Papercutz: Kids' Comics Pep Talk

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Kids’ Comics Pep Talk! ComicsPRO 2013

description

An overview of the challenges and exciting possibilities with selling kids' comics in the North American Direct Market. Presented by Papercutz at the 2013 ComicsPRO Annual Meeting in Atlanta.

Transcript of Papercutz: Kids' Comics Pep Talk

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Kids’ Comics Pep Talk!ComicsPRO 2013

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WHAT EXACTLY IS PAPERCUTZ?

A publisher dedicated to bringing more kids’ comics into the world

In fact, we’re all-ages, all the time!

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We publish a mix of original titles . . .

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. . . and favorite characters!

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We believe that comics are an essential part of childhood . . .

. . . we think comics should be FUN . . .

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1M Sold! 350K Sold! 700K Sold!

. . . and we’ve had some success with this so far!

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WHAT EXACTLY IS PAPERCUTZ?

We’d like to bring some of the wild growth of children’s book publishing to comics stores . . .

. . . and we can only do that together!

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THE TROUBLE WITH KIDS’ COMICS . . .• Kids love comics

• Parents buy comics

• Yet sales to our current DM audience are soft

IMAGE SOURCE: Action Flick Chick

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Our challenge is to develop a NEW audience of kids and parents in comics stores!

THE TROUBLE WITH KIDS’ COMICS . . .

IMAGE SOURCE: Action Flick Chick

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Kids Love To Read

• Books are kids’ #1 media choice

• (Video games, for those keeping score, is 6th-favorite)

• Kids take pride in reading goals

THE PROMISE OF KIDS’ COMICS

SOURCE: Bowker / ScholasticIMAGE SOURCE: Comics Observer

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And They Like to Read In Print

• Digital = 10% of children’s book sales

• (We’ve seen it closer to 3%)

• 61% of parents prefer print

• 80% of e-book reading kids prefer print

THE PROMISE OF KIDS’ COMICS

SOURCE: Bowker / ScholasticIMAGE SOURCE: Comics Observer

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Children’s Books SELL (boy, do they

ever!)

• In 2011, Children’s was 10% of $27.2B in Trade sales

• While Adult Trade fell 2.6% . . .

THE PROMISE OF KIDS’ COMICS

SOURCE: Bookstats 2011 / AAP StatshotIMAGE SOURCE: Wired

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• . . . total Children’s Trade grew 9%, Children’s Fiction grew 12%, and Children’s Print grew 9%!

THE PROMISE OF KIDS’ COMICS

SOURCE: Bookstats 2011 / AAP StatshotIMAGE SOURCE: Wired

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• In Jan ’12, Children’s Print grew 65%

• In Sep ’12 (our most

recent data month), Adult fell 1.5% and Children’s grew 24%

• (We could go on like this for days!)

THE PROMISE OF KIDS’ COMICS

SOURCE: Bookstats 2011 / AAP StatshotIMAGE SOURCE: Wired

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This is the strongest

performance and fastest growth in

the entire publishing industry!

THE PROMISE OF KIDS’ COMICS

SOURCE: Bookstats 2011 / AAP StatshotIMAGE SOURCE: Wired

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• Today, Children’s accounts for 2-3% of DM periodical sales, and 4-5% of graphic novel sales

• A retail strategy aiming for 10% sales from kids’ comics wins!

THE PROMISE OF KIDS’ COMICS

SOURCE: ComichronIMAGE SOURCE: Wired

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Building this second revenue base can help smooth out the ups and

downs in other areas

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HOW A KIDS’ BOOK CUSTOMER THINKS (This

Is Where It Gets Tricky!) • Kids drive the purchase

• Kids are heavily influenced locally . . .

• . . . friends, family, librarians, and teachers are the strongest influencers

SOURCE: BowkerIMAGE SOURCE: The Commercial Appeal

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HOW A KIDS’ BOOK CUSTOMER THINKS (This

Is Where It Gets Tricky!) • Kids purchase on

familiarity and shelf browsing

• Libraries and online retail rank high on the list of acquisition points

• Both have personal attention and recommendations

SOURCE: BowkerIMAGE SOURCE: The Commercial Appeal

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HOW CAN WE MAKE IT HAPPEN?

PARTNER WITH INFLUENCERS

ENCOURAGE BROWSING

ADVERTISE FAMILIARITY

BECOME A THIRD SPACE

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HOW CAN PAPERCUTZ HELP?PARTNER WITH INFLUENCERS

• We market heavily to schools and libraries

• Our Educator’s Resource Guides help teachers use comics in their classrooms

• Our press list includes dozens of parenting blogs, and growing every day

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HOW CAN PAPERCUTZ HELP?

ENCOURAGE BROWSING• Our Retail Resource Kits include

tabletop displays, posters, and shelf-talkers

• Prints and mini-comics are available for free giveaways

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HOW CAN PAPERCUTZ HELP?

ADVERTISE FAMILIARITY• Our Retail Resource Kits include pre-

approved window signs featuring our most popular kids’ properties!

• We publish the hottest kids’ properties, many of which are under the radar of mainstream entertainment and comics news, such as . . .

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LEGO NINJAGO• Six NY Times Best-Sellers, with two #1s!

• Over 1M copies sold

• Top-rated TV animation

• Sell-out toy sets outperform Star Wars and LEGO City themes

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ANNOYING ORANGE

• Cartoon Network show is #1 for its time slot among Boys 2-11 & 6-11

• Reaches 99M homes and over 10M kids

• 1.5B views on YouTube and 2.6M subscribers

• 11.5M fans on Facebook and Twitter

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THEA STILTON• Over 700K copies of Geronimo Stilton graphic novels sold

• Over 6M Thea Stilton chapter books sold

• Strong female role models and an environmental theme

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STARDOLL• World’s largest social

gaming site for Girls 9-17 with over 200M members and 900M pageviews

• 190K new signups daily

• 2.3M unique visitors monthly

• Average session time = 18 minutes

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ARIOL• New kids’ series from

Emmanuel Guibert!

• 40K sales per volume internationally

• Our best-reviewed series launch

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BENNY BREAKIRO

N• “Lost” Classic from

Peyo!

• First U.S. edition

• Superpowered rolemodel for kids

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THE SMURFS

ANTHOLOGY• New original-size

hardcover series!

• Stories reprinted in original publication order

• Essays, photos, and sketches

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HOW CAN PAPERCUTZ HELP?

BECOME A THIRD SPACE• We love store promotions!

• Co-Op ad $ available

• Special terms on large orders for promotions

• Marketing support and free book prizing

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LEGO BUILDING CONTEST• Timed with FCBD

• Kids build scenes using LEGO Ninjago bricks

• Graphic novel prizes

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CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED

SUMMER READING CONTEST

• May 15 — Sep 15

• Kids make comics about books on their “Summer Reading” list

• Great chance to collaborate with local teachers

• Graphic novel prizes

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HALLOWEEN COSTUME CONTEST

• October!

• All costumes are eligible

• Pre-approved party decorations

• Graphic novel prizes

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STARDOLL FASHION DESIGN

CONTEST• Nov 15 — Dec 15

• Kids make original fashion designs

• Grand-prize winners featured in an upcoming book!

• Graphic novel prizes

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WE’RE READY TO BRAINSTORM — GIVE US A CALL!

• PAPERCUTZ.COM

• @PAPERCUTZGN

• PAPERCUTZGRAPHICNOVELS

[email protected]