Publishers and Circulation

[gau dog]

Which of these publishers do you think has the best ability to get their books printed in large numbers and widely circulated into bookstores/promoting their books:

Andrews Mcmeel, Fantagraphics, First Second.

Any other pro/con comments on these publishers? Or if there are better publishers of graphic novels, who else?

[chan]

Nothing to add, but I'd sure like to know the same.

[Chris Huff]

Originally Posted by gau dog

Which of these publishers do you think has the best ability to get their books printed in large numbers and widely circulated into bookstores/promoting their books:

Andrews Mcmeel, Fantagraphics, First Second.

Any other pro/con comments on these publishers? Or if there are better publishers of graphic novels, who else?

It depends. I'm assuming we're talking graphic novels here...

As for capital to print books, it's likely: Andrews, Fanta, then First. Larger companies have more money.

As for book distribution, it's likely: Andrews, Fanta, then First. Older companies have a more established reputation (hopefully positive).

As for marketing, it's likely: Andrews, Fanta, then First. If they have more money and strongly believe in the book, they might do better by it marketing wise.

Capital also depends on time of year, if the pub is getting a bunch of returns, if they've just published a few books, etc...

Distribution depends on the distributor they're going with, their marketing people, the sales force, whether the sales people are having good days or bad when they meet with the buyers, etc...

Marketing depends on how much return on investment the pub thinks they'll get from the book.

Go with the one you think is the best fit, content wise, and go from there.

[gau dog]

That's what I suspected. Andrews probably having the largest capital. Though they don't seem to be connected as much to the graphic novel market as Fantagraphics even though they handle strips. I heard Fantagraphics avoided near bankruptcy a few years ago.
First Second's an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers. They've got a large parent publisher, does that make any difference? At the moment, first second's not even taking submissions, though I'm still thinking about trying to send a query anyway. Is it good or bad to do simultaneous submissions?

As a company, I like Andrews and their cartoon strip books but I feel Fant and 01 are more intent/associated in respectable comic book related stuff. Though Andrews doesn't seem like the likliest buyer. My book is a humor book in "graphic" form. Not really an alternative work, I'd say. I'll never know how likely Andrews'll respond... especially when I'm unagented. I'll probably try them first though.

It really seems hard to find information about how big publishers are.

[Chris Huff]

Originally Posted by gau dog

That's what I suspected. Andrews probably having the largest capital. Though they don't seem to be connected as much to the graphic novel market as Fantagraphics even though they handle strips. I heard Fantagraphics avoided near bankruptcy a few years ago.
First Second's an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers. They've got a large parent publisher, does that make any difference? At the moment, first second's not even taking submissions, though I'm still thinking about trying to send a query anyway. Is it good or bad to do simultaneous submissions?

Wow. No offense to Fanta then, but I would avoid them if that is true. They put out good stuff, but you wouldn't want to get caught in something like that. A large parent company can sometimes help out, but not necessarily. Large companies usually buy smaller ones because they're making money. They want the smaller company to make a profit for the larger one, not pay for the smaller company's business expenses.

Andrews is open for submissions, but they prefer agents. Check Agent Query out.

As a company, I like Andrews and their cartoon strip books but I feel Fant and 01 are more intent/associated in respectable comic book related stuff. Though Andrews doesn't seem like the likliest buyer. My book is a humor book in "graphic" form. Not really an alternative work, I'd say. I'll never know how likely Andrews'll respond... especially when I'm unagented. I'll probably try them first though.

It really seems hard to find information about how big publishers are.

Considering what you said about content, I think Andrews could be a great place to start. Just check out the cartoon books they do.