Free Comic Book Day

More than 40 US and Canadian comic book publishers have got together to support Free Comic Book Day 2008 by offering free samples at participating comic book stores. This is a brilliant idea! Comic sales are down and there is no better way to attract new interest than a national campaign based around a free offer. The day is timed to coincide with the opening of the Iron Man movie in the US. ince the start of Free Comic Book day, more than 15 million free comics have been given away.

It is great to see publishers, distributors and retailers all behind this. Brilliant!

Many times over the last six years I have suggested to Australian magazine publishers, ACP, Pacific and Lovatts that they offer free sample product through newsagents. None has been interested enough to act. Lovatts offer free samples through their website but not through the retail network. If we want to grow the magazine marketplace we need to attract people and the free offer worth trying. I have been astounded each time the publishers ignored the idea – here’s a retailer wanting to grow the marketplace and they are not prepared to take the risk.

The opther suggestion I made was that publishers like Lovatts, with their timeless crossword product, provide giveaways for newsagents to use on weeks like the last one when lottery traffic was through the roof because of the OzLotto $40 million jackpot.

We could give away samples as part of a National Magazine Week. They have one in the UK and understand it’s a ripper of a success.

I’d expect most newsagents to wholeheartedly embrace a national magazine promotion which supported by publishers. I’d expect the return to far outweigh the cost. Meanwhile, kudos to comic publishers in the US and Canada for their entrepreneurial initiative.