Funny thing about those awards though…back when Maus won the special Pulitzer many folks felt that it would open the door. And for a while I kept waiting for another book to open peoples eyes. Fun Home and American Born Chinese did a great deal to elevate the format but it was a dollar sign that really deserves recognition.

At the ICV2 panels Milton Greipp presented his White Paper or State of The Union Address that held an amazing statistic. GN Sales in 2001 were 43 million and climbed to 330 million (libraries bought 30 Million). That is what woke many people up to the possiblility that this “fad” was really much more than that.

Now we have the arrival of The Dark Tower. This book really made the Marvel team step up and create a classic.

I know it was a comic book series but a lot of people in the traditional publishing world dont seem to know that. What they now see though, is an amazing book. The only other thing that could have created such an impact is a GN version of Harry Potter.

The more I study this book, the bigger it gets. Publishing industry is waking up to a new version of rock and roll. This book is probably going to change much more than any of us have considered.

It’s gonna be a really cool ride.

In fact, come to think of it, I hope it IS seaweed. You can smoke seaweed, right?

Hearing some of the stories about the expansion of shelf space reminded me of my younger B&N days using my employee recommendations to get Dark Knight and Watchmen into a face-out, and I have been rating my impression of libraries for years based on their placement and depth of graphic novel and trade holdings. Now I just need to find my way into Columbia’s stacks.

There is definitely a lot going on, and hearing an agent say they were considering graphic novel possibilities raise some goosebumps on my arm. We left with a number of ideas and a lot of brainstorming to do, but one thing I was sorry to have missed was a guest list. There were a few people people I would have liked to follow up with.

That’s wonderful to hear. Even in today’s age of the internet and chain stores, specialty stores can succeed, and indeed can succeed even BETTER if the approach is right. Personally, I go to the comic book store because a) I am greeted and welcomed by name every time I walk in, b) I feel comfortable asking for help or looking for a title, c) they carry specialty items I can’t find in a chain store and novelty items I wouldn’t think to look for online, and d) that 10% discount on all graphic novels gets me every time; there have been plenty of times I’ve been in the Books-A-Million across the street and seen a title I wanted, but as soon as I’ve reached for the spine, to lift it off the shelf, a little voice at the back of my head goes, “Wait. I can get this as Austin Books for LESS,” and I’ll put the book back every time.

I’m excited to see where the retail end continues to progress; maybe I didn’t realize this when I first started in the industry, but the comic book store is such a part of the community of comics, that I can’t imagine it without. The people who own the comic book stores have done so much to promote little guys and girls right along with the big ones; as small as the market once was, and as much as it’s growing, half of us wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them.

And yeay for the push to POS systems! I worked at Austin Books for like . . . two weeks . . . and it drove me NUTS that they actually tabulate everything by hand; it’s a piece of paper with all the lists of titles and you manually have to count every day how many are on the shelves, and then take note in the graphic novels of what volumes are missing, and it was the only way they had of knowing what they’d sold. Crazy.

That’s wonderful to hear. Even in today’s age of the internet and chain stores, specialty stores can succeed, and indeed can succeed even BETTER if the approach is right. Personally, I go to the comic book store because a) I am greeted and welcomed by name every time I walk in, b) I feel comfortable asking for help or looking for a title, c) they carry specialty items I can’t find in a chain store and novelty items I wouldn’t think to look for online, and d) that 10% discount on all graphic novels gets me every time; there have been plenty of times I’ve been in the Books-A-Million across the street and seen a title I wanted, but as soon as I’ve reached for the spine, to lift it off the shelf, a little voice at the back of my head goes, “Wait. I can get this as Austin Books for LESS,” and I’ll put the book back every time.

I’m excited to see where the retail end continues to progress; maybe I didn’t realize this when I first started in the industry, but the comic book store is such a part of the community of comics, that I can’t imagine it without. The people who own the comic book stores have done so much to promote little guys and girls right along with the big ones; as small as the market once was, and as much as it’s growing, half of us wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them.

And yeay for the push to POS systems! I worked at Austin Books for like . . . two weeks . . . and it drove me NUTS that they actually tabulate everything by hand; it’s a piece of paper with all the lists of titles and you manually have to count every day how many are on the shelves, and then take note in the graphic novels of what volumes are missing. Crazy.

Jim @ Marvel