybe cons are a luxury or a once a year thing for many fans, and thus the bulk of their shopping will be done elsewhere?
Sadly I stopped buying comics some time ago. They cost an awful lot and don't always deliver on quality. Comix Tribe is an exception to the quality issue, but not the cost issue. I'm not sure I can afford to back anymore comics. I just received the latest book in the Sink series, and it was a double sized issue, and I got some cool stickers and bookmarks. However, I paid $23 for that single comic. I don't think I can do that anymore.
I hear you, Steve, and I feel for the long-time comic fans, who grew up on the medium when books were more mass-market and released at scale. When you're printing 20,000- 50,000 copies of a book, there's no problem selling it for $4-5. But the whole economics break down at that price point at the print run sizes that most indie comics are producing at.
We're going to try to always have lower cost alternatives available... but those might have to be collected trade versions (like we're launching next) or direct market versions which release later.
So, when you're paying a little extra on Kickstarter, you're getting it early, you're getting it digital, you're getting the extras, and you're getting a limited run book... and you're making it possible for the series to continue.
The reality is, especially in light of the recent Diamond news, without the crowdfunding efforts and fans willing to pay a little (or in some super collectors cases a lot extra for premium stuff) most indie comics wouldn't be possible to sustain.
Great pod, as usual, Tyler. Really appreciate the kind words and the mention.
Keep up the great analysis, Kev!
I'm at 963 backed on Kickstarter and wouldn't be shocked if I make that quadruple digits by years end. So many great indie books to read - though I tend to go digital as shipping to Canada can triple the price.
It's still early for that poll, but seeing 0 folks saying they'll buy comics at conventions makes me feel a lot better about scaling back that part of the business. With table fees having gone way, way up, it's feeling less reasonable to fight to get into those shows.
Yeah, that's surprising, especially considering a lot of the longtime ComixTribe fans first met us at conventions. But maybe cons are a luxury or a once a year thing for many fans, and thus the bulk of their shopping will be done elsewhere?
Sadly I stopped buying comics some time ago. They cost an awful lot and don't always deliver on quality. Comix Tribe is an exception to the quality issue, but not the cost issue. I'm not sure I can afford to back anymore comics. I just received the latest book in the Sink series, and it was a double sized issue, and I got some cool stickers and bookmarks. However, I paid $23 for that single comic. I don't think I can do that anymore.
I hear you, Steve, and I feel for the long-time comic fans, who grew up on the medium when books were more mass-market and released at scale. When you're printing 20,000- 50,000 copies of a book, there's no problem selling it for $4-5. But the whole economics break down at that price point at the print run sizes that most indie comics are producing at.
We're going to try to always have lower cost alternatives available... but those might have to be collected trade versions (like we're launching next) or direct market versions which release later.
So, when you're paying a little extra on Kickstarter, you're getting it early, you're getting it digital, you're getting the extras, and you're getting a limited run book... and you're making it possible for the series to continue.
The reality is, especially in light of the recent Diamond news, without the crowdfunding efforts and fans willing to pay a little (or in some super collectors cases a lot extra for premium stuff) most indie comics wouldn't be possible to sustain.