The Bean 216
The Bean 216
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Well, Issue 7 is out and man am I excited.

One of the drawbacks though of printed books is you have to price them so you can continue to print more. When you deal with a distributor  this can be frustrating since they usually take 60% off the cover price, forcing you to push the cost up on a product and demand large quantities.

Most independents do not have the capital to produce 4000 books and find out if book sales are slow to start a series, that they are forced to give up. Jeff Smith once said ” if you can get to issue 8 you have a chance.” That’s one of the reason web comics are so popular, it gave independents a way to show case their ideas.

Yet since I have no distribution, due to the low quantities I print, (only 500 at a time) and my odd size, but myself, I realized that I am not constricted to that 60% cut. So I can price my comics at the price I originally intended and that was $3.75 a book instead of the $4.75. That covers printing and insures that the series continues. If I blow all my money on 4000 copies of issue 1 and can’t print issue 2 than what good does it do to those that fell in love with the series in the first place.

I would rather get it out there to more people, than hold out for more cash. It’s more about telling my story and if it helps pay the bills great, but that’s not important. What is important is that the story gets told and enjoyed by everyone.

If a distributor wants to work with us, then we’ll talk, but when independent comics are not being looked at by comic book stores, because they are just trying to survive, than we independents have to get really creative. Yet the web is a powerful tool, when used correctly.

I will continue to posts the series as a webcomic cause I want everyone to have a chance to enjoy my vision. To those that buy  books, you are ensuring that the series continues. You are funding the work and preparing the way for larger graphic novels.

Right now we are at 266 pages of story and growing. It is quite exciting and I hope that more independents can find ways to creative as the stores continue to down size their orders across the board.

Is this a rant? not really, its more survival. We learned at the last show we did that Bean has a growing following. It was bigger than I thought and I am so encouraged from the response that I am moving like the wind to continue this tale I envisioned so many years ago.

So thank you for supporting us this far. I hope this lowered price encourages others to help support this cause to put the world of the broken moon into the mainstream. My promise still stands, 3 days a week and no delays til we are done and we are far from being done. So tell a friend, help us prove independents can still survive in the ever changing world of comics

thanks and keep creating.

trav