How Mike Baron goofed with marketing new Badger miniseries
I'd wanted to write about this for a while, but nearly forgot. It seems Baron, who was working on a new miniseries for Badger, decidedly didn't handle marketing well, and the book received low orders as a result. The faults include a lack of serious description for the story in solicitations, and it looks like they're hoping they can count on past readers alone (and even a variant cover) to make it soar in sales.
And I think releasing it all as a miniseries in 5 parts for starters is another grave error. It should've been published all as an OGN, and could've been distributed to regular bookstores with the better chance of finding more audience, provided there was a proper story description to accompany it. Instead, they chose to base everything entirely on the outdated marketing model accompanied by the reliance on a limited audience for sales receipts.
Certainly Baron is a talented writer. So much that, as a result, he's been largely blacklisted by the Big Two. But regrettably, he's one of plenty who're stuck on an old-fashioned vision for marketing, and sounds like he lacks faith in his ability to sell the product to a wider audience, or find ways to do so. Too bad.
And I think releasing it all as a miniseries in 5 parts for starters is another grave error. It should've been published all as an OGN, and could've been distributed to regular bookstores with the better chance of finding more audience, provided there was a proper story description to accompany it. Instead, they chose to base everything entirely on the outdated marketing model accompanied by the reliance on a limited audience for sales receipts.
Certainly Baron is a talented writer. So much that, as a result, he's been largely blacklisted by the Big Two. But regrettably, he's one of plenty who're stuck on an old-fashioned vision for marketing, and sounds like he lacks faith in his ability to sell the product to a wider audience, or find ways to do so. Too bad.
Labels: indie publishers, sales
