Low selling books

[Outside_85]

I don't "do" digital comic books, but I thought all (or at least most) of DC's digital-first stuff was made up of chapters that are only a few pages each, and frequently collected into a print copy as well at some point?

Ame-Comi is around 18 pages per issues (so far having 3 issues per arc). But it has to be said the panels are generally larger and more adapted to be read on square screens.

[glennsim]

People keep suggesting that digital comics don't have shipping costs, which is true specifically, but there are still costs involved in maintaining servers that can store and download any comic anyone has purchased, 24/7.

[Bruce Kent]

People keep suggesting that digital comics don't have shipping costs, which is true specifically, but there are still costs involved in maintaining servers that can store and download any comic anyone has purchased, 24/7.

Nothing that costs nearly as much as shipping and printing.

[carabas]

Sigh... Digital comics...

Pro: cheaper, takes less place to store.
Contra: your collection doesn't actually exist, and you have to sign a contract that says Comixology doesn't even need a reason to discontinue your account. They can also go belly-up.

[skyvolt2000]

In some cases it could be possible. It would obviously depend on the deals they had with the creators.
All the exclusive digital stuff have pretty good creative teams.

I would think that keeping something digitally that failed as printed would send a bad image too.

Not really. Because you can still put those issues into a trade like Archie is doing with the New Crusaders. Give that creative one last run and if that trade sales well-let them do another trade.

In other words-if a low seller is doing better in trades-make it a trade only series. Do 2 trades a year depending on who it is.

If it's Beetle-he's going to be active in DC so he needs to be limited in case anything major happens with him.

As for keeping a bad image-how many books did Lieifield get after screwing up Hawk & Dove? The same editors that made the entire Young Justice line a joke are still collecting checks for DC.

That speaks more values than keeping Omac around in digital form. If it was a well received low seller that got good reviews-I think it would show fans that DC is still trying to get a product to them instead of burying it.

You can also give new blood a shot with a low seller if you do digital only and then put out a trade. Or make use of those properties that bring out the worst in fans-Milestone or slowly bring out more Wildstorm guys. And you can free those monthly slots for other guys.

[mattymoron]

Not really. Because you can still put those issues into a trade like Archie is doing with the New Crusaders. Give that creative one last run and if that trade sales well-let them do another trade.

In other words-if a low seller is doing better in trades-make it a trade only series. Do 2 trades a year depending on who it is.

If it's Beetle-he's going to be active in DC so he needs to be limited in case anything major happens with him.

As for keeping a bad image-how many books did Lieifield get after screwing up Hawk & Dove? The same editors that made the entire Young Justice line a joke are still collecting checks for DC.

That speaks more values than keeping Omac around in digital form. If it was a well received low seller that got good reviews-I think it would show fans that DC is still trying to get a product to them instead of burying it.

You can also give new blood a shot with a low seller if you do digital only and then put out a trade. Or make use of those properties that bring out the worst in fans-Milestone or slowly bring out more Wildstorm guys. And you can free those monthly slots for other guys.

I liked Liefield's run on Deathstoke. Dat Lobo.

[MadDog1981]

Nothing that costs nearly as much as shipping and printing.

Server space gets expensive quick. And the tricky part is, the more popular something is, the more it costs.

And you still have a lot of costs associated with it. You pretty much have all the costs minus the printing and shipping costs. And shipping isn't quite as expensive as you would think. Server costs are probably more expensive than shipping costs.

[glennsim]

Nothing that costs nearly as much as shipping and printing.

How do you know how much it costs? The people who own the servers can charge as much as they want.

[glennsim]

Sigh... Digital comics...

Pro: cheaper, takes less place to store.
Contra: your collection doesn't actually exist, and you have to sign a contract that says Comixology doesn't even need a reason to discontinue your account. They can also go belly-up.

More Pros:
Available 24/7, no need for insurance because you can always just re-download, initial purchase includes all variant covers, no ads.

One less Pro: Not necessarily cheaper depending on how you buy your print.

[kakitamike]

Sigh... Digital comics...

Contra: They can also go belly-up.

Well thank god that couldn't happen to someone like marvel or DC.

Digital comics are the reason i got back into reading comics. I carry my entire collection around in my pocket, can read it whenever I want, don't have to worry about storing it or damaging the books. I don't have to track down back issues, and I can read a new comic pretty much whenever I want, wherever I am.

The only real downside is if you're a collector, not a reader. I don't plan on selling my collection.

More Pros:
initial purchase includes all variant covers, no ads.

I've yet to buy a marvel digital that includes a variant cover, but everyone else seems to do it.

[Bruce Kent]

How do you know how much it costs? The people who own the servers can charge as much as they want.

You have tons of alternatives. They can charge as much as they want, and they will loose business.

[MadDog1981]

It doesn't really work that way. Servers are expensive and if you're contracting with someone you need quality. Paying someone who's offering cheap service might do a crappy job. The company I work for went offline for 3 days a couple of years ago due to server issues, it cost my company something like 1.2 million dollars for being offline for that long. You have to do online infrastructure right or it will kill you. Technology isn't cheap at all.

[glennsim]

You have tons of alternatives. They can charge as much as they want, and they will loose business.

Actually, you pretty much have to pay ITunes whatever ITunes wants you to pay, if you want your stuff on IPads and IPhones, as one example.

[MajorHoy]

Sigh... Digital comics...

Pro: cheaper, takes less place to store.
Contra: your collection doesn't actually exist, and you have to sign a contract that says Comixology doesn't even need a reason to discontinue your account. They can also go belly-up.

More Pros:
Available 24/7, no need for insurance because you can always just re-download, initial purchase includes all variant covers, no ads.

One less Pro: Not necessarily cheaper depending on how you buy your print.

And, are they still accessible if there are problems with power outages and/or cell phone/internet/wi-fi connection issues?

(Hey, I got hit with several days without power because of tropical storms /hurricanes and nor'easters both last October and this year here (about an hour NE of NYC) . . . I'm getting more worried about that crap now!)

[carabas]

Well thank god that couldn't happen to someone like marvel or DC.

When Marvl or DC would go bankrupt, they wouldn't take your entire collection with them.