DC Comics Partners With comiXology and PlayStation, Will Offer Day and Date Books

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With over 100 releases each month will those be varied? How many will be current, how many will be classic? Is there a set number per imprint?

Jim: There’s no set quota. Part of what makes digital publishing so attractive is that we get immediate results so we can tailor the offering according to sales trends as we release the books. We’re starting out with a pretty good mix of titles that are both relatively new and from the classic library. One of DC’s strengths is our archive of storylines ranging from Watchmen to Arkham Asylum to Sandman. One of our fears early on was going out and spending all our bullets. But you realize how many bullets we have. We have a strong mix of critically acclaimed classic material and more recent offerings. We also have stuff from Vertigo and Zuda that covers a wide spectrum. And our kid’s comics are expected to account for a big portion of our digital sales. Luckily there’s no lack of shelf space in the digital arena, so we’re approaching this with open minds.

Is it safe to assume based on sales of what people are buying the first few months that you’ll alter what becomes available the following month?

John: We like when retailers and readers alike tell us how responsive we are. We like that competitive advantage, so we absolutely will have a strategy that’s informed by the response of consumers and traditional retailers. DC Entertainment is eager to find consumers of all types of DC content whether its films, television, video games, merchandise and digital publishing is going to help us globally. We’re eager to follow the international consumption.

(More on Techland: Origins: Chris Roberson)

Will there be digital exclusives that haven’t ever appeared in print?

Jim: Not at launch.

John: We definitely consider digital exclusives part of our arsenal and consumers will tell us if it merits the price points that we assign.

Is the weekly title that’s connected to DC Universe Online still in the works?

Jim: It’s still in the works.

Will that comic be digital only?

Jim: We’ll have a comic in support of the game that launches this November. We’re not going into this channel to limit the distribution of our stories. We look at the digital space as a way of expanding our business and getting comics out in front of new readers and converting them into traditional print readers. To that extent it doesn’t really make sense to me to have digital exclusives in the short term because you’re limiting it to your core audience.

John: Every tactic and strategic approach that we’ve considered for our digital publishing launch has been additive. Is this an additive experience to our current models, does it add consumers and we’re very sensitive to that.

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