In which I ramble semi-coherently about publishing, BEA and Archaia Studios Press…

New York Magazine has an interesting article about Random House — “the largest of the dozen major commercial publishers” and home to comics-friendly imprints like Villard, Pantheon and Del Rey Manga — that sheds some light on how the behemoth publisher operates.

Random House Factoids

* Every week, the country’s biggest trade publisher releases 67 new books, but it’s the 33,000-book backlist that supplies 80 percent of its profit.

* Annual Revenue: $2.3 billion ($230 million is profit)

* Two thirds of Random House’s income comes from paperbacks, which retail for about $10. Of that, $5 goes to the retailer; $2 covers Random House buildings and staff; $1.50 goes to author payments; $1 goes to paper, printing, and binding; 50 cents is profit.

* Best Ways to Make Money: Underpay writers.

There’s a great graphic that makes the point that, “[o]ut of every eight books, one is very profitable, one is very unprofitable, and six either break even or lose money.” Those are some tough odds, but it helps to put them in perspective. I was talking to the sales director for a mid-sized niche publisher with a handful of imprints at BEA last week, and he pointed out that the vast majority of their books have initial print runs of only 10,000 copies and almost all of them are profitable at that level, usually selling out within the first year. The bigger hits then continue to generate revenue from the backlist, while print-on-demand technology enables even the marginal sellers to remain in print, a point of contention for many writers that will need to addressed in contracts.

Archaia Studios Press — nicely represented at BEA with a dedicated space in Diamond’s communal area, with their beautiful hardcovers on display and Mark Smylie and Brian Petkash singing their praises — hit a home run with Mouse Guard, the $24.95 hardcover collection of which has reportedly sold 25,000 copies, the majority of them outside of the direct market. The non-returnable 7,000 they moved through the direct market probably covered their printing costs and then some, so there’s their one very profitable title, and with more Mouse Guard to come, it should have a nice steady life on their backlist.

But wait…!

Interestingly, Villard (a Random House imprint) picked up the trade paperback rights to Mouse Guard earlier this year, so it’s very likely that they will benefit from backlist sales more than Archaia, a not infrequent occurence as smaller publishers simply can’t compete with the big houses (or their imprints) when they come calling for the talent they’ve nurtured. It’s a Catch-22!

Nevertheless, when it comes to making the f**king comics, Archaia is doing things the right way, expanding slowly but steadily with a clear editorial vision, while publishing high-quality books that appeal to both the direct market and traditional bookstores. They’re about to relaunch their web site, which has perhaps been their only weak spot, and I’m planning to do a video interview / studio tour with Smylie later this summer after they’ve moved and settled in to their new digs.

If you haven’t checked out any of their comics yet, you’re definitely missing out. I highly recommend Artesia, Mouse Guard, Robotika and The Lone and Level Sands, and of their current slate of floppies, The Killer and Okko: The Cycle of Water have been the most notable standouts in a generally excellent lineup of titles.

(Random House article via GalleyCat)