Comic size poll
About 10 months ago, we requested from our printer the ability to print comics in the traditional size, which is 6.625 x 10.25, and is a little bit wider and just over an inch taller than the royal octavo size that we have been using. This week, our printer made the standard size available to us, the only downside is that it is a little more expensive so we cannot offer them at retail for $2.99 given the discount required for wholesale distribution. (We could, however, meet the $2.99 price if we don’t worry about wholesale distribution, which I am beginning to think might be the right strategy since we have the Premium editions for the comic stores.) On the plus side, they will also feature a heavier paper weight so the comics will be .71″ thick compared to .54″. We have also learned that the comic stores strongly prefer the standard size, because the smaller size does not fit properly in the various storage bags and display racks that they utilize.
So, our current plan is to complete the first six Alt-Hero comics in the current size, then switch over to the standard size with issue #7. We will begin Alt-Hero Q with the standard size too; the Premium Issues and the Omnibuses will still be produced in the larger 10 x 7 size since that is considered a standard alternative size.
However, we are in the process of preparing Alt-Hero #5 for print and we could produce it at the standard size instead of the current one, as we were planning. So, please share your opinion if you would rather have AH#5 in the current size or the standard one. While we do plan to go back and offer AH issues #1-4 in standard sizes, that will not be a priority since our first job will be to produce the six-issue omnibus for the campaign backers, which happens to be the same size as the Premium Issues.
UPDATE: We have decided that regardless of whether we utilize the octavo or the standard size, the retail price for the print editions will remain $2.99. We can do this by not offering the full wholesale discount in distribution, which makes sense because the comic stores have indicated that they would prefer to carry the Premium editions anyhow.
