Amanda at Muse Comics & Games in beeyootiful Missoula asked for ideas on how to change PREVIEWS, the comics industry's monthly product catalog. There's been chatter about how useless the thing is (there's a reason why team artbomb gave up on the Ordering Comics thing). The thing is, it's a necessary evil, and inescapable as a presence. So you can't get rid of the whole thing. But here's what I suggested:

Separate the comics from everything else. Two catalogs. (as it stands, the comics section is up front, and then there's magazines, and role playing games, and t-shirts, and then sailor moon sex toys, and about 2/3 of the book is ancillary merchandise and not comics).

Covers decided upon by Diamond editorial. (as it stands, covers rotate between publishers on a monthly basis, regardless of quality or content. i wonder how landing a previews cover relates to issue sales? anyone with a backlog of Previews want to check that? I'll buy you a sammich.)

Is there a diamond editorial? make a diamond editorial board.

Publish with a CD-ROM containing PDF files of preview art and ad material for any books.

Make this available for both retailers and customers.

Don't charge extra for it-- split the catalog in two, charge what they charge now (five bucks? something in that neighborhood) for the comics section + CD.