The Xeric Foundation Grant and the road to god knows...
There are a few things in the web version of my proposal. I've pulled my private information (so my resume, financial details, and the like) for privacy reasons and hopefully you don't mind that. I should also add that the amount requested was $4,937.84. That would have been for a much smaller (page count-wise) version of Li'l Kids and a version that would have had a very low profit margin (you'll see why as the proposal goes on). The actual print collection is 88 pages in length. The Xeric Foundation version would have been only 32 pages.
With that out of the way, here we go!
Creator's Statement of Purpose
Graphic novels and sequential art have long intrigued me with both their beauty and their endless possibilities as a storytelling form. Part of this is influenced by the vision that a single writer/artist can bring to the medium and how unique these visions can be. When one examines the work of these individuals (say, for example, Jeff Smith, Carla Speed McNeil, Matt Wagner and on and on!) it is truly remarkable how diverse their stories can be. And how in-tune they are with their own storytelling muses. This cohesive vision is most likely what drew me to drawing and writing some years ago. And it’s this vision that drives my own work forward.
My first forays into the world of art and comics came far later than most other artists. I was never the kind of kid who drew constantly in the back of an elementary or high school class. That just wasn’t me. I actually first started drawing in my mid-20s and the initial struggles were long and intense. As my skills grew, though, I began to think about different stories that I’d like to tell. In many ways, art and writing are all very interlinked inside my own head. I think that’s partially why I never was drawn to prose writing as many other people in the world of books (I ran an independent bookstore here in Ottawa for a number of years) often are. Script-writing and sequential art is what really hooked me. The way words and images form a unique and beautiful synthesis when compared to either prose works or film is something I find very intriguing. Even when I was struggling with learning to draw, telling my own stories kept me going. I think this plays a large part in why I never quit. There were certainly some difficult days but the dream of telling my own stories kept me going.
Eventually, my art skills grew to a point that I could consider telling my first story. I felt it was important to draw on my own experiences when it came to this (following the old saw of “write what you know”). My mother struggled with schizophrenia for most of her adult life and I wound up seeing my mom from a different point of view than most children. It struck me some years ago that telling this story, or at least a form of it, was something I wanted to do. I also realized that very few graphic novels dealt with mental illness as a main narrative theme. How do children and teenagers cope when confronted with mental illness? Especially something like schizophrenia that is basically unsolvable. It can be managed to some extent (and some manage better than others) but when one’s frame of reference and life-experience is limited, it can be an everyday struggle for a child to try and understand what is happening to a parent. This was a story that I felt would be worth exploring.
I’m a big believer that the story should control it’s final form. And I realized very early on that my first story would have to be a graphic novel. No other format would do. The story was too long to try and tell any other way and I doubted very much that a mini-series would allow me the pacing and chapter breaks that I experiment with in a graphic novel. It’s probably a little audacious to try and do a first comic as a graphic novel, but I felt it was worth the risk.
Art-wise, I knew that doing a story like this in colour would be problematic. One of the things I began experimenting with early on with my art is watercolour. It is a beautiful medium that allows a great deal of depth and tone in any work it’s applied to. While I felt I couldn’t justify colour (mainly because I wasn’t sure (and I’m still not!) who would be publishing the book – if I self-published, colour would most likely be impossible financially), I experimented with using grey washes in conjunction with my lineart and I found that I loved the results. I’m probably a little “old school” when it comes to some of my beliefs with comics. I love brush and ink work and how the brush can give such amazing line-weight to a black and white image. When this is combined with watercolour the effect can be quite strong. I plan on continuing with this effect over the next few years and I suspect that this combination (brush and ink and watercolour) will probably define my work for much of the near future.
Armed with this (a sense of what story I wanted to tell and how I wanted to tell it) I began developing the script for the road to god knows… I knew going in that one of the things I wanted to avoid was trying to solve schizophrenia. Mental illness is not only notorious to diagnose correctly but it’s also very difficult to treat. On top of it, I’m not a believer in the dues ex machina endings that some writers use. There was no way that a young teenager would be able to solve this and this sensibility helped direct the creation of the script. While I knew that the story couldn’t have a neatly wrapped up ending, it could have a thematic ending that gave the reader a sense that the story did resolve itself in a satisfactory fashion. But also leaving a lingering sense that there’s more story to tell. If I’ve done my job right, the reader should be wanting to know “what happens next?” For this to happen, the characters that make up the road to god knows… had to be alive in the narrative sense. I believe I’ve accomplished that.
While the struggles to bring this book to market aren’t really relevant for this section, I've long felt that I had a few more stories to tell with these characters. I certainly didn’t want to do a sequel of road or even a prequel as a graphic novel, but the idea of telling short stories featuring the same characters has been quite intriguing. The problem that this posed was that I didn’t want stories that would act as a conclusion to road. I felt that if I did this the ending of the graphic novel might well be undermined. Doing short stories that served as prequels seemed a much better way of proceeding. I didn’t want, however, that the prequels to be too close to the opening of the graphic novel. This was a problem for quite sometime until the solution struck me. I could make the characters younger.
This created a really nice framing sequence that I believe will help round out the graphic novel. By telling short stories of the main characters as young kids, I could avoid touching the ground I had already established with road but still share stories that I wanted to tell. It also allowed me to continue using my preferred technique (brush, ink and watercolour washes) to express myself.
Sharing stories defines what I want to do as a writer/artist. This, to me, is what creating comics represents. There is obviously a business side of it, too (and more details of this side of things round out this application), but telling stories is what comics, as a medium, does best. The possibilities are truly endless. Two of these stories are included in this application and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did in creating them.
My journey to become a professional artist hasn’t been an easy one. As I mentioned earlier, I came to art much later than most but I’ve embraced it for all I’m worth. I have no idea, as I write this in July 2007, if it’s something I can make a living at. I dearly hope so but there are certainly no guarantees. About the best anyone can do is hedge their bets as best they can. I believe I have and I consider myself to be extremely lucky to have the love and support of my wife throughout this journey. A number of years ago I made the decision to start to learn to draw. The goal was to tell stories and my medium of choice, one that has gotten me through many dark times, was comics. Because comics can be anything. It was a risky decision that involved giving up a job that I really loved (running a bookstore); I felt, however, that risk is part of life and I believe that the struggle is worth it. One quote that has long resonated in me through all of this, from when I first made the decision to learn to draw to as I sit and write this right now, was written by Walter Kowalski. On the tough days, it helps get me through.
“I
credit my success to the practice of ‘Kowalski-ism’
What I thought, I became,
What I felt, I became,
What I said, I became,
I am my inspiration.”
What I thought, I became,
What I felt, I became,
What I said, I became,
I am my inspiration.”
Thank you for your time.
Proposed Budget and Disbursement of Funds
Publishing small press and short run comics has become an increasingly challenging activity over the past ten years. It is very difficult to generate enough revenue in a periodical format at the best of times and many small press creators, in an effort to pursue a more diverse market place, have turned to web serialization before collecting their stories in a graphic novel format. The advantage that the graphic novel gives is more distribution options. These titles do not have to rely solely on one distributor (Diamond Distribution); instead, these titles can enter other channels (notably the book trade channel) with the hope that aggregate sales numbers will be higher. There is risk (returns chiefly amongst them) but it is manageable.
All of this notwithstanding, small press periodicals still do have a place with more progressive Direct Market retailers. They are unique when compared to either bookstores or magazine stores and allow Direct Market retailers to offer their customers something they can’t find anywhere else. The challenge that faces a publisher of these titles is really two-fold: the first is to ensure that Direct Market retailers have an adequate discount margin to ensure that carrying a small press title is profitable. The other is to ensure that some degree of marketing is done in the hopes of helping the retailer to sell the title once a retailer stocks it. The former is a matter of business planning while the latter involves a great degree of luck. Both will be explored in a moment.
Production Costs
In order to ensure competitive discounts to
retailers, the production costs of the title cannot be extremely
high. In order to calculate this, I’ve secured a
quote from Lebonfon Printing for a small
press run on Li’l
Kids. key numbers are included in the
box at the right. This is for a 2000 copy print run of a 32
page comic on #60 Orion Offset with a 10 point cover. Please
note that the quoted price is in Canadian Dollars.
I’ve included an estimated exchange rate to the U.S. Dollar
of 1.07 to convert the quote into U.S. Dollars.The raw production costs of a 2000 copy print run of Li’l Kids is $2711.08 or $1.30 per copy in U.S. Dollars. While a larger print run would gain a comparative lower per copy cost, it is difficult to imagine that a new title by an unknown creator would gain orders for any more quantity then this. Even critically lauded titles (such as Carla Speed McNeil’s Finder) have ceased periodical publication due to the low order numbers from Diamond Distribution. I don’t believe that the per copy savings of increasing the print run to 3000 copies make up for lack of increased sales that such a print run would require.
This is actually worth exploring for a moment. ICV2.com, run by former Capital Distribution owner Milton Griepp, has done an extensive amount of numerical analysis on the Top 300 periodical titles as ordered through Diamond Distribution. The caveat here is that these are estimates only and these numbers could be inaccurate to some extent. They also do not account for sales outside of Diamond Distribution. Cold Cut Distribution, independent sales (convention sales, etc…), and sales through independent sales reps (notably Tony Shenton) are examples of channels that could increase the overall numbers for a given title in North America. However, Diamond’s market share for comics and graphic novels is estimated to be at least 85% and possibly higher now that FM International, a small regional distributor, has ceased operation. Diamond’s market share, then, is massive and they face very little in the way of direct competition when it comes to periodicals (it should be noted, however, that they are facing increasing competition from book trade distributors as graphic novels become more accepted by the general public).
It is also important to note that Diamond sets a minimum benchmark for being solicited through Previews, their monthly ordering catalogue. This benchmark is $2500.00 . Retailers must order $2500.00 worth of a particular title or Diamond will not fulfill orders. For a $2.95 periodical, for example, at least 848 copies must be ordered by retailers ($2500.00/$2.95). For a $3.95 periodical, at least 633 copies must be ordered ($1500.00/$3.95). Unfortunately, these can be difficult minimums for a new title to meet.
Finder’s sales patterns
are an excellent example of a long-running small press title that
ceased print publication due to low sales. Finder is still
regularly published as a web comic, however, and when a story
arc is completed these are collected into graphic novels for sales
through multiple channels. It is difficult to imagine that
any new title would fair much better than Finder’s sales
patterns, but it should be pointed out that Finder did ship very
infrequently. Between May 2001 and July 2005, only fifteen
issues shipped through Diamond (#22 to #37). It is very
difficult to grow a title when only three or four issues ship per
year. However, writing and illustrating a self-published
comic is not an easy thing to do and the consistently high level of
craftsmanship that is represented within Finder’s pages
speaks for itself. Art cannot be produced with a
“production line” mentality and art can, and does,
take time. While it’s a shame that Finder could not
ship more regularly and interesting to speculate if sales would have
been stronger if Finder
had shipped nine or ten issues a year, it is outside the scope of this
paper. Please also note that Diamond only records the Top 300
selling titles, so some of Finder’s issues did not make this
minimum. Eleven issues did, however, and their sales patterns
are worth examining.As can be seen, the average quantity ordered for an issue of Finder was 1282 copies. Assuming Mel Thompson’s prediction of Diamond’s market share of 85% is correct (see above), it can be expected that Finder sold an additional 193 copies. Possibly more or less, of course, but that’s difficult to measure. This would give a typical issue of Finder somewhere around 1500 copies sold. While we don’t know what the overall sales pattern for back issues of Finder are, a 2000 copy print run is about right. Pushing this number to 3000 is problematic. While it would secure a lower per copy price, the storage and shipping charges of the excessive inventory of 1500 copies (3000-1500) become a major concern.
However, when viewed from as a promotional cost, a 3000 copy print run might be well-worth the cost. Especially so for a title that is a stand-alone one-shot like Li’l Kids. By overprinting a one-shot, adequate stock can be maintained for quite some time. In addition, some of the per copy savings can be passed onto retailers who order directly. And promotional copies can be regularly mailed out to various media outlets in an effort to build awareness and positive word-of-mouth regarding the title. If Finder had been regularly overprinted in such a fashion, Carla Speed McNeil would be accruing approximately 6000 copies per year (4 issues shipped per year x 1500). This would be an unacceptable inventory by any measure and storage costs would become a significant problem.
With a one-shot, this inventory growth simply does not occur. There would be little need to reprint over the course of a year and the storage costs would be minimal (1500 copies would be only 5 long boxes (300 each) to store; this could be done in a corner of an apartment with little difficulty). As we shall see in a moment, the per copy cost is lower. And some of that per copy savings can be passed on to both retailers and spent on marketing efforts to broaden the awareness of the title.
As can be seen, the total cost of a 3000 copy
printing is only $517.76 ($3228.84 - $2711.08) more than a
2000 copy print run. The per copy cost drops by 27 cents (to
$1.03). And these savings can be re-directed to more
marketing efforts. To be clear, for a
periodical title this per copy saving is probably not worth the
risk. It is almost guaranteed that no new sales will be added
despite having a larger print run and increased storage, shipping and
other related costs will rise as a result. When used for a
one-shot, however, and as part of a long-range marketing plan, it is
most-likely well-worth it.Diamond Distribution and Discounts
While Diamond Distribution does not require a minimum discount off of the Suggested Retail Price (SRP), their discounts from publishers generally range from 60% to 70% off of the SRP. Due to the higher production costs that a small press publisher absorbs, it is common practice to offer Diamond a discount of 60%. The problem with this practice, however, is that it appears that Diamond maintains at least a 15% margin (please note that this link is to the private Comic Bok Industry Alliance. To see it, you'll need to be a member. In my humble opinion, it is well-worth it) over the discount they give to retailers . For example, publishers that give Diamond a 60% discount of the SRP wind up seeing their titles offered to retailers at either a 45% or possibly even a 40% discount (Diamond code F or H). Since retailers are ordering these titles non-returnably, they exhibit a natural caution when it comes titles to that they can’t keystone (i.e.: earn 50% of their investment back). To give retailers this 50% discount (Diamond code E), then Diamond must be offered at least a 65% discount off the SRP.
The catch with this is that there’s no guarantee that Diamond will offer their retail partners a 50% discount. They may, but at least some of their decision-making will be based on expected sales volume for a particular title. What is certain, however, is that offering Diamond a lower discount than 65% will ensure that retailers receive no more than 45% off the SRP.
This is not the only discount issue that faces a small publisher being distributed through Diamond. When it comes to re-orders, the distributor charges retailers a 3% restocking fee each time a retailer orders a product that is not an initial order. The main problem with this is that, in the modern world of inventory management (as defined by just in time ordering practices), a stocking fee is considered punitive. It costs retailers that much more to stock a title that has already been established as selling well for them. It could lead to some retailers choosing not to re-order a title due to the loss in discount.
Some publishers (notably the four brokered publishers but also companies like AIT/Planetlar) absorb this cost on behalf of retailers. The disadvantage here is that the discount to Diamond, after initial orders have cycled through, is now 68% off the SRP. I believe, however, that this must be looked at philosophically. While it is a difficult discount to justify, it’s worthwhile to keep Li’l Kids flowing through the Direct Market channel. Since the 3% fee amounts to a nominal per copy cost, I think it would be well-worth absorbing this fee, too. This will require some discussion with Diamond, of course.
At this point, then, the discount to Diamond must be 65% off and subsequent re-orders, if Li’l Kids proves to be a consistent seller, will be 68%.
Other Distributors
Other distribution for small press titles is now represented by Cold Cut Distribution and Last Gasp in California and independent sales representative Tony Shenton in New Jersey. While each represents only a fraction of Diamond’s market, all are important additional channels that should not be overlooked. Other potential distributors are North 49 Books in Toronto and Turnaround Publisher Services in the UK. These last two will be pursued but, being primarily book trade distributors, the odds are long that they will distribute a one-shot like this. For that reason, they will not be discussed here.
ICV2.com estimates that Cold Cut has an active customer base of approximately 250 retailers. While small, most of these customers are active on the West Coast due to Cold Cut’s location in Southern California. Cold Cut primarily deals with re-orders and is not a frontlist distributor as Diamond is. While it’s difficult to measure what type of impact Cold Cut would have on sales, it’s important to ensure that they are offered exactly the same type of promotional deals that are offered to Diamond just to ensure that all distributors are treated equally (please note that after I wrote this proposal Cold Cut was purchased, relocated to Chicago and renamed Haven Distribution).
There isn’t quite the same amount of information regarding Last Gasp’s distribution reach, but it would be surprising if it was any greater than Cold Cut’s. It is difficult to determine what Last Gasp’s active customer base is, but frankly that is almost besides the point. Having as much distribution options as possible for a title like this is really what I’m striving for, and Last Gasp fits into the overall picture quite nicely from this point of view.
Tony Shenton is an independent sales rep based in New Jersey. He not only represents a variety of independent and small press titles but also acts as a sales rep for publishers like Drawn and Quarterly and NBM. Mr. Shenton is a very strong presence on the East Coast and his terms are very fair. He fee is based on his own sales (10% of any sales to retailers and 5% of any sales to sub-distributors). I would actually hope to give Mr. Shenton a 15% margin on his sales (based on an expected 50% discount to retailers) but this will need to be finalized first. Regardless, his efforts in supporting independent and small press titles are quite important.
Extrapolating sales figures for these non-Diamond distributors is difficult, but on the low end they would most likely be somewhere around 250-300 copies between them. Potentially higher, but it’s difficult to project.
Marketing
Marketing is perhaps the most difficult part of the producing a comic. It is an inexact science at the best of times and there are absolutely no guarantees. The only thing that is confirmed is that with no marketing a title will fail. Everything over and above this, however, is anyone’s guess. My main goal with marketing is to try and create favorable word-of-mouth interest in the book that will lead people to purchase a copy long after the initial solicitation and shipping period has passed. A great deal of work has already been done on marketing my graphic novel the road to god knows… (for more on that please see marketing the road to god knows...).
Some marketing, however, is pretty basic. It is important, particularly in this day and age, to ensure that even periodical titles have an ISBN if at all possible. With this in mind, I’ve already contacted Library and Archives Canada in order to acquire an ISBN for Li’l Kids. I’ve been given an ISBN for the road to god knows… graphic novel (ISBN: 978-0-9781237-0-3) and I’m hopeful that gaining an ISBN for Li’l Kids will not be difficult. Once an ISBN is given, I can apply for Cataloguing in Publication data through Library and Archives Canada to ensure that Li’l Kids is properly listed. The same goes for ensuring that the one-shot is listed in Bowker’s Books in Print and the like.
It is also important that retailers have some opportunity to view the story before placing their initial orders. Having low-rez JPEGs or a PDF online is important for those retailers who want to read the comic first. These steps, while no guarantee, are important to ensure that information is as broadly available as possible. One incredibly useful tool is the Comic Book Industry Alliance where some of the best and brightest retailers regularly congregate. By communicating with them, I hope to raise the initial orders for Li’l Kids.
For the purposes of the Li’l Kids one-shot, the marketing efforts are really divided into three categories. These are: a retailer ordering incentive, print ads in the pages of The Comics Journal, and mailings to various comics and arts-related media sites (such as the CBC, the Library Journal, etc…). Each of these will be examined in turn with a detailed cost breakdown to follow.
Retailer Incentives
The first marketing effort is a retailer promotion to try and increase orders to Direct Market stores. As was discussed above, ensuring that Diamond earns a discount of 65% is critically important since it may garner retailers at least 50% off the SRP. However, this really doesn’t go far enough for encouraging healthy initial orders. This is especially true in the light of Diamond’s benchmark minimum of $2500.00. Anything that can be done to encourage retailers to order more is critical at the initial solicitation point.
As has already been established, titles like Finder only earn orders of approximately 1300 copies through Diamond Distribution. Those 1300 copes are for an established title that has won some critical acclaim. For an unknown title by an unknown author, the orders will most likely be lower than this. While it is impossible to calculate how low they’ll be, there are some guidelines to examine.
I’ve already shipped bookmarks and
ashcans to a number of retailers in the United States and Canada (see
below) and have developed a good relationship with them. This
represents approximately 20 retailers that I’ve had personal
contact with. Most, I believe, would order the
one-shot. In addition, Jeff Mason has estimated that there
are approximately 400 “indy-friendly”
retailers throughout North America. These
retailers represent the most progressive retailers that champion the
art-form and regularly carry independent and alternative
titles. While there is certainly no guarantee that any of
these retailers would order my comic, they are far more likely to then
a retailer that is not on the list. With Mel
Thompson’s estimate that there are 2500 retailers who “specialize in
comic sales,” then these 400 retailers
represent about 16% of the total Direct Market. I would estimate that I’m looking at a total of 200 retailers in North America that would order and stock Li’l Kids. This number could be high or low, of course, and is impossible to determine until actual order numbers come in. What is absolutely clear, however, is even if 400 retailers only order one copy each of Li’l Kids (at an SRP of $4.95), I would not reach the Diamond benchmark of $2500.00! While some stores may order more copies then this, it clearly illustrates how tenuous reaching Diamond’s benchmark can be. This is an obvious problem and one that must be avoided as much as possible.
The solution, then, is to offer retailers an order form incentive when they place their initial orders. By doing this, I’m hoping that enough retailers will raise their initial orders enough to ensure that Li’l Kids is not in jeopardy of being dropped by Diamond. The promotion I have in mind is of the “Buy X and Get X Free” variety. In particular, I’d like to offer retailers a “Buy 4 and Get 1” free ordering incentive. The advantage with this is that it increases the operating discount retailers receive to 60% if they sell all five copies (assuming they do receive a 50% discount from Diamond). And it minimizes their risk if they are unable to sell out of the title and are forced to mark it down.
The advantage from a publishing point of view is that the cost of this promotion is relatively light. If, for example, 200 retailers participate then my cost is the expense of the production of 200 copies (1000 copies ship to retailers but they only are purchasing 800). In this example, I would be in no danger of Diamond’s $2500.00 cut-off. While it may be unlikely that this many retailers would take advantage of the promotion, the production costs are so minimal that it’s well-worth it.
There are a number of additional retailer tools that can be used to help create this relationship. A simple one is ensuring that a listing of all known retailers who are carrying Li’l Kids is listed both online and possibly in print as a page in Li’l Kids. There is a danger that some retailers who were missed in this listing might be alienated by their exclusion, but it might be worth the risk by creating stronger relationships with retailers who are actively supporting my work. This relationship can also be further developed by ensuring that shelf-talkers, bag inserts, and other promotional materials are available for downloading from my website.
Promoting this incentive will chiefly occur through Diamond’s own listing but it will also be heavily promoted to retailers on the Comic Book Industry Alliance. One critical aspect of this promotion is to ensure that retailers can opt-in or opt-out as they see fit. In order to do this effectively, Li’l Kids will need to have two separate order codes. The first will be for those retailers who only want to order single copies. The second code will include the ordering incentive.
Print Advertising
To encourage customers to purchase Li’l Kids from retailers, a print advertising campaign would be needed to build awareness for the title. This is the most expensive part of the marketing campaign and one of the keys to make it work is to ensure that the print ads appear regularly. Fortunately, The Comics Journal offers print ad rates that small publishers can afford. The Comics Journal in particular is an ideal candidate for a print-ad campaign since it’s target demographic is much the same as mine (i.e.: lovers of independent comics) and the magazine’s reach is ideal. While I believe that having an ad appear in eight consecutive issues over the course of the year would be the best choice but this is fairly prohibitive cost-wise. However, running a full-page black and white ad for four issues would be quite adequate for the one-shot nature of Li’l Kids. Furthermore, it would maintain an advertising profile of approximately of twenty-four weeks (4 issues x 6 week shipping) or five months. The other advantage that this time period offers is that the first ad could appear at the time of initial retailer orders (well before the book actually ships). This would help generate special orders and possibly influence retailer orders in a positive fashion. Difficult to measure, to be sure, but having one ad appear at the time of solicitation and then three more appear after Li’l Kids has shipped into retail stores would most likely be the best approach. The price for this duration is $1200.00 (4 issues x $300 for a full-page black and white ad).
Media Mailings
The last area of the marketing campaign involves a media mailing to various news sites, magazines, and review sites in an attempt to grow awareness of Li’l Kids virally. This would be a two-pronged approach; the first would be conducted in attempt to raise initial orders at the time of solicitation while the second would attempt to increase sell-through once retailers have received their copies.
In order to do this effectively, a select number of the print run (approximately 100 copies) would have to be dedicated to these mailing efforts. When enclosed with a small press kit and cover letter, this becomes a low cost marketing effort to try and build some awareness of the book. The costs of this promotion would include the production cost of the comic itself plus the mailing expenses to various locations in both Canada and the United States. Most likely this would amount to approximately $300.00 (including the production cost of the comic itself).
I’ve constructed a fairly extensive media list already but this could certainly be developed further. Mailings are never a guarantee; it’s always possible that a reviewer might not be that interested in my work and negatively review it. The goal, though, is to broaden my exposure as much as possible and this is well-worth the investment.
Final Costs and Pricing
Producing a 32 page title and having it fair adequately in the marketplace is a tricky proposition at the best of times. Especially if that title is to be of a high enough quality that balances the higher production costs. As has been seen, these costs are fairly substahntive. With an expected cover price of $4.95 and an expected discount to distributors of 65%, all costs must come in below $1.73 per copy ($4.95 x 35%). Production costs for a 3000 copy print run account for another $1.03 per copy, leaving only $0.70 for marketing Li’l Kids and also giving some room for profit. As the following chart illustrates, there’s very little room for anything else.
The highest marketing cost is clearly The Comics
Journal ad campaign and this could always be modified if
necessary. This chart doesn’t account for
miscellaneous costs and this would have to be controlled
carefully. Additional shipping charges and the like would
have to be carefully monitored to ensure that these costs do not creep
up over time. Fortunately, Li’l Kids has been designed to break-even and I think it’s quite probable that it can do just that. As the following Revenue Chart illustrates, Li’l Kids has the potential of earning back it’s investment and earning a small profit on top of it. And this projection still leaves a surplus stock of 560 copies. If 50% of these (280 copies) are sold at full retail, then an additional $1386.00 could be generated (280 x $4.95). While this may be unlikely, it shows the advantage of having a slightly larger print run then would normally be recommended.
Proposed Timetable
Ideally, Li’l Kids would be available for sale early in the new year. This timetable will be greatly influenced by when the Xeric Foundation’s funds become available. As outlined above, having a print ad appear in the pages of The Comics Journal at approximately the time of solicitation would be my preferred option. This would hopefully time awareness of the story (and the Xeric win) to retailer orders and allow some people to special order (i.e.: pre-order) the title. The book would be ready to ship two months after this ordering window and should ship on time (baring any production problems).
Part of the publishing trick is trying to time media and review submissions in such a way that some word of mouth will be generated at the time of solicitation. This is extremely tricky for an unknown work by an unknown creator, so the odds are reasonably long that this will be effective. More likely (assuming positive reviews), the growth will start out slow and hopefully build from there. This will be out of my control to some extent.
Summary
Li’l Kids will have a projected 3000 copy print run and be priced at $4.95 US at retail. Distributors will all be offered the same discount of 65% off this cover price and a retailer incentive (“buy 4 get 1 free”) will be used to try and raise initial orders. I will attempt to cover the 3% re-order fee that Diamond charges retailers (raising the re-order discount I give Diamond to 68%). A limited marketing campaign that will release four print ads in the pages of The Comics Journal will be used. Media mailings will also go out to help raise awareness and interest in Li’l Kids.
Postscript
This was the bulk of my Xeric Grant Proposal. However, as a second part I added the marketing I had done for the road to god knows... to help round out the material. Those of you who have read this far might be interested in seeing how my efforts on that front faired. To continue on to that marketing overview, please click here. And of course, there was supplementary details regarding my finances and the like that are required to complete the submission process. As I've mentioned, my Xeric Proposal was rejected. Unfortunately, I can't tell you why as that key disclosure is not made to the applicant. A tad frustrating, but such is life. I think the key thing to take away from any rejection is to always have other plans. I don't think anyone wants to put "all of their eggs in one basket." I certainly don't. So while it was a frustrating night when I received the rejection, I was already moving on. And of course, you can read the results of that effort here.
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Von Allan
c/o Von Allan Studio
P.O. Box 20520
390 Rideau Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. K1N 1A3
Email: von(at)vonallan(dot)com
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