After halting production on shipping comics, Diamond Comic Distributors has rolled out a new plan to deliver payments to comic publishers and vendors.
In a statement released today on April 4, Diamond's founder/owner Steve Geppi outlined this plan, which will see partial payments delivered to publishers.
Beginning this week, vendors and publishers will receive "25% of the weekly amount due under your contract terms," continuing for six weeks. The 75% that is deferred will be paid back "in equal payments over a 13-week period." Geppi also stated that Diamond's leadership team will be accepting a 50% salary cut.
This news comes on the heels of Diamond announcing that it was halting payments due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Diamond is the largest distributor of comics in the United States, working with publishers including Marvel, DC, BOOM! Studios, Image and Valiant Entertainment.
A previous attempt to help offset the pandemic would have seen ComicHub, a point-of-sale system used by retailers that allowed readers to purchase books from their local comic book shops online, giving retailers access to digital versions of the comics. However, ComicHub decided not to move forward with this initiative.
(via Newsarama)