Happy
birthday! Shakespeare Comic Books are ten years old. The series was created out
of a love of Shakespeare and a desire to make money. He would have approved,
since he wrote to get rich and almost every record we have of him concerns
money or business transactions of one kind or another. He died an immensely
wealthy man - something rare for genius. Both Rembrandt and Mozart ended in
poverty, which just goes to show that being dazzlingly brilliant isn't
sufficient. You also need a good business brain.
When
I started Shakespeare comic books, I lacked both dazzling brilliance and a good
business brain. The former can be excused. Rembrandt, Mozart and Shakespeare
are treasured rarities. The latter I have attempted to acquire. Over time,
these are some of the things I have learnt about business:
Competition is healthy Capitalism
thrives on competition, which speeds innovation. When I first produced the
Shakespeare comic books, they were almost the only books in the UK offering
Shakespeare in cartoon format. Needing to restrict production costs and produce
titles at high speed, the illustrations were sometimes a little rushed and
lacking polish.
This didn’t matter initially, but over time,
more and more competing books arrived on the market. Almost all were highly
illustrated and full colour. Most were rubbish, but attractively packaged.
Producing full colour versions of the plays became imperative. Two have been
published so far, both in collaboration with digital colourist Phill Evans. His
gifts are immense. Colour has transformed the comic books. Our next work
together, Macbeth, will hit new
heights. Thanks, capitalism.
Marketing is guesswork Over the decade
I have wasted an enormous amount of money on marketing and publicity. I am not
alone. Mega corporations spend billions on advertising campaigns through which
people fast forward, screen out or otherwise ignore. What advertising agencies
sell best is the notion that advertising works. Clearly some campaigns succeed
fabulously, but many fail - when was the last time you bought a Rolex, changed
your shampoo or tried a different beer based on an advert? Marketing is
essential, but it’s mostly trial and error. Over the years I’ve learnt to be
better targeted, but it’s not an exact science - and I still haven’t bought a
Rolex.
Diversify markets and products The Shakespeare
Comic Books were originally created for students sitting Key Stage 3 SATs exams
in Year 9. When these were abolished without warning in 2008, sales collapsed.
Timing is always everything. Pulled by
competition and pushed by a need to diversify and find new markets I had
already decided to produce the books in full colour, in order to reach a wider
audience. Another few years of sales growth would have made the necessary
investment in colour possible.
Yet with our key market lost and income
slashed, production has been slow. The business is being re-built, new markets
established. In the meantime, I have diversified into work on a range of
non-Shakespeare projects. The Bard hasn’t been abandoned, however, and the next
few years will see a new selection of titles that should include King Lear, Hamlet, As You Like It and Julius Caesar – all in full colour.
Appearance matters Steve Jobs
liked to present himself as an LSD inspired ex-hippie who just happened to head
up the most powerful corporation in the world. When unveiling his latest
product, he would do so in jeans and T shirt. His gift was for marketing. He
knew the importance of presentation and that everything from your logo and
website to your stationery or choice of footwear says something about your
company. You can bet that before making a presentation he didn’t just get up
and throw on the clothes he had lying in the corner. His style may have looked
casual, but it’s message was calculated.
I work on the assumption that when your
company is globally dominant with an income greater than that of many
moderately sized nations, you can wear what you like. Until then, I think it
probably best to smarten up.
Watch the bottom line When The Tempest was printed in 2007 before
the crash, I ordered a print run of 10,000 copies at 50p per unit. When Romeo and Juliet was published in 2010, it
had a print run of 1,000 at £1.50 per unit. The margin per book was thus
dramatically cut. Borrowing to pay for a larger print run was an
option, but I prefer not to incur debt. This might seem unadventurous, but I don’t really care.
Right now, almost all developed nations are
busy cutting vital public services in order to pay off debts acquired in fat
years, when credit was cheap and bankers considered themselves masters of the
universe. Canada is a rare exception. Canada is also ridiculed as dull. When it
comes to finance, I would rather be dull and solvent than exciting and
bankrupt.
Always read the small print and
beware sharks The commercial world isn’t greatly different to the world
outside work. Most people are decent and trustworthy and just want to go about
their business without fuss. Occasionally you meet someone with whom you get on
particularly well. If you’re unlucky you may also meet somebody who would strip
you of your wife, children, house, soft furnishings and cat if it enabled them
to make money. These people are to be avoided. Unfortunately, they often appear
as if they are decent and trustworthy and just want to go about their business
without fuss. If you’re very unlucky, they may also appear to be somebody with
whom you get on particularly well. Good luck if you meet one. And always read
the small print.
Keep up with technology When I went to
work for book designers DP Press in 1981, manuscripts were generally presented
in illegible longhand and were typeset on IBMs and ACMs before going to a
drunken proof reader to be checked for grammar, punctuation and spelling.
Proofs were returned to the typesetters for corrections to be reset, and
finished galleys then printed and sent to the studio where they were pasted
into page by designers using scalpel and light box.
When I began publishing the comic books in
2003, I had a website and email, but most marketing was done through direct
mail shots, advertising in journals and at education shows. Much of it is now
social media. I make efforts to keep up, aware that tomorrow texts, tweets and
blogs will be obsolete, superseded by a brief new technology. Change is here
to stay. I’d just be grateful if it could slow down a bit so I could catch up.
Teamwork is everything Like most
artists and writers, I spend almost every day alone in my studio. But although
I edit the Shakespeare, write the modern English translation and produce
illustrations in isolation, the comic books are far from a solitary work.
Hundreds of people are involved one way or another, but there is a core on whom
I depend.
These include Jane Hadlow who puts the comic
books together on her Mac, manages the accounts, designs whatever needs
designing along with her husband Ray and offers advice and guidance. Phill
Evans provides the brilliant digital colouring. My brother, Andrew Greaves, has
offered constant support and encouragement from the outset and has spent hours
helping with the modern English translations, as have Victoria Gemmell, Ian
Evans and Mo Olivero. Kathy Benzinski proof read several of the books, so thanks
to her.
The books are warehoused and distributed by
NRG Direct Mail in Shrewsbury. NRG is led by Nick Chavasse who seems to have
unlimited energy and a great team. Claire Lawrence is currently responsible for
the comic book side of his operation, but before her were Debbie
Taylor-Williams and Carol Shuker and all have been equally wonderful.
Business adviser Tony Barrow gave invaluable
help when I was starting the company and still phones to check how things are
going. Esther Heasman is doing much to establish overseas markets for the
books, hampered by a lack of colour titles, but Macbeth is on the way.
Steve Anderson has given significant help
with IT and Rick and Julia Burne helped out with a succession of education
shows in London. There are numerous other suppliers, printers, proof-readers,
accountants, website builders and software engineers who have been part of the
story, but particular thanks should go to Stella Robinson, late of DP Press who
did so much to help when the company was founded, Sim Hadlow who was principal
designer at the outset and of course to Sarah, Ellen, Harry, Rob and Jude who
have been patient long enough.
Thanks too, to Mike Jensen. Mike is an
American academic who writes on Shakespeare and popular media. We’ve never met,
but he took an early interest in the comic books and has provided his own
insight and encouragement over the years. He has capacious knowledge of
Shakespeare and a network of friends in the US whose understanding of the Bard
makes ours in the UK look amateurish.
Finally, massive thanks to William
Shakespeare, without whom none of this would have been possible. Where there’s
a Will, there’s a way…
