Are Comic Shops Getting Screwed By New Changes In Distribution

Prior to Diamond Comics Distributors shedding publishers (or losing their exclusive arrangements with select publishers), one perk for comic book stores was that a number of publishers offered their trades and graphic novels to the direct market weeks, sometimes a whole month, before the book market. And since everyone who sells books competes with Amazon, this perk could be immensely helpful in competing against a giant corporate online retailer who has a history of aggressive and industry-destroying pricing. 

Something we've noticed that no one in the comics press (or anywhere else as far as we can tell) seems to be talking about is the loss of that exclusive sales window for the direct market as publishers scurry to bookstore distributors for graphic novel and trade collection distribution. But it seems to have been disappearing with publisher after publisher - first DC, then Marvel, and now others like Image and Dark Horse.

For comics shops this adds confusion when trying to answer the question, "When do new comics come out?"

At first we used to just be able to say, "Wednesday." But then it became, "Well DC books come out on Tuesday, but everything else Wednesday."

Then it became, "Well all DC books and Marvel trades come out on Tuesday, but everything else on Wednesday."

It's now, "Maybe Tuesday, maybe Wednesday depending on the publisher, whether it's a comic or a  TPB/GN, and what distributor we've used to get the book."

But more importantly, it now seems that comic shops have not only lost that window, but are now required to hold books a day longer than Amazon and the bookstore market before selling them.

And what's worse, distributors have regularly threatened punitive measures against comic shops for putting books on sale before the correct street date.

So publishers have thrown comic shops totally under the proverbial bus when it comes to trade paperbacks and graphic novels, and who is the big winner? Amazon.

This is happening with a number of titles this week, but I'll use, an an example, Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Hernández Walta's excellent The Phantom Road Volume 1.

Here is Diamond Comics Distributor's (a direct market distributor) solicitation page (orange dot marks the street date). Street date: Wednesday, October. 4.

Here is Lunar Distribution's (a direct market distributor) solicitation page (orange dot marks the street date). Street date: Wednesday, October 4.

Here is Ingram's (a bookstore market distributor) solicitation page (orange dot marks the street date).
Street date: Tuesday, October 3.

 

And here is Amazon's solicitation page (orange dot marks the street date).
Street date: Tuesday, October. 3

So to our customers, new comics now come out Tuesday or Wednesday depending on the publisher, the distributor and the type of comic they are. We'll have them on the earliest date available as we use both bookstore and comic book market distributors.

To the comics press, why is no one talking about how comics publishers have handed this win to Amazon at the expanse of the direct market?