The persistence of time

[Perry]

(or - how in the world do you guys find it?)

When it comes to comics, I try and keep the amount I buy to right about 20 or 22 monthly titles with, on average, a trade a month. Now, even If we break that trade down to its competent 5 or 6 issues, that still puts me at under 30 comics a month.

I use to buy about double that, but found I had no time, what-so-ever, to read half of the books I was buying. It was just a waste of money for me to continue to buy books I never got around to reading. And I am talking about for years ... they just sat there.

My question, not only to Bob and John, but to the countless other fans that buy in mass quantities -

How do you guys find the time?

Honestly, I just don't see how you do it.

At first, I chalked up my lack of reading time to raising a family and in doing so, just had no "personal" time to read all the books I was getting. But then, after shipping all the kids away to college, getting my wife hooked on POGO (allowing me to escape her grasp from time to time ), boycotting sport activities and my friends, I still could not keep up with even 50 titles a month. I just could not do it.

And when I see some of you guys (and others) pulling 100 or 200 comics a month, I just feel like I am missing out on some secret time device that allows you to create a pocket of "slow time" around you.

Seriously, how do you guys read that many comics? I mean, I love the medium/hobby/addiction, whatever you want to call it, but until they expand the day to an even 30 hours, I will never seem to find the time.

Help!!!

[JohnMayo]

Having no spouse, kids or pets helps.

It does take a fair amount of time to read the amount of comics I read. I find the secret is to stay caught up. Once you get behind, it gets very difficult to get current again.

I additional challenge for me is finding the time to keep things going on the podcast. Recording, editing, uploading and releasing a few hours of audio content each week eats up a fair amount of time too. Add in the number crunching for the sales estimates and it makes for a busy schedule.

The bottom line is if something is important enough to you, you find a way to make the time.

[BobBretall]

At first, I chalked up my lack of reading time to raising a family and in doing so, just had no "personal" time to read all the books I was getting. But then, after shipping all the kids away to college, getting my wife hooked on POGO (allowing me to escape her grasp from time to time ), boycotting sport activities and my friends, I still could not keep up with even 50 titles a month. I just could not do it.

How much free time do you have in a given evening or weekend day?

And what do you like to do other than reading comics? Check out how much free time you actually have & what you enjoy doing with that time.

My kids are older (in High School & College) so are not huge demands on my time any more (they spend a lot of time with friends).

I don't watch very many TV shows, so I can generally knock down 10-15 comics in a 2 hour period in the evening a couple of times a week.

Just today, I recorded 2 podcasts in the morning, went to lunch with my older son, and have spent the last 4 hours knocking down about 40 comics (a lot of runs, I find when I read 6 issues in a row of a comic it takes me less time than if I read 6 totally different comics).

I read a LOT this week to try to do some catch-up, and will try to be cutting out some of the titles I don't enjoy as much to get my monthly total into a more manageable realm, but I find reading 30 books per week to be pretty easy. When it gets up to 50 per week, then I tend to fall behind.

I can do (on average) 6 books per hour, so 30 per week is 5 hours of reading. That's less than an hour a day, not hard to find that much time.

For instance, last night, I stopped work around 5pm. I read comics for about an hour, then went out to dinner with my wife & younger son. When I got home, I read comics for another 90 minutes (to get caught up for the show we recorded today), then watched a DVD with my wife for 2 hours before going to bed at around 11:30.

I enjoy reading the comics, so 5 hours per week is not too hard to carve out. Heck, I go out with friends to dinner & a movie 1 time & that's 5 hours on a Friday or Saturday night.

It's all about what you enjoy doing with your free time, and it's cool if you have other things that eat up your free time that you dig doing more than reading comics. Heck, if I ONLY read comics I could read 100+ per week.

[BobBretall]

...and 10 more comics in the past 2 hours..... Plus a bit of prowling around on the internet.

6 issue Red Tonado mini that had been on my "to read" pile
Brightest Day #23, 23
JL: Gen Lost #22
Red Robin #21 (to get ready for next week's Weekly Comic Spotlight review of RR #22)

[BobBretall]

...and 6 more

World's Finest mini from about a year ago #2-4
Last 2 issues of Mike Grell's latest Warlord series
Superman/Batman Annual #5

I'm burned on comics for the day.....to dinner & then a Blu-Ray w/ the wife

(I did about 55 comics today....)

[Danscomics]

I take them with me to work and can knock out a couple during my lunch. I also lay down in bed at night and read a couple before I fall asleep. That's how I keep up with my pile.

[JohnMayo]

(I did about 55 comics today....)

I got 18 comics read today between the various post-production tasks for the three podcast episodes for this coming week. I've still got 16 comics form this week to read and 2 waiting to be read after the next issue of Outsiders.

The double whammy of the Previews workload and the sales data workload coming back to back keep me busy and eat into my reading time.

I've also got to find time tomorrow to do some reading for the Developer Book Club at work. We are starting the Pragmatic Programmer this week so I need to read the preface and first chapter.

[Perseus]

I also have trouble keeping up with my monthly comics sometime. That's also with me cutting back on titles as well. I don't get nearly as much as I used to though, so I am happy with that. I tend to watch a good amount of anime and read some manga as well as comics, so I have to sort my time out for each activity. I tend to sort it out by evening, like one evening I devote to anime or tv, another to comics, etc. Now, I have to figure out how to keep at reading my collected editions as well as manga and monthly comics.

[Perry]

I find the secret is to stay caught up. Once you get behind, it gets very difficult to get current again.

Amen to that, brother. Even with the small amount I now purchase, falling behind sets a chain of events in motion that is hard to overcome.

I additional challenge for me is finding the time to keep things going on the podcast. Recording, editing, uploading and releasing a few hours of audio content each week eats up a fair amount of time too. Add in the number crunching for the sales estimates and it makes for a busy schedule.

Yeah, that was the impetus of my original post. As I am a relative newbie to this site, I am now going back and listening to all of the previous podcast episodes (great work by the way ... what happened to the round table talk, really enjoy those ... ahem ... I am getting off track ... anyway...) I am listening to all of these podcast episodes and getting amazed how you get all off this done.

Heck, my time is so thin, I have to listen to you guys while I am doing other stuff

The bottom line is if something is important enough to you, you find a way to make the time.

That is true, but I would hate to think that I don't enjoy comics as much as I think I do. I feel they are an important part of my life, but maybe just not as important? (I am somewhat saddened by that idea)

... Check out how much free time you actually have & what you enjoy doing with that time.

Yeah, maybe it is just an issue of poor free time management (God knows with the time I have spent typing this post this morning I could have at least started that issue #1 of Bendis' SCARLET that has been staring me in the face for months )

Just today, I recorded 2 podcasts in the morning, went to lunch with my older son, and have spent the last 4 hours knocking down about 40 comics

And there, right there, is what I feel is my major problem. I just can't sit and read for that length of time. Not even close to that. Maybe an hour, maybe, and then I either have to get up and get some movement in these old bones (have to start some honey-do chore) or I will fall asleep.

But now, thinking on how great being able to sit that long and knock out a stack of comics would be ... I am envious of the fact that you can, so thanks for that

Well, going to try an open this SCARLET comic now. Once more, good job on the audio work guys. I know I am not alone in this, but I appreciate the time and effort you guys put into it again and again.

[JohnMayo]

As I am a relative newbie to this site, I am now going back and listening to all of the previous podcast episodes (great work by the way ... what happened to the round table talk, really enjoy those ... ahem ... I am getting off track ... anyway...) I am listening to all of these podcast episodes and getting amazed how you get all off this done.

We have a Round Table episode coming up next week on WonderCon that Bob recorded.

As we have gone from an episode a week to two episodes a week to the current rate of three episodes nearly every week, I've had less time to be doing those extra kinds of episodes like the Round Table Discussions and the Back Issue Spotlights.

For the Back Issue Spotlights, it means allocating time for reading another half dozen or dozen issues, taking notes as I go, and then the time for recording followed by the time for the post-production of the episode. The Back Issue Spotlights on the Legion and Uncle Scrooge consumed entire day or two each between all of that. Finding that sort of spare time is not easy for me.

The Round Table episodes require far less pre-production work but can be a little difficult to schedule. The big thing there for me is finding a subject worth having a discussion around. I have an idea for one but don't want to pull the trigger on it just yet.

And, frankly, finding an opening in the release schedule is getting more difficult. We decided a while back not to release more than three episodes a week. We want you guys to have time to listen to all of our episode and hopefully some of the other great comic book podcasts out there.

[HassanT]

I don't read as many comics as John and Bob, but I do read a fair amount; about 100 monthlies and 2 to 3 trades. I am married with 2 daughters (10 and almost 8 ) and work about 50 to 60 hours a week.

But as Bob and John mentioned, if you enjoy something, you find the time to do it. With comics, it is easier to keep up than other hobbies, like golf, because it doesn't involve a lot of planning and time commitment. It is also something I can easily do once my daughters go to sleep.

As with Bob, I don't watch that much TV, so it helps me keep up with my reading. One activity that I used to do a lot that I don't do as much is playing video games. I don't have the time to do that and read, and I prefer to read.

I should mention that I do have a HUGE pile of unread collections, primarily Omnibus, Masterworks, Archives, Showcases, etc. A lot of older material that I haven't had time to read. One day I will read them, but I don't know when that day will come

[BobBretall]

One activity that I used to do a lot that I don't do as much is playing video games. I don't have the time to do that and read, and I prefer to read.

Yes, same here. I don't play video/computer games at all any more and it gives me much more free time for reading.

I should mention that I do have a HUGE pile of unread collections, primarily Omnibus, Masterworks, Archives, Showcases, etc. A lot of older material that I haven't had time to read. One day I will read them, but I don't know when that day will come

Same here. It's one of the reasons I've cut way back on buying collected editions (that and having filled up my bookcases.....) I still get a few (mostly Marvel Masterworks) but way fewer than I used to. I've particularly cut back on "double-dipping" (e.g. buying a collection for the shelf of a series I have recently read & loved in single issues.)

[BobBretall]

Just today, I recorded 2 podcasts in the morning, went to lunch with my older son, and have spent the last 4 hours knocking down about 40 comics

And there, right there, is what I feel is my major problem. I just can't sit and read for that length of time. Not even close to that. Maybe an hour, maybe, and then I either have to get up and get some movement in these old bones (have to start some honey-do chore) or I will fall asleep.

I didn't mean to imply that I sat for 4 hours straight. I did get up every now & again, get a drink, stretch, check the internet for a bit, etc. It's just that over that 4 hour period I read 40 comics. Some of them went pretty fast (5 min reads).

That was kind of an anomaly, I rarely do comics in that long of a stretch, but I'm more likely to read more on a weekend during the day. In the evening, I find myself dozing if I do more than an hour or so, so at night (after work on a weekday) I will never do more than an hour. Even so, I can do 5-6 comics easy in that hour. Heck, I can do 30 minutes and read 3-4.

I guess I'm saying you could keep up on 30 titles by taking a half-hour chunk of time every 3 days. That's not that much of a time commitment.

[Perry]

I guess I'm saying you could keep up on 30 titles by taking a half-hour chunk of time every 3 days. That's not that much of a time commitment.

That's true. I guess I just need to commit to the reading more.

Of course, I am scared if I start "pushing" myself to make time, then I won't enjoy it as much and that is something I don't want to become habit.

Have you ever done that? I have. Have you ever tried to rush through a comic and in doing so found yourself wanting, and then question whether it was the story that was weak or your effort?

Of course at $4 a pop for comics (not including discounts) the desire to "rush through" a comic happens a lot less now than when I first started and the cover price was 20¢

[HassanT]

I should mention that I do have a HUGE pile of unread collections, primarily Omnibus, Masterworks, Archives, Showcases, etc. A lot of older material that I haven't had time to read. One day I will read them, but I don't know when that day will come

Same here. It's one of the reasons I've cut way back on buying collected editions (that and having filled up my bookcases.....) I still get a few (mostly Marvel Masterworks) but way fewer than I used to. I've particularly cut back on "double-dipping" (e.g. buying a collection for the shelf of a series I have recently read & loved in single issues.)

I should cut back on my double-dipping, but I still get some of my favorite books in two formats; monthly and hardcover.

I have reduced the amount of collections I buy of older material because I have a huge stack of unread books. The older stuff is good but sometimes very hard to get through in one sitting.