Anyways...

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Barnes & Noble Top 1000 Graphic Novels and Comics Bestsellers
Sunday 06 December 2009 5:45 PM

As of approximately 17:45 EST, 06 December 2009, the following titles were among the top 1000 titles as calculated by www.BarnesAndNoble.com.

Last year's analysis can be found here.

The Rankings:

7. Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #4) by Jeff Kinney

ISBN-13: 9780810983915

List price: $13.95

Online price: $7.53

37. The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb by R. Crumb
ISBN-13: 9780393061024

List price :$24.95

Online price: $14.58

39. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #1) by Jeff Kinney
ISBN-13: 9780810993136

List price: $12.95

Online price: $9.32

42. The Last Straw (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #3) by Jeff Kinney
ISBN-13: 9780810970687

$12.95 List price: $12.95

$10.36 Online price: $9.32

55. Rodrick Rules (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #2) by Jeff Kinney
ISBN-13: 9780810994737

List price: $12.95

Online price: $9.32

409. Marvel Encyclopedia 2009 by DK Publishing
ISBN-13: 9780756655303
List price: $40.00
Online price: $23.40

464. Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell
ISBN-13: 9780316114882
Also Available in eBook
List price: $14.99

Online price: $10.79

679. Celebrating Peanuts : 60 Years by Charles Schulz
ISBN-13: 9780740785481

List price: $75.00

Online price: $40.50

751. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

ISBN-13: 9780740748479

List price: $150.00

Online price: $87.75

916. Warriors Manga Box Set: Graystripe's Adventure (Warriors Series) by Erin Hunter
ISBN-13: 9780061782282

List price: $16.99

Online price: $9.93

Dropped titles from last week:

NA. Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid (Tales from the Crypt Series #8) by David Gerrold, Stefan Petrucha, Rob Vollmar, Jim Salicrup, John L. Lansdale

[Currently sold out in paperback AND hardcover at BN.com, therefore no sales ranking. Congrats to Papercutz!]

1384. The Zombie Survival Guide : Recorded Attacks by Max Brooks, Ibraim Roberson (Illustrator)
ISBN-13: 9780307405777
List price: $17.00

Online price: $12.24

1493. Logicomix : An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos H. Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos (Illustrator), Annie Di Donna(Illustrator)

ISBN-13: 9781596914520

List price: $22.95

Online price: $16.52

1679. Maximum Ride, Volume 2 Manga by James Patterson, NaRae Lee (Illustrator) , NaRae Lee (Adapted by)
ISBN-13: 9780759529687
List price: $10.99

Online price: $7.91

2228. Bloom County Complete Library, Volume 1 by Berkeley Breathed

ISBN-13: 9781600105319
Sales Rank: 2,228
List price: $39.99

Online price: $28.79

2235. Vampire Knight, Volume 8 by Matsuri Hino
ISBN-13: 9781421530734

List price: $9.99

Online price: $8.99

3064. Batman : The Killing Joke by Alan Moore, Brian Bolland (Illustrator) , Richard Starkings
ISBN-13: 9781401216672
List price: $17.99

Online price: $12.95

Analysis:
The Gift of Nothing, a delightful gift book, makes an appearance. Featuring characters from Patrick McDonnell's comic strip Mutts, it is more of a picture book than a graphic novel, but why quibble?

The Warriors Box Set is a nice marketing technique. By packaging previously published volumes into a set, HarperCollins/Tokyopop manages to sell a "gift book" without having to design or publish a new edition. At the sales price of $9.93, more than half off the cover price of the three separate volumes, it costs the same as a regular manga volume.

Not much else is surprising, although Wimpy Kid rockets up to number 7.

The Fine Print:
While I am an employee of Barnes & Noble, Inc., the data presented below is general information from the public website. I have not researched any proprietary sales data, nor do I speak in any official capacity for Barnes & Noble. You can do the same thing I am doing, using the bookmarks listed below. (The easiest way: enter “graphic novels” in the search bar at BN.com. On the left side, you will see a frame titled "Browse Graphic Novels". Click on “bestsellers”. The website sorting differs from the sales ranking (probably due to differing algorithms), so scroll through the listing of ten titles. Unlike other searching, where a user can show 100 titles at a time, this screen can only showcase ten. Click on “next” to continue your research.)

I have no knowledge on how sales rankings are calculated. I hypothesize that since the site refreshes periodically throughout the day, that a rolling calculation of sales is performed, where recent sales are weighted more heavily than older sales. Also, sales are in relation to other titles, not a set number of copies sold. The sales rank is sequential. Just as two football teams can be undefeated in a football poll and one may be rated higher than the other, so too are the titles here listed sequentially in relation to everything else. Of course, analysis can only be compared to the titles NOW. Retail sales were difficult last year, and with the media dubbing “Black Friday” as “Grey Friday” this year because of reduced consumer spending, this year will be just as challenging.

I will survey the BN.com website weekly and at approximately the same time.
Here are the bookmarks I use to survey results:

http://browse.barnesandnoble.com/browse/nav.asp?env=web&endecaid=&visgrp=fiction&bncatid=1133349&cds2Pid=16864&linkid=1511365

http://browse.barnesandnoble.com/browse/nav.asp?bncatid=1133350&visgrp=fiction&isendeca=y&Ns=SALESRANK_SORT&sid=65213F09810C&act=M9

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?SZE=100&WRD=comics&SRT=S

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?SZE=100&WRD=comic+strip&SRT=S

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?SZE=100&WRD=comic+books&SRT=S

Barnes & Noble Top 1000 Graphic Novels and Comics Bestsellers
Cyber Monday 30 November 2009 5:30 PM

The following is a survey of comics-related titles appearing on the Barnes & Noble website.

Using various keyword searches, sorting by sales ranking, the following books are among the Top 1000 books items, as viewed at approximately 5:30 PM on Monday, November 30, 2009.

Sales in the Top 100 listings can be considered “bestsellers”.

While I am an employee of Barnes & Noble, Inc., the data presented below is general information from the public website. I have not researched any proprietary sales data, nor do I speak in any official capacity for Barnes & Noble. You can do the same thing I am doing, using the bookmarks listed below. (The easiest way: enter “graphic novels” in the search bar at BN.com. On the left side, you will see a frame titled "Browse Graphic Novels". Click on “bestsellers”. The website sorting differs from the sales ranking (probably due to differing algorithms), so scroll through the listing of ten titles. Unlike other searching, where a user can show 100 titles at a time, this screen can only showcase ten. Click on “next” to continue your research.)

I have no knowledge on how sales rankings are calculated. I hypothesize that since the site refreshes periodically throughout the day, that a rolling calculation of sales is performed, where recent sales are weighted more heavily than older sales. Also, sales are in relation to other titles, not a set number of copies sold. The sales rank is sequential. Just as two football teams can be undefeated in a football poll and one may be rated higher than the other, so too are the titles here listed sequentially in relation to everything else. Of course, analysis can only be compared to the titles NOW. Retail sales were difficult last year, and with the media dubbing “Black Friday” as “Grey Friday” this year because of reduced consumer spending, this year will be just as challenging.

I will survey the BN.com website weekly and at approximately the same time.
Here are the bookmarks I use to survey results:

http://browse.barnesandnoble.com/browse/nav.asp?env=web&endecaid=&visgrp=fiction&bncatid=1133349&cds2Pid=16864&linkid=1511365

http://browse.barnesandnoble.com/browse/nav.asp?bncatid=1133350&visgrp=fiction&isendeca=y&Ns=SALESRANK_SORT&sid=65213F09810C&act=M9

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?SZE=100&WRD=comics&SRT=S

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?SZE=100&WRD=comic+strip&SRT=S

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?SZE=100&WRD=comic+books&SRT=S

Last year's analysis can be found here.

The rankings are:
Sales ranking / Title / Author
Product number
Publisher’s list price / Current sales price (noted as sales prices can affect sales results)

14. Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #4) by Jeff Kinney
ISBN-13: 9780810983915
List price: $13.95 Online price: $6.97

62. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #1) by Jeff Kinney
ISBN-13: 9780810993136
List price: $12.95 Online price: $9.32

64. The Last Straw (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #3) by Jeff Kinney
ISBN-13: 9780810970687
List price: $12.95 Online price: $9.32

65. Rodrick Rules (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #2) by Jeff Kinney
ISBN-13: 9780810994737
List price: $12.95 Online price: $9.32

Not surprisingly, Diary of a Wimpy Kid continues to sell amazingly well. Although it is a hybrid of cartooning and text, the publisher (Abrams) tags it so that it is found via a keyword search for “comics”. Even the Papercutz parody, “Diary of a Stinky Kid”, sells well, which is somewhat unusual for a parody.

66. The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb by R. Crumb
ISBN-13: 9780393061024
List price: $24.95 Online price: $12.47

Robert Crumb’s interpretation of the Book of Genesis continues to sell well, even after two months of release. While some have criticized Crumb’s research, and the depiction of certain scenes, the book is, in my opinion, a faithful (sorry) depiction of the Book.

154. Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid (Tales from the Crypt Series #8) by David Gerrold, Stefan Petrucha, Rob Vollmar, Jim Salicrup, John L. Lansdale
ISBN-13: 9781597071635
List price: $7.95 Online price: $7.15

This is the parody of “Wimpy Kid”, using the classic style of “Tales from the Crypt”, an ongoing comicbook series. This volume is actually an anthology, containing “Stinky Kid and a few other stories from the comics (one of which pokes a pointy stick at "Twilight").

Even more surprising, the hardcover edition of this book, marketed mostly to libraries, has also charted well.

366. Marvel Encyclopedia 2009 by DK Publishing
ISBN-13: 9780756655303
List price: $40.00 Online price: $23.40

The original edition of this book has sold continuously well since it was first published two years ago, an amazing feat for a $40 gift book. This year, Dorling Kindersley has updated the title, as well as offering a special limited edition volume for $100.

421. Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis
ISBN-13: 9781596914520
List price: $22.95 Online price: $11.47

A biographical analysis of the life and ideas of Bertrand Russell as he strives to create a logical philosophical definition of mathematics. Barnes & Noble Studio offers a 4-minute video interview with the creators of this title.

436. The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks by Max Brooks
ISBN-13: 9780307405777
List price: $17.00 Online price: $8.50

Another zombie title, written by the author of “World War Z”, chronicles zombie outbreaks throughout history.

437. Celebrating Peanuts : 60 Years by Charles Schulz
ISBN-13: 9780740785481
List price: $75.00 Online price: $40.50

Andrews McMeel continues their series of anniversary collections of classic comic strips. This oversized volume chronicles the highlights of each year in a beautifully designed volume. Click on the hyperlink and you can "see inside" the edition. Log in with a Barnes & Noble account and one can read even more pages.

546. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
ISBN-13: 9780740748479
List price: $150.00 Online price: $87.75

Another perennial, this title has made the holiday sales charts since its first release in 2005. Three volumes present every comic and supplemental material from this classic series. An amazing success, given the cost. (Actually, it was a huge success when it sold out the second week of December 2005! That it continues to sell well, even without any advertising or newspaper publication, is a testament to the mastery of Bill Watterson.)

766. Bloom County Complete Library, Volume 1 by Berkeley Breathed
ISBN-13: 9781600105319
List price: $39.99 Online price: $23.39

This is the first volume of a series reprinting every strip from the Pulitzer Award-winning comic strip. Annotations help the reader rediscover the cultural references cited. (Does anyone remember the IBM PC Jr.?)

778. Vampire Knight, Volume 8 by Matsuri Hino
ISBN-13: 9781421530734
List price: $9.99 Online price: $4.99

Although manga is popular as a sub-culture of comics, like comics in general, unless there is specific buzz for a title (like the latest volume of Naruto), the sales will be slow and steady. This is even more true during the holiday season, when gift books are more attractive than a regular title. (Loved ones might be hesitant to purchase a regular volume which the giftee might already own.)

972. Batman : The Killing Joke by Alan Moore, Brian Bolland (Illustrator) , Richard Starkings
ISBN-13: 9781401216672
List price: $17.99 Online price: $8.99

A fantastic selling title, ever since the release of The Dark Knight movie in 2008. This title, in print since publication in 1988, has been remastered into a deluxe hardcover edition by the artist, Brian Bolland.

999. Maximum Ride, Volume 2 Manga by James Patterson
ISBN-13: 9780759529687
List price : $10.99 Online price: $5.49

A manga adaptation of the popular prose series by James Patterson. Random House/Del Rey Manga has had great success publishing manga editions of popular Young Adult series. Librarians probably appreciate a “licensed” graphic novel which isn’t based on a media property, teens probably enjoy the comics and tie-in with the Maximum Ride “universe”.

(In a twist of prose to comics, Scholastic will soon be publishing chapter books based on Jeff Smith’s Bone series of graphic novels. He will approve the writing, and supply spot illustrations throughout.)

That's the way it was, Cyber Monday, 2009.

If you've read this far, here's a reward. In 2007, Running Press published a massive, two-volume slipcased collection of Don Martin, priced at $150. However, it didn't sell as well as expected, and is now available as a remaindered title for... wait for it... Twenty-five dollars! Wait a minute! B&N is offering a special discount! It's not $150. It's not $25. It's not even $24.98! Order now, while supplies last, and only pay $22.48! 1200 pages of classic Don Martin insanity from MAD Magazine, for sale, CHEAP!
MAD's Greatest Artists: The Completely MAD Don Martin by Don Martin (Artist)
Operators are standing by! 1-800-THE-BOOK ISBN: 161557333X

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Night of a Thousand Geeks

Sorry it took so long... I started this back in August!

Okay, here's the list... Over 120 actors (and a few directors acting), all linked Kevin-Bacon-style!

The names of actors and movies link to IMDB's credits and cast respectively. No pictures, as this would just clutter everything. Click the link, or do a Google or Wikipedia search.

Bold names denote Oscar winners or nominees. Actors for main or supporting, movies for best picture or nominees.

[The list is not chronological... I started with Bill Pullman and worked outwards. So if it seems that I'm avoiding certain obvious links, it's because they were used elsewhere. Don't worry... your favorites will appear. If not, mention my omission in the comments, and I'll try to work them in later.]

Dune [This is where I stopped. Feel free to continue from here.]

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

Batman Returns [The first Batman movie on the list.]

Tommy Kirk [A member of the Disney bRat Pack, plays a Martian in...]

Pajama Party

Buster Keaton

How To Stuff A Wild Bikini [The first multiple link.]

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine

Vincent Price

Edward Scissorhands

Anthony Michael Hall

The Dark Knight [Batman #2]

Michael Caine [a proto-Kevin Bacon]

Kurt Russell [Another Rat Packer]

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes [Frank Welker, the voice of Scooby Doo and many others, makes a rare appearance in front of the camera]

Cesar Romero

Batman [Batman #3]

Burgess Meredith

Twilight Zone: The Movie

Bill Murray

Ghost Busters

Ernie Hudson

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

Michael Ironside

Total Recall

Sharon Stone

Catwoman [Batman #3.5]

Halle Barry

X2 [A Nexus.]

Bryan Singer [No. Really.]

Star Trek: Nemesis

Ron Perlman

Prince Valiant [Yes, they made a recent movie on Prince Valiant. Who knew? And it is not the first. (Holy smokes!)]

Joanna Lumley [Check out THIS.]

The Satanic Rites of Dracula

The Island of Dr. Moreau

Charlton Heston (Only nominated once, but won for Ben-Hur)

Planet of the Apes

Roddy McDowall

[Oh, crap... got Roddy McDowall confused with Malcolm McDowell!]

[Man... it took some work, but I got it done!]

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Star Trek: First Contact

Patrick Stewart

Excalibur

Helen Mirren [Also a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Spaceballs [This is where it all started. Towards the end of the movie. Heh.]

Bill Pullman

Independence Day

Jeff Goldblum [The first multiple link between actors.]

Geena Davis

Beetle Juice

Michael Keaton

Batman [Batman movie #4]

Jack Nicholson

Mars Attacks

Natalie Portman

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Liam Neeson

Batman Begins [Batman movie #5]

Elf [Ray Harryhausen!]

Mary Steenburgen

Back to the Future Part III

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Labyrinth [Jim Henson does not perform in this movie, but Frank Oz does.]

David Bowie

The Man Who Fell To Earth

Rip Torn

Men In Black

Tommy Lee Jones

Batman Forever [Batman movie #6]

Rene Auberjonois

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Christian Slater

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Batman & Robin [Batman movie #7] [All of the Batman movies have been linked. If you want to link the serial from 1943, knock yerself out. I ain't stoppin' ya.]

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Jerry Lewis [My favorite link on this entire list. Wish I could have linked Valerie Harper.]

Way Way Out

James Brolin [also in Fantastic Voyage]

Westworld [Michael Crichton had only one appearance, in Andromeda Strain.]

Majel Barrett [She rivals Leonard Nimoy and Mark Lenard for the most variations of Star Trek.]

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

William Shatner

Airplane II: The Sequel

Lloyd Bridges

[Crap... had a direct link to Anjelica Huston, but it doesn't exist. Took some work... but here's the patch.]

Honey I Blew Up The Kid

Rick Moranis

Little Shop of Horrors

Steve Martin

The Muppet Movie

Richard Pryor [You could take a shortcut and use Carol Kane to link to Ms. Huston. Here's the scenic route:]

The Wiz

Michael Jackson [Yup, can link to Ms. Huston via Captain EO... patience.]

Masters of the Universe

Courtney Cox

Zoom

Tim Allen

[Galaxy Quest.... CRAP! Already used with Sigourney Weaver. Just a sec...]

The Santa Clause

Peter Boyle

The Adventures of Pluto Nash [Bad movie, great cast]

The Reluctant Astronaut

Leslie Nielsen

Forbidden Planet [Style point for using a serious role of Mr. Nielsen.]

Robbie the Robot [He plays himself in Forbidden Planet, but since this is a fictional movie, not a documentary, and a major role, it counts.]

Gremlins

Chuck Jones [Yes! My second favorite link on this list.]

Innerspace

Henry Gibson

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Christopher Lee

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Johnny Depp [Betcha you thought I forgot him, didn'tcha?]

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

John Rhys-Davies

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

[One of the few fantasy films to be nominated for, let alone win, an Academy Award for Best Picture.]
Cate Blanchett

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Harrison Ford

And thus ends the initial list. Why end it at Harrison Ford? Because once I got going, and found it approaching 122 names, I decided to link all of the Batman movies. Luckily, I was able to splice in the last Batman movie (actually the first) via Kurt Russell, although I had to sacrifice a double (Kurt Russell + John Carpenter = The Thing + Escape From New York) as well as Jamie Lee Curtis (EFNY/Buckaroo Banzai) and John Lithgow (Banzai/Twilight Zone). Actually, it would be slick to link Buckaroo Banzai and its sequel, Big Trouble in Little China via Kurt Russell and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Any corrections, comments, suggestions, criticisms... let me know.

What Do They Have in Common?

Check out the next post and find out!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Conclusions

To end the cliffhanger, I talked to the right person, and got my bonafides just before the Saturday night dinner. Sunday, breakfast Q&A and then lots of talking with exhibitors.

An interesting question from the nice ladies of Random House: What is the most valuable graphic novel? While I didn't know, I hypothesized that the Graphitti signed & numbered slipcased edtion of Watchen would be, even though I have never seen one for sale. Later, I spoke with the founder of Graphitti, and he provided more information. The book contained an original piece of artwork by Dave Gibbons, showing Rorschack reading his journal. However, while this edition was being produced, Alan Moore ended his relationship with DC Comics. Only 150 copies were completed, with the stock being distrbuted among the participating parties. The projected price would have been $100, compared to the $50 price of the regular edition.

Other rare volumes: hardcover Miracleman; Jeff Smith's first book, collecting his "Thorn" strips from Ohio State; Marvel hardcovers from Simon & Schuster.

A great four days, even with the uncertainty. More to follow.

Monday, October 12, 2009

[expletive deleted] Part Two

[Q| (cell phone buffer reached... continued)

Diamond Book serves the returnable retailer market of libraries and bookstores. They are separate divisions with little overlap aside from the publishers Diamond Book represents.

Here's a chilling fact: comic book sales (floppies, periodicals, pamphlets) are diminishing as customers "wait for the trade" paperback or download illegal digital files online. As customers and publishers embrace e-books, this trend will avalanche the decline of comic book sales.

Diamond Comics (and their clients) need to adapt. Most stores will probably change into specialized bookstores with sidelines. Others will become hobby shops, serving a dedicated but small clientele. (Change is already happening, as many comic shops have reduced or eliminated their back-issue bins.)

Diamond, the two-headed beast, needs to open the Retailer Summit to ALL of their clients, both book and comic, for no other reason than this: The future for Diamond lies in offering non-digitized product to as many retailers as possible. Smart retailers (the most important clients) will attend the Summit to learn more about comics and games, a growing and dedicated consumer base. Every fan remembers when bookstores did not have a Graphic Novel section. There are still some bookstores without, not because of prejudice, but because of ignorance. The Diamond Retailer Summit is an excellent opportunity to learn more about GNs, but that opportunity is denied when bookstores are segregated from comics retailers, when comic book stores can learn much from mass-market retailers.

[expletive deleted]

[Q| I am angry, but I shall try to channel that energy constructively and politely.

I have been a graphics novel retailer since 1994, when I worked for SuperCrown Books in Washington, DC. Since 1999, I have been employed by Barnes & Noble.

Diamond Comics Distribution is the de facto distributor of comic books in the United States, supplying prouct to thousands of comics shops across the country (and world).

Each Fall, Diamond hosts a two-day seminar and trade show known as the Diamond Retailer Summit. Workshops on various topics are held, there is an exhibition space. Most important, during the meal sessions, publishers present their upcoming lines and even present surprise guests.

I have attended the last two Summits, flying out to Las Vegas last year, and attending the 2007 Summit in Baltimore.

Here's why I am angry:
I attend for the following reasons:
1) To learn about new product
2) To network with publishers, editors, and comics retailers.
3) To offer my experience as a mass-market retailer to anyone who might listen and profit from it.

In the past, Diamond was gracious enough to give me a complimentary pass. I would have gladly paid the $75 fee (or any other fee as a non-comics retailer), and last year I balanced the karma by giving the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund a $75 donation after their presentation.

This year, I utilized a contact at Diamond Book Distributors, which serves the library and bookstore market. He assured me that everthing was okay, that my credentials established.

So... Sunday morning, I go to check-in. They know I am a customer of Diamond Books, but they have no record of me. This leaves me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

No change in my status this morning, so I am now waiting outside the Fourth Floor ballrooms so that I may meet my contact and get credentialed.

Here's the bigger problem. Diamond is a Siamese twin. Diamond Comics (which hosts the Summit) serves the non-returnable comic book store market. Diamond Book serves the returnable(cont'd)