Revenues Up, Returns Down at Diamond Book Distribution
by Calvin Reid, PW Comics Week -- Publishers Weekly, 1/23/2007
Diamond Book Distribution, the trade book and pop culture merchandise distribution unit of Diamond Comics Distribution, reports that 2006 was a good business year for comics and graphic novels, and DBD revenues rose 40% over 2005 revenues.
In an interview with PWCW, Kuo-yu Liang, DBD's v-p of sales and marketing, said DBD reported net revenues of $36.5 million on gross revenues of $46.3 million for the year ending December 2006, a 40% increase in net revenue over the previous year. Liang also said overall returns for its graphic novel business were down to 20% from 28% in 2005. Liang is bullish on the market and expects continued growth in 2007.
"The graphic novel business is good," said Liang, "and the growth is not dependent on any one publisher or any one book." Liang said that DBD's growth didn't follow the general 80-20 rule—80% of a business's revenues generated from 20% of its products. "The growth has been spread over a number of genres," he said. "It's superhero comics, it's the Halo Graphic Novel, it's Top Shelf's Lost Girls. Of course, manga is still big, and Bone is doing very well."
Liang reported "phenomenal" sales on Dark Horse's reprinting of Frank Miller's 1999 full-color graphic novel 300, driven by interest in the forthcoming movie. Liang says Dark Horse expects to have 75,000 to 80,000 copies of the $30 graphic novel in print by the time the movie opens in March. He also points to high expectations for 300: The Art of the Film, a behind-the-scenes tie-in book released in late December.
The graphic novel market continues to expand, said Liang, driven in part by the release of movie adaptations. "We're selling more copies of 300 the graphic novel today than we sold of the Sin City graphic novels," he said. And, he said, each book sells better than the last one. "There was Mignola's Hellboy, then Frank Miller's Sin City led into V for Vendetta and now there's 300," he said. "I love selling $10 manga," explained Liang, "but I really love selling $30 books like 300."
Liang also pointed to a strong slate of forthcoming titles—noting the first trade paper collections of Marvel's bestselling Civil War serials—including graphic novel tie-ins to the upcoming Transformer movie from IDW.
And what about industry concerns of a glut in comics material—particularly an explosion of manga titles—flooding the bookstore graphic novel market? Some industry professionals point out that shelf space in bookstores will not continue to grow, and they worry about the potential for a market overflowing with titles and returns.
Liang is not one of those concerned professionals: "I expect our growth in 2007 to be similar to 2006, about 40%." Liang scoffs at the notion of a potential bust in the comics market. "There is no market bust, only busted titles," he said. "People love to predict doom and gloom, especially in the comics industry."
According to Liang, retail shelf space continues to grow, and he cites a steady expansion of comics sections at the national bookstore chains. He also noted that comics works like the acclaimed memoir Fun Home "are branching out beyond the comics sections into the rest of the bookstore. They're now in biography and serious nonfiction and other sections."
Liang added that independent bookstores as well as college bookstores continue to lag behind in stocking and selling graphic novels.
"We don't have a single account from a NACS store," said Liang, referring to the National Association of College Stores. "This year we're going to do a promotional mailing to 3,000 college stores. There's just tons of room for growth."
