Objectives: Was 2024 a good year?
I think so. It’s been a year of small accomplishments and re-found freedom.
Objective One: Monthly Updates
First off, I wanted to see if I could actually keep my shit together enough to do monthly blog updates. I did! Basically, it was a to see if a more robust Nix on-line periodical was a possibility. You’ll have to trust me: I achieved that small objective. I nuked the nix2024 site in favor of returning to nixcomics.com and was too dopey to save my work.
Objective Two: Publish Three Nix Comics Collected Trade Paperbacks
Speaking of trust and objectives... I wanted to get back into the swing of making comics. Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered the new Nix Trade paperbacks. I managed to get them all shipped before the end of the year! This was a project that began to germinate pre-Covid, so its nice to finally have it done. I have a few left over copies of each in the store and there are a few copies at Lost Weekend Records. I’m not sure how long that will last, so I will likely do another print run shortly.
Publishing the three TPBs was an interesting objective from the point of view that 2024 was the first year in many where I was more or less free of financial imperatives. In recent years, my under-employed status constrained me. I needed to at least break even on any comics I made, which dictated what kind of art I could make. Nowadays its OK if I don't make all of my money back. My budget isn't unlimited by any means, but I can cover it if I end up in then hole.
It's my tradition to share my annual revenue and expenses. I feel like to often no one talks about these kinds of things, much less commits the numbers to public record. Whelp, no secrets here!
Expenses: | |
Postage | $423.10 |
Shipping Supplies | $169.27 |
Event fees | $125.00 |
Transaction Fees | $112.13 |
Herbert Cooper Gallery | $675.00 |
Website & Email | $174.72 |
Printing | $1,963.33 |
Commissioned Art | $100.00 |
Facebook Ad | $6.00 |
Display/Storage | $15.00 |
Total Expenses | $3,763.55 |
Revenue | |
Sales | $2,721.25 |
Shipping fees | $316.00 |
Wholesale/Contributor Copies | $301.50 |
Total Revenue | $3,338.75 |
NET | -$424.80 |
Notes:
Postage & Shipping Supplies vs. Shipping Fees:
At first glance, it looks like I really blew it, spending a total of $572.26 on postage and supplies, but only charging $310 total. Its actually not as bad as it looks. Early in 2024 I started mailing out copies of the first four issues of Nix Comics Quarterly to random record stores across the country. The totals also reflect mailings that aren’t sales (like contributor copies) and also that I bought extra mailers for future orders. So basically, I kinda blew it, but not totally so.
Event Fees:
I only did SPACE this past year. The $125 is for both next year's table and an extra table I bought shortly before the show this year. It may be the case that going forward SPACE is the only comics show I do. That said, I’m open to doing more record swaps, punk rock fleas, et.al..
Herbert Cooper Gallery:
Sigh. I had such high hopes when Alli MacGregor opened up the Herbert Cooper Gallery to artists. It was a good deal in principle: $100 a month rent for a retail space, with any sales over that base being mine to keep. All of the gallery’s proceeds went to various animal shelters and charities, which would take the sting off of any slow months. Unfortunately, through no real fault of anybody, sales never took off at the site and the $100 a month became too much of a give for me. I’ll continue to look for a good “home base” for Nix Comics.
Website:
Running an extra site for the pre-order sale worked out OK, but I’ve since gone back to primarily using this site. A good chunk of these expenses are from transferring nixcomics.com to this host, who has a better shopping cart option.
Conclusion:
While it wasn’t a forgone conclusion that I was going to end up in the red this year, it was the outcome I expected. 2024 was the first year in many where I had a full time job for the entire year and I wanted to use it to experiment. “Science” ain’t free.
I haven’t quite decided if I’m going to continue with my reckless ways or go back to making sure everything i do makes a little money in the name of sustainability. Honestly, “reckless ways” sounds a lot more fun than “sustainability” but hey, I do also like a challenge.
HEY! What about that whole "don't call it a crowd-funder" thing?
I’m pretty over third party crowd-funder platforms. I just don’t trust them to take their fees and do good with them. Kickstarter is mostly to blame with their flirtations with blockchain and likely attempts at union busting. I know… They didn’t end up implementing blockchain technologies and the union busting accusations were just that… accusations that were unproven… But at the end of the day it just made me realize that I have not a lot of control over what happens with the 10% or so that a crowdfunding site scrapes off the top. The result is that I’ve effectively been boycotting these sites for a while.
And this isn’t a “I won’t eat at chik-fil-a” type boycott, which I’d be unlikely to do in any case.. It’s meaningful to me. There’s sacrifice on my part. Crowdfunding sites have been VERY good to me:
Number of Successful Campaigns | 13 |
Total Funding | $28,211.00 |
Total # Backers | 944 |
Average Result | $2,380.77 |
Average # Backers | 73 |
So what's a boy who wants ta make comics to do? How much more expensive is it to just run a pre-order campaign on a website? Is it even possible? Spoiler: The answers are "a little" and "sure!"
Here's my best shot at an apples to apples comparison:
Average Past Crowd-funder | 2024 Pre-Order Campaign | |
Duration of Campaign | 30 Days | 70 Days |
Total Received | $2,380.77 | $2,207.05 |
Number of sales | 73 | 52 |
Approximate Expense of Campaign | $238.08 | $322.23 |
Duration of Campaign: One of the things I wanted to free myself of, constraint wise, was the duration of campaign dictated by crowdfunding sites. I wanted to begin and end when I was good and ready, as opposed to picking a launch date and end date. The 2024 pre-orders sale lasted 70 days. Even though that is more than twice as long as a typical crowd-funder, it actually felt about right. I didn't experience a "donut" in the middle where sales dropped off for a couple of weeks. I was perhaps pushing the limits of my regular social media peers with the length of the sale.
Total Received:
Note: These totals include shipping, and in previous reporting about my 2024 sale I did not include shipping in my totals. I just wanted to make the comparison accurate. Basically, I made around 9% less than what a crowd-funding campaign has made for me on average in the past.
Number of Sales: Maybe this is the most notable difference. The metaphorical cash register rung around 30% less often for my non-crowd-funder than it had on average in the past. There were factors that could play into it which have nothing to do with crowd-funding: These books were reprints and more expensive per piece than anything I have ever offered in the past. I suspect that is the primary cause of the large difference between past average crowd-funders and the TPBs pre-order sale.
Approximate Cost of the Campaign: Approximate because the number for the average crowd-funder is a spitball: 10% of the total. The actual percentages were probably more like 9-12% from campaign to campaign, but I didn't track it. The cost for the 2024 pre-order sale is exact, however: The cost of the nix2024 website, Paypal transaction fees, and a short ad I took out on Facebook to make up for the random people who might find a crowd-funding campaign through the site itself. This equate to about 14% of the campaign going towards of running the damn thing.
So what does it all mean??? In conclusion, I think it cost me 40 extra days of running the sale, around $175 in sales, maybe 21 customers, and approximately $85 in fees to run my pre-order sale through a website of my own making as opposed to through Kickstarter. It's debatable, but I think the truth is close to that.
What did that extra cost buy me? Peace of mind mostly.
Objective Three: Create A List Every Record I Listened To In 2024
Records I Listened To In December 2024. (And the Rest of the Year)
I had one last kind of silly objective for the year. I wanted to list every record that I listened to in 2024. As I had in past years, I decided to track the date I pulled the record from the shelf (or first played it if it were new to me), the artist, the format/size. I only counted/listed a record once per pull from the shelf, so many had multiple plays before going back in with the whole collection.
The full list for those of you interested is here.
If you want so see my whole collection, I track it on discogs.
There wasn't a real point to this project, other than maybe to fill out my monthly updates with something that I personally had fun with, but now I feel like I should do something with the list. Like maybe make a Lynda Barry style word bag and then do a zine with stories based on words I pull. Maybe? I dunno. Something! In the meantime and while I figure it out, here are some interesting to me facts about the project:
I listened to records 313 of 366 days in 2024.
I pulled 2,840 in total, an average of 7.76/day
210 of the records were new to me... Either I purchased them or they were gifts.
I listened to 57 "split" records, featuring two separate artist or groups performing on each side of the disc.
That's Split 52 singles and five split LPs.
The majority of the splits were Norton records "Rolling Stones Juke Box Series" singles
I listened to 86 Comps or various artist
The band whose records I pulled out the Most: the Fleshtones (43)
Most Commonly I listened to an artist only once (630 times)
On average, though, I listened to artists 3 times
There are nine records tied for having listened to them the most. (Four times each)
LPs: The Cramps: Bad Music for Bad People, The Lazy Cowgirls: Ragged Soul, The Ramones: Leave Home, Sons of Hercules: Get Lost, Thee Headcoats: The Kids Are All Square, This Is Hip
7"s: The Fleshtones: Girl From Baltimore, Thee Headcoats: Girl from '62, Thee Mighty Caesars: Cowboys Are Square, Zeros: I Don't Wanna
I listened to 3 "Golden Hits" albums,13 "Best of" albums and 17 "Greatest" albums.
Anyways, to finish out the main objective: in December I listened to 150 records (Listed Below)
Date | Artist | Title | Format | Size |
1-Dec | Fleshtones | The World Has Changed | Single | 7" |
1-Dec | Go Gos | Head Over Heels | Single | 7" |
1-Dec | Jonathan Richman | Jonathan Goes Country | LP | 12" |
1-Dec | Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers | Modern Lovers 88 | LP | 12" |
1-Dec | Mystic Eyes | Little Girl | Single | 7" |
2-Dec | Dead Boys | Young Loud and Snotty | LP | 12" |
2-Dec | Dickies | Paranoid | EP | 10" |
2-Dec | Original Sins | Suburban Primitive | EP | 10" |
2-Dec | Original Sins | Watch You Dance | Single | 7" |
2-Dec | Thee Cellar Dwellers | Wonderin' Why? | Single | 7" |
3-Dec | Gene Vincent | Bird Doggin' | LP | 12" |
3-Dec | Real Kids | Live At The Rat | LP | 12" |
4-Dec | Cuts | Self-Titled | LP | 12" |
4-Dec | Devo | Freedom of Choice | LP | 12" |
4-Dec | Devo | New Traditionalists | LP | 12" |
4-Dec | Ken Fox & Knock Yourself Out | Self-Titled | EP | 12" |
4-Dec | Laverne Baker | Real Gone Gal | LP | 12" |
4-Dec | Ramones | Rocket To Russia | LP | 12" |
4-Dec | Ruth Brown | Rockin' With Ruth | LP | 12" |
5-Dec | Great Plains | Colorized | LP | 12" |
5-Dec | Joneses | Keeping Up with the Joneses | LP | 12" |
5-Dec | Lydia Loveless | Indestructible Machine | LP | 12" |
5-Dec | MOTO | Kill MOTO | LP | 12" |
5-Dec | Sam Cooke | At The Copa | LP | 12" |
5-Dec | Wynonie Harris | Rock Mr. Blues | LP | 12" |
6-Dec | Gladys Knight & the Pips | If I Were Your Woman | LP | 12" |
6-Dec | Huey "Piano" Smith | Rockin' & Jivin' | LP | 12" |
6-Dec | Kinks | Face To Face | LP | 12" |
6-Dec | Kinks | Self-Titled | LP | 12" |
6-Dec | Moon Mullican | Seven Nights To Rock | LP | 12" |
7-Dec | Chris Isaak | (Can't Do A Thing) to Stop Me | Single | 7" |
7-Dec | Halos | Nag | Single | 7" |
7-Dec | King Khan | Children of the World | Single | 7" |
7-Dec | King Khan | Hurtin' Class | Single | 7" |
7-Dec | King Khan | Never Hold On | Single | 7" |
7-Dec | Mighty Sam | Sweet Dreams of You | Single | 7" |
7-Dec | Sleepy LaBeef | Blackland Farmer | Single | 7" |
9-Dec | Dex Romweber Duo | Live At Third Man | LP | 12" |
9-Dec | Gene Vincent | Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps | LP | 12" |
9-Dec | Queers | Love Songs For The Retarded | LP | 12" |
9-Dec | Sha Na Na | The Best if Sha Na Na | LP | 12" |
9-Dec | Tom Robinson Band | TRB Two | LP | 12" |
10-Dec | Dirty Looks | Self-Titled | LP | 12" |
10-Dec | Gories | Houserockin' | LP | 12" |
10-Dec | Hank Williams | Greatest Hits | LP | 12" |
10-Dec | Howlin' Wolf | Self-Titled | LP | 12" |
10-Dec | Javier Escovedo | Kicked Out Of Eden | LP | 12" |
10-Dec | Mojo Nixon | Whereabouts Unknown | LP | 12" |
10-Dec | Romantics | Self-Titled | LP | 12" |
10-Dec | Tony Joe White | ...Continued | LP | 12" |
11-Dec | Bill Deal & the Rhondels | Are You Ready For This | Single | 7" |
11-Dec | Dave Clark Five | Over and Over | Single | 7" |
11-Dec | Johnny Cash | One Piece At A Time | Single | 7" |
11-Dec | Junior Parker | It Must Be Love | Single | 7" |
11-Dec | Onyas | Drink 'em Up Motherfuckers | Single | 7" |
11-Dec | Payola$ | Introducing the Payola$ | EP | 7" |
11-Dec | Phantom Rats | See You Tonight | EP | 7" |
11-Dec | Prince | Raspberry Beret | Single | 7" |
11-Dec | Psychotic Turnbuckles | Rock 'N Roll Terrorist | Single | 7" |
11-Dec | Wilson Pickett | Funky Broadway | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Sit 'n Spin | Primate Party Mixer | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Roy Orbison | The Crowd | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Shangri-Las | Past Present and Future | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Shakin' Pyramids | Tennessee rock 'n Roll | EP | 7" |
12-Dec | Sit 'n Spin | Santa Claws | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Reds | Under Control | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Onyas | Live For Rejection | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Los Primos | Swingin' Con Los Primos | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Little Milton | Grits Ain't Groceries | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Legendary shack Shakers | She's Gone Hog Wild | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Labradors | Queen of Swing | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Kinks | Live Life | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Kingsmen | Jolly Green Giant | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Just Water | Singing in the Rain | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Legendary Stardust Cowboy | Kiss and Run | Single | 7" |
12-Dec | Screaming Lord Sutch | Story | LP | 12" |
12-Dec | Bo Diddley | In the Spotlight | LP | 12" |
12-Dec | Blasters | Self-Titled | LP | 12" |
12-Dec | Chuck Berry | Golden Hits | LP | 12" |
12-Dec | Thee Headcoats | Earls of Suave | LP | 12" |
13-Dec | Fastbacks | Alone In a Furniture Warehouse | EP | 10" |
15-Dec | Olympics | Big Boy Pete | Single | 7" |
15-Dec | Knox | Plutonium Express | LP | 12" |
15-Dec | Radiators From Space | TV Tube Heart | LP | 12" |
15-Dec | Dead Boys | We Have Come For Your Children | LP | 12" |
16-Dec | Billy Lee Riley | The Whisky A-Go Go Presents Billy lee Riley | LP | 12" |
16-Dec | Billy Lee Riley | Legendary Sun Masters | LP | 12" |
16-Dec | King Curtis | Soul Twist | LP | 12" |
16-Dec | ? and the Mysterians | Action | LP | 12" |
16-Dec | Howlin' Wolf | The Howlin' Wolf Album | LP | 12" |
16-Dec | Link Wray | Bullshot | LP | 12" |
17-Dec | Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers | Hard Promises | LP | 12" |
17-Dec | ? and the Mysterians | 96 Tears | LP | 12" |
17-Dec | Wanda Jackson | Blues In My Heart | LP | 12" |
17-Dec | Carl Perkins | Brown Eyed Handsome Man | LP | 12" |
17-Dec | Carl Perkins | Original Golden Hits | LP | 12" |
17-Dec | Sonics | Here Are The Sonics | LP | 12" |
17-Dec | Dwight Yoakam | Hillbilly Deluxe | LP | 12" |
17-Dec | Thee Headcoats | Cavern By The Sea | EP | 12" |
17-Dec | Buzzcocks | Peel Sessions | EP | 12" |
17-Dec | Split LP: Dirtbombs & King Khan and the Shrines | Dirtbombs Vs. King Khan and The Shrines Beginning at Nine Thirty | LP | 12" |
17-Dec | Thee Mighty Caesars | Caesars of Trash | LP | 12" |
18-Dec | Dickies | Great Dictations | LP | 12" |
18-Dec | Dickies | Stukas Over Disneyland | LP | 12" |
18-Dec | Little Richard | Little Richard is Back | LP | 12" |
18-Dec | Thee Headcoats | The Kids Are All Square This Is Hip | LP | 12" |
18-Dec | Woggles | Zontar sessions | LP | 12" |
18-Dec | Pat Todd & the Rank Outsiders | There's Pretty Things In Palookaville | LP | 12" |
19-Dec | Nomads | Raw & Rare | EP | 10" |
19-Dec | Nomads | Cold Hard Facts of Life | EP | 10" |
19-Dec | Various-Artists | Think Link Volume 2 | EP | 10" |
19-Dec | A-Bones | Tempo Tantrum | EP | 10" |
20-Dec | Various-Artists | Think Link Volume 1 | EP | 10" |
20-Dec | Cramps | Can Your Pussy Do the Dog? | EP | 10" |
20-Dec | Cramps | Psychedelic Jungle | LP | 12" |
20-Dec | Cramps | What's Inside A Girl? | EP | 12" |
20-Dec | Cramps | Look mom No Head | LP | 12" |
20-Dec | Cramps | Big Beat From Badsville | LP | 12" |
21-Dec | Eddie Cochran | Singing to My baby | LP | 12" |
21-Dec | Kinks | Self-Titled | LP | 12" |
21-Dec | Kinks | Face To Face | LP | 12" |
22-Dec | Satan's Sadists | She's My Witch | EP | 7" |
22-Dec | Los Marauders | Live form Anamosa Womens Prison | EP | 7" |
22-Dec | Nomads | Dig Up the Hatchet | Single | 7" |
22-Dec | Split Single: Marshmallow Overcoat/Hands of Tyme | Fly Away/(You Can't Stop) The Hands of Tyme | Single | 7" |
22-Dec | Muffs | New Love | EP | 7" |
22-Dec | Pandoras | Hey It's the Pandoras | EP | 12" |
22-Dec | Little Richard | Right Now | LP | 12" |
22-Dec | Little Richard | Little Richard Volume 2 | LP | 12" |
23-Dec | Kinks | Kinda Kinks | LP | 12" |
23-Dec | Alice Cooper | Muscle of Love | LP | 12" |
25-Dec | Sonics | Live At Easy Street | LP | 12" |
25-Dec | Various-Artists | If You Gotta go-Go, Go-Go Now | LP | 12"x2 |
25-Dec | Fleshtones | Stocking Stuffer | LP | 12" |
25-Dec | Monkees | Christmas Party | LP | 12" |
26-Dec | Dave Edmunds | Sing The Blues | Single | 7" |
27-Dec | Young Fresh Fellows | Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest | LP | 12" |
28-Dec | Ricky Nelson | Travelin' man | Single | 7" |
28-Dec | Union Carbide Productions | In the Air Tonight | LP | 12" |
28-Dec | Lalo Schifrin | There's A Whole Lalo Schifrin Goin' On | LP | 12" |
29-Dec | Real Kids | Shake... Outta Control | LP | 12" |
29-Dec | Bamboo Kids | Self-Titled | LP | 12" |
30-Dec | Johnny Thunders | So Alone | LP | 12" |
30-Dec | Gene Vincent | The Day The World Turned Blue | LP | 12" |
30-Dec | Screamin' Jay Hawkins | Feats of the Mau Mau | LP | 12"x2 |
30-Dec | Nick Lowe | Rose of England | LP | 12" |
31-Dec | Zack Static Sect | When I Grow Up | LP | 12" |
31-Dec | Replacements | Stink | EP | 12" |
31-Dec | Gories | Houserockin' | LP | 12" |
31-Dec | X | Smoke & Fiction | LP | 12" |
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