founder81
04-17-2007, 09:05 AM
Recently I placed an order on Amazon for some trades. I was looking for something new, something not from Marvel and DC. There’s a lot to choose from but its hard to find out about this stuff.
The “Underappreciated Comics” thread helped a lot. I would like what I would hear about a particular series and went looking for preview pages. Dark Horse and Oni both give previews. Some series I liked the sound of them, liked what I seen, but it was so little I couldn’t buy a trade on just 3-5 preview pages.
This got me to thinking just how much of a preview is good for a trade? (I know most trades were originally monthly issues, but I’m taking this from the point-of-view on buying trades as whole works, not collections of smaller ones)
3-5 pages when used was, for the most part, the first 3-5 pages of the trade. Which in most cases isn’t enough to get a feel for the work. 3 pages is too little, even if they were s “cherry picked” 3 page sequence. 5 sequential pages may be enough if carefully chosen, but I’d still prefer to see more.
A typical trade is from 150-200 pages and costs from $14-22. I’m just going to use an average of 175 pages that costs $18. $18 is a lot to drop on just 3 pages of preview. Even 5 pages is pushing it. 20 pages would be too high from the publisher’s perspective, though I’d love that. I’m thinking 10 pages is good. I can get a good feel for the art, the story and how the story will flow.
I’ve had my fair share of books that I liked the concept, but upon reading the execution, didn’t like it. A good hearty 10 page preview would prevent a number of these. On the other hand, if a preview was available, I’d end up finding more books I like therefore buying books I never would have.
In this age of easy internet access, doesn’t it make sense to make good, hearty, previews available? How can it be a bad thing for people to get a good feel for what a publisher’s books are like?
I ended up getting Scott Pilgrim and Blue Monday based on what I seen of the previews.
Books I’d like to get, but couldn’t based on the available previews: Nevermen, Fear Agent, and Marquis. All 3 of these books are interesting to me, but dropping $15 for a maybe is too much for me. If I had more of a preview, I could make a definite “I’d like to see more and buy the trade” or “no, not my thing”
The “Underappreciated Comics” thread helped a lot. I would like what I would hear about a particular series and went looking for preview pages. Dark Horse and Oni both give previews. Some series I liked the sound of them, liked what I seen, but it was so little I couldn’t buy a trade on just 3-5 preview pages.
This got me to thinking just how much of a preview is good for a trade? (I know most trades were originally monthly issues, but I’m taking this from the point-of-view on buying trades as whole works, not collections of smaller ones)
3-5 pages when used was, for the most part, the first 3-5 pages of the trade. Which in most cases isn’t enough to get a feel for the work. 3 pages is too little, even if they were s “cherry picked” 3 page sequence. 5 sequential pages may be enough if carefully chosen, but I’d still prefer to see more.
A typical trade is from 150-200 pages and costs from $14-22. I’m just going to use an average of 175 pages that costs $18. $18 is a lot to drop on just 3 pages of preview. Even 5 pages is pushing it. 20 pages would be too high from the publisher’s perspective, though I’d love that. I’m thinking 10 pages is good. I can get a good feel for the art, the story and how the story will flow.
I’ve had my fair share of books that I liked the concept, but upon reading the execution, didn’t like it. A good hearty 10 page preview would prevent a number of these. On the other hand, if a preview was available, I’d end up finding more books I like therefore buying books I never would have.
In this age of easy internet access, doesn’t it make sense to make good, hearty, previews available? How can it be a bad thing for people to get a good feel for what a publisher’s books are like?
I ended up getting Scott Pilgrim and Blue Monday based on what I seen of the previews.
Books I’d like to get, but couldn’t based on the available previews: Nevermen, Fear Agent, and Marquis. All 3 of these books are interesting to me, but dropping $15 for a maybe is too much for me. If I had more of a preview, I could make a definite “I’d like to see more and buy the trade” or “no, not my thing”