Comics In Context News Round-Up

Three comics stories that aren't exactly comics, but have huge, potentially industry-altering implications for various aspects of the comics business.

* Amazon.com is pressuring print-on-demand publishers that are listed with the Internet giant to use their subsidiary BookSurge or have their buttons disconnected. This is interesting from a big-bully standpoint, but Pete Ashton notes a different point of entry, as a sign of a move towards MP3-like distribution of printed matter.

* the newspaper industry has experienced its worst drop in ad revenue in 50 years. There should be obvious repercussions, although whether they're directly linked is unlikely. You should at the very least expect some papers to cut back budget-wise, which could affect comics sales. I think this could also drive more papers into aggressive on-line/print hybrids where they only print on the major advertising days (Sunday, whatever pre-weekend day tends to see weekend-related ads in a given market) and goes on-line for the rest of it. This also puts a ton of pressure on web revenue models that might be useful for papers, and how comics content might fit into that. Please pay attention to this story.

* Comicsnob.com offers up potential outcomes for the credit-strapped Borders, a major buyer of comics and manga.
 
posted 7:57 am PST | Permalink
 

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