THE BLACK DIAMOND FREE OVERSHIPPED TO RETAILERS

[MattBrady]

Press Release

This summer, get in the car… and go!

In order to simultaneously thank retailers,keep that AiT/Planet Lar avalanche rolling, and herald the next upcoming graphic novels in the AiT pantheon of entertainment, publisher Larry Young announced today that copies of THE BLACK DIAMOND: ON RAMP will be free overshipped to retailers. "And when I say ‘free’ I mean free," Young said. "Fully fifty percent of a retailer's initial orders on the BLACK DIAMOND color book will be added to their orders for free. If a retailer ordered 100 copies of the thing, he's getting 150. If he ordered fifteen, he's getting twenty-three, and I'm personally picking up the tab. Not only can he or she use those extra copies to give away to folks who may have been initially reluctant to sample our first color book, or to those who want to know what all the noise about us is all about; not only can he sell 'em and keep the money as my thanks for initially picking up the book... but I'm paying the extra freight our distributor, Diamond, charges, as well. It's all free to the retailer!"

Young has been working the crowd for a while, but even he was surprised at how the planets were aligning. "There’s going to be some pretty big nationally-announced news regarding AiT/Planet Lar in general and THE BLACK DIAMOND in particular on Friday the 17th, and there’s no way my pals in the direct market could have seen this big news coming and prepare stock levels appropriately," said Young. "So instead of having to turn away interested ‘civilians’ who will have heard about the project, savvy retailers who ordered the book initially will have fifty percent more copies to sell and showcase.

But as AiT/Planet Lar is known for its innovative formats and presentations, THE BLACK DIAMOND: ON RAMP isn’t just your usual sort of teaser book or "zero issue" for the monthly color series. Taking a new tack at the preview format, TBD also includes six pages of the upcoming original graphic novel SMOKE AND GUNS by Kirsten Baldock and Fabio Moon. "

In the real world, the cigarette girl is to smoking what the cocktail waitress is to drinking," said author Kirsten Baldock. "I wanted to do a book about my time as a cigarette girl in the swanky clubs and seedy bars of San Francisco, and what better way to address my adventures than in a comic book about high heels and hot lead?"

Not content to stop there, Young threw in two pages of Matt (LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS) Fraction and Steven ("Zombie Dinosaur") Sanders’ FIVE FISTS OF SCIENCE. Based on a true story, this original color graphic novel details the battle, late in the nineteenth century, between the forces of science led by Mark Twain and Nicola Tesla and the forces of magic led by Thomas Edison and J. P. Morgan.

"Let's face it, in the current market for comics nowadays, you need to not only put out your comic on time, every time, but you also need a way to stand out from the crowd," said Young. "I don't think variant covers and gimmicks are the way to do it, frankly; I think if you put a quality comic in somebody's hand, they'll have an entertaining experience. I'm just putting my money where my mouth is. I’m betting folks will want this thing if they can actually get it. I’d much rather have written up a press release that says ‘BLACK DIAMOND is on your local shelves right now’ than one that says ‘I got orders for ten thousand so we printed ten thousand and we sold out because that’s how math works.’ I mean, no kidding."

THE BLACK DIAMOND: ON RAMP is in shops this Wednesday.

[notmertz]

Way cool. It caught my attention in previews and, based on the other good stuff the publisher puts out, I took a chance and preordered it. Hope it proves to be a good read!

[Bobby Nash]

I'm really looking forward to reading this.

[adamcasey]

This is swanky of them. Nice to see a publisher really believing in their product.

[Blind Assassin]

edited because I should learn to read the article before replying.

[jasinmartin]

I've been looking forward to this book, and wasn't this the same/similar kind of promotion done with the rock solid Demo series, and look how well that went...

Originally posted by MattBrady
I’d much rather have written up a press release that says ‘BLACK DIAMOND is on your local shelves right now’ than one that says ‘I got orders for ten thousand so we printed ten thousand and we sold out because that’s how math works.’ I mean, no kidding."

No kidding is right.
So now, since they overprinted by 50%, when it sells out, they actually have press release material, announcing the 2nd print... what'a ya know...

[Egg]

I believe in how Larry Young handles AiT/Planet Lar. I think he has the right idea on how to push products! And, as usual with his fine comics, I'm looking forward to The Black Diamond!

Egg Embry
Editor - Dead Men Tell No Tales

[lex luthor]

Originally posted by MattBrady
Press Release

"Let's face it, in the current market for comics nowadays, you need to not only put out your comic on time, every time, but you also need a way to stand out from the crowd," said Young. "I don't think variant covers and gimmicks are the way to do it, frankly; I think if you put a quality comic in somebody's hand, they'll have an entertaining experience. I'm just putting my money where my mouth is. I’m betting folks will want this thing if they can actually get it. I’d much rather have written up a press release that says ‘BLACK DIAMOND is on your local shelves right now’ than one that says ‘I got orders for ten thousand so we printed ten thousand and we sold out because that’s how math works.’ I mean, no kidding."

I like the way this guy Larry Young thinks. I'm anxious to see how the numbers for this series, and the promotion, turn out. I pre-ordered this book about 2 months ago and I can't wait to read this.

[double_out]

It looks like a really cool book and the previews that are included look pretty interesting as well. Good luck to them, and I hope the promotion is successful.