Earlier this year we passed along that, according to Bookscan, the adult graphic novel category was off 5% in 2017, with the kids’ graphic novel category up 1.9%. Both those figures were an improvement over the 10% loss for the year suffered by the comic book specialty shop market, which remains the largest channel for comics and graphic novel sales combined. (See the most recent size comparisons here.)
The book channel, however, sells a majority of the industry’s graphic novels — and a significant player in that has announced a large number of layoffs. CNBC reports that Barnes & Noble confirmed a significant number of layoffs today. “Its 2017 holiday sales fell more than 6 percent to $953 million, when compared with the year prior. Same-store sales declined 6.4 percent for the holiday period, while online sales dropped 4.5 percent.”
There’s nothing in the statement or article suggesting the company may alter its purchasing strategies or product mix; we’ll see what impact this has, if any, on the graphic novel business. Barnes & Noble’s rivals in the book channel, Amazon and Wal-Mart, already have their graphic novel sales tracked by Bookscan.
Comichron founder John Jackson Miller has tracked the comics industry for more than 25 years, including a decade editing the industry’s retail trade magazine; he is the author of several guides to comics, as well as more than a hundred comic books for various franchises.
He is the author of novels including Star Wars: Kenobi, Star Wars: A New Dawn, Star Trek: Discovery – The Enterprise War, and his upcoming release, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The High Country. Read more about them at his fiction site.
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