How the Apple iPad Can Help Comic Books

Comic Books have been a popular form of pop culture entertainment since the early 1930s. However, comics have seen a sales delcine in the last decade. Books selling into the millions during the 80s and early 90s are now averaging around 60,000 copies. Books that sell 250,000 copies or more are considered blockbusters.

For years, comics have been slowly moving to digital distribution in various ways. There have been download pages on comic company websites where the reader could purchase a book electronically and download the book to their hard drive. With the invention of the iPhone, applications were created to read comic books on the small screen available. Though some companies have worked on large store interfaces, no one popular distribution system has emerged.

Enter the iPad. The iPad enables readers to download e-books to its hard drive and read them onscreen at practically 100% scale. The anticipation for this product has been enormous, and Apple's track record sales for these type products have been very successful. Unlike it's closest competitor, Amazon's Kindle, the iPad has color capability, the preferred format for comic books. The current version of the Kindle does not. The iPad's model specs and distribution plan offers many advantages to the comic book product.

Distribution.

The model makes it simple. Choose your book, push a button to purchase, and it downloads to your computer. It is doubtful Apples iBookstore will have the proper interface conducive to comic book reading, but there are current application developers modifying their product to do just this. Likely, each comic book company will have an application available. Through this application, you'll be able to see their weekly product available and download it instantly.

Availability.

Comic book companies, especially Marvel and DC have such vast libraries that they cannot keep everything in print. The download model allows the companies to offer EVERYTHING they have ever published. This opens up sales on back issues the companies have only in the past been able to capitalize in trade paperback form. For smaller companies, this makes their titles available to readers who could not find their books due to the current distribution system.

Updates and Subscriptions.

E-newsletters, text and twitter updates and pre-orders have more value than ever when you can provide a one-click link to downloadable product. Comic book readers can have the products moments after their weekly release. Digital pre-orders alone would increase readership with the help of discounts and gift cards.

Lower Price.

Finally, digital copies should be a lower price than physical copies of the comic book. The average book sells for $3.99. Most readers point toward a .99 cent price point for digital copies. At this price, it seems readers would gladly download comic product. Pricing is always up to the individual company, but if there is a market ready to pay a certain price for type of download then there will be a comic book company that will offer it.

It is an exciting time for the comic book industry. The possibilities are there to reach a wider audience while experimenting with format as well as transforming the industry.