IN CASE U MISSED IT: Comics distribution notes

Haven't seen this mentioned around the comics sites, but Publishers Weekly has a piece up today HERE on the troubles of FM International, one of the smaller distributors who've recently taken a blow when one of their largest remaining vendors went exclusive with Diamond.

The article seems to be just more of the speculative musings on the state of the US industries distribution, and the potentially rocky future for the current Diamond competitors in light of the continuing exclusivity of larger independent publishers. It doesn't sound like FM have actually thrown in the towel quite yet.

It's too bad, just as Diamond is positioning to do less distribution of independent and small press, their moves are affecting the stability of the alternative distributors. I don't proclaim to understand enough to make an informed judgment here, but it does seem ironic to say the least. This will of course take time to see, both, to what extent Diamond distances itself from small press, and what, if any, viable alternatives to them develop. I'd hate to think what little alternative distribution does exist is in danger of dwindling further.

Super Real, as you may know, is self-published, and therefore subject to Diamond's new ordering minimums, and it does still remain to be seen how the second issue performs. I tried to do as much as I could to mitigate the standard 40-50% drop-off from first to second issue (overshipping issue one, soliciting issue two after number one was released), but if those moves are unsuccessful, the book could quickly be fighting for its distribution life, before it's even had a chance to grow.
We shall see.
I'm optimistic.
I've gotten this far, I can make it work, but I can't do it without all of you however. So please, keep pre-ordering Super Real, and telling your friends about the book!

Thanks to fellow small presser, Javier Hernandez (ElMuerto.com), for the tip on the story!