I ordered the book but as of 2 or 3 weeks ago, my local shop didn't seem so interested in it. I don't think it helped that the contents of the issue were just released in the last several weeks. Although there are amazing creators in the book, most if not all already have current books on the shelf. (JTIV had 2 new series premiere in the last 2 months).
So the stories needed to do more of the heavy lifting in my view and I think it came too late from the perspective of a retailer who has not been following the launch.
I also don't love the focus on the publisher brand at the expense of the artists in terms of the variant covers of Devil's Cut.
Marketing a comic is tricky. In this case, I'd argue the contents weren't imperative to know right out of the gate, so much as the creators involved. The concepts are all fresh, and there's so many, the strongest, clearest bit of marketing they had, IMO, were those names to drum up interest. Then, closer to the final order date, retailers were given the full contents of the book to read. I find FOC is the perfect time for this, because those are the ONLY orders that matter at the end of the day, and you want the taste of your book as fresh in the retailer's mind as possible (so, sending with some wiggle room to read before the Friday, which is when some retailers go through their FOCs to avoid working on the weekend).
Also, the "most if not all already have current books on the shelf" is a boon. Tynion and Snyder in particular make sure their books don't cannibalize themselves, and the rest outside of Ram V don't have much in the upcoming catalogues, but they are all still fresh in the mind.
The stories DO need to do some heavy lifting for sure, but everything is going to be too late for a retailer who isn't following the launch. Those retailers aren't following much of anything that doesn't arrive as "sales", and they tend to be reactive, than proactive.
And the trade dress has yet to be finalized - the creators will be there. The prominence of the DSTLRY branding IS very important though, as nearly everyone involved in this launch book also own the company.
I ordered the book but as of 2 or 3 weeks ago, my local shop didn't seem so interested in it. I don't think it helped that the contents of the issue were just released in the last several weeks. Although there are amazing creators in the book, most if not all already have current books on the shelf. (JTIV had 2 new series premiere in the last 2 months).
So the stories needed to do more of the heavy lifting in my view and I think it came too late from the perspective of a retailer who has not been following the launch.
I also don't love the focus on the publisher brand at the expense of the artists in terms of the variant covers of Devil's Cut.
Marketing a comic is tricky. In this case, I'd argue the contents weren't imperative to know right out of the gate, so much as the creators involved. The concepts are all fresh, and there's so many, the strongest, clearest bit of marketing they had, IMO, were those names to drum up interest. Then, closer to the final order date, retailers were given the full contents of the book to read. I find FOC is the perfect time for this, because those are the ONLY orders that matter at the end of the day, and you want the taste of your book as fresh in the retailer's mind as possible (so, sending with some wiggle room to read before the Friday, which is when some retailers go through their FOCs to avoid working on the weekend).
Also, the "most if not all already have current books on the shelf" is a boon. Tynion and Snyder in particular make sure their books don't cannibalize themselves, and the rest outside of Ram V don't have much in the upcoming catalogues, but they are all still fresh in the mind.
The stories DO need to do some heavy lifting for sure, but everything is going to be too late for a retailer who isn't following the launch. Those retailers aren't following much of anything that doesn't arrive as "sales", and they tend to be reactive, than proactive.
And the trade dress has yet to be finalized - the creators will be there. The prominence of the DSTLRY branding IS very important though, as nearly everyone involved in this launch book also own the company.
Thanks for the support, Brandon!