And it likely didn’t help that the shape of this new world order came with little warning. I would say the general tenor of the response from those publishers was a mix of resigned and unsurprised, even if they were clearly unenthusiastic about the changes to the platform. Some were happy to chat, although not necessarily on the record. Not everyone fit into those first four tiers, though. Beyond that, sometimes you just don’t want to mess with business relationships. Saying things can matter less than doing something about it. More than that, the response to poor performance or bad business often manifests itself in change rather than words, as we saw with both Marvel and DC leaving Diamond Comic Distributors in recent years. But you know it’s unlikely to go anywhere. That’s especially the case on a topic as complicated as this one is. Sometimes you reach out for pieces knowing it won’t result in anything. I understand - and expected - the varied response. Tier Five: Interested, but let’s talk about it on background.Tier Four: Yes, but in the form of a prepared statement 6.Tier Three: Curiosity in the process…maybe yes!…but ultimately no 5.Tier Two: Immediate (but polite!) decline.In the process of reaching out to a bevy of publishers for this effort, I learned that each fit into a specific tier of engagement in regards to the topic. Because of how much this could change - in theory - in a short amount of time, but also due to the business relationship between these houses and the Amazon-owned digital comics giant, it seemed extraordinarily unlikely that they would actually talk to me. The only problem with that, of course, was a thought that followed. When it became apparent that ComiXology’s recent updates to its app and user experience were not the lowkey affair they suggested in September, but one of the most broadly reviled moves in recently comics history, it was obvious that I would need to check in with comic publishers about this.
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