Why I lowered the price….

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

10 Comments

Kiarelle » 30 Apr 2011 » Reply

…sometimes I want to kick myself for stupidity.

I've been researching for the book proposal I mentioned on the newest page in the comic; trying to figure out the price of printing a graphic novel, how many pages, etc. Now I'm wondering if I've wasted days in a headache when I could have just asked you. If that's okay to pester you with questions that is.

I really do admire what you are doing. And I'm hoping that I can buy the books soon as a present to my fiance who I think would love them.

    Trav the bean » 2 May 2011 » Reply

    you can always pester me with a question- i don't mind. and when you buy the books I will sketch in each one of them

      Kiarelle » 2 May 2011 » Reply

      You are so awesome! Seriously, on multiple levels.

      Okay, so what sort of timeline do you look at for the production of one book? From starting point of the idea, to the actual printed copy in your hands. Could you tell me how long each step takes?
      In more particular, what are the steps you go through if you don't mind sharing them.
      Rough budgeting for a print run?

      Most of the other research I needed to get done for my project I found elsewhere but no where does there seem to be straight forward facts about the timeline/process of producing a graphic novel, nor how much it would cost to do a print run. Lots of self publishing sites though, which I did get some quotes from.

      My final project for a class is to actually pitch a book proposal with a slew of research tied into it. Thank you in advance for helping 🙂

        Trav the bean » 6 May 2011 » Reply

        🙂
        Production of a book all depends on how long the book is going to be. So… For bean, each book is 40 pages b/w with a full color cover. It takes about 3 months to produce a book, that does not include the day to script it. What takes the longest is penciling and inking the 40 pages. The lettering takes about two solid nights and then there are edits:) A Print run also varies – yet look about starting at $1000 to $5000 per run depending on qty, color, or b/w. So in planning a book you need to make sure you can cover the print costs of the vision you have in mind.

        There is some good stuff out there. You might also want to talk to Jason Brubaker of Remind.org and Daniel Davis of Steamcrow.com they also have a lot of great knowledge to share.

          Kiarelle » 11 May 2011 »

          Thank you so much, that helped me a lot in gaging how long things would take. Books are pricey! I'm sure with you though it pays off pretty quickly. I'll check out both of them, thank you again, thank you thank you. You are just made of awesome ^^

          Trav the bean » 2 Jun 2011 »

          i am glad i was able to help

Dan Sudkamp » 13 Mar 2011 » Reply

Sure! If you can't do it let me know how. 😉

    Trav the bean » 14 Mar 2011 » Reply

    yeah just go to the actually store where you ordered the books and post the review under the product. That will help out a ton. 🙂

Dan Sudkamp » 11 Mar 2011 » Reply

I did not really know where to post. If there is a better spot for a review, let me know, or move it.

As a fan of old Dungeons and dragons art, I can say I find Travis's work is very satisfying. I love the simple line work of his drawing, with the fine detail he puts into each frame. His art will keep you busy as you look over each panel thoroughly to take it all in.

The first couple books start off slow (as most stories do), defining the main characters and giving you the feel for the story at hand. It doesn't take long before the story jumps into the action, and by the third book, things get moving. Some of the detailed art work made me feel like I was watching Lord of the Rings. The scenery was wonderful. Book four doesn't even need words to tell the story. The rich panels and detail tell it all. Book five is all action packed. Did not take long for Travis to put you into the action and keep it coming. I found no turning back opening the sixth book. The story is rolling strong now and keeps me reading forward, wanting to know where it is going. Travis does a good job changing scenes from one area of the story to the other, keeping you up to date on what is happening elsewhere in the story Kudos Trav!

Needless to say, I found myself reading all 7 books. Normally I read a little and quit. I found myself unable to stop and was drawn into the story and finished them all. I would of read more if the eighth book was ready. 🙂

The books themselves are nicely done. Rich, beautiful color cover, and good quality paper. I enjoyed the long / short book format, much like the funnies in the Sunday paper would be. I really have no complaints on them at all. Other than I need the next book to read.

Dan

    Trav the bean » 13 Mar 2011 » Reply

    actually dan- i might have you move this to the store- thanks for the incredible review:)
    trav

Have your say!

Leave a Reply to Dan Sudkamp Cancel reply

Message

Name *

Email *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.