Coming and goings: Bernardi, Leong, Pereyda, Abel, Khoo
Lots of bold faced names have been moving around over the last few weeks -- congrats to all.
• Mark Bernardi (above) will replace Michael...
Hastings bookstore chain files for bankruptcy; debt to Diamond uncertain
As suggested by recent rumblings, Hastings, the third largest national bookstore chain after Barnes and Noble and Books-a-Million, hasfiled for bankruptcy following years of...
Nostalgia corner: Harris Publications shuts down
Books and comics may have survived disruption but magazines really haven't and the great 21st century newsstand massacre just claimed another victim as Harris...
Surprise! Raina Telgemeier tops indie bookstore graphic novels sales
While researching the previous item, I cam across this every other month chart of graphic novel bestsellers in indie bookstores, via the ABA. It's about what you'd expect, with Raina Telegemeier and Allie Brosh, Noelle Stevenson, Kate Beaton and Saga reigning supreme. In other words, the unstoppable forces of mainstream comics acceptance. A little surprised that no Walking Dead on there, but the new season hadn't debuted when this chart was made.
Book sales and bookstores up in 2015
The book is alive! Alive, I tell you! Bookstore sales rose in 2015 for the first time since 2007. It was only a modest...
Where Were the Creators For DC’s Relaunch?
Announcing how frequently your new titles ship, but not who the creators are says a lot about priorities...
ComicsPRO underway in Portland—is DC’s Rebirth on the agenda?
https://twitter.com/mr_oberts/status/700339353344540677
ComicsPRO, the annual meeting of the top retailers organization in North America, is taking place in Portland, OR for the next three days, with...
Wal-mart may set up their own graphic novel sections
Despite the jitters everyone is having about the Big Two's periodical publishing programs, as we reported the other day, graphic novels did pretty well in 2015, with sales up 22% in bookstores. Calvin Reid follows up on this sanguine report with an interview with Diamond Book Distributions Kuo Yu Liang, who says
2016 will probably be their best year ever.:
The latest Eric Stephenson tells-it-like-it-is interview pokes “dull, “bland” industry
Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson is always quotable and evidently not afraid of being quoted, as he often tweaks other publishers in a blunt...
Ch-ch-ch-changes for The Beat
If you're a faithful Beat reader, you know the past year has been filled with discussions of the economics of running a comics news website. This talk was prompted by an unprecedented run of comics sites closing down or losing key personnel. I summed up a lot of my thoughts back in September, pointing out that the realities of the web make running any kind of independent site very difficult these days.
IDW announces new international licensing program, kicking things off with Archie
About a year ago, IDW made headlines by buying Top Shelf. They haven't topped that yet, but they do have a new business division:...
Must read: the last decade of graphic novel publishing and the next five
As we wrap up our big picture look at where it's at, here's a piece that Calvin Reid and I put together for Publishers...
