§ MANHUNTER canceled:

Writer Marc Andreyko confirmed in a Facebook posting that “Manhunter,” his critically acclaimed superhero series from DC Comics, has been canceled. “Anyone up for a third letter-writing campaign (‘specially retailers)?” Andreyko wrote, referring to the previous fan-driven campaigns to keep the poorly-selling title on the stands.


Related: Johanna and Val discuss the wider implications of two superheroine books’ recent cancellations.

§ David Doub notices that Google ads can cantain links to illegal sharing sites and along the way appears to actually communicate with a Google employee,a feat previously thought to be impossible.

But what I’ve noticed several times now is that Google Ads has had links to websites that were illegally sharing copyrighted material. The copyrighted material is anime and manga and many cases it’s fairly obvious that the material is owned by US companies (and the other material is clearly owned by Japanese Companies). I find this to be a potential fairly serious issue for the anime and manga industry (especially the anime industry) because piracy is big source of lost revenue. The problem is further complicated because a lot of sites for the anime and manga industry uses Google Ads as a source of revenue and in turn you’re linking to sites that then cause a loss in revenue.


§ Galleycat talks to Andrew Wheeler, who explains Why Didn’t Borders Want Your Book? Please sit down before reading the answer.

Andrew Wheeler, a marketing manager at Wiley, has a long, thoughtful essay about why the national chain bookstores don’t order every book published, including some books by imprints at the biggest conglomerates. “I market books for a living, so I can tell you an unpleasant truth: the order for any book, from any account, starts at zero,” Wheeler warns. “The publisher’s sales rep walks in the door with tipsheets and covers, past sales figures and promotional plans, to convince that bookseller’s buyer to buy that book… Sometimes, that buyer is not convinced, and the order stays at zero.”


§ Marvel’s Jim McCann offers common sense tips for getting your portfolio seen by comic book editors:

“What people should bring for portfolio reviews — and this is for everywhere they do portfolio reviews or send them in — is always bring photocopies with your name and contact information at the top or on the back,” McCann said. Photocopies can be either 8 by 11 inch or the larger 11 by 17 inch size standard of most art boards.

The artwork itself should demonstrate a variety of skill sets, according to McCann, who adds that he’ll be looking for examples of pin ups, sequential art, backgrounds, and use of perspective.

“A lot of people can draw [pin ups]…but, you pretty much don’t break in as a cover artist,” he said. “You will break in as a penciler so you need to be able to show your sequentials.”


§ Berlatsky vs Waid continued. Also: The Newsarama blog crew gets into the act. Risso-gate has had an unusually long lifespan as the Internet goes these days, but we think it’s because the blogosphere hasn’t really had a chance to have a juicy linkfest of blame and recrimination in a long time. That kind of thing is so 2005.

1 COMMENT

  1. Man… that Borders post is depressing… the booksellers can’t order books they can handsell if the corporate office doesn’t think they will sell!

    That’s what caused the demise of Tower Records. Centralized ordering homogenized stores which catered to different clientele.

    While I can’t speak of how B&N buyers act (each subject is different, and each subject has certain quirks based on returnability, discounts, and the various criteria Andrew Wheeler mentions), but generally, B&N will order a few copies for the warehouse/website. Stores can then order stock from those or other approved distributors, so long as the store budget is followed.

    And… in case you haven’t heard, Circuit City today announced store closings and staff reductions, in the hope of reducing store inventories to save money.

  2. “appears to actually communicate with a Google employee,a feat previously thought to be impossible.”

    Hey, I’m sure we communicated at some point during the 4.5 years I worked there! : -)