Statistics

Daniel van Eijmeren dve at kabelfoon.nl
Fri Nov 17 19:01:00 CET 2006


GARY LEACH, 17-11-2006:
> Daniel, I believe David gave everyone here a fair statistical
> summation of what lies behind the perception some have expressed
> about the content of Gemstone comics. And while numbers can't
> necessarily change someone's perception, they do point out that
> statements in the nature of "Gemstone is only re-re-reprinting" are
> only perception, not fact.
I see the statement "Gemstone is only re-re-reprinting" as a valid
complaint. It expresses an emotion. I often see editors hairsplit
complaints, without looking at the message behind the complaint.
David gave a fair statistical summation. But I know an expression that says:
"if you want to be a liar, use statistics". As you can see, others can make
fair statistics too. Statistics that show that Gemstone comics are
reprinting quite a lot. Not "only", but still quite a lot. A lot of comics
contain 30% of reprints.
Do editors expect that they can teach their paying, complaining audience 
lessons with statistics that praise themselves? I like David's contributions 
a lot and I always look forward to what he writes, but this time was an 
exception. David's statistics themselves were okay, but his conclusion ("I 
think we're doing pretty well!") doesn't make much sense. There are too many 
Gemstone reprints for that.

> I have to presume you haven't given us your support for quite some
> time, since the only support we have ever asked from anyone is to buy
> our comics. In that way it is a purely commercial relationship,
> always has been, always will be. You opted to stop buying our comics,
> which is what we would only expect a dissatisfied customer to do, and
> we would never expect you to buy another issue - in short, support us
> - unless and until you felt we might once again be publishing
> products to your liking.
Yes, it's a pure commercial relationship. I would have kept on buying your
products if they were good. Gladstone and then Gemstone went downhill. At
the end of the 1990s there were less reprints than now, and even those
raised complaints. The way the reprint policy is now defended by Gemstone,
as if it's just normal, is very disturbing.
Do you really think you're doing "pretty well"?

I want to emphasize the commercial relationship. Gemstone is a commercial
company. In this relation, David is a salesman and no friend. Commerce and 
friendship are sometimes mixed up.

Daniël




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