Retailing | The retail news and analysis site ICv2 contends sales of graphic novels in the direct market may be better than recent numbers indicate because of the way Diamond Comic Distributors reports those figures. While the distributor's calculations are based on the wholesale value of shipments, ICv2 based its estimates on the retail value, and found graphic novel sales rose 24.4 percent in March, rather than declined 5.7 percent (versus a year ago), and climbed 27.7 percent in April, rather than just 12.6 percent: "The big differences between the wholesale and retail rates of change in recent months appear to be caused by big increases in the number of graphic novels liquidated through Diamond in March and April. So retail dollars were up, while wholesale dollars lagged. " [ICv2]
Conventions | Audrey Gillan previews this weekend's Kapow! in London by casting a spotlight on organizers Lucy and Sarah Unwin -- they're partnered with Mark Millar -- and their efforts to create a female-inclusive comic convention. "We ourselves as women organising the show have been accused of misogyny because of the obviously male guest list, but there is just this lack of female creators and it's the nature of the industry," Lucy Unwin said. "There's no point in taking it to heart because I don't employ the creators. I would love there to be more women at the show in terms of guests." [The Guardian]
Creators | Writers and artists at the Long Beach Comic Expo explain why they decided to self-publish. [LA Weekly]
Creators | It's a creators-on-creators interview when the Giants Beware! team of Jorge Aguirre and comics artist Rafael Rosado interview Smile creator Raina Telgemeier. Here's Telegmeier on the creative life: "I try to view my career broadly: some years are hard-working, creative years, where I am chained to my desk. Other years are promotional. In 2011 I had to produce 240 pages of art for Drama, but I know my own work habits so well that I was able to budget exactly how much time that would take. 2012 is looking like a heavy promotion year, but with time set aside for writing my next book. It kind of goes in cycles. To that end, I only get paid a couple of times a year, and some years I make a decent amount and others I make almost nothing. Being a full-time graphic novelist means being extremely conscious and disciplined in your spending habits!" [Tor.com]
Creators | Writer Scott Snyder discusses his work on Batman, Swamp Thing and American Vampire on Suvudu's 15 Minutes of Fiction... With Fictional Frontiers podcast. [Suvudu]
Creators | J. Torres talks about Jinx, the classic comic that Archie Comics has revived and relaunched as a teen story, in a video shot at TCAF. [Geek Hard]
Creators | Russ Burlingame has a brief interview with Matt Kindt, whose new series Mind MGMT is due out next week from Dark Horse. [ComicBook.com]
Creators | Kate Kelly talks to James Disco, who writes graphic novels to educate children about hard topics: modern-day slavery and the Lost Boys of Sudan. [The Huffington Post]
Comics | Johanna Draper Carlson shows off some of the minicomics she picked up at MoCCA. [Comics Worth Reading]