[music playing] - Hello, and welcome to Comic Culture.

I'm Terence Dollard, a Professor in the Department of Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

My guest today is Publisher, Harry Markos.

Harry, welcome to Comic Culture.

- Thank you.

It's a pleasure to be here.

- So, you are the publisher of Markosia comics.

I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about the imprint, and maybe a little bit of its history.

- Sure.

We've been around since 2005.

We started with a handful of comics.

And we were producing actual comic issues every month, through Diamond, through the comic shops.

We've evolved since, to produce primarily graphic novels in print now, and still do issues digitally.

And we've grown now to have a portfolio of around 400 IPs, and it's growing year on year.

We release approximately 60 books a year now.

So, we're growing at a good pace now.

And it's looking very positive at the moment.

- We see that some of the bigger American publishers are having trouble maybe selling the individual books, but the trade seem to do very well.

And it seems that's something that you've come across in your business.

- Very much so.

I mean, it's been a trend that's been-- We kind of foresaw this many, many years ago, that the individual issues were going to decline.

And they have done significantly.

As a result of that, comic shops have declined in numbers again significantly.

In the States, for example, the news stand availability is not really there for comics anymore.

You can still get some comics in news stand in the UK, but it's a much smaller market.

So, most books now are in the graphic novel trade paperback format, and are bought either online through Amazon, or at bookshops, and through the few comic shops that still remain.

- And when you decide to go with like a digital platform, obviously the costs have to be a little bit less than getting a bunch of trades printed.

So, is there sort of a model that you use to decide which is going to be a digital property, and which might get a full print run?

- Well, we tend to-- I don't think we'd sign many books if we told them that we'd only release it digitally.

So, what we tend to do is we explain that we will print the graphic novel, but we can release individual issues as they're produced and get them out there digitally.

And that is actually a very good formula that works for us.

Because what ends up happening is, by the time the book is ready to go to print, it's already profitable.

So, as a small publisher, that's an area that we have to be very careful with.

We need the books to be profitable, otherwise we would struggle.

- If I'm buying comics, I prefer the floppies, as they are calling these days.

I enjoy having the issue.

I have a hard time with digital.

So, it's cool to see that there's an option for someone like me who's got that more old school approach, and the modern reader.

But the question I would ask is, are you giving away too much when you're giving it out digital?

Would that impact the hard sales, or is it something where you know that you've got a customer who's going to only want it in a hard copy?

- I actually look at it as two separate markets now.

I don't think-- I mean, we're not a huge publishing house that's going to be impacted too significantly by things like that.

But I also see it as a generational thing.

And I prefer the print medium, but the younger generation prefers the digital version, they can even read on their phone.

So, we have to provide for the people that want to read our books, and we'll give them every option that we can.

For me, it's a case of we cover both markets.

And we don't see too much of an impact on either.

So we're happy to continue with that format.

- You mentioned that you have, I think you said 400 intellectual properties.

We hear a lot about-- Let's say, Marvel, they have characters that are not only in comics, but now they're in films, TV shows, toy marketing and whatnot.

So, how do you manage an intellectual property to make sure that nothing damages it and it has the potential to be turned into something other than a comic property?

- When I sign a book, probably 90% of the time I signed it because of its potential in other markets.

Because the publishing medium at the moment is suffering to such an extent that, if we were to rely purely on print sales, we wouldn't succeed much.

And there is much of a future for small publishers in that arena.

I sign books that I think would look good on TV, or as a game, or as an animated series, or as fluffy toys.

We look at all aspects of it.

With regards to protecting, it we have a great team of-- We got a great manager based in LA.

Our lawyer is based in LA.

And we also have an agent.

And they constantly review what we do and make sure that we're well protected against anything.

And so far, so good.

We haven't had any issues, and we've gone along quite nicely.

- Your company has printed comics for licensed properties, where you are interpreting someone else's intellectual property.

And I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about how you go about making contact with someone like the owners of Starship Troopers, and getting them to agree that your company is the right outlet for a comic.

- We were very lucky we Starship Troopers.

And I should add that we no longer have that license, unfortunately.

I don't even know who has got the license anymore.

I've tried many times to get permission to reprint and republish some of this stuff.

And actually, we have three complete graphic novels that never got to print because the license went back.

At the time, we were lucky because the graphic novel rights and the comic book rights were held by a gaming company that was based in the UK.

And we had contact.

And we said can we sub license the graphic novel and comic books, which they happily did.

Because they were only interested in doing the roleplaying side of things.

So, we sub licensed from that company.

And we ended up publishing 25 issues over a number of years, which we're very, very proud of.

But then, unfortunately, the license issue got a little bit murky.

Because Sony and the rights holders ended up in some kind of a dispute, and we didn't want to get involved.

Unfortunately we had to give that license back.

But I'd love to bring those back.

And I'd love to reprint some of the things that we never got a chance to show people.

- When you're working on a book that is a licensed property, do you have to get permission because this character might not be-- You can't make a big change to this character because there's a planned sequel, or is it something where they just let you go ahead and do what you want it to do?

- You really need to set the guidelines and make sure you don't step on any toes.

And you have to stay true to the characters and true to the IP, otherwise you'd never get the license.

I mean, we were, again, very fortunate.

We had a great team of writers and artists that were dedicated to Starship Troopers.

And they did a marvelous job.

Kept to the script.

And no one had any issues or complaints.

And it was all very, very positive feedback that we got.

- The comic market in the United States is more action adventure based, obviously the superheroes are still the top sellers.

So I'm wondering, in Great Britain, what is the market like?

- It's a very different market in the UK.

We still have a news stand presence, but they're mainly directed at the much younger audience.

So, you'll generally get to see lots of comics wrapped in bags with free gifts to entice them to pull their parents over and grab it off the shelf.

Some of the superhero stuff is reprinted over here, and again on the shelf.

It's very different to what you see and what we get in the comic shops over here.

It's actually quite a thriving market.

The sales aren't as good as they used to be, but you will regularly get comic issues that will sell in 50 to 100,000 range every month, which for the small market that we are, is pretty good.

But again, that's purely because it's-- Purely because of the news stand presence.

- I'm imagining too, there's probably a European influence that's coming in as well.

So, it seems like, in Great Britain, you're getting a lot more variety of ideas.

Whereas, in the United States, if you were looking for something that might be more of a biographical comic, you might not be able to find that as easily in the comic shop, and you definitely wouldn't find it on the news stand.

- And with regards to news stand, the selection isn't in the hundreds, it's in a couple of dozen maybe.

So it's not a huge selection.

And it's the only place you can get individual issues, is either the news stand, or the comic shops where they import them from the US, for example.

To get the graphic novels in the selection that we have here in the UK, you need to go to a bookshop or on Amazon.

That's pretty much the choices that you have.

And we are able to get-- You can get pretty much anything, including the European stuff out here.

And it's a great selection.

- If you're selling comics and graphic novels in the United States, I'm wondering what sort of research are you doing?

Are you trying to tailor something to the American market, or is it something where you just have a product that is good and then you're just going to introduce it to the American market?

- I think the latter.

I think we'd be struggling if we had to tailor something all the time.

The process takes such a long time.

Trends change very quickly.

So, by the time we've developed something that we thought was relevant, it could be six months down the line and already out of date.

So, we tend to take our chance on releasing content that we believe in and hope that the public agrees.

And generally, we've got it right.

I mean, we don't send in the sort of numbers that Marvel and DC do, but we do well enough to be a profitable publishing house, albeit in small numbers again.

And the model that we have allows us to go into profit with each book with quite nominal sales.

So, we've evolved our business model to work for us.

And I'd rather have a small profit than a loss, which is what used to happen under the old system when we used to go through the Diamond distribution route and the comic shops.

- You may have the advantage compared to some of the older publishers in I think we said about 16 years that you started.

You were founded during the age of the Internet.

And so, I'm just wondering if that has given you the advantage that you're able to turn away from the traditional method to this digital release, and then printing the graphic novel after it's been profitable?

- We've had to.

In order to survive, that's what we've had to do we.

It very clearly and quickly became apparent that going through the usual routes that everyone was going through, Diamond previews in the comic shops and the five month lead time, it just didn't work for us.

No matter what we did.

We tried advertising in previews.

We tried promotions.

We tried all manner of things.

The interest just wasn't there.

And we lost heavily in the first year or two as a company.

And we quickly realized that, if we were to carry on doing it the traditional way, we wouldn't last very long at all.

So, we had to up our game and change the way we function as a publisher.

And like I said, it's evolved to the level where we have very low risk now in terms of costs, et cetera.

And are able to manage it during these difficult times.

And stay-- Not just survive, but actually be healthy with a great future, with great potential.

And it's that potential that is going to lead us to other things in the near future.

- I read an article that said that, in the US, graphic novel sales rose in 2020.

Because, I guess, more people were home and they were looking for something to read.

And I'm just wondering, have you noticed that in Great Britain as well, that the sales have reflected the fact that maybe people aren't getting out and they've got a little bit more free time in their hands to read?

- I can't speak for other publishers, but we've seen a growth in the past year.

Again, I think people tend to lean towards the brands, and the characters, and the publishers that they know.

So, I imagine some of the larger publishers have done quite well in terms of the graphic novel sales.

We have maintained quite a consistent level of sales and increased sales over the past year.

And I'd like to think it's because our business model allowed for that.

And we weren't badly affected.

Whereas, I know that some publishers have been very badly affected by it.

- You also said that, going through Diamond distributors, you would have like a five month lead time before the issue could be in someone's hands.

So, I'm wondering, in this age of digital, you've got artists who are probably working on the Cintiq, and they're just able to upload their files to you.

How quickly do you turn that file that comes in around?

Because I think Eric Larson posted something on Twitter once, where he got the colors in on a Thursday.

And by next Friday, the comic was in the shops.

- We don't do it that quickly.

But we have-- Once we've had the files, and we've sent a proof of the approval, once it's approved, we can have it released in about four to six weeks, which is a really good turnaround time.

And the best part of it is we release it when we want to release it.

We're not led by anyone else.

So, we can get books out when we think they're best to be released.

- In that time between when the book is completed and the time that you're going to release it, how do you let the public know that you've got this book coming out on the digital platform?

- We've tried many, many things.

Some have failed miserably.

We've seen some success with others.

We currently have a weekly newsletter.

And actually, we've got a campaign going on at the moment.

So, if anyone goes to our website and signs up for our newsletter, they are given 10 free comic books to read.

Digitally, I should add.

We're trying to increase our database of people that we can send this newsletter out each week.

And the newsletter has all the new releases of that week, print and digital, and also a spotlight on one of our older books as well.

So that's something we're very proud of.

And our editor in chief has done a great job with that, Ian Sharman.

We have tried the usual PR route in the past, where we've sent maybe 100 or 200 emails out to reviewers or websites.

And we've maybe had two or three responses.

However, if a creator does it, that rises to 30 or 40 responses.

So, we quickly realized that people would rather hear from the writer or the artist than the publisher.

And if that's how it works, then that's fine.

So, we ask our creative partners to contribute to promoting their books.

And it's worked well.

- And what about traditional-- I guess, traditional is kind of silly because it's still relatively new.

But social media, Twitter, or Facebook, or Instagram.

Are you using those tools to reach out to new readers?

- We've got all the accounts.

Some that I don't even know of.

Again, Ian has done a great job running that.

We've got a decent following on social media.

Again, it's something that we really want to increase.

We see that as a very important part of the future.

So, that is something that we will be investing in over the next year quite heavily to increase awareness.

Because it's very difficult sending out press releases as a small publisher.

Because within 30 minutes, Marvel and DC have brought out another 20 books, and ours is completely lost in the mix.

So, unless people know what to look for, it's very difficult to see any of our prints out there at the moment, which is a little bit sad.

So, we have to try other means to spread the word.

And I think a dedicated database of fans is probably the way forward for us.

And people will talk about how good our books are, and hopefully we'll get more people.

- It's interesting.

Because you talked about the writers and artists as your creative partners.

And I'm just wondering if you can tell me-- Let's say I've got a great idea for a comic and I want to publish it.

Is it something where I approach you, or you just have a list of people that you've seen their work and maybe you ask them if they've got something that they'd like to print?

- It works both ways.

But in general-- I mean, I get about 100 submissions a month that I go through, and I might sign two or three of them.

But we've got submission guidelines on the website that tells people exactly what we're looking for.

We generally like to see half a dozen pages of completed art and a short synopsis to give us a reasonable idea of what it's going to be like.

And it's something that's worked for us very well.

I mean, we have at any time probably 30 books in development.

And like I said, I'm signing several books every month.

And it's a model that works for us very well.

- When you have the books in development, what is it that you do, or your editor will do to kind of make sure that the book is polished the right way, and tells the story the best way it can?

- We try and limit how much influence.

We prefer that the creator-- It's the creator's baby.

So, they would know what they want from that book more than we do.

We try and correct obvious grammar and typos errors, and we keep certain controversial things to just below the line, where we can.

We don't want to offend anyone.

And it's an entertainment medium, at the end of the day.

So, our input is limited to those, really.

We're not in it to be controversial, or we're not in it to make drastic changes or anything like that.

We're here as one of the very few publishing houses now that individuals can approach to submit their books.

So, we try and give them a voice where they have typically been turned away in the past.

- It's interesting.

Because you just said you're one of the few publishers that will still accept submissions.

So, how do you protect yourself from maybe that one crackpot out there who said, well, that comic was my idea.

They stole it from me.

How do you cover your backside to make sure that, when the submission comes in, people know that they are not going to be able to sue you?

- We're very careful with that.

And we are very, very compliant, legally.

So, we're all very well versed with data protection and the law.

Our contracts are very comprehensive, they've been checked by our Hollywood lawyers, who are very tough.

And everything is in there as it should be.

The onus is on them to prove that we've done something wrong.

We do not go out and purposely set out to steal anyone's idea or anything like that.

And our contracts make it very clear that, if someone has done that, it's their responsibility.

So far, we have 100% success rate.

No one has accused us of anything.

We've not had any threatening letters from solicitors, or attorneys, or lawyers.

And we're happily moving along without offending anyone, like I said.

- So, let's say I have an idea for a comic, and I approach you.

How does that work?

Because if I'm an unknown person, it's going to be different than if I'm like, let's say, Alan Moore.

So, at what point do you say that this is a conversation that you want to have, and at what point do you say come back to me when you're a little bit more prepared?

- Firstly, I wish Alan Moore would approach us.

I wouldn't even read it, I'd just say, yes, I'll sign it.

So, like I said, for me, a comic book or a graphic novel is entertainment.

So, it has to have a good story, it has to have art that works with the story.

When you've been doing it for many years, you realize quite quickly whether it's going to work in that medium.

And if I like it, I say to them, what do you expect and what are you hoping for in an agreement.

And we go from there.

- It seems that a lot of publishers are looking for the most cutting edge, slickest style artwork.

But it kind of seems as if, if the story is supposed to be reminiscent of Marvel of the 1960s, that might be something that would work with that old school approach.

- Yeah.

I mean, we published many retro style books.

And we published pretty much every genre and every type of art style.

We're not looking for perfect art, and I would never go that way.

I like imperfections, because it shows that we're human beings and not robots.

And it shows the flaws in all of us.

And I'm a firm believer that, if there's someone out there looking specifically for mistakes in a book, then they're not reading it for the right reasons.

For me, as long as it works together, I don't mind if the art is not perfect.

As long as it works together and it deserves to be read, then I'm all for it.

- And I see we have about five minutes left before we have to wrap up our conversation.

So, again, let's just go back to the hypothetical.

I've got this great idea and I want to get in touch with you.

I submit something to you.

Now, a lot of people get very impatient.

So, at what point do I have to say I'm going to email, or at what point do I say I shouldn't email because they'll get back to me?

It's the old don't call us, we'll call you sort of answer.

- OK, so, my responses are-- Firstly, I'll respond to everyone that takes the time to contact us.

It's great of them to do that, and I'm thankful for that.

And if it's a project I'm not interested, I'm very polite.

I'll say, thank you, but sadly this is not for us, and I wish you much luck in the future.

I'll keep it very short and sweet.

Sometimes I'll get asked for feedback.

And I try and avoid going into too much detail.

But if there's something that stands out, for example, if the lettering needs to be more professional or the colors need to be-- Because sometimes, what you see on your computer, or what you draw, doesn't look very well when it's being printed.

And you need to know as a publisher what that difference is going to look like in print.

Things like that, for me, is positive feedback.

Because I can go back to that person, I can say, look, this is-- If you want to give it a better shot, this is what you should do, this is how you can improve it.

Sometimes I'll get submissions where the art is just not of a publishable nature, or the story.

Again, there's an art to writing comic books.

It's not the same as writing a novel or anything like that.

And if it's written poorly, it won't translate very well as a comic book.

Some submissions have spent six pages saying something that could have been said in one page.

You have to have a happy medium, otherwise it just doesn't work.

- You say you get about 100 submissions a month.

I'm just wondering, how much time do you get to actually spend going through these submissions?

Because you've got a lot of other things you have to do.

- As they come in, I'll read them when I can, which is normally within 24 hours.

And I try and respond straightaway.

And in general, you can tell very quickly whether something is of interest.

And I've been interested in signing many books who have turned around after we've sent an agreement often and said, this isn't for us, we'd like something different.

I've had people offering just the UK publishing rights, which is not viable.

So, you have to go through the process to be able to understand whether it's going to work or not.

Most of them do sign happily, because we're a great company to work with.

I consider us a small but happy family that's got a very good future.

That's how I look at it.

- Well, Harry, they're telling us that we are out of time.

If the people watching wanted to learn more about Markosia, how could they find you on the web?

- They could go-- We have a website, markosia.com.

They can find us on Facebook.

We're on Instagram.

And I believe we're on Twitter as well.

Someone else manages that.

But please go to the website, sign up for the newsletter, get the 10 free comics, that will give you an idea of what we're about.

And please get in touch with any other questions.

Happy to hear from anyone out there.

- Well, Harry, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me today.

I'd like to thank everyone at home for watching Comic Culture.

And we will see you again soon.

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