Jim Crocker of Modern Myths, LLC in Northampton, Massachusetts read Rich Biedrzycki's recent Talk Back regarding the minimums for upcoming The Flash and Green Lantern ring promotions (see "Rich Biedrzycki of Dreamland Comics on Promotion Minimums") and had this say in response:

I saw this quote from Rich from Dreamland Comics the other day and wanted to respond: "Come on!  Are 10 copies too much of a stretch?  If you can't order or sell 10 copies of these books, written no less by Geoff Johns, then you are not a comic retailer!  DC should have made the quantity 100 copies to get the rings."

I agree that 10 copies is a very reasonable number for most shops to hit.  But I also have difficulty getting behind the idea that any arbitrary number is the difference between shops who are/aren't "comic retailers" or who is 'trying' or 'not trying' to sell books.  90% of where you stand depends on where you sit, as they say.

We're a profitable, successful, award-winning shop in a small city supported by a couple of colleges that stays in business by selling a whole lot of different books (and games), a majority of them TPBs, and we very much consider ourselves 'comic retailers.'  Despite that, there isn't a single comic title we come within spitting distance of 100 copies on, and no matter how nice a promotion, I don't see anything getting us to that level.  A single title we sell 75 copies on is a breakout hit for us.

There are probably other shops out there shaking their heads at Rich's statement saying, "Shyeah, try 500 hundred copies, pal!"  Meanwhile, DC needs to set a number that is low enough to allow anyone who wants to participate, including brand new shops and those scraping by in sparsely-populated rural markets, a shot at doing so.  If DC were providing these promotional tools for free, then a higher minimum would make perfect sense, but they're essentially marketing tools for us to help sell their books.  It's in their interets to get as many of them out there as possible.  It's not a 'reward' to shops lucky enough to be well-established in large metro markets (that's what variant covers are for...), it's a plan to try and help us ALL sell more books, and very smart in its approach: don't set a high number that becomes a de facto 'ceiling' for small-to-mid-sized stores as the Blackest Night ring numbers were, but an easy-to-make floor that encourages us to decide ourselves how many extras the 'gift with purchase' will help us move.  I'm thrilled they've adopted the more inclusive approach, and hope other companies follow suit.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.