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I'm excited about the possibilities here, but the actuality of what National Free Comic Book Day is probably going to end up being is a little frustrating to me. I'm no marketing major, but it seems like this whole thing is designed to collapse in on itself. The point is, ostensibly, to expose audiences outside of the comics community to comics. But what, really, is being done to facilitate this? As has been pointed out, the big companies seem more interested in handing out samplers of convoluted storylines in the hopes of luring established comics readers into buying new titles. Not that this is such a bad thing, but it's very short-sighted. There has been, to my knowledge, little or no advertising outside of the comics community (and very little inside it, as well). Basically, as far as I can see, unless you probe around in comics-related areas of the internet, you're not going to know about this. There is no advertisement at my store about Free Comic Book Day. I've been trying to spread the word, but I honestly don't know how much good word of mouth is ultimately going to do. So. Here are a few ideas that I've been tossing around lately:
- Encourage your local store(s) to post signs in their windows, around their stores, or anywhere around town advertising this event. I don't know if the retailers are receiving any kind of advertising material on this from the organizers or not.
- Do your own advertising. Put up flyers on the event. Make sure to include the address of the store and maybe even a map. Make it look professional. We want to make a good impression on the neophytes.
- Ask Borders or any other bookstores that carry comics if you can put up signs around their comics areas advertising the event. Be sure to explain that, while it might be drawing sales away from them in the short-run, it'll pay off for them in the long run if it increases interest in comics w/people who aren't going to be keen on running to the comic store all of the time. I don't know how successful a tack this will be, but it's worth trying.
- Word of mouth. Tell all of your non-comics reading friends. Post it on all of the non-comics areas of the internet that you frequent. Maybe there's a way that we can spread the word to the areas of Barbelith outside of Comics w/o being invasive or off-topic. Maybe ask Tom if he can post a banner ad (if one is available from the organizers)? I'll look into that one.
I suppose that there are a lot more. I have a lot of interest in seeing comics crawling out of the ghetto that they're currently in. I see no reason that they can't become a pop-culture/art staple alongside film, television, books, magazines, fine arts, etc. This is an opportunity to maybe get a foot in the door and I'd like to do everything in my power to make it pay off. Okay. That's it. Move along now...
Arthur Sudnam, II |
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