Comics Industry & Market Research - SEQA 410 - Senior Portfolio - Research Guides at Savannah College of Art and Design

Industry & Market Research

How does the comic industry look? Are you interested in small-press ventures, or one of the Big Two, or something in-between? These resources can help you to identify sales numbers and the market share of various publishers.

Find Art Directors

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Winmo This link opens in a new window
Find art director contacts within national and international organizations, including major newspaper and magazine publishers. Look under "Key Contacts" after searching by your company's name.
Winmo contains contact information, advertising budgets, market performance, and sales predictions for thousands of companies and brands. Also included are creative ads and case studies from around the world.

Beyond comics

To get a full picture of the comics industry, you might need to look beyond industry-specific news and media sources. Look at general trends in print vs. electronic book sales, web advertising strategies, comics-related stories and profiles in external publications, and more.

To get started, you can search multiple news and scholarly (academic) journal sources using the library's CatalogPlus tool:

Industry Reports & Company Data

Comics sales numbers, company profiles and business reports, and industry information.

Comic Industry Statistics - Diamond Distributors
Sales and market share numbers at the publisher and title level, including a separate "non-premier" list ranking.

Data Axle This link opens in a new window
Need to learn about a comics publisher? RefUSA provides detailed company and financial information for US and global businesses. Also has reports at the industry level, though information on comics publishers is very limited.
Data Axle, formerly Reference USA, consists of two databases covering business information and career resources. U.S. Businessess provides financial information and contacts for millions of businesses operating in the United States. U.S. Jobs lists current job and internship postings as well as career tools, including resume writing tips, cover letter examples, interview tips, salary estimates, and more.
Business Source Premier This link opens in a new window
Business news and reports pulled from over 2300 journals.
Business Source Premier provides full-text articles back to 1886 for more than 2,000 journals, including full text for more than 500 peer-reviewed business publications. The database includes resources from the world's top management and marketing journals including Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Industrial & Labor Relations Review, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), Journal of Marketing, Journal of International Marketing and more. The database also includes other information sources such as country economic reports from the EIU, Global Insight, ICON Group, and CountryWatch as well as detailed company profiles for the world's 10,000 largest companies and Associate Press (AP) video content. For help using EBSCO databases, search SCAD Libraries' FAQ, or use the chat feature to contact library staff.
Art and Architecture Source This link opens in a new window
EBSCO database containing images in addition to full-text journals and books covering fine, decorative, and commercial art as well as architectural history and design from around the world.
Art and Architecture Source covers a broad range of related subjects from fine, decorative, and commercial art to various areas of architecture and architectural design. The database contains over 63,000 images dating back to 1914 and hundreds of full-text journals and books in various languages, including French and German. For help using EBSCO databases, search SCAD Libraries' FAQ, or use the chat feature to contact library staff.

Pricing & Publishing Guidance

Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines
Call Number: NC1001.6 .G7 2013
The holy grail of freelance guidelines. Authoritative source of pricing guidelines, ethical and professional standards, legal rights, sample contracts, and tips for negotiation.

How to crowdfund a graphic novel (without losing your mind and alienating people)
Link through library databases - click the green "Article" link to get to the full text.
Publishing campaigns grow on Kickstarter (Publisher's Weekly)
Link through library databases - click the green "Article" link to get to the full text.

Art Marketing 101 by Constance Smith
Call Number: N8353 .S63 2013 (2nd Floor)
No matter how much you already think you know, you'll improve your business skills by following the suggested practices for survival in the professional world. Concise, step-by-step strategies are introduced: building name recognition, planning an exhibit, taking care of legal matters, reading a financial statement, pricing artwork, preparing a comprehensive marketing plan, and much more.

Marketing Research

WARC This link opens in a new window
Advertising and marketing case studies. Try searching by company names or topic ("manga", "comics", "graphic novels") to see industry trends or marketing reports from those companies.
WARC provides business intelligence, reports, case studies, news briefings, and more. WARCs industry, category, and consumer insights and best practices are used by advertising agencies and marketing professionals to optimize their operations for brand-building and effectiveness. The database provides access to over 18,000 case studies, the latest research from across the marketing industry, and best practice from leaders in marketing. For help using WARC, search SCAD Libraries' FAQ, or use the chat feature to contact library staff.