Nix Comics December 2024 Update (End of Year!)

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"