Captain Marvel Costume by Jamie McKelvie

It was announced over the weekend at WonderCon that Dexter Soy and I will be doing a Captain Marvel book starring Carol Danvers, starting in July of this year–my birthday week, as it happens.  Happy birthday to me!

I’ve got interview links to share galore:

MTV Geek

CBR

Newsarama

Comics Alliance

And I want to take a moment to clarify something I said in the Newsarama interview that’s taken on a life of its own. Here’s the bit:

The problem isn’t just that we have to get folks to buy it; it’s that we have to get retailers to order it. The failing of our distribution model is that our customer isn’t really the reader, our customer is whoever places the Diamond order at any store. So if there’s a perception that the book won’t sell, it gets under-ordered and it becomes this self-fulfilling prophecy.

Here’s a thing that happens to every creator on Twitter on one Wednesday or another: an incredibly sweet reader who really wants to support you, writes to tell you that they tried to buy your book at their LCS and it was already sold out! It’s only noon, they say! The shop only opened at 10! Your book must’ve flown off the shelves!

And then the creator, not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings, says, “Wow! Thanks for your support — better pre-order the next one!” and then they cry into their coffee. Because, friends, selling out by noon on a Wednesday is not good news. Heck, selling out by Thursday is not good news. That means your book was under-ordered — if it was ordered at all. If the consumer wants the product and we can’t get them the product, our system is broken.

I hate the pre-order thing. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Ten years ago, I was complaining about it on the [Warren Ellis Forum] — I’m a shopper. I looooove to shop. I will spend money. But I am not going to buy a pair of shoes that I’m expected to order three months in advance and am not able to try on! And that’s what we’re asking of our readers. It’s the dumbest system. No wonder we have problems! Is there another industry that works like this?

Point One:

That is absolutely and in no uncertain terms not meant to vilify the retailer.  They retailer is as much a victim of this system as anyone — they’re working with surprisingly slim profit margins and unlike their brethren at Barnes & Noble, their products are not returnable.  Which means, whatever they order, they have to be able to sell through–or they’re stuck with it.  They’ve got limited shelf space and literally hundreds of titles choose from every month.  I do no envy them their position.  The system makes it very difficult for the retailer to take risks…

Which is where pre-ordering comes into play.  If you register your interest in a title–your commitment even, if you do it in the form of a pull–with your retailer, then they know that they’ve got a guaranteed sale there.  And the more pre-orders they have for a title, the more likely they are to order a couple extra for the shelf, because they can have a reasonable confidence that the book will have some buzz.  The better the orders, the better the forecast, and the more likely the publisher is to keep putting out the resources to keep producing the book.  Remember, they’re working with limited resources too–I know, I know–but think in terms of time, not money. There are only so many editors in an office, they can only spread their attention so thin.  The number of books that can be produced by any one office is limited and the ones that will win out are the ones that are expected to bring in the highest profits.  Feels crass, I know, but at every stop on along the way, this is a business.

Without pre-orders, the retailer has to intuit how many copies of the book they’re going to be able sell based on their experience with similar titles in the past.  With Captain Marvel, we’re asking them to work out an algorithm based on what?

• The previous Ms. Marvel title, which made it to 50 issue in an entirely different economic market and hasn’t been on the shelves in years;
• Two decidedly midlist creators. Let’s do ourselves the honor of speaking frankly, shall we? I am very proud of my work. I have been a working professional in the industry for a decade and published by the “Big Two” for three years. But. Dex and I are hardly Bendis and Bagley.
• The sales of other female-led superhero titles…   Right.

So.  I don’t mean to sound dramatic.  Really, no one’s life depends on this, does it?  I worked in a surgery clinic for a while–that was life and death. This? It’s not a career-killer. This is just a bummer. And the bummer is that we’re swimming upstream here.  Without preorders, retailers are going to quite naturally make modest assumptions about our prospects.

Does that all make sense?  There are no bad guys here.  We’re all stuck in the same machine.

All that said, I don’t have a better idea!  I’d advocate revolution if I had ANY idea how to do it better.  I do not. I leave that to wiser folks.  In the meantime, with apologies in place, I ask you –

If you favor an underdog–and if you read superheroes, I’m betting you do–and if you think you might be willing to take a $3 or $4 (I confess, I have no idea what price point we’ll be at) gamble on Carol, Dex and I, please let your retailer know by preordering.

When I get back home and I have a chance to breathe, Chris Sebela is going to help me put together a little pre-order form that you can print off this site and take to your local comics shop. We’ll endeavor to thank you for your support by making this as easy as possible.

Point Two:

Of course I’m not the first person to beat this drum.  I never said I was. I’m frankly surprised that bit of that interview has gotten all the traction it has.  Warren Ellis started making pre-order coupons for his books and advocating the practice easily ten years ago.  I humbly recall that I got pissy about it back then. (Sorry, Papa.)

Point Three:

Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Thank you for the insane and unexpected amount of support Carol, Dex, me and Jamie have gotten from you over the past two days.  I am… astonished, frankly.  You’re challenging my pessimism–which is a very Danvers thing for you to do.

And if our book is not for you?  That’s okay. You’re not dooming our comics, our gender, the future of comics, or comics by or about women.  Taste is subjective and we can still be friends. (You know, though, if you’ve never pre-ordered a comic before, you might take this opportunity to try it–it doesn’t have to be Captain Marvel.  You can take support something else–how about an indie or creator-owned book that might not be stocked by your shop at all with out a preorder?)

And, lastly, in whatever form it may take, I thank you for your passion for comics. Without that, we would have nothing.

Follow me on Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook.  Join the conversation on my Jinxworld Forum.

Here are a couple of follow up links:

• A Thousand Sisters site
• A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman book
• Charity Navigator’s page for Women for Women International
• The Women for Women International Website
• Women for Women on Twitter
• The wiki page for Zainab Salbi, the organization’s CEO and founder

And of course:

• My fundraising page; and
• The events page, in case you’d like to join me for the 5k on July 23rd. (And oh, hey, here’s this Couch to 5k plan…)
• Run for Congo Women site

Click Here to Donate

Done., originally uploaded by Kelly Sue.

Protesting against idol worship of comic characters, originally uploaded by mhaithaca.

The Numbers

Okay, so according to Andy Khouri and Pat Loika, the WBCers DIDN’T STAY THE FULL TIME FOR WHICH THEY WERE SCHEDULED.  Consensus seems to be that they were there doing their thing for roughly 40 minutes and there were “3 or 4″ of them.

So.

Now it’s time to make good on our pledges.  Write the check or hit the big donation button and we can retire the hashtag.  (I’d encourage you to do it now if you can, so that you don’t forget, but if you’re actually at SDCC, I can see waiting until you get home.)  Don’t forget to put “Fred Phelps” on the memo line.

How much?

Whatever you can afford/think is appropriate.

We said we’d do $50 if they showed, plus $10/hr for however long they stayed.  (Clearly, I was expecting a little more enthusiasm from them for their cause.)  That’s what?  Roughly $57.50?  Fraction and I are gonna round up on principle and send $100 each to amfAR and maybe one other foundation.  But seriously, if you said you’d do $10/hr–there is no shame in a $7.50 donation if that’s what you’ve got to spare right now.  A gift is a gift.  The important part is following through on your word.

If you pledged $10 per person, it looks like you’re out forty bucks.  If you pledged time?  Put 40 minutes of volunteer work on your to do list.

I want to leave you with something I read about #godlovesbatman on Tom Spurgeon’s excellent Comics Reporter site:

…The thought is that you make their [the WBC's] appearance and all time spent during their appearance drive money going to a charity that they would likely not approve of. I’m going to make such a donation, and I’ll post the time here so you can maybe do so. I’ll also hope to find time and inspiration to pray for those people, because they seem very lost, and maybe you will, too. [Emphasis mine.]

I…I think I might have something in my eye, ya’ll.

Bender joins the WBBC protests #godlovesbatman, originally uploaded by boy interrupted.

Heh. I stand by my assertion that it’s really best to ignore the WBC, but… I couldn’t help but LOL at some of the counter-protesters. Good God, I love you people. (Heeeey. See what I did there??)

Alright, as soon as I have confirmation that they’re gone, we’ll go ahead and make our donation.

(My understanding is that there were 3 WBC-ers and they got there about five minutes before their 1:15 pm scheduled start.)

Oh–another charity I’ve heard mentioned as an appropriate beneficiary is the Matthew Shepard Foundation. I couldn’t find them on Charity Navigator, but I’ve heard Shepard’s mother speak and have been profoundly moved by her message.

EXCEPT!  We need some help in the form of a time-keeper or two, letting us know exactly how long the patron saint of backwards thinking and his family manage to stand and scream in the California sun.  Then, by all means, do stare–at your watch!  Make a note of what time it is and alert the internet that they’re there/still there.  (But do it quietly and from a polite distance, will you?)  Go get yourself a cold drink and check back every now and then until we have an approximate time count.  Like… here would be good.  Or on Twitter, with the hashtag #godlovesbatman

Why?  Because in the spirit of love, we are pledging to donate $50 to amfAR if Phelps and his crew actually show up (often they don’t) and $10 an hour additional to amfAR for every hour they stay.  And we’ll make our donation in Fred’s name.

We’d love you to join us.

(And we’d really love to be able to post a tally of how much we’ve raised.)

Repost far and wide, my pretties.

EDITED TO ADD:

1. We’ll be donating to amfAR, but Sam and Ginny have both suggested the Human Rights Campaign.  Either seems appropriate.
2. Looks like the WBC is only scheduled for 45 minutes.  (Lightweights!)  If that’s the case, we’ll round up to $100–but times are tough and you shouldn’t feel like you have to do the same or not participate.  $7.50 is better than nothing.  $57.50 is peachy and cute.
3. There seems to be some confusion–you don’t need to be at SDCC to pledge.  We’re doing an online donation via this link.

EDITED ONCE AGAIN:

1. I’m told the HRC is quite controversial within the LGBT community for their treatment of the “T” part of the LGBT. Dirk Deppey suggests the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force instead (Click the big pink DONATE button on the upper right).  We have chosen amfAR, but honestly, folks, there are a ton of appropriate charities from the CBLDF (the WBC folks are fond of litigation, as it happens, and they are accusing us of idol worship) to smaller local groups like UCan in Chicago.  (With any charitable organization, do your research.)  What matters is that you take a message of hate and you turn it into a LOVING ACTION.  Get it?  Some assholes go and scream about God’s wrath and BAM! somewhere on the other side of the world, somebody gets a pill they need that they might not have gotten otherwise.
2. Another suggestion I loved was to match the WBC’s time with your time.  So if they spend 45 minutes screaming and yelling, maybe you spend 45 minutes making phone calls to your elected officials making clear your position of support for LGBT civil rights initiatives.  Or you volunteer for an hour at a food bank.  Or whatever.  Get creative; you people are amazing.