Image Saga Huh Wha?!?

Time for another “How Things Work Behind the Scenes” post.

Tuesday, Image sent out an email. Normally it is used to give great proclamations like “Speaking of THE WALKING DEAD, did you catch Sunday’s episode? HOLY CRAP. Glenn is a total bad-ass, and we love him.” or “I’ll be straightforward about this: You should be selling more copies of CREATOR-OWNED HEROES.” It is usually full of solicit information and telling us to order more MORE MORE!!! So, in reality, it is usually just a bunch of noise. I may or may not even open it up, because rarely is there anything super useful. Just a bunch of hype.

This week’s email created quite a stir. Because both Bleeding Cool and CBR have run it, I don’t think there will be any harm in my repeating it. Let me get some preliminaries out of the way:

1. We (comic book stores) order our books non-returnable. Whatever we get is ours. We rarely know exactly what is going to be in the book, so we are usually ordering blind.
2.  I have a computer system that tracks sales for me. At any given time I can look and see exactly how a book is selling, not just that issue, but all issues of a title, in one view.
3. Every Monday we have the opportunity to adjust our numbers for books that are shipping 3 week from now. I look to see how a book has been selling and adjust my numbers accordingly. Every week.

So, Jennifer de Guzman, PR & Marketing Director at Image Comics sent us this note on Tuesday (all bolds and italics are hers):

“I have some bad news: SAGA #7 is sold out. Sounds like good news, right? Well, it’s not. First, it means that retailers under-ordered it. And second: We will not be reprinting it. Should we have overprinted? We did. Should we have told you specifically “Order a lot of this one”? Well, did we really need to?

This is SAGA we’re talking about. Issue #7 was its return after a brief hiatus that had fans of the epic by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples as restless as cats in heat and following on the heels of the release of a trade paperback that is moving like wildfire (it’s is still on the New York Times Bestseller list). And its FOC came just two weeks after I quite single-mindedly harangued you about order numbers decreasing with each issue of even our most popular titles, using math. (Math, people!)

What’s even worse news is that orders for SAGA #8 decreased 4% from orders on #7. It will not be reprinted either. We have decided to cease second printings of single issues of titles that are known over-performers in hopes that it will help initial sales find their proper level. That’s marketing-speak for “You know this sells, so you’d better make sure you order enough!”

This isn’t meant as a punishment or some weird scheme to drive up prices of single issues on eBay. The weeks of delay in waiting for the second printing cost you sales. Knowing you can count on reprintings has encouraged caution when none is called for, and that hurts you as much as it does us.

And there’s absolutely no reason why there shouldn’t be more readers of our best-selling titles now that the $1.00 Image Firsts editions of FATALE #1, THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS #1, SAGA #1, REVIVAL#1, and THIEF OF THIEVES #1 are available and (should be) in your stores. They’re there to help you evangelize, so spread the good news! (Can I get an “Amen“?)

It’s not empty boasting to say that SAGA is the best new series of 2012 — it’s borne out by review after review, recommendation after recommendation, and when we see sales go down on an issue, we know that there is a problem, and it isn’t with the book itself.

So believe in the titles that sell and believe in your ability to sell them. There might not be a second chance.

Here are some #2s on this week’s FOC list that you may need more of (with even more math!):

CHANGE #2 — Orders presently are 38% lower than orders for the debut issue. If you haven’t read CHANGE #1 yet, please give it a look. Its writer Ales Kot had a breakout hit with WILD CHILDREN this year, and CHANGE taps into the same sensibility.

THE LEGEND OF LUTHER STRODE #2 — Orders are 21% less than orders for #1, which has sold out. This is a known seller by creators whose traction in the industry is growing — Justin Jordan, who also writes Shadowman for Valiant and Tradd Moore, who has drawn a variant Deadpool cover for Marvel and a story in the digital Legends of the Dark Knight for DC.

NON-HUMANS #2 — I know. It’s late, and lateness is a death knell for sales numbers. But! This is the return to Image by Whilce Portacio, and a 33% drop in orders seems a mite steep, considering that NON-HUMANS #1 sold out.

-JdG”

Wow. Where to start. I guess showing you my actual sales numbers is the best place.  Here are my order numbers and sales numbers for Saga.

#1 Ordered 48 (including additional prints)  Sold 48
#2  Ordered 45   Sold 41
#3  Ordered 34  Sold 33
#4  Ordered  37  Sold 31
#5  Ordered 37 Sold 32
#6  Ordered 37  Sold 29
3 Month Delay in shipping
#7  Ordered 35  Sold 25
#8  Ordered 32  Ships next week

The other interesting thing for me is that during the 3 month gap, the TP of issues 1-6 came out and, so far, I have sold 13 of them.

Now Ms. deGuzman is telling me that I under-ordered her book and she’s had enough. I am stupid. Its a critically acclaimed book. She even did the Math for me.

I look at it a little differently. I pushed it hard at the beginning. I sold almost 50 copies of the book.  After that, its the creative teams responsibility to keep the readers. I got them to try it.  Looking at my numbers, 23 of the 48 people who tried it are no longer reading it.  But that’s not quite true. There are people that bought up my first prints when they became HOT to flip them on eBay, so that 48 is not a real number. But maybe the 40 of #2 is.  That still shows a 37% drop over 5 issues. (The drop from 1 to 2 is still a 16% drop, so I don’t see why she is stunned that there is a drop on Non-Humans #2? Lots of people buy #1s. They give it a shot. It may not be for them. Or they buy #1 because it SOLD OUT. I ordered the new Luther Strode right where the old one was selling. Guess what? I have one copy left on the shelf. Guess I knew what I was doing on that one. I used Math.)  Even odder for me is the fact that I sold 13 copies of the trade of issues #1-6 and I still had less people buy #7 than bought #6. Maybe that 3 month gap had something to do with it, ya think? My hold numbers haven’t changed, so the decrease in sales if from shelf sales. So I can’t even ask people why they stopped getting it.  My guess is that its a lack of interest in the story combined with a lack of seeing it on the shelf.

And I am part of the problem for the 4% decrease in orders on #8. I have 10 copies of #7 on the shelf. That is an awful lot of stale inventory for me. So I cut my order on #8 by 3 copies. I can’t afford to have my shelves stuffed full of books that aren’t selling.  Because of the way we make our order adjustments, I am looking at sales data one month behind.  If a book is shipping regularly, I am adjusting #5 the Monday after #4 came out. That’s really not enough time to really see how a book is selling. So I look at the numbers for #3 instead. With Saga, the early issues had a much longer shelf life and people came to it late and bought several issues at once.  So my order of 37 copies of #4 was not based on selling 41 of #2. But after a while, sales settle down. I ordered 37 #6 based on the sale of 31 #4, hoping people would hang on for the story arc. I cannot explain why I sold 3 less copies of the last issue of the first arc. I just live with it.

I also have to wonder about the timing of this. #7 is the first issue after the trade. It was an inexpensive one ($9.99 for 6 issues). I have sold 13 of them. I did not figure that in when I ordered my #7s. I doubt many retailers did. In theory, some of those trade customers would come in and get #7 to keep reading the story without having to wait. It didn’t happen here. Or maybe it did, but there were even more people reading it in issues who got to the end of the 1st arc and decided not to continue. Again, not my fault.  I can only push a book so long. They should not expect me to be pushing each issue through #7. Every week, many new books come out from Image and all of the other publishers. The creators work has to stand on its own. I did my best early on. Its up to them to keep it going.

To get a letter such as this is kind of surprising. Does she honestly believe that stores out there are intentionally under ordering what they think they can sell? If stores under-ordered on #7, maybe it was due to the 3 month delay AND the trade coming out. Shouldn’t they want to sell more and make more to meet demand? I find this position a little limiting. I find them telling us about it after the fact even a worse idea. They have effectively capped sales for the book for most stores.

I understand that there are a lot of costs in going back to print on an issue. But this one specifically seems like a very odd book to take that position with. Most Image books are hit and miss. Some sell great, some don’t. Some start off great and die quickly. The risk is all on us, the retailers, who buy the books. I sold out of Non-Humans #1. Image is surprised that there is a decrease in the orders for #2 by 33%. Well, #2 is now 5 weeks late. So I have to take into account what % won’t want to continue, what % just bought it because it was an announced sell out and how many will have forgotten they even read it by the time #2.

But every book I have sitting on my shelf costs me money.  1 or 2, no too bad. 10 copies, like with Saga #7? Not good. Multiply that by 120-150 titles a week? We have to be very careful with our orders. Yes, maybe we a can be a bit too cautious at times. But its not because we are intentionally under-ordering in expectation of a 2nd print. Its because we only have so much money. And so much room. Right now I am gambling on the Marvel NOW! books. Next week is All New X-Men #4, making it 4 issues in 6 weeks. I have Cable & Force and Avengers Arena shipping #2 the week after #1. I am having to have enough, but not too much of these with really no sales or ordering info to go by.  My adjustment for #4 was two days before #2 came out and less than 2 weeks after #1 arrived. But Marvel isn’t complaining that we are under-ordering their books. They are happily printing more to meet the demand.

That’s my 2 cents.

Bleeding Cool has 2 articles here and here about it.  The comments are really fun.

<UPDATE>

Well, apparently, Eric Stephenson (Publisher of Image) heard our disappointment with the announcement and has reversed their position and will be reprinting #7. And in doing so, they are offering us a deal whereby we can order a whole bunch at a very large discount. So, even though I still have 1st prints, I will be upping my orders on #7, #8 & #9 and the TP. Sometimes good things come through discourse.

You can find his announcement here