Yes, The Beat is two years old today as its own standalone website. Woot. And we’re celebrating just as we always do—slaving away into the wee hours of the day so you have something to read with your coffee.

Oh yeah, we also changed the background just for the day—yes, it’s awful, but it’s our blog and we’ll be tacky if we want to.

What has the past year brought behind the scenes? After webhosting travails, we’ve mostly settled down. A brief experiment into something called Cloudflare led to constant site outages and spam attacks. Installing Bad Behavior (and ditching Cloudflare) mostly solved that.

In fact, running The Beat was very stable over the last 12 months…TOO stable! Nothing on the internet lasts that long. “Blogging” is way harder than it used to be—some say it’s passé. For some reason, I like running a website more than posting Facebook status updates, however, so I’ll stick around for a while yet.

One thing that has improved vastly over the year has been content from our fine contributors. Todd Allen has been kicking it for the last couple of months. Tireless Torsten Adair has been posting his weekend previews and essays—you did read his heartbreaking piece on Gary Friedrich, didn’t you?—and Bruce Lidl, Jen Vaughn and, of course, the Sales Chart team of Paul, Marc-Oliver and Paul, have been doing yeoman work. They’re all awesome—please buy them a drink when you get a chance, okay? A presence behind the scenes is Synsidar who copyedits some of my more egregious typos. (I know it’s hard to believe this blog has a copy editor sometimes, but his schedule doesn’t allow him to do it before posting, alas.)

Of course, we couldn’t do it—REALLY—without our great sponsors: CCI, ReedPop, Sailor Twain, Threadless, Comicraft, Top Shelf and all the rest.

So what’s coming up? A redesign is gently bubbling under the surface. More contributors. More interviews. More Vietnamese coffee. In July it will be my ten-YEAR anniversary of running a daily website. We’ll have something special planned for that…maybe a vacation.

Biggest thanks of all go to you, the Beat Elite Reading Squad. Every night before I go to bed I check Sitemeter and, against all logic, people actually came and read this blog. It still blows me away. And it is much appreciated.

As far as the future goes, what do YOU want, gentle readers? Let us know in the comments. We’ll be here, as always.

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For our regular readers, you can skip on to the next post.  (You can read this, but this is directed at comics publishers.  Feel free to add your criticism and kudos in the comments below.)

Oh, and this is a generic post.  No names here, and some publishers do a FANTASTIC job of presenting their product and personnel.

To the many publishers who produce graphic novels:

Thank you.

I remember the dark ages of the 80s and 90s when one rarely found ANY graphic novels, in bookstores, libraries. or even comics shops.  We now are in Renaissance, where old masters are being rediscovered, new inspiration is found from overseas, and new technologies make it quite easy to distribute and discover new works.

However…

That new technology?  The Internet?  You’re doing it wrong.  Or you could do it better.

I spent the past three months doing something very foolish.  I tried to post Coming Attractions articles by publisher or distributor.  Normally, I would scan titles by month, pull out what was the most interesting, and do a post showing everyone in one list.  Instead, I tried to show titles which might not interest me, but which others might enjoy.

It was a lot of work.  I started with searches from Books In Print (run by Bowker, which manages ISBNs and EANs for the United States market).  Then I supplemented them with info from the Diamond Book Distributors monthly catalogs, as well as from Previews.  And then I had to format the page so it looked nice, and include links so people could click to get more information.

I try to link directly to the publisher’s website.  They deserve as much web traffic as possible, especially if they have a storefront.  As the paradigm shifts like a calving iceberg, they need as much help as possible.

I just wish it was easy to give them that help.

So, some suggestions:

CAVEAT:  I’m not a web designer, just a user.  But if I, a bibliophile and bibliovore who will dig deep to discover the rare truffle of a graphic novel, who has been using the Internet BEFORE there were pictures, before Mosaic, back when the text was only one color and one font, if I have trouble discovering your title, what does that say of the casual browser?

I hope the following suggestions help.  I am a comics evangelist, and the easier it is to proselytize and convert innocents, the better it is for the comics industry.

1)  Place a PDF of your quarterly catalog online.

Regular publishers do this.  Let people download it.  Let it appear as a window within your website.  Have it available on Issu or other book browsers.  Archive it, so people who are looking for older titles can use it.  Oh, and why not publish it as well, to hand out at trade shows and comic cons?  Of course, it just doesn’t just have to include the new titles.  You can add series and recent titles in the back to fill it out.  Oh, and place a big “ad” on your site showcasing the catalog.

The publisher can design the catalog to their needs, but one of the best is Cinebook.  Each page has the cover, the description, age suggestions, the date of publication, the barcode, sample images, and other books in the series.  Of course, that catalog page can easily become a web page.

Oh, and that link can easily be publicized, both by your Twitter and Facebook feeds, as well as by journalists and fans.  That’s right!  People will gladly link to your advertising!  For free!  What a crazy world!

2)  Give each title it’s own page, preferably three pages.

The first page is the title page which your site and catalog will refer to.  If you want to make it intuitive, or make it easier to find, use the following URL:

www.comicspublisher.com/9789789789788

Where the thirteen digits are the EAN/ISBN-13 of the title.

It should contain the full bibliographic information, a cover which can be enlarged, and a sales blurb.

The EAN should have two versions presented.  One with hyphens, one without.  Why?  Because Google treats each as a different access point.  Some people will search with hyphens, some will search without.  Yes, most people don’t search via EAN, but it is a serial number for your title, and is the easiest and least error-prone way of finding a title.  There are no subtitles to stumble over, no foreign diacritics like Töpfer or Angoulême or 手塚 治虫, or even incomplete contributor information.  (Yes, many publishers will use “various” or “and many more” or “and others” in contributor listings.  I’ll let others discuss if this is disrespectful of contributors.)

It can be bare bones, it can even be embargoed if the publisher does not want it known, or if the schedule is tentative.  Of course, if people are searching, they’ll probably find it elsewhere, since Books In Print sends automated feeds to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Baker & Taylor, Ingram…

The second page is created when the publisher officially announces the title.  It can include the press release, it SHOULD include the press release, since that announcement will contain the bibliographic data.  (And if it doesn’t, fire your publicist.  Really, how difficult is it to include the copy from the sales catalog and the website?)  Include some preview images, so news sites can link to your site.

This page resides on your company’s blog AND news page where press releases are stored (to make life easier for journalists…more below).  It contains a link to the first page, your permanent title page.  The second page also includes either a comment thread within the page (to make it easier for people to read and comment) or a link to your message board.

At this point, your first page goes “live”, and it gets updated with its final layout, containing previews as well as “buy now” buttons which direct to your webstore, or to retailers off-site.  You can also include a “related articles” section of links, featuring the creators, the series, the characters, imprints, creators websites…

The third page is also posted to your company blog, when the new releases are announced.  (“Available this week”)  That would be a simple listing of that week’s titles, with thumbnail covers.  Each title links back to the first page, allowing people to learn more about the title.  If you send this out as email, then those embedded links will work when other sites reprint your press release.

Of course, you have an archive for your New Releases posts, so people who are looking for new stuff can click on those links.  A link to your PDF catalog will also be found here.

3)  Your home page should be uncluttered.

I’d suggest you make it no bigger or longer than a monitor.  Why?  Cellphones and tablets.  Less data to send means the page loads faster (and costs the user less on data plans).  It also makes it less troublesome for novice users.  A menu bar up top, preferably with your social networking buttons, is standard.  I like publishers who place their blog on the front page.  Those which have a slide show of the most recent news is also nice.  I haven’t seen it, but wouldn’t it be interesting if the page was just icons, like a smartphone touch screen, with each button linking to a different section?  Ideally, I’d love to see a screen which is:

Graphic  |  Search bar |  section buttons

No menu bar, the buttons replace that.

4)  A robust search function

Yes, there are some sites without search functions.

Yes, there are some sites with wonky search functions.

Frequently, I’m using Google’s site-specific searching to find the correct page.

Search term site:sitename.com

Yes, even for those sites which are powered by Google searching!

If your site contains a plethora of information, then have an advanced search function, where users can limit results.  This is VERY important  if the publisher uses the same title for comics as well as graphic novels.  Many will publish miniseries and then collect it into a graphic novel.  Imagine searching for a paperback title, and there are six listing for the comic book issues, and one listing for the book.  Or there are a hundred issues of the comic books, twenty graphic novels of various bindings, and you’re looking for just one specific title.

The search should index:

• EAN/ISBN-13  (It should strip out hyphens when they are entered.  If your site has indexed the URLs, it will find that simple link I mentioned above.)
• Title
• All creators (and all should be listed)
• All characters mentioned in the blurb.
• The volume number.
• The edition (comic book, trade paperback, hardcover, special edition, variant)

5)  Specific pages for specific users

Websites are advertising.  The most effective advertising is directed at a specific demographic.  So  publishers should have pages (and sites) for:

• Children (a separate site)
• Parents (and other gatekeepers)
• Journalists
• Booksellers and retailers
• Librarians

The last three pages should also have instructions on how to access previews and galleys.  There should also be downloadable art.  The parental site should have shorter previews.  All would have an specific email newsletter which is sent out periodically.

6)  Chronology

I want to be able to click on a calendar and see new releases for each week.  I want to be able to search forward two months from today to see what to expect.  I want to scroll backwards five, ten years to search for older titles I barely remember.

Or I can search for a specific month and year, which would help narrow searching for ongoing series.

Here’s an example.

7) Conclusion

I’m not complaining, because I know publishers have finite resources.  (Just as I have finite resources to blog here.)  I’d rather publishers spend money on publishing great titles, and if anything is left over, funnel some of the advertising budget into the website.  I could talk about how the website influences how people view the company, but I think most publishers realize that.

And for those who recently updated and redesigned their websites, an extra special thanks!

Well, we got our Christmas wish! Our internet came back on — magically! But only after we had made a service appointment and had to give up all our last minute Christmas shopping to race — and we do mean race — home.

Time Warner Cable, you know how to push my buttons.

Things are back on line just in time for our annual pilgrimage to Ultima Thule. Everything is slowing down to holiday mode anyhoo. We’ll post some holiday reading just to keep everyone sharp. And remember to shop locally! Like we wanted to…but were prevented from by TIME WARNER CABLE.

PS: We don’t know where this Godzilla Christmas came from, but we proclaim it a holiday classic.

Still no cable (tv or internet) at Stately Beat Manor! And Time Warner has no idea why. There was an “outtage” in the area on Tuesday. But our cable box and modem appear to have been fried. However, they have some technicians — shown here in a staff photo – coming out tonight, we’re told.

A bit of sad googling on our phone revealed that the phrase we keep seeing on our TV (acquiring application information) could have something to do with a Cisco software issue.

Meanwhile, I MISSED SEEING THE HOBBIT TRAILER YOU MONSTERS!!!!!!!

We’ll take this occasion of reprinting this year’s Center for Cartoon Studies holiday card by Alexis Frederick-Frost to note that thanks to a 12 hour cable outage on my block I’ve had to repair to the local Not Starbucks for internet. Dear god, this place is a madhouse of men in business suits yapping about plans along with three plucky students from nearby Baruch who looked to have pitched a tent amid empty yogurt containers and one Unabomber type in the back corner typing on a seedy black netbook.

The Holiday Effect has settled in so we’re officially going into Christmas Mode after this afternoon’s Christmas party.

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend and plenty of turkey and stuffins. We spent the whole holiday mucking out our shelf porn — organizing shelves, tossing pamphlets, setting aside some books for storage some for donation, a few for eBay. And some for Beat giveaways! Check back every day this week at 5 pm EST for some really swell classic GNs which we’re giving away to lucky readers! A few other notes of business:

WELCOME TODD ALLEN
You may have noticed Todd Allen’s byline on several stories over the last week. Todd has been covering the book market and digital comics for a while now and we’re happy to have him contributing more for the next while, at least.

THE BEAT NEEDS TIPSTERS
Have you seen something cool or nefarious that The Beat should know about right away? Don’t be shy! The contact button is in the upper rght hand corner, or you can email at comicsbeat at gmail dot com.

THE BEAT NEED HIPSTERS
It’s the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival this weekend! Although the official website has a list of debuts, we want to spotlight more of them here, so please use the above email to send us some info — and a jpeg of the cover and/or link to your website.

THE BEAT NEEDS A LITTLE CHRISTMAS, RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE
We’re doing 24 days of Christmas art again this year! Send us your Christmas links!That address again: comicsbeat at gmail dot com. Ho ho ho! To get you in the mood, here’s last year’s holiday card from the wonderful Tom Fowler. Oh yeah, it’s on.

This weekend I suffered the technocrat’s greatest nightmare and dunked my iPhone. It’s currently sitting in a bag of rice and soon I will find out if my life is over or not. In the meantime, for someone who is attached at the metacarpal to her iPhone, this past weekend was very interesting.

For instance, I had to find my way to someplace I’d never been. Instead of relying on GPS when I got out of the subway, before leaving the house I had to look it up on a map and print it out. And then pull out a paper and look at the map when I arrived. It was like a Geico caveman commercial.

The daily routine of life was much different as well. While ordering a Vietnamese coffee I found myself reflexively reaching for my pocket. Even though it takes less than two minutes to get a Vietnamese coffee, I would normally pull out my phone and look at my Twitter or gmail “to kill time”. I’ve pretty sure my time was long ago stuffed and mounted over the mantelpiece. Is twiddling really necessary?

My socializing was rocketed back to 1997. It’s amazing how much we use our gadgets to isolate in a crowd. Unable to whip out my phone and google whatever was passing through my mind, I found I had to actually sit and talk to people. Weird! How on earth did we survive those primitive times?

Thing is, I don’t actually use my phone as a phone very much. The problem of ordering some sushi for dinner was solved with Skype and my iPad. I tried to retrieve my messages from another phone but realized I’d never bothered to learn the architecture for doing so. Oops.

Don’t get me wrong. I want my phone back. But a little lesson in non-digital life was a bit refreshing. In fact I found I had way MORE time. So much so that I decided to take the evening to clean up my RSS feeds. A bloated thing of 600+ feeds, I found countless dead or misdirected feeds, and long ago ghosts of an internet that was. Where have you gone, Chesterfest blog? I was kind of saddened that so many art blogs that I once loved to visit have been moved to Twitter or Tumblr. Even more have moved over to Facebook, much to my sorrow. I consider Facebook the AT&T of the digital era, a giant corporation that has no real interest in helping its customers — it only wants to keep customers.

For instance, once you get sucked in there is no way to get sucked back out. Sure I’d like a nice discrete feed of all my actual friends and family. Unfortunately I did not have the foresight to start this five years ago, so now I have a bloated 2000+ friends, some of whom are not people I actually know. There is also no easy way to create a feed of an individual page — once there was, but Facebook keeps fiddling with the settings.

While cleaning up the feeds, I found this post by media expert Anil Dash called Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it in which he points out several alarming things. As of today you can no longer import your own content to Facebook Page notes. You must do so manually — right, like I’m going to physically make a FB note every time I make a blog post. Because, as FB puts it:

We want you to connect with your fans in the most effective ways possible. That’s why as of September 30th you’ll no longer be able to automatically import posts from your website to your Page notes. The best way to get people to interact with your content is to give them insight into the links you share on your Wall by adding personal comments and responding to feedback from fans.

Oh, so that’s the best way? Thanks, Facebook! You know best!

Dash also pointed out something that I’d found vaguely annoying: Facebook warns you everytime you leave Facebook, just like that kid who insists on leaving the hunting lodge after hearing screams and gurgles outside. Dash writes:

• Facebook is warning its users about the safety of a page which incorporates Facebook’s own commenting features, meaning even web sites that embrace Facebook’s technologies can be marginalized

• Facebook is displaying this warning despite the fact that Facebook’s own systems have indexed the page and found that it incorporates their own Open Graph information.

I know that railing against Facebook makes me the equivalent of your Uncle Ted who can’t even turn on a computer unaided and refuses to let go of his typewriter and buggy whip. Being a Facebook denier has cut me off from the circle of life. Unless I comb through the mind-numbing information feed of “Mary Mucous is listening to the Dave Matthews Band on Spotify!” “Yegreb Pronto likes Anique Kittenplan’s status” and “Barry Stinkus just read some stories about girls with big hooters on Yahoo!” I’ve missed out on pregnancies, engagements, weddings, deaths and other life-changing moments that folks used to get on the phone and gab about.

Of course I don’t have a phone any more, so that’s useless, too.

I guess it’s pointless to warn folks that “Facebook is made of people!” That’s what everyone likes about it.

In the comments on Dash’s piece, some people compare what Facebook is doing to how AOL “dumbed down” the internet when it was the primary portal for many beginning surfers. While I appreciate the news sharing and trafficbuilding aspects of Facebook and the “Like’ button, giant monolithic corporations that want to be all-inclusive never seem to work out, no matter how easy they make tagging your photo albums.

I am going away from the computer for approximately 48 hours. Of course, this means that Marvel will announce a reboot, or Jim Lee will quit DC, or Alan Moore will announce he’s writing HELLBOY, or Google will buy Archie Comics sometime during the next 48 hours. My Special Operatives will be keeping an eye on things, and I’ve left a few art posts to keep you all amused. But for now I’m going somewhere where giant Indians beat drums so loud that train tracks disintegrate. Because that’s how I roll. So behave.

As happens from time to time, The Beat has been engaged in an outside project which takes up a significant amount of time normally given over to Beatage. Between that and all the incredible comics events all around every week, it’s literally hard to find time to sleep, let along post fun pictures.

But we’ll keep pooking along. There are so many great events we’ve attended in recent weeks that we meant to post about — like the signing for Cliff Chiang and WONDER WOMAN last weekend at Bergen Street Comics — people had lined up as early as 4:30 and the line went around the block! The Source had a little write-up. That’s Mike Cavallero and Ali Collucio standing in front of some of the art, above.

The week before, there was a great signing for Anders Nilsen and Marc Bell at Desert Island, followed by a party that included more great cartoonists of Brooklyn than we’ve ever seen in one place before. Trevor Alixopulos and Vanessa were also in from the Bay Area.

And the Brooklyn Book Festival was somewhere in there — the humor panel we moderated was SRO (Crowd, above), and the Craig Thompson/Anders Nilsen/Adrian Tomine panel was one of the hottest tickets at the show. Oh yeah, Keith Knight was there — that dude is so smart and funny.

We’re surely forgetting something. Comics are EVERYWHERE this fall. Craig Thompson’s tour has also been drawing crowds — here he is at the Cartoon Art Museum (photo from Todd Allen.) Torsten or Jen is sure to send a report in from ICAF.

Speaking of contributors, our new recruit Bruce is doing some great stuff. How about them tablets, eh?

So much is going on…even though the New 52 and the reaction to the same and the roar of the women in comics seems to have taken over this blog — and several others at times — there’s some kind of zeitgeist-y reason for that. We have a big long essay that we’ll probably never have time to write that would explain everything. If we can steal a few hours…

The other day we reminded ourselves that we live in a world where John Porcellino drew a graphic novel about Thoreau for Disney. That’s a pretty good world.

As you may not have noticed, the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks falls on a Sunday and so more than 90 Sunday strip cartoonists will be marking the occasion.

The comics, each produced independently by the artists, will be featured in a separate, full-color pullout section and online the same day at www.cartoonistsremember911.com. Afterward, exhibits on the strips are planned for the Newseum in Washington, San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum, the Toonseum in Pittsburgh and the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York.

The tone of the strips are varied, said Brendan Burford, comics editor at King Features Syndicate, with some taking a sentimental tack, while others may try to make a reader laugh.

”After 9/11, the cartoonists organized and did a series of message strips around Thanksgiving Weekend … but it was also reflective and sympathetic to everyone who suffered,“ he said.

For a look back at how cartoonists covered the event when it happened, this Onion piece might be of interest.

Wow, life in these United States sure is funny. One minute you’re watching dashing rebels storming a tyrant’s compound while intrepid Sara Sidner dodges celebratory, lethal bullets, the next there’s a dinky but baffling earthquake, and what about that hurricane? And then this happened.

Yes, as all regulars know, when you see an old cover from Cover Browser, it means The Beat is taking a little break.

Just a little one. We’ll have the July sales charts and some previews to tide you over. Of course, with our luck, Diamond will buy Verizon or something.

Stay strong, America. Stay strong, comics. We’ll be back on Monday.

As a wave of violence has hit several cities in the UK, several comics shops have been targeted by rioters — but fortunately the damage has been mostly cosmetic and new comics were on sale today — a welcome hint of normalcy. Nostalgia and Comics in Birmingham was hit on Monday night, with the front window damaged; luckily the store was intact and as one costumer tweeted:

@robstickler: Was delighted to find @NostalgiaComics trading normally and able to sort me out with my Batman fix earlier.

Nostalgia and Comics, one of England’s oldest comics shops, is located right next door to a Richer Sounds — the English equivalent of Best Buy — which has been looted two nights in a row (videos are up on YouTube) so it’s fortunate that things didn’t go worse.

In Manchester, the Forbidden Planet received a similarly busted front window last night, as Joe Gordon blogged:

I spoke to the Manchester branch just a few minutes ago and they were cheered at the concern and love they had from the local comics fans, so thank you all very much for that.

The Manchester store did take some damage to the windows, but as with the N&C store the day before it doesn’t look like they got into the actual store, so there was no looting, the staff were at home so they are all unharmed, thank goodness. I’ve also checked in with the N&C gang and our crew in Wolverhampton where there were disturbances last night too, N&C reports no new problems and fortunately our Wolverhampton store avoided any damage, although several of their neighbouring retailers were not so lucky (on a positive note though, volunteers are already out on the streets there helping clean up the mess, kudos to them). All of the stores are open for business today – it’s New Comics Day and by grud, we’ll be damned if any bunch of rioting mutie scum will stop us selling new comics today!

A Place in Space in Croyden — where there was heavy rioting and looting including another Richer Sounds — closed early but is in good shape.

Nostalgia & Comics in peaceful times

While all of this violence would be notable and disheartening without any personal connection, I have to note here that I have a very personal connection to the Birmingham rioting. Future Mr. Beat formerly worked at both Nostalgia and Comics and Richer Sounds. His brother, Rob, who I adore, currently works at Richer Sounds, and has spent the last two days trying to help with the cleanup from the looting — and staying safe, too, I hope. I’ve been in both these shops and hung out with the great employees. Hopefully all the stores and personnel stay safe and this senseless idiocy ends without further incident.

One red-eye flight from Burbank later, and I’ve had the most uninterrupted sleep I’ve gotten in two weeks. It will take another 10 hours to really get normal, but for that I’ve got to hang on until the weekend. YOU CAN DO IT!

I’ll have more emblematic con thoughts tomorrow, but for now a few shout outs:

• Big ups to Chandler M. aka kaijuMOSES for cat-sitting. At the show I expressed concern to many people over the well-being of my 19-year-old cat who I had to leave in a horrible heatwave. I’m thrilled to report that Inky was at the door to meet me, and bright and alert as a kitten. I think in the future I’m not going to be able to leave her alone for this long a period, but Chandler did an AMAZING job and I can’t thank her enough. She’s also a cartoonist, folks, so check it out.

• HUGE thanks to the great Patricia Mulvihill who read my pleas on Twitter for an electric kettle to make morning Vietnamese instant coffee and sent one to our hotel, which although old and charming and conveniently located has NO coffeemakers, NO minibar and barely any Wi-Fi. It did, however, have a ghost and a balcony! Trish is the best friend anyone could have, and the electric kettle shall see us through many rocky mornings.

• A sad farewell to my perfect black mesh hoodie which I left behind in the Marina Room at the ICv2 conference, never to be seen again. You served me many long years as the perfect summer cover-up and died a Viking’s death at Comic-Con, mesh hoodie. Never shall I see your like again. Unless Nike makes one.

• Many thanks to all the pals who made the show a better, more enjoyable place: Ben McCool, Lorelei, Jimmy A., Jimmy P., Paul P., the Legendary crew (Bob, Greg, Heather, Joel, Arup and anyone whose name I missed); Ali C and Nate C for all their help; Jah Furry; David B.,; Calvin and Jody, the royal couple of Comic-Con; the guy who let me into the Spike Lounge so I could use their Wi-Fi; Brenda M. for hanging Sunday night; and many people who I will only remember when I look at the hundreds of pictures I took.

• And of course HUGE, HUGE, HUGE thanks to Torsten Adair, Kate “Oracle” Fitzsimons and Shannon O’Leary for all their hard work at the show. Almost nonexistent networks and the general logistics make covering the whole show from on the ground impossible, and having an eye or two in the sky is as necessary as instant Vietnamese coffee. To have folks who can do it with style and insight makes it even better.