Plan Nine Publishing was a small press

book publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

known for publishing

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...

s in printed form. The first series published, and perhaps its most famous, was ''

Kevin and Kell ''Kevin and Kell'' is a furry comedy webcomic strip by syndicated cartoonist Bill Holbrook. The strip began on September 3, 1995, and is one of the oldest continuously running webcomics. The comic's website states it is "The World's Longest Ru ...

''.

History

Plan Nine Publishing was named after the

Ed Wood Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker, actor, and pulp novel author. In the 1950s, Wood directed several low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult cla ...

film ''

Plan 9 from Outer Space ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' is a 1957 American independent science fiction-horror film produced, written, directed, and edited by Ed Wood. The film was shot in black-and-white in November 1956 and had a theatrical preview screening on March 15 ...

''. The publisher was owned by David Allen, who worked publishing alongside his day job as a

systems engineer Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles. At its core, systems engineering utilizes systems thinking p ...

at Financial Computing in

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

. Plan nine was started in 1996, and in January 2000 Allen left his day job to concentrate full-time on the publishing business. 98% of Plan Nine's products were sold direct to customers through their website. With low

print run Print circulation is the average number of copies of a publication. The number of copies of a non-periodical publication (such as a book) are usually called print run. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulat ...

s (typically less than 2000), the company were able to run with a profit with runs as low as 300. The low running costs meant that the company was able to have a 70%

gross profit margin Gross margin is the difference between revenue and cost of goods sold (COGS), divided by revenue. Gross margin is expressed as a percentage. Generally, it is calculated as the selling price of an item, less the cost of goods sold (e. g. production ...

, and was able to give its artists a 20%

royalty Royalty may refer to: * Any individual monarch, such as a king, queen, emperor, empress, etc. * Royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family * Royalty payment for use of such things as int ...

, more than 4 times the industrial average. In April 2008, the Plan Nine main page was replaced by a message stating: ''Plan Nine has gone on hiatus for re-tooling and transition to new owners. Please check back with us Sept 1st, 2008. Thanks for your support!'' That page remained until the site finally went offline in 2010.

Publications

In addition to ''Kevin and Kell'', Plan Nine published a number of other notable webcomics, including: * ''

Bastard Operator From Hell The Bastard Operator From Hell (BOFH) is a fictional rogue computer operator created by Simon Travaglia, who takes out his anger on users (who are "lusers" to him) and others who pester him with their computer problems, uses his expertise again ...

'' * ''

Buckles The buckle or clasp is a device used for fastening two loose ends, with one end attached to it and the other held by a catch in a secure but adjustable manner. Often taken for granted, the invention of the buckle was indispensable in securing tw ...

'' * ''

Doctor Fun ''Doctor Fun'' is a single-panel, gag webcomic by David Farley. It began in September 1993, making it one of the earliest webcomics, and ran until June 2006. ''Doctor Fun'' was part of United Media's website from 1995, but had parted ways by 200 ...

'' * ''

Monty Monty is a masculine given name, often a short form of Montgomery, Montague and other similar names. It is also a surname. Notable people with the name or nickname include: First name Nickname * Bernard Montgomery (1887–1976), British Secon ...

'' *''

On the Fastrack ''On the Fastrack'' is a comic strip drawn by Bill Holbrook about the curious characters employed at the fictional data storage firm Fastrack, Inc. Launched March 19, 1984, it was initially distributed by King Features Syndicate to 50 newspaper ...

'' * ''

Ozy and Millie ''Ozy and Millie'' is a daily comic strip that ran from 1998 to 2008, created by Dana Simpson (originally published under D.C. Simpson). It follows the adventures of assorted anthropomorphized animals, centering on Ozy and Millie, two young fo ...

'' *''

Safe Havens ''Safe Havens'' is a comic strip drawn by cartoonist Bill Holbrook. It was originally syndicated by Washington Post Writers Group starting October 3, 1988 as a weekday only strip (opposite the Sunday only strip '' Outland'' by Berkeley Breathed ...

'' * ''

Sluggy Freelance ''Sluggy Freelance'' is a long-running webcomic written and drawn by Pete Abrams. Starting in 1997, it is one of the oldest successful webcomics, and as of 2012 had hundreds of thousands of readers. Abrams was one of the first comic artists succe ...

'' * '' The Suburban Jungle'' * ''

User Friendly Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a soft ...

'' Plan Nine also published '' Black Box Voting'' by

Bev Harris Bev Harris is an American writer, activist, and founder of Black Box Voting, a national, nonpartisan elections watchdog group. She helped popularize the term " black box voting", while authoring a book of that title. Original investigative work ...

, a nonfiction book discussing the issues involved in computer-based balloting. In 2004, the company published ''I Lived With My Parents and Other Tales of Terror,'' a collection of nonfiction and humor essays by

Mary Jo Pehl Mary Jo Pehl (; born February 27, 1960 in Circle Pines, Minnesota) is an American writer, actress, and comedian. She is best known for her various roles on the television series ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' ...

References

Magazine publishing companies of the United States Webcomic publishing companies {{Webcomic-stub