Bookazine Goes Pop: Wholesaler Focuses on Comics and More
This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on January 24, 2006 Sign up now!
by Calvin Reid, PW Comics Week -- Publishers Weekly, 1/24/2006
After watching its graphic novel business grow steadily for years even without any special attention, Bookazine, a Bayonne, N.J., book wholesaler in business since 1929, is now taking a more hands-on approach. The company has hired a comics and pop culture specialist and launched Popazine, a new campaign to market graphic novels and a wide range of pop-culture titles to general trade bookstores and to target the comics shop market—a new business sector for the general books wholesaler.
Kathleen Willoughby, Bookazine v-p, marketing and online development, says, "We were selling graphic novels for years without much marketing effort." But between 2003 and 2005, Willoughby says, Bookazine's business with each of its top three graphic novel suppliers grew more than 60%. And, she says, graphic novel sales as a part of Bookazine's overall business grew from about 1% in 2003 to nearly 4% last year. "Sales in 2002 were pretty modest," says Willoughby, "but beginning in 2003, we experienced a noticeable and continuing increase."
Late last year, Bookazine (www.bookazine.com) hired John Davis, a longtime comics marketing specialist and former director of book sales at manga publisher Central Park Media, to direct the program. Davis organized Popazine, a marketing program that includes a Popaganza, a free e-mail newsletter with info on new titles and products—from Emily Strange to the latest graphic novels of Chris Ware to manga, anime and super-hero comics and books on videogames, movies, science fiction and fantasy. Popazine also offers a variety of pop culture catalogs, a graphic novel bestseller list and merchandising assistance, and there's more stuff to come.
Davis says the new program is targeting independent booksellers interested in selling graphic novels and manga, but who lack knowledge of the category. Bookazine will set up a graphic novel and manga section, "from scratch," tailored to the indie bookseller in question. "We manage the section, tell them what to buy, provide tips and look at what fans want," says Davis. We're working to introduce comics to indie bookstores. It's an attempt to get booksellers to raise their game and stock this stuff."
At the same time, Davis says, Bookazine is beginning to do more business with the direct market—comic shops—a retail channel that can be foreign territory to a general book wholesaler. "We're looking to educate comics shop retailers about the book world. Sometimes comics shops don't think of other options, and we want to keep them informed about book industry comics they may not have heard about." Davis says he has worked with such retailers as Manhattan's Midtown Comics, Chicago Comics and others.
Davis says Bookazine's biggest problem is "fine tuning our inventory"—how much is enough? "Something like Naruto—it was always there, then demand spiked after it went on cable. The Naruto backlist still sells. Returns are not a problem; stuff keeps selling out. What's the right number?" Davis notes, "It's a good problem to have."
"We're trying to bring in new customers," he says. "This stuff is like computer books used to be at first. Booksellers just didn't understand and needed some help to get established."
