I’ve been working in and around the comic book industry for three years or so. Over that time, Diamond Distribution, the only major distributor of comic books to comic stores in North America and Europe, has reported year-on-year loses.
Comics on crowdfunding platforms, on the other hand, have been doing quite well. So I see myself as a growing competitor in a growing field, rather than a small competitor in a shrinking field.
When it comes to putting my comic books in store through Diamond Distribution, I feel it is not worth my time. I will, however, make my comic book available for others to distribute through Diamond, and I certainly make that offer regularly to other indie publishers. One day I believe one will say yes. My prediction is Alterna Comics, but who knows.
Meanwhile, I will invest my time developing comic books which I release through Kickstarter. I have decided I will endeavor to excel in three specific areas:
- Quality of artwork- A lot of my Kickstarter rivals will hire a good artist to do the cover of a book, but not the interiors. I feel that’s a cheat. The cover artwork communicates the style of the entire book. At Pocket Jacks, the main cover of every book will represent the artistic team which rendered the interior pages. Furthermore, the artwork will wow you. Top level artwork on each and every page, that’s the Pocket Jacks wager with you the consumer.
- Time of Delivery- My Kickstarter rivals fulfill many months after the campaign date. I’m not going to do that. Conventional Kickstarter practices put me a month behind, because it takes two weeks for backers to work out any potential payment issues, then another two weeks to get the surveys back to get the names for the Thank You page. Once I get that, I hand the order over to Greko Printing. Those folks can turn a comic book order around in less than a week. Then a week to ship, and Presto! The project got fulfilled in 6-8 weeks. You’re going to see that happen here, every time.
- Frequency of Projects – My competitors do one project a year or so. I’m going to do one a quarter. We just got done with Guinevere and the Divinity Factory, and next comes White Lily #3 in the 2nd quarter. Then White Lily #4 in the third quarter. Then Divinity Factory #2 at Christmas time. I intend to make this happen. That’s the Pocket Jacks gamble.
I want you to remember these areas. I promise to you that I will fulfill these expectations. That’s the Pocket Jacks Proposition Wager.