Thursday, May 24, 2007

And another day....

1.: Is there any way we can get Mr. Bachs a raise? If not, is there any way he will work for us?
I think getting Ramon Bachs a raise is my first option. Only if this doesn't play out and he won't work for us on BoPow Frontlines, then will I look into alternatives.

2.: I think using the whole T-Bolts team might not be a bad idea after all, since it reinforces a shared universe (and might boost sales a bit). I ask David Michelinie if that's okay with him. Doesn't have to be a big scene, it's just important that we see a part of the Symbiote left behind by Gargan. Of course, the whole thing has to be closely coordinated with Molly and Team Thunder. If we want to show fans that we care about continuity, every tiny mistake is lethal.

And then I get back to the remaining phone calls.

Next: Solicitations.

P.S.: Sean? Can we get an ad for Balance of Power in the New York Times? Big Money's marketing is very aggressive, so we might have to up the ante.

8 comments:

Michael Heide said...

Thinking about it, instead of the NY Times ad, how about we ship additional promo material for Balance of Power to the comic shops, preferrably with a list of tie-ins?

If BigMoney lures customers to the shops, we can piggyback their campaign and steer potential readers to our books.

Also, is there any way Balance of Power #1 could ship with a lower price tag, like $2,50? Can we balance (hah!) that out with additional ad space in the book?

Philip Schaeffer said...

With the creative problems going on I doubt it could work, but I'd love to make Balance 1 extra sized.

Patrick Cook said...

Michael, the folks at your Distinguished Competition have already reached out to us and are coordinating a simultaneous advertising campaign. Of course, they've done it through proper and cordial channels. I hope you're not suggesting that you folks somehow sneakily take advantage of our advertising acumen?

Michael Heide said...

I never said anything about sneakiness. I'm talking about right time, right space here. If Big Money has exactly that to burn, I won't hold them back. But getting new customers into stores at exactly the month Balance of Power hits, well...

When you think Captain America's death got press coverage, wait until you see two towers left standing amidst the rubble that used to be Manhattan...

Sean Kleefeld said...

I like the promo poster -- how about Finch's incredible cover to BoPow #1? It might have to ship as late as BoPow #1 itself, but we at least already have those mini-posters in place.

Don't know that we want to try a lower price point on BoPow #1. With JMS and Finch on it, it's not going to be cheap to produce as it is.

Also, I don't think it should be over/extra/giant-sized at all. This book is going to be REALLY tight, schedule-wise at the outset and I don't want to add a bunch of variables to the mix unnecessarily. That's just going to cause problems and additional complications.

As for Bachs, I'll start by offering him an exclusive, which would give him a page raise inherently. If he's not in for that, I'd still be willing to get him a raise, but it obviously wouldn't be as much as if it took the exclusive. (Clever, eh?)

Michael Heide said...

Brilliant. If you get the budget for that...

Anonymous said...

I think using the T-Bolts to try to boost Spectacular sales is a good idea, now that you mention it. That should probably be hyped on the cover...

Tim

Michael Heide said...

It will show up in the solicitations. As for the cover, I'm not sure yet.