No Dreamland in Bookstores any time soon…
Hey all…
For those of you who were waiting to pick up Dreamland at your local Barnes and Noble or Borders…
It’s not going to happen any time soon.
I just received an email from my Marketing Director Brian Petkash that the buyers for Barnes and Noble and Borders didn’t like and didn’t want Dreamland in their stores.
Apparently the art looks “dated” and just didn’t fit with their ‘high standards”.
Regardless…the book continues to be in the top 10% of sales for Amazon…we’re selling well here on the site…and we’ve reached almost 2,000,000 new readers online.
So…all I can say to Borders and Barnes and Noble is…your loss.
I hate to sound bitter. I’m not bitter.
I’m mad.
I’m so tired of people like this who are somehow in a position of telling people like me what I can and can’t do. Despite the evidence that people enjoy the books.
So I need to vent. And I’d rather do it here.
As always…thanks for being loyal readers. Thanks for being vocal…for the encouragement, grammar corrections, squeals, jokes, and friendship.
Book two is almost done…and no amount of nay saying will keep me from continuing this dream of mine.
Thanks for sticking around and thanks for reading.
You guys help me keep going.
Hey, who needs the stuck up so-and-sos anyway? It’s not your fault they are stuck in the dark ages.
The first book is great, and I am looking forward to getting my hands on the second one too!
They carry manga, but won’t carry Dreamland on ARTISTIC grounds? That’s simply ludicrous. Nothing against manga, but it is by definition minimalist line art. Very few manga titles, and Borders carries dozens of them, even add backgrounds on a regular basis. Inking tends to look rushed in all but the very best titles.
They’re popular, and they’re fun to read, and that’s SUPPOSED to be all that matters. Me, I think Borders is afraid of trusting the value of “the new media”. If Dreamland were already a comic book with a TENTH as many readers, it would be snapped up like the gem it is.
Hey Scott, all I have to say on this is, Borders and BN are very snotty upitty-ups. That’s very lewd of them to refer to your comic as anything “dated” That’s far from the truth.. honestly, yes, it’s not a matter of drawing in the traditional comic method. Whoopdedoo. Your art to me is beyond that, if not a new genre of comic in and of itself. And you’re right, it is their loss. One of these days, others will jump on the bandwagon and the type of digital art that you do will overtake the plain old black and white that they seem to be caught up in. So don’t worry, one of these days they’ll come to see the light, but it’ll just be too late for them and you and us readers can just sit back and laugh. But I think it’s a great thing that you’re doing, so by no means should you let this deter you from your dream. You’re doing a fantastic job, and we’re all here for you on whatever road you end up needing to take this on to accomplish your goals ^_^ Thanks for a job well done, and keep up the good work!
WHAT?!?!?!?!? Border’s and B&N not wanting Dreamland??? Is the world ending??? Are they INSANE?!?!?!? How can Dreamland even begin to define “dated”???? That is so…so…URG!!! I feel like boycotting them now, I’m so mad!!!
But you know what, if they want to miss out on Dreamland, fine. Dreamland’s too good for them anyway.
Hi! I’m an anonymous reader who discovered this work a few months ago. I love it. It’s wonderful, family-friendly, beautifully illustrated, great story…
I’m so sorry that B&N and Border’s didn’t want your work. I’m especially sorry because I like those two bookstores but I think this was a bad decision on their part.
Your art is anyting but dated. However, I’m wondering: What sample did they see? What did they base their comments off of? Because I think if they saw where the comic’s at now, there is so little ground if any for them to think your work is dated.
I love The Dreamland Chronicles, and will always be checking every week to read new comics. Thank you so much, Scott. Just from reading your little news updates I can garner you’re a good natured guy, as well as an awesome artist and storyteller.
And thank you for literally keeping Dreamland alive for us (and yourself).
Well, Scott, I bet you’ll have the last laugh when in your interviews (after Dreamland – The Movie) you get to tell the world how the book was rejected by those stores!! HaHa on them!!
Hey!
I was reading about your article here, and I was stunned. This webcomic doing great success in Amazon should be credited for publishing! I believe that bookstore should place it on your shelves. I am Canadian, so we have no sort of that bookstore there, yet we have Chapters. You should try there! (I dont know if you have any fans up here 😉 ) but if you keep trying you will succeed! Keep us the good work!
btw I
Man, Scott, that’s just plain crappy. I’m really sorry that those guys’ve turned you down. Personally, I love the style Dreamland’s in, and really enjoy reading it.
Best of luck with continuing great sells here and at Amazon.com, and you have our continued support.
Thanks for the encouragement.
I’m going to continue to print the books…and sell them here, on amazon, and at cons.
I’ll also look into other avenues.
I have been reading Dreamland for the past month and I continue to be delighted. The fact that these big names rejected it is a sad sign of how so much in this world relies on rehashes of the familiar rather than taking a chance on something new. But I am convinced that, day by day, more people will come to see this beautiful thing you have made.
Hmm… we could always petition the ever-loving snot out of them. Sending them 2 million letters demanding DreamLand may change their minds.
Yet they have like 10 bajillion crappy mangas now, Sigh I guess your look is “outadated” because it isn’t manga. Not that I hate all manga…
You know, I was talking to the manager of my local Chapters (large Canadian bookstore chain) a few weeks ago. I mentioned to him that in the last three or four years I’ve seen their comics section go from being predominantly American style comics with a large Indy section to half of shelf of Batman and Superman and the rest being Manga. The reason the manager gave me for this shift in stock? “No one buys American comics any more”. He didn’t have a response when I pointed out that of course no one is buying American and Indy – they can’t get it anymore! My book shopping days were a so much simpler when I could pick up my Hellblazer in the same store as my novels! The simple truth is that Chapters has decided that Manga is the market taste and they will not carry any more than minimal selection of anything else, and of that selection it will only be sure-fire sellers (not meaning to come down on Manga, there are titles in there that I quiet enjoy, twee as that sounds). And the worst news? Manga is not selling as well as it used to, meaning not that they’ll expand American and Indy comics, but that they’ll phase out comics all together. As I do not have a Borders or a B&N nearby, I can’t say for certain if they are facing the same situation, but I’ll assume the North American book market faces simmilar problems all over. They’re wary of anything that is untested in their market and something that has only been tested in internet sales scares them off even further.
Doesn’t meet their “high standards”? Highly unlikely. As I’ve said, it’s a catch-22; they won’t carry because they don’t think it will sell, but it will never ever prove itself as a seller to them (note I’m saying *to them*) if they don’t carry it. From a financial standpoint, I see where they’re coming from. As a reader though, it makes me want to scream. As to the matter of the art seeming “dated”, well, I can see where they would come up with that actually. The illustration is very lush, very rich with many highly saturated colours that make it extrodinarily vivid, a style that is not in vogue right now. The highly crafted feel of Dreamland is simply something that is not present in many contemporary comics you find on popular market. However, this in no way detracts from the comic. The art reflects the fairytale nature and creates an entire world for the story to happen in. Love the style or hate it, it’s as engrained in the story as the characters themselves.
This has gotten much longer than I thought it would be and quite rambling (forgive me, I’ve been up for nearly 20 hours now), so I’ll end by saying this: of the 73 webcomics I read regularly, Dreamland is one of the five that I check as soon as I know it’ll be updated. Of those five it is the only one I would show to my parents knowing they would enjoy it as much as I do. Dreamland is a fantastic product that will do well in the right market. Finding that market is the trick. If Borders and B&N claim that theirs isn’t the right market, sucks to be them. They’ll regret it when market tastes dictate otherwise to them and someone else has snapped it up. Keep up the good work Mr. Sava and best of luck in your future endeavors.
I used to enjoy Barnes and Noble, but I’ve come to realize that they have a *very* limited book selection. They also jack up their prices much more than Amazon. I stopped shopping there over four years ago and never regretted it. Their company just isn’t worth dealing with, IMO.
“Dated”? Really? Call me weird, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the style of art you use anywhere else, Scott. Makes it a bit hard to be ‘dated’. Innovative? Yes. Unique? Certainly. Dated? Utterly not!
I suspect the real reason is ‘hard to classify’ – and we all know how that causes the brains of ‘experts’ to melt down. Dreamland is not a traditional US comic, nor is it Manga. As an all-ages fantasy, it hardly fits with any standard comic classification.
Don’t let the doubters get you down – Dreamland is great! 🙂
As far as Amazon is concerned – I suspect you will get even more sales once Dreamland shows up on Amazon UK, which it currently does not.
Dude, I’ve been reading for a few months, and since then I’ve said that DC needs to be read as a whole. It will come alive in book format.
Border and BN have their heads in their ass… and you are better off out of it. I’ve worked for a publisher and know that you would be stiffed for every copy they do and don’t sell. They make their money by pushing the little guy. I’ll place my order at Amazon.
GAH! I was just talking to two of my friends who hated the art in The Dreamland Chronicles yesterday! How horrible. Just because it isn’t anime-style or hand-drawn people hate it, and I can’t believe that Borders wouldn’t accept it just because of that. How close-minded and superficial! I hate it when people are like that, too.
But still, I’m glad to hear of the book’s success. I hope that maybe, someday, a store will be willing to sell it. This is the kind of book that kids need to have access to.
Computer-generated is outdated. Wow. I guess books with audiences of more than four people shouldn’t belong in Barnes & Noble stores.
I am sticking with this comic more for the artwork than the actual story.
I really don’t think this should be compared to manga or American comics. Dreamland is a children’s story, not something aimed at teens, even though I am neary done with being a teen…
What child wouldn’t love to look at pictures like this? I would have been ecstatic as a child to have this as a book. Really, anything that looks like it’s in a style similar to Toy Story would’ve been awesome. Young, book reading children shouldn’t have changed their tastes in stories and pictures. Hands down, the shinier, the more realistic and less pencil-drawn, the better for the kids.
I’ve worked at a daycare for a while (I have always loved being around children), and I can tell you that this would be perfect for elementary school students and younger, and even some junior high ages. The kids head for the books with real photographs, lots of colors, the ones that remind them of TV and movies, the pictures that pop out of the pages, the sterotypical princess and the knight with the sword…
The only problem with this is you’re lacking the poofy-dressed, crown-wearing princess for the girls. The boys get to see the guy in armor with the sword, the girls get an elf in pants. An elf is not quite the same, but the toughness with the bow-and-arrow makes her more apealing.
The children’s books that always get ignored when the kids pick themselves are the ones that we all think of as classics, the ones our parents picked out ’cause they liked the story. If you could get these in the children’s section of a library somewhere, I’m sure they’d be quite popular.
Are you kidding me? The art looks dated? It’s amazing… I’m really surprised that they aren’t carrying it.
I’m a lit. major and even I think Barnes and Nobles is stuck up! They’d rather sell overpriced coffee and trashy “hot topic” novels, they can go right ahead. Meanwhile, stores with “lower standards” will be making a fortune selling your amazing books.
Dreamland is not dated. That’s the most retarded thing I’ve ever read. Most commercial comics have worse art. I have to disagree with some of you manga-haters – many mangas have EXCELLENT art – but Dreamland is good too.
As someone who worked at Borders for a few years, I can tell you that the “dated” and “not up to their standards” bits were entirely pulled out of the air as excuses. People have been pointing out that manga has been replacing the things we’ve been used to seeing in the comic/graphic novel section, and they’re right.
That was my section when I worked there–I was happy when they began carrying some of the manga that have merit, bemused when manga began outweighing the other comics, and horrified when they began importing complete and utter crap just because it was manga.
The fact is that the profit margin is larger on cheap little crappy mangas than it is on a quality paperback books. It’s all about the money, my friend.
Take heart. Perhaps ask people to request or order it at their local independant bookstores. These are the people who deserve our business anyway.
HA! That’s a good one… However, your continued success will be all the revenge you need. 😉
I have never been a comic reader until my friend introduced me to Dreamland. I absolutely loved it and haven’t missed a day since. If you can convert someone like me- who in fact didn’t like comics- to a daily loyal reader you have nothing to worry about. Your work, art included, is awesome and like you said, it’s their loss. Keep up the good work- they’ll come around… and if not who cares. 🙂 😉
P.S. Daily reader since page one. I told you it was awesome. 😀
Absolutely first rate and cotder-boptomep, gentlemen!
OMG! ROTFLMAO! Awesome, dude…I don’t know how you continue to come up with the brilliant content! (Commenting accordingly, as per instructions. Hope your internet is back soon!)