MattBrady
11-05-2007, 11:41 AM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Top_Cow/Dkness/Darkness_1_Keown.jpg" align="right">It follows along in line with announcing that Stjepan Sejic (forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=124951) will be the artist on <b>Witchblade</b> for the next three years, that Phil Hester and Michael Broussard (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=128534) are locked on <b>Darkness</b> for an equally long stretch, and that Top Cow President Matt Hawkins (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=132551) is kicking in $500 per late book his company releases – Top Cow has announced that issues #1-#3 of <b>The Darkness</b> will be fully returnable.
Yeah, so?
Sure – these announcements come out now and again, but what do they mean? Simple – unlike newsstands and bookstores, the direct market buys comics on a non-returnable basis. That is, once the book hits the store, it belongs to the retailer, and he/she is fully responsible for it. The magazines and comics you see on the shelf at Borders? After a period of time, the unsold copies get sent back to the distributor. This way, comic shop owners can send back unsold copies of <b>The Darkness #1-#3</b>, minimizing their loss if their local supply outstrips demand.
That’s not to say that there’s no returnability in the direct market – publishers will occasionally designate specific issues as being returnable if they meet certain criteria – a change in creative team or storyline, a specified period of lateness, etc. But with <b>Darkness</b>, Top Cow is doing as other publishers have done in the past (for example, DC and <b>Countdown</b>), that is, allow retailers to return unsold copies of the issues.
We spoke with Filip Sablik, Top Cow’s VP, Marketing and Sales to get more on the plan and the decision behind it.
<b>Newsarama</b>: Filip, when does the thinking on something like this come into the game plan? Has returnability on <b>Darkness</b> always been part of the overall marketing plan, or did it come in later in the day?
<b>Filip Sablik</b>: It was part of our game plan pretty early on for launching <b>The Darkness</b>. I think Matt Hawkins, Rob Levin [VP – Editorial], and I first discussed it back in the late summer. It took a while to coordinate all the details with Diamond as there are a lot of i's and t's to dot and cross, but it was something we've been wanting to do for some time. <b>The Darkness</b> is one of our flagship titles, the second pillar of the Top Cow Universe, and in launching a new series we wanted to make sure we gave it the best start possible. It's a competitive market out there and there are probably more reasons for retailers <i>not</i> take a chance on a new series than the other way around. We talked to a number of retailers directly and on message boards and returnability came back as the most frequently requested program to help them support a new launch. With that reinforcement we felt confident it was the right direction to go. And to Diamond's credit (because this really could not have happened without their support), they recognized how important this series is for us and how much effort we were putting into the launch. Their support cannot be understated for a program like this.
<b>NRAMA</b>: Let's strip away the marketing talk - what does returnability do for you, the publisher? For the retailer?
<b>FS</b>: Well for us as the publisher, it is a risk. We're banking on the fact that retailers will have more success than failure with <b>The Darkness</b> and we won't get back a high percentage of returns. For the retailers it allows them to take a chance on a new series with relatively little risk. As long as they hit the minimum qualifier, which for issue #1 is matching or exceeding their orders for <b>First Born #1</b>, then they have the ability to return any unsold copies as stripped cover returns and be fully credited for those unsold copies.
Essentially the retailers who take a chance and really promote the series in their stores will be rewarded with greater sales and pay for only the copies they sell. We've also set the returnability window at 60 days rather than the standard 30 days retailers would see on an overship, our thinking being that some fans may come in and pick up issue #1 and #2 after they've heard some positive reviews from friends and online. The goal for us is to ensure that there are at least "X" number of copies on the stands so that fans see the book when they walk into their local comic shop. We know that over 900,000 people bought <b>The Darkness</b> video game. We're not naive enough to think all of those people will come flooding into comic shops for <b>The Darkness #1</b>, but we do believe a percentage of them will come by and be looking for <b>The Darkness</b> comics. We've already seen it at conventions throughout the summer and in talking with retailers who've strategically placed <b>The Darkness</b> trades prominently in their stores.
<b>NRAMA</b>: Obviously, part of this is that you're looking for higher orders on #2 and #3 to prevent that slide that those issues of a new series traditionally take - but already, retailers know that they can return issue #1 - so are you seeing higher orders on #1 than you originally expected?
<b>FS</b>: It's a bit early to tell yet how the returnability promotion will affect the orders for issue #1. Diamond just announced the program late last week and is just beginning to roll out the publicity on it to notify retailers and help them determine their target order number. So far the orders on issue #1 look very solid but the end goal is to get even higher orders And while we are looking to stem some of the drop off on issue #2 and #3, we've taken into account the natural attrition and as a result retailers only have to order 80% of their numbers on issue #1 to qualify for #2 and 80% of their numbers on issue #2 to qualify for issue #3. The nice thing is each issue is determined independently, which means if a retailer decides he can't meet his numbers on <b>First Born</b> for <b>The Darkness #1</b>, he can still qualify for issues #2 and #3.
<b>NRAMA</b>: Technically speaking, what happens to returned copies? These are eligible as "stripped cover returns" - that means a retailer sends back the cover, correct? What happens from there?
<b>FS</b>: The die hard collectors should cover their ears – or skip a line or two down here, but yes, in essence any returned copies are destroyed. Stripped cover means the retailer literally rips the cover of the comic and sends back just the single sheet as proof that they are returning that copy. It's an old magazine return tradition which does two things - one, cuts down on the returning freight cost for retailers and two, make sure that the "returned" copy can't be sold after it has been "returned". It protects the retailer and the publisher. The downside for us is any returns are a straight and outright loss. The credit for the retailer comes from Diamond, who deducts the returns from future payments to Top Cow through Image Comics. So bottom line, any returns come out of Top Cow's pockets.
<b>NRAMA</b>: As you said, by making the issues returnable, you're taking a gamble - what makes you confident it's the right risk to take with this book?
<b>FS</b>: That's the easiest question to answer - we believe in this series and this property. We definitely believe in the quality of work that Phil Hester and Michael Broussard are putting into the new series. I've said it elsewhere and I really do believe it - if you don't like this book as a comic fan, there's a chance you just might not like comics. The writing is superb and Phil is really injecting the property with new and innovative ideas. The art is top notch and Michael reminds me of Silvestri, Finch, and Jim Lee rolled into one hot young talent. Plus you have to look at it this way, as a publisher we're pledging to keep Phil and Michael on the title for the foreseeable future in order to give fans a consistent creative team and direction. The flip side of that is that we won't have as many opportunities to turn around every 3-6 months and say, "Check out this new exciting creative team on <b>The Darkness</b>!" I'm not saying that we won't have other things to announce regarding the series, but new creative teams won't be one of them. So you have to hedge your bets against the normal attrition for ongoing series and try to launch a series as strongly as possible. That's what the returnability program is all about, it's us as a publisher saying, "We believe in this project so much, we're going to put our money where our mouth is."
Yeah, so?
Sure – these announcements come out now and again, but what do they mean? Simple – unlike newsstands and bookstores, the direct market buys comics on a non-returnable basis. That is, once the book hits the store, it belongs to the retailer, and he/she is fully responsible for it. The magazines and comics you see on the shelf at Borders? After a period of time, the unsold copies get sent back to the distributor. This way, comic shop owners can send back unsold copies of <b>The Darkness #1-#3</b>, minimizing their loss if their local supply outstrips demand.
That’s not to say that there’s no returnability in the direct market – publishers will occasionally designate specific issues as being returnable if they meet certain criteria – a change in creative team or storyline, a specified period of lateness, etc. But with <b>Darkness</b>, Top Cow is doing as other publishers have done in the past (for example, DC and <b>Countdown</b>), that is, allow retailers to return unsold copies of the issues.
We spoke with Filip Sablik, Top Cow’s VP, Marketing and Sales to get more on the plan and the decision behind it.
<b>Newsarama</b>: Filip, when does the thinking on something like this come into the game plan? Has returnability on <b>Darkness</b> always been part of the overall marketing plan, or did it come in later in the day?
<b>Filip Sablik</b>: It was part of our game plan pretty early on for launching <b>The Darkness</b>. I think Matt Hawkins, Rob Levin [VP – Editorial], and I first discussed it back in the late summer. It took a while to coordinate all the details with Diamond as there are a lot of i's and t's to dot and cross, but it was something we've been wanting to do for some time. <b>The Darkness</b> is one of our flagship titles, the second pillar of the Top Cow Universe, and in launching a new series we wanted to make sure we gave it the best start possible. It's a competitive market out there and there are probably more reasons for retailers <i>not</i> take a chance on a new series than the other way around. We talked to a number of retailers directly and on message boards and returnability came back as the most frequently requested program to help them support a new launch. With that reinforcement we felt confident it was the right direction to go. And to Diamond's credit (because this really could not have happened without their support), they recognized how important this series is for us and how much effort we were putting into the launch. Their support cannot be understated for a program like this.
<b>NRAMA</b>: Let's strip away the marketing talk - what does returnability do for you, the publisher? For the retailer?
<b>FS</b>: Well for us as the publisher, it is a risk. We're banking on the fact that retailers will have more success than failure with <b>The Darkness</b> and we won't get back a high percentage of returns. For the retailers it allows them to take a chance on a new series with relatively little risk. As long as they hit the minimum qualifier, which for issue #1 is matching or exceeding their orders for <b>First Born #1</b>, then they have the ability to return any unsold copies as stripped cover returns and be fully credited for those unsold copies.
Essentially the retailers who take a chance and really promote the series in their stores will be rewarded with greater sales and pay for only the copies they sell. We've also set the returnability window at 60 days rather than the standard 30 days retailers would see on an overship, our thinking being that some fans may come in and pick up issue #1 and #2 after they've heard some positive reviews from friends and online. The goal for us is to ensure that there are at least "X" number of copies on the stands so that fans see the book when they walk into their local comic shop. We know that over 900,000 people bought <b>The Darkness</b> video game. We're not naive enough to think all of those people will come flooding into comic shops for <b>The Darkness #1</b>, but we do believe a percentage of them will come by and be looking for <b>The Darkness</b> comics. We've already seen it at conventions throughout the summer and in talking with retailers who've strategically placed <b>The Darkness</b> trades prominently in their stores.
<b>NRAMA</b>: Obviously, part of this is that you're looking for higher orders on #2 and #3 to prevent that slide that those issues of a new series traditionally take - but already, retailers know that they can return issue #1 - so are you seeing higher orders on #1 than you originally expected?
<b>FS</b>: It's a bit early to tell yet how the returnability promotion will affect the orders for issue #1. Diamond just announced the program late last week and is just beginning to roll out the publicity on it to notify retailers and help them determine their target order number. So far the orders on issue #1 look very solid but the end goal is to get even higher orders And while we are looking to stem some of the drop off on issue #2 and #3, we've taken into account the natural attrition and as a result retailers only have to order 80% of their numbers on issue #1 to qualify for #2 and 80% of their numbers on issue #2 to qualify for issue #3. The nice thing is each issue is determined independently, which means if a retailer decides he can't meet his numbers on <b>First Born</b> for <b>The Darkness #1</b>, he can still qualify for issues #2 and #3.
<b>NRAMA</b>: Technically speaking, what happens to returned copies? These are eligible as "stripped cover returns" - that means a retailer sends back the cover, correct? What happens from there?
<b>FS</b>: The die hard collectors should cover their ears – or skip a line or two down here, but yes, in essence any returned copies are destroyed. Stripped cover means the retailer literally rips the cover of the comic and sends back just the single sheet as proof that they are returning that copy. It's an old magazine return tradition which does two things - one, cuts down on the returning freight cost for retailers and two, make sure that the "returned" copy can't be sold after it has been "returned". It protects the retailer and the publisher. The downside for us is any returns are a straight and outright loss. The credit for the retailer comes from Diamond, who deducts the returns from future payments to Top Cow through Image Comics. So bottom line, any returns come out of Top Cow's pockets.
<b>NRAMA</b>: As you said, by making the issues returnable, you're taking a gamble - what makes you confident it's the right risk to take with this book?
<b>FS</b>: That's the easiest question to answer - we believe in this series and this property. We definitely believe in the quality of work that Phil Hester and Michael Broussard are putting into the new series. I've said it elsewhere and I really do believe it - if you don't like this book as a comic fan, there's a chance you just might not like comics. The writing is superb and Phil is really injecting the property with new and innovative ideas. The art is top notch and Michael reminds me of Silvestri, Finch, and Jim Lee rolled into one hot young talent. Plus you have to look at it this way, as a publisher we're pledging to keep Phil and Michael on the title for the foreseeable future in order to give fans a consistent creative team and direction. The flip side of that is that we won't have as many opportunities to turn around every 3-6 months and say, "Check out this new exciting creative team on <b>The Darkness</b>!" I'm not saying that we won't have other things to announce regarding the series, but new creative teams won't be one of them. So you have to hedge your bets against the normal attrition for ongoing series and try to launch a series as strongly as possible. That's what the returnability program is all about, it's us as a publisher saying, "We believe in this project so much, we're going to put our money where our mouth is."