I mean Craig Thompson only got paid $300 for Blankets by Top Shelf.

My solution is simple. I can’t afford it, but I will ask our local public library to buy it. Luckily, they have an excellent graphic novels section (which includes earlier Kramers Ergots), and I will pitch this as an important addition to their long-term collection of fabulous books. With a bit of luck, they’ll buy it, and then not only will I be able to read it, but also everyone else in Auckland, New Zealand.

Wish me luck! (and maybe suggest the same to your own library)

P.S. If the public library don’t buy it, I’ll try the University Library and the Auckland City Art Gallery library. Neither would be as good, but at least there’ll be a copy somewhere in Auckland for people to access.

These are my comments. My opinions. My philosophies. Backed by fact.

Re: Free – it will be free…and it will pay handsomely.

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free

You seem to think that by creating several differently formatted books that it somehow diminishes the work itself. I would argue otherwise. I also don’t see a problem with a publisher and creator getting paid from as many avenues as possible.

Literary works are reissued in a thousand different formats and optioned for films and lunch-boxes and masters’ paintings are recreated as posters and prints and t-shirts and tote-bags and lightswitch plates and mugs for the same reason other things are mass-produced: BECAUSE THOSE SELLING THEM WANT PEOPLE TO GIVE THEM MONEY.

If it was just about accessibility and getting as many people to see the work as possible it would all be FREE.

Actually, no. My work has been seen on DVD, The Scifi Channel and been sold to territories around the world. It’s never been in a theater. I believe it’s also available for download.

I would also point out Ipod and Iphone sales as disproving your argument that we don’t want our culture to be portable and accessible. YOU may not, but there are more of us than there are of you. The figures don’t lie.

I have no problem with Sammy producing a $125 book. I voiced the opinion and made the argument that it does “comics” (both as a media and an industry) little good as it limits the audience. The project, IMO, is one borne out of an approach of “exclusivity and collect-ability” and as the comics market shrinks and shrinks, it runs counter to a healthy, diverse market where a wider range of genres exist and flourish.

IMO: Accessibility and diversity are what’s required.

Literary masterpieces are mass-produced all the time in a variety of formats – hardcover, softcover, trade, illustrated, graphic novel versions. Posters and Prints of famous masterpieces of art are sold all the time. Mostly by museums. Why?

BECAUSE THEY WANT PEOPLE TO SEE THE WORK.

Is this book going to get a purchaser into a comic store to try other material? Will Comics retailers order this book, or instead order multiple copies of other comics that come at price points that are easier to take a risk on?

The comments in this and the other thread suggest limited sales, even lost sales…and that, to me, equals failure.

There should be a $125 book, but there should also be a $50 book or even a $25 version or an online download. Something that people can take a risk on, read and then expand their repertoire by picking up other works by the authors. It’s not an “all or nothing” situation here, despite how KE has set this up.