ComicsPROgress

Developing Innovative Solutions for Comic Industry Problems

At last year's annual Comic Industry Meeting in Portland, 160 retailers came together to brainstorm solutions to problems in the comic industry. During the last quarter of 2018, a document was prepared by ComicsPRO and shared with Diamond and some Publishers to get their comments and viewpoint and to get the conversation started.

Click Here to download PDF - Final Report - Developing Solutions to Comic Industry Problems

This attached document highlights solutions that retailers came up with and also gives a road-map for retailers, Publishers, Diamond and ComicsPRO to improve their stores and the industry. Some things we can work on ourselves, or are already doing in our stores. Other things we need help from Publishers and Diamond.

LOBBYING EFFORTS

In the cover letter of the document, ComicsPRO states that ComicsPRO is going to prioritize our lobbying efforts on these four issues:

• More comic returnability.
• Elimination or reduction of fees, such as shipping fees and the 3% reorder fee.
• Elimination of Buying Club sales.
• Insuring retailers have all the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions.

ComicsPRO is starting with these four issues because they are issues that we feel we can get some traction on. Also, they were issues that most retailers agreed should be addressed. Finally, we wanted to keep the list small so we could focus on each issue substantially and not lose focus

In sending out the document and discussing it with Publishers and Diamond, other issues were addressed such as variants, glut of comics on the market, shipping problems, etc. (Read the document for the whole gamut of issues that retailers thought were important).

ComicsPRO believes that there is no "magic bullet" to improve the industry. It's got to be done step by step, issue by issue. And some things retailers have to do on their own .... and some things will require retailers, Publishers, and Distributors to work together.

If you have any comments, please let us know at info@comicspro.org!

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