Manuel A. Carmona shared a great idea: Let's create a "
Buy Indie Comics Day". Most of us are already aware of "
Free Comic Book Day" which happens to be the first Saturday in May, but this is a way to build recognition to the ever growing indie publishing section of the market. With the combined efforts of several indie publishers, we can make this into an annual event.
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| CWI Comics |
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According to the comic book sales reported by
Comichron, indie comic book sales make up about
9% of the market for
2015, which was an increase from
8.75% from
2014 and
8.70% from
2013. In other words the indie market is growing and with this growth comes many opportunities for upcoming artists and new publishers to put out amazing titles. Another reason indie titles are gaining so much popularity is the availability of more resources for creators like distribution through Comixology, webcomics through Patreon and the use of crowd funding to cover printing and distribution expenses through Kickstarter.
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| SSF Media |
And even though the big two, DC and Marvel, that propel the comic industry with it's block buster hits at the movie theaters, its the indie comics that provide the sweet and salt escape from the mainstream that several fans crave after over indulgence of popular titles and characters. Titles like
Angle Wolf by CWI Comics and
Pariah Dog by SSF Comics are samples of the incredible titles out there in the indie publishing market. Besides that, indies can take their stories and art to places that larger companies can't without the fear of market repercussions or the approval of their sponsors. When you see diversity in comics like
Centinals and
NightFire by Genesis Comics you know indies are making comics for
everyone to enjoy.
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| Genesis Comics |
Indie publishers offer a wide selection of genre's and a diverse range of characters and art to suite all audiences. But the challenge lies in getting the word out. It wasn't until recent years that comic book stores started carrying titles from indie publishers. On top of that, indie creators have the challenge of competing with the marking efforts of the larger publishers, not to mention the monopoly of certain distribution channels, where the larger publishers have a higher preference.
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| Genesis Comics |
But indies are not going down without a fight. Many small publishers can be found in the catalogue of digital distributors like Comixology and the webcomics has many great backers thanks to sites like Patreon. There's also many resources out there to help indies get the word out like Facebook and Twitter. But to add a recognized day dedicated to the indie comic book market would be phenomenal! As it stands Manuel A. Carmona suggested making the first Saturday of August as the "Buy Indie Comics Day" so lets make this official and spread the word. Lets make this a special day so indie creators should come together and schedule an event to mark that day.
