With the debut of Rich Johnston’s Holed Up #1 coming in May, it’s time once again to take a bit of a look at how the comic book industry works and some of the important dates looming in our immediate future for those of you who are new to comics and/or want to preorder Rich Johnston’s Holed Up #1. It’s very important to let local comic retailers know that you want Rich Johnston’s Holed Up, and here is some information to help you do that. Please feel free to copy and paste this information wherever you think it will be useful.
- Comic Stores worldwide are taking orders for Rich Johnston’s Holed Up #1 beginning now: Though Holed Up #1 is scheduled to be released in May, retailers are compiling their orders for May releases beginning now. So it’s very important that you let retailers know as soon as possible that you want this release.
- Wednesday, February 25 – the order cycle begins as the new Previews catalog begins to ship to comic shops worldwide: What is Previews? It’s a large catalog that contains artwork and info for essentially all of the comic books that are scheduled to come out in 2 months time. So the Previews that will be in stores Feb 25 contains information on comics scheduled to be released beginning in May. Previews is an advance order tool for all comic book retailers and many of their customers. Many if not most comic shops accept preorders, and though you typically won’t be required to buy a copy of the catalog for yourself to place an order, be aware that it is the scheduling, ordering, and informational mechanism on which much of the comic book industry turns. You’ll see it mentioned alot on this site and many other comic-related sites that talk about upcoming projects. It is very important, particularly for an independent publisher like Avatar, for our readership to place preorders or otherwise let the local retailers know that you want these books so they have some gauge as to the demand for them and can order from our distributor accordingly. The key information here is: Most local stores will start accepting orders for Rich Johnston’s Holed Up #1 beginning on Wednesday, Feb 25.
- Saturday, March 13 – pre-orders due: On March 13 (consult your local retailer on this date, it may vary for your local shop), orders for May-shipping comics (which include the Rich Johnston’s Holed Up #1 and the rest of our May 04-shipping releases) are due at your retailer. Your would like to have your orders in hand by that time so he can place his own order to our distributor. Note: This is not to say that you wouldn’t be able to order Rich Johnston’s Holed Up #1 after this date, many if not most retailers will accept an order after this date, but please try to do so before March 13 if at all possible, as that will allow your retailer enough time to gauge demand and compile his orders.
- March 23-26 – retailers turn in orders to our distributor: Depending on the method with which they turn in their orders to our distributor, most retailers will submit their compiled orders by March 23-26. Ideally, the Holed Up Army would keep up the main thrust of its initial publicity assault up through this time so Rich Johnston’s Holed Up is on retailers’ minds as they finish up their orders.