I’m going to write a full post on this, but I wanted to get this out there early:
Diamond’s new order minimums increase is going to hurt the DM worse than Marvel’s Heroes World Debacle did. It is essentially the beginning of the end for the Direct Market, in my estimation. Specifically because Diamond Comics Distributors is a monopoly.
So, yeah. All the reasoning is coming later (like: Scott Pilgrim Volume 1 would not have made the new retail cut off, based on its original initial orders). This Is Not Good.
Fun Fact: Do you know what it costs to be a direct market retailer? $600 minimum order each month. A cost between 4 and 10 times less than what it costs to be a publisher, apparently. Figure that one out.
– Christopher
Dang, we have to stop using Oni for examples, or someone’s going to get angry.
Simon- The irony is, as a brokered publisher Oni has nothing to worry about, now. But anyone not brokered with Diamond is fucked.
– Chris
Yeah, I knew about that. And it’s something we’ve never been offered, never requested for, and after all this, will never receive. 😉
Christopher,
It is a little scary to me as an unknown working on a creator owned book. If I can’t get picked up by Image, Oni, or the two or three other publishers with the weight to get an unknown book into comic shops what options do I have for getting my work to readers? I feel this might be especially difficult for those who focus on more long form stories.