Newsprint comics returning....?

[emeraldknight47]

Now, to me, THIS is cool news...

http://www.newsarama.com/32580-one-publisher-returning-to-newsprint-for-comic-book-printing.html

I know this subject matter was discussed in an earlier post as well, but when I read this, it gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Just think, if this small publishing house can make a run at this, it might just persuade the big two to at least consider doing a less expensive line of classic characters on newsprint. Perhaps newsprint, like vinyl, can have another day in the sun....

[johnnystorm]

I'll buy this book for sure. I've never bought into the better paper myth, I think it's another publishing scam like gimmick covers and endless variants.
Hopefully these do ok and other companies take notice.

[LonnieFisher]

Sound spectacular!! I hope others follow the example.

[MRP]

Not to pour water all over it but they just finished a GoFundME on the 31st of December to prevent them from going into bankruptcy because they had no credit and no operating capital, have been publishing for 10 years and haven't sold enough to be picked up by Diamond for distribution yet and have a track record of announcements that never see the light of day because they are no more than wishful thinking by the owner before he does any due diligence to check what the market and costs on plans actually are. So good luck to him, but having done the due diligence on producing small press runs on newsprint in the last 5 years and found the cost is in the range of 20 cents per page just to print it, I don't see how his numbers can work. He has focused on digital only books with some print on demand for those 10 years because he hasn't had the capital to front the money for print production nor the infrastructure or deals in place to get his books distributed to the market.

So I'll believe it when I see it and I will be shocked if he can get a 20+ page book printed on newsprint without losing money on every copy he prints at any price point, in particular the price point he is promising.

-M

[emeraldknight47]

Not to pour water all over it but they just finished a GoFundME on the 31st of December to prevent them from going into bankruptcy because they had no credit and no operating capital, have been publishing for 10 years and haven't sold enough to be picked up by Diamond for distribution yet and have a track record of announcements that never see the light of day because they are no more than wishful thinking by the owner before he does any due diligence to check what the market and costs on plans actually are. So good luck to him, but having done the due diligence on producing small press runs on newsprint in the last 5 years and found the cost is in the range of 20 cents per page just to print it, I don't see how his numbers can work. He has focused on digital only books with some print on demand for those 10 years because he hasn't had the capital to front the money for print production nor the infrastructure or deals in place to get his books distributed to the market.

So I'll believe it when I see it and I will be shocked if he can get a 20+ page book printed on newsprint without losing money on every copy he prints at any price point, in particular the price point he is promising.

-M

Well, this is bummer news, but hopefully something will see the light of day on newsprint again. The ten-year old inside me can only hope....

[MRP]

Well, this is bummer news, but hopefully something will see the light of day on newsprint again. The ten-year old inside me can only hope....

Maybe he made enough on the GoFundMe to give this a go, maybe he found someplace that offers offset newsprint printing at a more affordable price (which is problematic as many print shops now offer only digital printing, and not offset presses to keep their costs down so you have to find not only a printer who has the equipment, but one willing to use it on the miniscule print runs an indy comic would have and not charge an arm and a leg to do so because they lose out opportunity costs for larger clients if they tie up the presses and have to reset the plates etc.), maybe he found a distributor, maybe he found creators willing to work for nothing to keep costs down and this will work. But there's a lot of maybes in there and not a whole lot of real foundation to build hopes on for me.

The other problem is paper mills aren't making much newsprint any more, making enough to supply the clients who use it regularly (i.e. newspapers) but not much of a surplus beyond that available for purchase by others. The lack of extra supply drives prices up too, and newsprint is actually more expensive in most cases than plain white paperstock unless you are contracted to buy preset quantities in bulk like the newspapers do.

It'd be nice to see a newsprint comic for nostalgia's sake, but there really isn't a viable market for getting it produced unless something in the printing market has radically changed since late 2014 when were trying to do an old school coloring book on newsprint featuring super-heroes and monsters created by a local comic producing studio and I spent nearly 2 months trying to find a way to make it happen, to find a printer capable of doing it, finding a printer who was capable of doing it willing to do it at a price that didn't make it cost-prohibitive, trying to find a supply of newsprint, etc. etc. etc. and finally deeming it non-feasible and going with plain white paper for the product. Now this was a side/hobby business for the folks at the studio and this guy has been at it a bit longer than me, so he may have contacts/leads I didn't, but given what I found out there when trying this and what other self-publishers and independent creators I have networked with over the years on the con circuit have told me, these sounds an awful lot like wishful thinking rather than a real business plan where the due diligence has been done before making an announcement. Making a logo and tweeting "hey we're going to this" is easy. Making it happen is hard.

-M

[MIB41]

Yeah, I am equally excited to hear about this kind of development. But it makes sense that materials to turn any kind of profit today are not going to be available at the kind of cost they were back in the 60's and 70's when the print industry was still vital and this kind of production was a-typical. Fingers crossed though that he can make it happen. Something to be said for the old school approach.

[hedrap]

I'm not surprised he's run into such problems. If you read about Moore's 1964, it was a PITA back in '94. The best adaptive model must have been Malibu, but that too was early digitial, IIRC.

Isn't the folklore something occurred - fire, flood - at a Canadian press, and that was the final nail?

[emeraldknight47]

Yeah, I am equally excited to hear about this kind of development. But it makes sense that materials to turn any kind of profit today are not going to be available at the kind of cost they were back in the 60's and 70's when the print industry was still vital and this kind of production was a-typical. Fingers crossed though that he can make it happen. Something to be said for the old school approach.

The further we slide into the future, the more important and desired nostalgia is, at least by folks of our generation from what I see on commercials, on TV and in stores. What could be more nostalgic to people of our mindset than a trip back to simple, four-color process on newsprint, even if it were only for a six month mini-series or something.

[MRP]

Well I guess this is one way Alterna Comics keeps their costs down-every year they do an anthology book and have an open call for subnmissions, this is their compensation for creators for that book:

Compensation: 1 book per page per creator. Examples: A 5 page story with 1 creator will receive 5 books; a 10 page story with 2 creators will receive 20 books; and so on. The team leader of the project (the person who submits the story) will be responsible for sending out copies to their creative team as all copies will be sent to the team leader. Book price will be set at $14.95 USD.

So you don't get paid per se, you have to go out and sell copies of the books yourself if you want to see any money for your work.

Not sure how they compensate creators for ongoing series, but it doesn't look like they would actually offer a page rate, which severely limits the creators who would be willing to do work for them to a pool of people just looking to get work published so they can break in but who don't want to actually self-publish.

Here's a link for their submission page for that anthology...

http://www.alternacomics.com/if-anthology



-M

[hedrap]

^That. Makes. No. Sense.

[MRP]

^That. Makes. No. Sense.

It's the way amateur press does things. Small gatherings of creators who do things at a self-publishing level banding together to gets books printed and then making their money selling their stuff on the small press convention circuit. It's not the way a professional publisher does things let alone one that has delusions of grandeur like Alternapress and their press releases that gossip columns like Bleeding Cool and clickbait sites like Newsarama pick up on.

This is one of the many reasons I am skeptical of this publisher.

-M

[MRP]

Looks like he expects to sell ad space to defray costs...

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/01...k-advertising/

Alterna has the details on their website, including options for All Ages and more mature products, and the publisher says the circulation will be 5000 copies for a first issue and 3000 for subsequent issues. Here’s the full pricing lineup:

1/4 page – $20 BW/$25 Full Color
Grayscale for a BW book
CMYK for a Full Color book

1/3 page – $40 BW/$50 Full Color
Grayscale for a BW book
CMYK for a Full Color book

1/2 page – $60 BW/$75 Full Color
Grayscale for a BW book
CMYK for a Full Color book

Full page – $80 BW/$100 Full Color
6.875×10.45 full bleed (6.625×10.2 trim)
Grayscale for a BW book
CMYK for a Full Color book

Inside Back Cover – $125
6.875×10.45 full bleed (6.625×10.2 trim)
CMYK (Full Color)

Inside Front Cover – $150
6.875×10.45 full bleed (6.625×10.2 trim)
CMYK (Full Color)

Back Cover – $200
6.875×10.45 full bleed (6.625×10.2 trim)
CMYK (Full Color)

Looks like he expects to sell 5K copies of his first issues, which is extremely optimistic as there are books in the Diamond top 300 that don't move 5K copies and he hasn't sold enough to be picked up by Diamond yet.

I wonder if he can provide info on expected customer demographics, market penetration and distribution channels to convince me to buy ad space in his books, I mean I need something to spend money on advertising that will at most reach a few thousand people but most likely only a few hundred. Considering big 2 books don't generate much in the way of ad revenue and they reach 50-100K per book they advertise in in a lot of cases and they are still basically giving ad space away for the most part I am not sure how why he expects people to sign up and advertise in his books when online guerrilla marketing would cost less, reach more people, and be more effective.

It just all seems like his pipe dream and that he hasn't done any due diligence to see what the market conditions are actually like.

-M

[Blue Meanie]

I'm in for this. Already let my comic book store know that I want the first issue when it comes out. Support it if you are interested...I will.