I posted this elsewhere, as well, on Facebook...
I do believe that it is important to talk about this stuff, as well.
In regards to distribution, I am finding different results from different distributors. Here’s my experience so far; and I’m going to be very specific…
Christianbook[dot]com has been great. They pay for my shipping copies of THE SWORD OF EDEN to them. This is very helpful in my keeping as much profit per book as possible. They take 60% off of the cover price.
Since THE SWORD OF EDEN is a Christian graphic novel, I contacted the largest Christian book distributor, Anchor Distributors. They have a policy of not working with self-publishers. So, they passed on THE SWORD OF EDEN. I find this policy to be… well, quite dumb. They should judge the book on its content, and not on whether it’s being published by a large publisher, or (as in my case) not. And Anchor Distributors came to the point of being quite rude to me.
I like Diamond Comic Distributors. If you’re producing a comic book series or a graphic novel, you should contact them. I have never had any problems with Diamond. I am thankfully that they have always given my self-published work a chance. The publisher pays to ship their books to Diamond. They take 60% off of the cover price.
I’ve talked with Spring Arbor Distributors (a subsidiary of Ingram Industries). They have a "10 or more titles" policy. So, they were a pass. But, they were quite nice to me.
Currently, Independent Publishers Group and Baker & Taylor are reviewing THE SWORD OF EDEN graphic novel. (Baker & Taylor, so far, sounds very positive towards THE SWORD OF EDEN.) Hopefully, I can get one of these two distributors to distribute the graphic novel to secular bookstores, as well as more Christian bookstores.
I hope this information has been helpful.
Anyone else?
If you're interested purchasing (a signed copy of) THE SWORD OF EDEN graphic novel directly from me, it is being sold on Amazon:
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Replies
They've been concentrating on the webcomix for a while, but initially Arkhaven was willing to let indies take advantage of the deal they had brokered for distribution. Might wanna check them out, just to explore your options.
Hi, Michael.
What I mean, with Diamond’s model, is that Diamond pays me 40% of the cover price for each book. So, the cover price of THE SWORD OF EDEN is $19.99. Diamond purchases each copy of the graphic novel from me for $7.99. (The comic book store sells the graphic novel at cover price. Diamond and the comic book store splits the remaining 60%... which would be $11.99 per book.)
Keep in mind that you still have to factor in how much each book costs you to print. (The more copies you print, the more profit you make per book.) And you have to factor in any shipping costs, as well.
Christianbook[dot]com offered me a similar deal to the Diamond model, but Christianbook[dot]com paid for shipping. And Christianbook[dot]com purchased more copies of THE SWORD OF EDEN (than Diamond), so, I made more of a profit per book with Christianbook[dot]com. (Christianbook[dot]com purchases items in large bulks.)
When I sell copies of THE SWORD OF EDEN directly to a retailer (bookstore), I make more of a profit than with the previous-mentioned deals because there’s no distributor involved.
I make even more of a profit (per book) when I sell books directly to readers (on eBay, Amazon, through my Messianic Comics web store, or at signings) because there’s no retailer, nor distributor taking their cut.
I hope that that makes sense.