On Legacies

 

Allow me to point out that I personally think that if anyone in human history should be allowed to avoid the Grim Reaper it is me. Seriously.

However, that ain't gonna happen and this is why certain things will happen "come the day" and I have explained this before but it seems certain people object to what I have done.

Firstly, there is no family that has supported my business financially or by words or deeds therefore I know that, along with my very large comics collection dating from Victorian to 2021 including many rarities will be "disposed of".  Several times I have had it made clear thatthe bothersome collection will make a big bonfire. That is no joke. No one is interested in the bother it takes to sell and post on or whatever. Amongst all the funeral pyre paper will be my sketchbooks and art. In all honesty I cannot say that bothers me as I won't be here 😆😆

That is the first very basic fact but it leads into certain decisions regarding Black Tower Comics and Books.

I will not be here so what is the point having books still for sale since the money will only accrue in a defunct bank account?  I made it all legal some time back that when I croak so do the books and store as they will have no worth to me.

If I cannot get a living out of the published books while I am alive then ...get the point? This is what outrages many who frankly have absolutely nothing to do with the matter and certainly no say in it since they have not even purchased any of my books!

There is talk of my "legacy" but look at Bob Monkhouses huge comics collection -sold off or grabbed for a pittance.  Denis Gifford's huge collection -ditto. It goes on and one with people trying to profit from the person after their deaths. 

At the monent (before I start pushing up prices) the Golden Age collection reprints are too cheap but offer far better quality than the original books the material came from. Buy the entire run and it is still far less than some sellers are trying to sll a common Gerald Swan album at. It's been proven how wonderful my "legacy" is because all the loud talkers with their "Oh, I will buy that one!"...never have. Leave the books so someone can buy, grab the material and use it for their own gain? No.

With Print on Demand a book is only printed when ordered. That's it. My copies are going up in smoke so even if, say (for the sake of fantasy) 100 copies of a book are sold that is still a very rare book so the value increases as not all copies will survive. Here is an example: Steve is a comic collector and he collects for speculation and buys only books that seem likely to increase in value. He purchased ten books from me at a total cost of £50 (my cut from that was £9.50 after tax and other annoyances). Why did he buy the titles he did?

"The UK has never had full blown graphic novels involving British characters in cosmic style events so these will be rare"

Steve was talking about Return of the Gods and The Green Skies which actually have characters from most country but I get his point. In fact, two comic bloggers havetwice called me out of "fibbing" about the sales of The Green Skies because "...there is no way that you can publish books like this and publicise them the way you do and not make sales and money". Well, curiously enough the only person to have purchased copies is me just to send them to certain people for opinions etc. Sales figures at the POD cannot be altered!

Even a couple of blogs -actually two in the United states and one in Europe- telling their readers that Black Tower are comics to get into has not helped. 180 books selling like treacle passing through honey.

Therefore I am practical. My eyesight and health declines and my books do not make me enough to pay the bills why would I leave them to sell after I'm dead?

People need to understand that Black Tower is MY business. I make the books and publish them and it is my decision what happens in future -the antagonism toward me on this matter is the craziest. My response is always the same: you want to support me and keep my books going -buy them!

So from now on when this matter crops up I am going to ignore it as it is wasting my valuable time.

Comics stuff will resume shortly.