Earlier this week, I read about an online service in which you could have a graphic novel mailed to you that you may never have read before once a month as part of a new ambitious semi-book club idea. Pronounced “Pullist” as one word (as in, the Pullist is the one creating the Pull List), Pullist is a new online subscription service in which a guest comic creator (such as this month’s Joshua Hale Fialkov) picks a book for you to read once a month, hopefully as something you’ve never read before, and all it requires is your blind trust and the cost of the trade.
As the website explains,
Pullist is a curated comic book service. Think of us like a book club. Each month, our curators pick a graphic novel that is friendly to both newcomers and lifelong comic book fans.
Once the cut-off date for the order is reached, the books are mailed out to you as well as a write-up from the creator who curated the title explaining why they felt the book was important for you read, with the overall endgame being for fans of comics both new and old to build up a library of comic classics.
Which, long story short, is a rather awesome idea.
Having never heard of the service before but being incredibly intrigued by the concept, I reached out to Michael Nixon, one of the co-founders of the service, with a few questions — and as such, it turned into an interview about the creation of the service and the challenges it currently undertakes, as well as where they hope to take it in the future.
Where did the idea for Pullist initially come from?
Michael Nixon: We noticed there were a lot of subscription services available, but nothing aimed towards comic books. I was also seeing a sort of malaise about the weekly pull list creeping up with a lot of my comics friends, myself included, but we wanted to keep the service newcomer-friendly too. We put together a bunch of ideas, built the most new-user-friendly version, and here we are three months later.
How did you go about setting the system of distribution up?
MN: We have an account with Diamond Comics, so we operate like any other comic book store, except that we’re online, we only sell one book per month, and we keep the book a secret. We’re like an executive, super-secret, blind-boxed comic book store.
What are the challenges you’ve found in doing Pullist so far?
MN: Initially, getting the parts moving was a bit of a chore, between distribution and just getting the site up and running, but once that was all out of the way, we hit a relatively easy stride. Our biggest challenge right now is packing all the books in a timely manner, we’re currently a team of three.
Does it make it easier that you offer the books on a month-to-month basis, or are you hoping more people consider the long-term subscription options?
MN: We were very pleasantly surprised to see the subscription model take off the way it has for us and we hope people consider long-term subscriptions, as we’re able to offer a discount on them. We’re actually planning on offering 6-month subscriptions soon. For the hesitant, don’t worry, we’ll still offer the single-month option so newcomers can give us a try.
To date, how successful would you rate the service? Both in terms of execution and feedback.
MN: So far, our subscribers seem to be very happy. We are planning to improve the unboxing experience in the future, along with some tweaks and changes to the format and site, but we’ve seen a lot of positive feedback on social media. We’re very much in the “learn by doing” mold, building and improving the service over the long haul.
Given time, would you even be interested in opening it up to a weekly book, or is that thinking too far in advance
MN: We’ve definitely talked about it, and it’s a plan for the future, but we simply don’t have a team large enough to take on such a task. With the continued support of subscribers, we’re hoping to build out the Pullist team in the coming months.
Continued belowHave you thought about expanding the mission statement at all, perhaps in creating some kind of book club or forum for discussion?
MN: A book club is definitely a good way of describing the next step towards our ultimate goal. We’ve been looking into Google Hangouts and their potential as a medium for live discussions between the professional curators and the customers about the monthly picks. Hopefully, we’ll have more on that in the near future.
How do you go about getting comic creators involved to curate?
MN: I had a few contacts in the comics world from a few previous projects to get us started, but we’ve had a creators get in contact with us since then about curating. The comics community has been massively helpful in getting our service off of the ground.
Are there any books that you feel must be in the libraries of comic fans?
MN: Watchmen is the obvious answer, and it’s obvious for a reason – Watchmen is pretty freaking great – but I personally come at it from the perspective that you really need a grounding in other superhero comics for Watchmen to have the intended effect. Another personal favorite is Planetary, but that has sort of the same issue. It’s a tough question. This is why we leave curation to the professionals.
I see on the site subscribers can’t return the comics. Do you find this is a prevalent issue with your customers?
MN: It might scare potential customers off, but our distributor doesn’t allow returns. That said, we’ve yet to hear from a customer who wanted a return. We’ve actually had a few positive responses to people getting second copies of books to add to their “lending library.”
Are you hoping to open it up to international orders soon?
MN: We’ve had a lot of chatter about going international (we hear you, Canadians, don’t worry) and it’s absolutely something we’re working on. Unfortunately, with the small size of our team right now, it’s a bit difficult.
While this is a broad question, what are you ultimately hoping Pullist can offer comic fans?
MN: In a perfect world, we’d have a massive, sprawling site and professional Pullists who could offer personal recommendations based on customer input. That’s a far off plan for now though. At the moment, we’re happy just to offer something new for comics fans and newcomers alike. Come as you are, leave with a new favorite comic.
Check out Pullist online now
