One of easiest mistakes to spot in comic book industry, but hardest to avoid, was creation of Direct Sales Market. This was intended so dealers could purchase direct from publishers, for a lower cost and in bulk. This in turn would allow dealers to make their own profits. Not a bad idea. Isn't this how wholesale/retail transactions operate? Apparently though, this became only method of distribution and eliminated mass venues and comic books were only sold through small isolated venues. What do you think would happen if Time Magazine, for instance, took itself off newsstands and sold only through these small outlets?

Imagine, although pure profits for publishers, turning a mass publication into a niche market publication. Who would deliberately do this? Who would be that crazy? Well, apparently comic book industry did. Over 70 odd years they had managed to always make wrong decision, by looking at shortest-term results and throwing every egg into that basket.

And if all this is not enough, final mistake made by industry was to shift from Product to Personality. This entailed move toward selling who was doing book instead of what book was all about. While a few bright lights in comic book writing field shined and some over short term prospered, can an industry in general, continue to be successful? If none but most well know and successful writers can prosper, what would become of bulk of comic book genre, if this attitude persists? Many otherwise excellent magazines may go down proverbially flaming tubes. Do keep this in mind.

Can comic book industry be saved? Very possibly, but when individuals in charge of saving are as eager as ever to make same mistakes all over again, what will outcome be? They don't even appear to be cleaver enough to make new mistakes.

The teacher of whom I write opened my eyes to fact that acquiring a repertoire or playing a single piece was an accomplishment of an architectural sort - a thing built up piece by piece. Her first running over selection was like a builder studying over general plan. The practicing over and over again of one phrase was like laying of foundation, then each part was properly finished off before adding next. What she did with second, third, and remaining phrases was but a counterpart of her work on first.

When she had done all of that she laid aside notes and played piece from memory. And I could see value of each piece of preliminary work.

It reared up a perfect, finished structure, not poor patchwork of mistakes, glossing-over, and lovely embellished fakes of poor amateur musician-architect. When it was all over most of class went home to practice as rapidly as they could, and for first time they really knew how!