IDW Becomes Premier Publisher

First publisher to achieve higher status with Diamond since 1996; Diamond and IDW strengthen their exclusive distribution relationship with new agreement and initiatives!

(BALTIMORE, MD) — (March 18, 2010) — Diamond Comic Distributors and IDW
Publishing announced today that IDW has become the first
publisher to advance to “premier” status since the classification was
implemented in 1996. Diamond and IDW have signed a new, multi-year
agreement that features a number of fresh initiatives, including premier
status, in recognition of IDW’s success as a top tier comic book and graphic novel
publisher. Under the agreement, Diamond will continue to be the
exclusive distributor of IDW comic books and graphic novels to the comic book specialty
market, and to the bookstore market through its Diamond Book
Distributors division.

“This change recognizes the growth and
importance of IDW Publishing,” said Diamond President and CEO, Steve
Geppi, “and we look forward to working with them for many years to
come.”

Diamond VP Purchasing Bill Schanes added, “Since IDW began
publishing, they have grown consistently each and every year, while at
the same time establishing one of the best editorial, marketing, and
business teams in our industry. They’re easy to work with, understand
our market, and are forging ahead with new strategies and plans to grow
the consumer appetite for comics and graphic novels.”

In April,
Diamond’s PREVIEWS catalog and PREVIEWSworld.com website will showcase
IDW’s new vendor status as the company moves to the “Premier Comics”
section. IDW will have an exclusive section in the front of the catalog
each month, highlighting their new offerings to comic shop retailers and
customers.

"We are very pleased to have completed this
groundbreaking agreement with Diamond," said Ted Adams, CEO of IDW
Publishing. "By combining Diamond’s leadership in distribution with
IDW’s ten-plus years in developing, creating and marketing comic books
and graphic novels, we have created an ideal relationship for each of
our companies. The comic
book medium is trending upward in all parts of consumer awareness and
we are proud to be a partner with Diamond for the future."

Key
points to the agreement include:

Premier Publisher
Under
the new agreement and as a result of the company’s consistently strong market
share, IDW will have premier status within Diamond and Diamond’s
PREVIEWS, including an exclusive section at the front of the monthly
catalog.

Discount and Terms of Sales
IDW Publishing
will remain in a traditional buy/sell relationship with Diamond, with
their books continuing to be sold to comic shops under Diamond’s Terms
of Sale (unlike Diamond’s brokerage arrangement with publishers like
Marvel and DC Comics
where Diamond acts as a sales agent). Discounts will remain unchanged
at this time.

Final Order Cut-Off 
IDW will be added to
Diamond’s Final Order Cut-Off Program sometime in the near future.
“Since IDW is a traditional buy/sell vendor, we have some programming
work to do, but we expect to have that finalized later this year,” said
Schanes.

Book Market Distribution 
Diamond remains the
exclusive book market distributor of IDW’s publishing efforts. “We’re
extremely proud of the progress we’ve made in helping IDW grow its sales
in the book store market over the last five years,” said Diamond Book
Distributors VP Sales & Marketing, Kuo-Yu Liang. “From their strong
licensed properties to their successful launch last year of the
Worthwhile Books line for kids, IDW has adeptly shown what products will
sell into the book
market channel.”

###

ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS—the
world’s largest distributor of English-language comic books and
pop-culture related merchandise—Diamond is based in Baltimore, MD, and
services more than 3,500 specialty retailers worldwide. For more
information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.

ABOUT IDW
PUBLISHING— IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic
novels and trade
paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its
diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some
of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including:
Hasbro’s The
Transformers and G.I.
JOE, Paramount’s Star
Trek; Fox’s Angel; the BBC’s Doctor Who; and television’s #1 prime time
series CBS’ CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation. IDW is also home to the Library of American
Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints; Yoe! Books, a
partnership with Yoe! Studios; and is the print publisher for ComicMix.
IDW’s original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was launched as a major motion picture in
October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of
release. More information about the company can be found at IDWPublishing.com.

***
©
2010 Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. All rights reserved. Diamond, the
Diamond logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Diamond
Comic Distributors in the United States and/or other countries. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective copyright owners.

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Posted originally: 2010-03-18 16:02:48