Elin's Journal

This is a must-read for anyone interested in the continuing health of the North American comics industry.

That's not hyperbole. I'm seeing this stuff from both sides, as both a comics publisher and a comics retailer, and Chris nails it. This is what has been going on. How much stuff are we missing at the shop I work at, the shop that is considered to have the best selection in our city? Never mind the things that have been hit with a Code 28, what things weren't even listed that we might have normally carried?

I end up doing a lot of searches for people looking for things at work. And it's always upsetting to find things that have been out for six or eight or ten months that Diamond Distribution apparently just didn't even bother to list. (Ouran High School Host Club Season 1 Part 2 DVD set? REALLY?!)

I admit, my taste is not the average comic reader's. I don't read superheroes aside from cursory pass-throughs on my lunch breaks to keep up with stuff for work. I read a lot of obscure indie stuff and a lot of manga and manhwa that categorically Do Not Sell in our store (I special order). But I do know if I find something that I think is awesome and amazing, I CAN HAND-SELL THAT. I am damn good at hand-selling. It's what I've done since I first started working in a comic store when I was 19. (jameshanrahan and I hand-sold literally dozens of copies of The Death of Speedy and dozens of copies of a brand new comic called Bone, back in the day.)

I can't hand-sell stuff when we can't even get it in the store because we didn't even know it existed. This is where the Direct Market is going to fail us as retailers, and where it is going to fail us as consumers.

It's kind of already failing me as a publisher, so it shouldn't be too unexpected, really.

Here is the list of titles that I observed being purchased by girls/women for their own enjoyment at the comic store I work at for last week. As always, stuff women were purchasing for boyfriends/sons/husbands is not included.
( Read more... )

Fewer DVDs this time, more comics. Still interesting data, though I have no idea what to do with it. I think the whole vague idea of proving that there's no predictable way to say "women only buy this kind of thing, period!" has pretty much been done. I mean, the stuff the women buy in the store I work at has been all over the map- and often they buy things (and are quite passionate about said things!) that are aimed squarely at a male audience. They also seem to like to buy sexy stuff- and not just yaoi, I mean sexy stuff with hot chicks in tiny outfits. It happens all the time. (It seems to be fairly prevalent in anime fandom as well, shows that are packed to the gills with sexy girls get rented by women all the time.) I'll probably keep logging this stuff though, just because I am a little OCD.

In other stuff, there's been no time for LJ posting between day job work, Radio work and my favorite, house work. Alas!

Here is the list of titles that I observed being purchased by girls/women for their own enjoyment at the comic store I work at for last week. As always, stuff women were purchasing for boyfriends/sons/husbands is not included.
( Read more... )

A very light week this week, but from what I am told, the last two weeks of October are traditionally the slowest sales weeks of the year.

Here is the list of titles that I observed being purchased by girls/women for their own enjoyment at the comic store I work at for last week. As always, stuff women were purchasing for boyfriends/sons/husbands is not included.
( Read more... )

Lots of DVDs this week, as well as standard comics instead of manga. I'm still finding this gathering of information interesting, as I am only proving my theory that there is no "magic bullet" as to what women/girls will like in nerd media, they are all over the map, taste-wise. ^_^

No one ever really liked Loverboy, did they? I honestly can't imagine that they were once someone's favorite band ever.

The weekend was busy, much like the rest of the week. I had a lot of work, both day job wise and Radio wise, and I'm still fighting off this horrible cold thing. (Which actually, has turned out to be a sinus infection... I am getting antibiotics today though, so that's a good thing!) Friday night we went to have Chinese with ichbinkeinenazi, Susan and their kids, then hung out with denshousha, matthigh, jameshanrahan, densetsujin, Trent and Kelly at the apartment, and had a nice time watching anime, obscure Chaplin shorts and Rebelde. Saturday, I worked on Radio stuff, then suarez and I went to see the Rocky Horror play that my friend Lee was appearing in. It was very nice to see him and some of the other old friends who showed up. Sunday, Suar and I went to Sea World to activate the new season passes he got for us (I think he gets a discount through his job...). We didn't hit any rides at all, instead just looked at the animals and such. (Though, seeing the killer whale show made me really sad, for some unknown reason.) Thus, we got to hear some really stupid comments from the general public, which are as follows:

(In the puffin exhibit):
Woman to child: "Those aren't penguins, they're birds!"

Man to girlfriend: "Those are birds, not ducks!"

(In the penguin exhibit):
Woman: "Is that some kind of bird-fish?!"

(At the Asian otter exhibit):
Man to children: "Those are the babies of the seals we just saw!"

Ah, humanity, how can you be so stupid? It was just like something out of Idiocracy.

After that, I had a store meeting at work, so I went there. Then, home to play a little tiny bit of WoW, and then sleep. Today I have a rare weekday off, so I am working on Radio stuff with willworks (mail order, errands, production work, etc.) and will go to pick up my prescription later. Which is good, since the snot coming out is still bright dayglo green, now with added blood! Delightful! I also have to pay a printing bill today.

One bonus of this weekend was in talking to my old friends at Rocky Horror, I was able to get back in touch with one of my dearest friends from back in the day, senni. It's so cool to hear from her again after all these years!

And now, the obligatory auction posting:
New eBay auctions are here!

Currently reading: Papillon Vol. 1 by Miwa Ueda; Sand Chronicles Vol. 1 & 2 by Kinako Ashihara

Here is the list of titles that I observed being purchased by girls/women for their own enjoyment at the comic store I work at for last week. As always, stuff women were purchasing for boyfriends/sons/husbands is not included.
( Read more... )

A big manga week this week, and most of them yaoi titles. Which is completely unsurprising. ^_^

This was a short week for me, since I was only on the schedule for four instead of my usual five days (what with the getting courthouse-married and all...) Still, here is the list of titles that I observed being purchased by girls/women for their own enjoyment at the comic store I work at. This week's list is smaller, as we had fewer female customers on the shifts I worked. Since it's so small this week, it's not in a cut.

Comics/graphic novels:
Stephen King's Dark Tower: Treachery

Manga/manhwa:
Goth
Black Jack
Disgaea 2
Full Metal Panic
Rosario+Vampire

Misc:
RPG dice

We also had a pair of girls come in to get a birthday present for one of their boyfriends- they bought a Wanted graphic novel and some Magic: The Gathering cards. But since they weren't buying these things for themselves, I didn't include them in this week's listing.

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I am doing rather lackadaisical low key "research" into what women and girls buy for themselves in the comic/gaming/anime store I work at for my day job. ("Research" because it consists of me paying attention to sales and writing the stuff down in a little book.) I decided to do this because there seems to be so much talk online about "comics for girls" and "what girls want to read" and all that, and no one seemed to actually be looking at what girls/women buy in comics stores. So, it got me wondering. Also, my personal experiences of liking things only boys are supposed to like (comics, video games, using random quotes from movies out of context, etc.) made me wonder if there was any way you could accurately pin down "what all women want" when it comes to media or entertainment. So, this list was born. (And no, I don't think there is one easy answer for "what all women want", because women, like men, are individuals with their own personal tastes. The sooner people realize that, the better.)

I am only counting things that I see being bought on my actual shifts when I am working and I am only counting things that girls and women are buying for their own personal enjoyment/use. (Not counting stuff they get for boyfriends, husbands, sons, etc.) Sound fair? Okay, here's the list of titles for this week in the cut:
( Read more... )

It's been busy here, thus the lack of posting. After the whole scheduling/deadline debacle situation, we got Furrlough #185 and Hit the Beach #14 turned in to the printers; they should ship to the distros by the end of the month. Genus #89 has been re-solicited for December 2008 release, and as I mentioned before, Milk #64 (and subsequently, Milk #65) was cancelled. (The stories planned for those issues will be released on the SinFactoryComix.com site instead. Which means potential dead-tree form versions later in the form of Milk specials...)

This weekend, we will be venturing out to Mephit FurMeet in Memphis, TN. (It will be myself, matthigh and densetsujin; suarez has to work, and willworks is taking a much-delayed visit to his parents.) We'll be sharing table space with thphilster as we usually do at the convention; I expect we'll do okay there. It's always a good con for us.

In the meantime, I am working a lot at the comic-store day job to make up for the time I asked off for the con (and for the day I had to ask off for so we could get those two books I mentioned earlier turned in on time...). It continues to be a job I am decent at doing and I am finally getting to know the regular customers so I can recognize them when they come in. It's only minimum wage, but I'm doing about 34 hours per week. Then I come home, eat something and then do Radio work until I absolutely can't stay awake anymore. No one said this comic thing would be easy.

Media I've enjoyed recently:
Xam'd: Lost Memories, an anime made by people who clearly REALLY LOVE Studio Ghibli. (Not complaining, it's well written and interesting.)
Bride of the Water God by Yun Mi-Kyung (These were a lovely unexpected and much appreciated housewarming gift from studioqt- the art is gorgeous and the story is intriguing!)
Wolverine: Old Man Logan -this one surprised me, because honestly, despite my teenage love for Wolverine as a character, I haven't read any Wolverine comics in like 15-20 years or something. This storyline is actually kind of interesting and the art is good. (I read the preview copies we got in at the store; I didn't actually buy it...)
The Wallflower anime series (and manga, really...)

I've also recently re-read all of the Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin, and the Watchmen graphic novel from Alan Moore. I forgot everything that happened in chapter 12 in that book, apparently. I am very excited about the movie, even though I know it probably won't be the same as the comic. I'm also probably going to see the new Punisher movie at some point, simply because the guy who played Titus Pullo in Rome is playing Frank Castle, and I'd watch that guy in anything. Unrelated to movie excitement: I am really looking forward to the new Bryan Talbot comic, Grandville, which is an "anthropomorphic steampunk detective thriller". Yes, please! Talbot's art is amazing and I love his writing.

For a short update, this turned out quite long...

Oh! And tomorrow is suarez's birthday, as well as the birthday of my little sister, nike_eve. I missed my younger brother's birthday on the 21st, sadly because I was working. Alas!

Looks like one of the last yaoi manga we worked on is available now on Amazon, having been released on December 12th, so I can announce it here:

Glass Sky by Yuji Yamada.

Rewrite by me, lettering and touchup by willworks and PD. I know I didn't put "loaner" instead of "loner" in the text description, though, I have no clue how that got in there. -_-;

And, if you're interested, here's a list of the other books we worked on with handy Amazon links:

Dear Myself by Eiki Eiki
World's End by Eiki Eiki
Hybrid Child by Shungiki Nakamura
Clan of the Nakagamis by Homerun Ken (still my favorite of the BL manga we've worked on- it's just flat out goofy fun...)
Cold Sleep by Narise Konohara (this is the novel that DD, Iori and I worked on...)

Just so you know, I don't get any money or anything if you choose to buy any of these (I was work-for-hire), but who knows? If they sell well, perhaps I will get more work! Hey, it can't hurt, right?

There's one more Mysterious Yaoi Manga Project that we finished ages ago, but it isn't available yet so I won't plug it until it's out.

And now, to deal with mail! Off I go!