Of Comic-Con, Fans, and Everyday Readers

By Bob Hughes - Aug 05 , 2009

A friend who’s an editor at Scholastic, the large publishing house, came back from his usual annual visit to Comic-Con International—the massive convention and festival celebrating comic books, graphic novels, superheroes, and such—feeling good about the industry. The TV industry.

He told me that this year Comic-Con seemed entirely taken over by television and movie companies, rather than the publishing or print component of the science fiction, comic, and fantasy worlds. That’s a natural progression – television and movies have noted the power of the fan base, and they court it. Publishers, on the other hand, still avoid direct contact with readers.

The big guests back in 1970, when the convention began, were Forrest J Ackerman, the science fiction writer, editor, and proponent (and one of the world’s biggest collectors of comic books), and Mike Royer, who worked with comic book legend Jack Kirby.

This year, the biggest stars were the casts of the HBO series “True Blood” and of the “Twilight” movies, as well as James Cameron, who showed scenes from his coming 3D release, “Avatar.”

Fair enough. The convention still had a lot of writers, though, especially those with movie or TV tie-ins, such as Charlaine Harris, creator of the books from which the “True Blood” series sprang. Publishers of graphic and fantasy novels and comics were also there. The overall energy of the event spilled over into a lot of press coverage about coming movies, films…and even sometimes books.

My friend noted that a difference between the well-attended, well-publicized Comic-Con International and your usual book industry convention was how Comic-Con courted fans. Most conventions—with the exception of Boucheron, which is geared to fans of mysteries and attended by many of the biggest authors in the mystery field—are for the trade. Book Expo America, the biggest publishing industry event, is geared to independent booksellers. Not to readers. At Comic-Con, it’s really a fan convention, and even the fans who show up dressed as favorite Star Wars characters are an essential part of the texture of the event. That kind of fun just doesn’t happen at book publishing shows. Now, publishers don’t sell books directly to readers, for the most part, and bookstores are invaluable. But I wonder if the ultimate reader gets a little bit left behind with the way books are distributed . . . .

The comic-book genre also spurred a different type of fan, perhaps (those who like to dress up as Batman, for instance), and this convention built by fans has grown a major marketing tool for industries beyond comics. Movie and television companies were smart to pick up on the fan buzz that can help build audiences. Comic fans are fiercely loyal and highly opinionated. And likely to spend money on a variety of “products” of all sorts, from souvenir merchandise to, yes, special edition comic books. But aren’t readers of books loyal and opinionated, too? Can’t some of the energy spent on appealing to booksellers also include book buyers?

But courting fans just simply doesn’t happen in the book industry. For one thing, cash-strapped publishers view most book publicity tours as money losers, and conventions in the industry are faltering, at best. Literary festivals, in the opinion of one publisher I know, are a necessary evil reserved for only the most prominent authors, and even then not worth the costs involved in sending authors out when they’re likely to sell only a few books.

That’s the problem, perhaps: thinking that an author is a liability, and not worth the expense of building a brand around. Savvy authors do this for themselves, now, since they cannot possibly rely on a publisher to market them. And despite the real problems of a changing media landscape, many publishers remain behind the times. Consider the web. A lawyer I know who represents many media companies told me that his firm advises many television and movie companies about website work, the best way they can deal with fans, how to encourage participation to generate ideas, even, and how sites can build awareness and brand recognition. Think of the many well-done websites that USA Networks has created for its hit series, from “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” to “Burn Notice” to “In Plain Sight.” They encourage involvement. And they’re very well done.

Publishing websites are more one-sided, mainly promotional announcements requiring little interaction. Sometimes they offer a book-group guide, but that’s about it. My lawyer friend said that he receives queries from networks and movie studios all the time about building websites. He said that no publisher has ever asked for website advice.

Now, websites are different from conventions. But overall, the way in which the comics world and the TV and movie fields have embraced fans is far different from how publishers treat readers. For comics, TV, and movies, fans are essential. For publishers, readers are the people bookstores deal with.

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Robert J. Hughes, a longtime reporter for The Wall Street Journal, writes on the arts, based in New York.