The other week Diamond Comic Distributors announced to comic shops that Diamond will not be shipping comics on the last week of December. That means on Wednesday, December 30th, there will not be any new comics on the shelf of your local comic shop. There has been some talk about Diamond's firm hold on the comic distribution industry, but I want to look past that and look at the opportunity this creates for small publishers and local comic book creators. This is a perfect storm that opens up those new release shelves for the independent community. We don't have to be set aside to the small publisher shelf for once and can stand tall in the spots that the big, national publishers usually take. Not only is this an opportunity for creators, it's a great opportunity for the reader as well. Instead of picking up their usual books, they can check out something new, different, and most likely something local.So, I'm putting forth this idea to the comic book community. Let's turn "No Comic Book Week" into "Indy Comic Book Week". Creators, let's step up and put those books together. This is our chance to show the world that our books and creations can stand strong on those shelves as well as any major publication. It doesn't have to be a 22-page full color affair; it can be a small black-and-white ashcan. But it has to be new, it has to be a product of your own creation, and it has to be awesome. Then talk to your local comic shops about putting your book on those shelves for the week of December 30th. Comic book readers, go to your local comic shops and tell them you want to see "Indy Comic Book Week" on the new release shelves. Tell them you want to see something new and different on those shelves. Comic book retailers, show some support for your local creators by filling those new release shelves with great indy books and hopefully open up your patrons to something new that they would not have read otherwise.
Let's get the news out there guys. For you twitters out there, use the hashtag #indycomicbookweek to show your comics, your progress shots, and your support for creators and comic shops. This is a great opportunity so let's step up and get it done!
3 comments:
This is quite interesting, but I'm wondering if there's a chance to get a distributor like Haven involved in it. I'm all for grassroots movements, but getting some positive type of attention on the distribution side (instead of simply critiquing Diamond's lack of distribution) might not be a bad idea.
Just a thought.
Honestly the idea has grown a lot since this post. What i thought would have been a more local sort of event has become something that is gaining a lot of momentum. I was trying to not critique Diamond's actions, which is quite out of their hands, but to spotlight the fact that it this is a rare opportunity. Originally the idea was to call it "No Comic Week" or "No Ship Week", but I thought it would be best to not dwell on the shipping conundrum and focus more on what we can do as a creator community. I would have no idea how Haven would be involve because they could run into the same issue Diamond is having with UPS for the Christmas holiday. My associate Jake Ekiss is talking with them i think.
Yes, I suspect you're probably right about Haven and shipping. Having been a book retailer here in Canada I can say how frustrating holiday shipping can be, so I do think this idea, at least on a local front, is terrific. I'll be curious to see how it develops over the next 6 weeks or so.
Thanks!
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