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UPDATED: NYCC and Sundry

7 Oct

I LOVE NYC!

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve felt at home in the city, which is one of the reasons I’m so excited to go to NYCC for the first time. You put me, the con junkie that I am, in my favorite city on the planet and a con together…pure bliss.

But enough about me and my love of NY.

The real point of this post is to let you know where you can find Chris and I during the con.

We fly into JFK around 6PM on Thursday and hit the ground running.

UPDATE 10/11/11: We make a mad dash from JFK to the CBLDF Party.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 13TH

7PM to 8PM CBLDF VIP hour at Hudson Terrace at 621 46th St. (we will probably be a little late)

8PM to 10PM CBLDF Party at Hudson Terrace at 621 46th St. Everyone is welcome. A $10 donation is recommended. 

COME ON OVER, HANG OUT WITH US AND MANY COOL PEOPLE!

And help the CBLDF defend creativity, today and tomorrow!

FRIDAY OCTOBER 14TH

11AM to 12PM Chris will be signing at the DC/ Vertigo Booth #1254. Come by and get stuff signed and hang out!

3:45PM to 4:45PM Vertigo Panel…

Vertigo Visions – Room 1A22: Join the writers and artists behind the acclaimed and award-winning brand for a panel about the weird, the wild and the always unexpected with all-star talent including Jason Aaron (Scalped), Brian Azzarello (Spaceman, 100 Bullets), Rebecca Guay (A Flight of Angels), Phil Jimenez (Fairest), Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth), Chris Roberson (iZOMBIE), Douglas Rushkoff (A.D.D.), Marzena Sowa (Marzi), Sylvain Savoia (Marzi), Scott Snyder (American Vampire), and introducing some new Vertigo blood!

SATURDAY OCTOBER 15th

10:45PM to 11:45PM Vertigo Panel…

Vertigo: Scary Sh*t – Room 1A22: Join Vertigo’s monthly writers as they discuss vampires, zombies, the apocalypse and more, with top creators including Brian Azzarello (Spaceman), Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth), Chris Roberson (iZOMBIE), Scott Snyder (American Vampire), and introducing some new Vertigo blood!

3PM to 4PM Chris will be signing and signing and signing at the DC/ Vertigo Booth #1254

SUNDAY OCTOBER 16TH

1:00PM to 2:00PM Chris will be signing his little heart out trying to stay awake at the DC/ Vertigo Booth #1254

And now for the “sundry” part.

I recently commissioned some art from the very fabulous JK Woodward for Chris’ birthday. And I think it turned out really great.

In case you’ve been under a log, I wanted to show it off here for your viewing pleasure.

Allison is Saturn Girl! by JK Woodward

And don’t forget Star Trek/ Legion of Super-Heroes #1 from IDW hits the stands on October 19th!

Star Trek/ Legion #1 cover by Phil Jimenez

And it includes 11 preview pages of MEMORIAL. Bonus!

Memorial #1 cover by Mike Kaluta

A

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Business and Friends

11 Sep

I first want to apologize for being a bit MIA lately. All of a sudden I got crazy busy at the job that pays me. Add in some planned travel, unplanned travel, the city catching on fire, August being one of the most difficult months for a lot of people and TA DA! No blogging for me.

But today I am completely unmotivated to do yard or house work, so firing this baby up!

I was asked a few weeks back by a friend if I thought a blog post about friendship and business would be something I would want to talk about.  I thought it was a fantastic idea, one I have touched on briefly before but haven’t really gone in-depth.

So here we go.

I THINK TRUE FRIENDSHIPS ARE VITAL TO A SUCCESSFUL CAREER

Now there IS a difference between “being friends” with someone and “being friendly friends.” I’m friendly friends with a whole lot of people. Social media has certainly expanded that list. Every year, I meet more and more people in comics and publishing. So the friendly circle continues to grow, as does the good friend circle.

The difference for me only involves a couple of points that really all revolve around a level of trust. To me a “friend” is someone you would help no matter what, someone to share the things you can’t talk about in public, someone you could call on for honest advice, someone who would stand by you and help you in your darkest, lowest place. And someone who grounds you when you’re at your highest.

That all being said, I can honestly say except for maybe two people in my life and my family, all of my really good friends I met through doing business of some sort.

Some of them I met, became friends and then ended up working with. Some of them I worked with, then ended up becoming friends.

Sometimes my Director of Photography, who I haven’t gotten to see very much lately, calls me just to check in and chat. We talk about his kids, wife, film equipment, funny things that happened to us lately and tons more.  I often talk to one of my closest friends about the state of the comics and publishing industry along with possible solutions, for hours, cause we both know all the players, the in’s and out’s of the publishing business, etc… I love those conversations.

My BEST friend is also my business parter, as well as my husband. We tackle everything we do as a team. Working each problem and celebrating each victory, together.

I would do anything for these guys. Yes, ANYTHING.  And in turn, I know they will always be there for me when I need them. I love all of them and am very glad and proud to call all of them my very good friends.

GET TO THE POINT ALLISON.

(It does explain why I am a con junkie. CON= GET TO SEE MY FRIENDS) Anyway.

I’ve come to realize that without friends, Chris and I would’ve never gotten to the place we are in our lives professionally. And because we were willing to open ourselves up to accepting help from friends, we’ve become strong advocates of helping other friends pursue THEIR endeavours.

Which I think is really cool, personally.

There is nothing I love more than making introductions, making all my friends, friends with each other. If that is beneficial professionally for them both, all the better.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A FRIEND LETS YOU DOWN IN BUSINESS?

Listen, we have been royally screwed by people we thought were good friends. That’s what happens when you put yourself out there. Did it completely suck? Absolutely. But in the end all crappy stuff in life is just a lesson you need to learn. And without those experiences, we wouldn’t be the people we are today.

I also became friends with a debt attorney in AZ. So there’s a silver lining. (sometimes you have to dig deep for those linings)

If you let the few bad eggs spoil the whole lot, well, you don’t have any eggs. People can suck. It happens. Move on.

TRY TO BE A FRIEND TO EVERYONE

Now not everyone is going to be “your people.” Sometimes it just doesn’t jive. You don’t have to be best buds with everyone.  But if you make an effort from the get go, everybody wins.

This has always been my philosophy. Comes in real handy when things start going wrong and is awesome when things go right.

AND BESIDES

Who wouldn’t want to be friends with the coolest most talented people on the planet?

A

BALTIMORE! and more

13 Aug

Chris and I are heading to Baltimore on Friday, August 19th for one of our favorite conventions of the year.

We are really looking forward to seeing all our friends and meeting new ones!

Here is the current schedule we have on tap.

SATURDAY, August 20th

1PM Signing at the BOOM! STUDIOS booth

3PM Panel Spotlight on Legion of Super-Heroes

Travel with us to the 31st century as we take a look at DC’s futuristic super team, The Legion of Super-Heroes! Join creators Keith Giffen, Mike Grell, Mark Waid, Barry Kitson, and Chris Roberson as they talk about the tales they’ve told in the Legion’s long and storied history. Long Live the Legion!

SUNDAY, August 21st

1PM Signing at the BOOM! STUDIOS booth

But that’s not all.

On Friday, August 19th from 5PM to 7:30PM Chris will be signing along with the fabulous Chrissie Zullo at Captain Blue Hen Comics & Entertainment in Newark, Delaware. If you live in the area, stop on in and say hi!

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What I Learned from Superman

4 Aug

The last issue of Chris’ run on Superman came out yesterday and I couldn’t be happier for it all to be over.

Not what you expected?

Now don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t be prouder of his work or the life lessons we learned while he was writing it.

Yes. Life Lessons.

You see for a lot of people, I would even venture to say most people, Superman is not just a character in a book. Most people have a relationship with Superman and for the most part, have had a relationship with him their entire lives.

Remember when Episode One came out and how excited we all were to see more Star Wars. To actually see the story that came before. It’s like we were all kids again pretending to be Han Solo and Princess Leia in our backyards. And then while sitting in the theatre as the movie played, your brain started to have a hard time processing what it was actually seeing because it wasn’t playing the movie of YOUR imagination, it was playing something else all together. The music was right, but scenes were WRONG.

It’s pretty much the same thing with Superman but on a much more personal level.

My own experience with him was from the Christopher Reeve movies. I remember very clearly how I felt about Superman as a young girl (I was in love), and I also remember very clearly how I felt when he wasn’t ‘acting like Superman’ in Superman 3.

I didn’t like it at all

So when my husband took over writing the book, trying to write a story arc that a lot of people didn’t like (mainly because Superman wasn’t acting like Superman), I was really excited. Not only was he going to get to do something that he dreamed of doing as a kid, but he was going to fix it and also get to be a hero to Superman fans everywhere.

And then #707 came out.

Chris knew. He knew that a lot of people weren’t going to like #707. He told me he was going to have to make things worse for the character so he could make it better. Think of the story arc as a big giant ship. You can’t turn it on a dime, it takes a while to turn that big sucker around.

Not to mention all the pieces of the puzzle that HAD to be layered in, at least two contest winning cities and towns, having the progression make some kind of sense but also attempting to do a story that he could be proud of. This is Superman after all.

As the months passed on, ‘the day Superman came out’ was always a roller coaster. Cause despite all his hard work at trying to make the best Superman book he could with the pieces he was given, there would always be something that a group of people would latch onto. Stuff taken out of context or misinterpreted.

It wasn’t that he was just writing a book, he was engaging in an emotional campaign, where everyone who was reading it brought their own stuff to the table.  It wasn’t about what was or wasn’t on the page, it was about what people saw through their own imagination.

Now for the most part, by the end of it all, I think a lot of people figured out what he was trying to accomplish against all the odds. And I really appreciated all the wonderful reviews that ‘got it’ and the positive comments that we saw from a great number of people.

But for me, the journey was a difficult one. Cause we can’t explain why or how or who, we just have to sit and watch the reaction.

On the plus side, my skin is a little thicker and I don’t get so worked up anymore,  I understand where it’s all coming from.

So why is this important to know?

THIS IS THE PRICE of writing a very high profile long established character/ franchise. Internet reaction to the smallest thing can be brutal and if you do not have the confidence to deal with that, it can be a very difficult thing to handle.

But in the end, I’m really glad we got the chance to experience Superman. Learning how to ride a roller coaster is valuable knowledge.

We are going to need the practice when the Star Trek/ Legion book starts in October.

Wink.

A

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

2 Aug

My brother from another mother, Jeremy Lassen, publisher of Night Shade Books

It’s official. Chris and I have physically recovered from SDCC.

Mentally? Not so sure yet.

I usually go into a post SDCC funk for a couple of weeks after the show. I miss seeing all you awesome people, staying up until dawn, my balcony…makes sense right?

Yeah, I’m a little crazy.

I keep getting asked by various people, some who were there, some who have never been, “How was your San Diego?”

And I usually give a very standard answer. One that doesn’t go into to many details. Cause really, how could you briefly talk about the 100′s of encounters, experiences & moments.

But here, I thought you might enjoy a glimpse into what my SDCC 2011 was to me.

  • Balcony waitstaff remembered us from last year
  • Preview night drama
  • Fantastic cucumber martini at Nobu (I had 2)
  • F/SF peeps late night reunion with Minz and Lassen, missed Klima
  • Hanging out with the CA crew
  • Dinner with friends
  • Adventure Time parade=awesome
  • Speakeasy with cool metal straws (which I have now ordered)
  • Party lines too long to wait in
  • Ivan, my dear, dear sweet Ivan. I am yours forever.
  • Dinner with more friends and new awesome people I’ve never met
  • Crying for joy at the Eisners (cause DAYTRIPPER won and should have by a mile)
  • Jumping for joy for Shannon, Art and Franco.
  • Gorgeous Rose
  • Late night conversations with old friend
  • Late night conversations with new friends
  • Dave’s ginger ale
  • Goodnight sweet balcony
  • Sad that I didn’t get enough quality time with a bunch of you
  • My brain doesn’t work anymore travel home Monday

Now looking forward to Baltimore.

I’m a con junkie.

A

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Finally! The Chris Roberson & Me, SDCC Schedule You’ve Been Waiting to See

13 Jul

After many days of collecting info, managing times and hostage negotiations, the schedule has finally been locked. So if you are curious where we will be, I’ve make a schedule that any stalker would drool over.

Here we go!

WEDNESDAY JULY 20TH

Chris and I fly in Wednesday morning, will try to check-in before check-in time and will then run to Ralph’s to get supplies.

Later that afternoon, I have a late lunch date with a friend.

And at some point after that, Chris and I will go pick up our badges.

6PM to 7PM Chris will be signing his name on comics he may or may not have written at the BOOM! Studios Booth #2743

Chris and I have dinner plans with the hardest working man in comics and his lovely equally hard working wife.

Then Chris and I go meet some other people at some secret bar cause well, it’s supposed to be cool.

After that, we will probably head back over to our balcony.

THURSDAY JULY 21ST

11AM to 12PM Chris will be signing some more books, but with my name instead of his own, at the BOOM! Studios Booth #2743

And then we have a joint lunch date. (I’m not telling)

3PM to 4PM IDW Panel…

3:00-4:00 IDW Publishing Presents: The Greatest Panel of All Time— New creator-owned books? Ever-larger licensed titles? All-new creators, and even some major crossover events? How about prizes just for attending? Yep, you’ll find all that and more, in The Greatest Panel of All Time. CCO Chris Ryall, editor Scott Dunbier, and creators Chris Roberson, Eric Powell, and Steve Niles, along with MC Dirk Wood, present a gamelike atmosphere as they spin the wheel on projects coming in 2011 and 2012. Come on down! Room 9 

Hmm. That looks interesting.

5:45PM to 6:45PM Vertigo Panel…

5:45-6:45 Vertigo Editorial— They come from the cutting edge of comics…and Vertigo has never been edgier, with thought-provoking titles from some of comics’ most acclaimed creators. Don’t miss this panel featuring Scott Snyder (American Vampire), Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth), Michael Allred (iZombie), Chris Roberson (iZombie), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Les Klinger (Annotated Sandman), Rebecca Guay (A Flight of Angels), Colleen Doran (Gone to Amerika), Bill Willingham (Fables), and many others. This is your opportunity to learn more about the entire Vertigo line. Hosted by Vertigo executive editor Karen Berger. Room 6DE 

Then we go to dinner with some of my favorite people on the planet along with some folks I am very excited to meet.

After dinner we have three parties that we NEED to go to but might go to as many as six. Late night on our balcony.

FRIDAY JULY 22ND

I have a lunch date with another dear friend.

1PM to 2PM Chris will be signing at the IDW Booth #2643. Exactly what he will be signing, will be up to you all. (be creative!)

I left this day kind of open on purpose since last year we seemed to be in a mad dash to get to stuff. So we will probably be on our balcony before we get ready for the Eisner’s.

8:30PM Eisner’s start. So cross your fingers, we have two shots!

Later that night/ morning. This is when we will be celebrating our Eisner (fill in the blank). Whatever the outcome, just an honor to be on the shortlist. Really.

SATURDAY JULY 23RD

1PM to 2PM Chris will be signing and signing and signing at the BOOM! Studios Booth #2743

Cocktail break!

7PM to 8PM Fables Panel…

7:00-8:00 Fables— The annual Fables panel has become a Comic-Con tradition — and with the original graphic novel Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland on the way this fall, there’s no better time to hear what Bill Willingham, creator of the multi-Eisner Award-winning series, has to say. Join Bill, artists Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha, group editor Shelly Bond, and others for a panel that is truly legendary. Room 6DE 

Chris and some others will also be on this panel.  If you’ve never been to a Fables panel at SDCC, let me tell you, it is super fun and entertaining. I HIGHLY recommend going.

And then right after the panel we head over to a long standing dinner with some of the most talented people working in comics today. Yeah, I would say who but I think name dropping is a little gauche.

Then we are going to race over to the Trickster set-up and see if we can catch Andy Kuhn and then Gear play.

SUNDAY JULY 24TH

11:30AM to 12:30PM Chris will be signing his little heart out trying to stay awake at the DC/ Vertigo Booth #1915

1:30PM to 2:30PM BOOM! Studios Panel…

1:30-2:30 Editing Comics the BOOM! Studios Way— BOOM! Studios editor-in-chief Matt Gagnon talks to three of fandom’s favorite BOOM! writers — Chris Roberson (Starborn, iZombie, Superman), Daryl Gregory (Planet of the Apes, Dracula Company of Monsters), and Michael Alan Nelson (28 Days Later, Dingo, Hexed) — about the ins and outs of editing comics at BOOM! Don’t miss this in-depth look into the editing secrets of one of the comic book industry’s leading independent publishers as they discuss editing dos and don’ts at today’s hottest comic book company. Room 23ABC 

And from this point it is all balcony, dinner with old friends, followed by a dead dog party we go to every year.

We might sleep a few hours and then head back home on Monday afternoon.

So that’s it folks. Really looking forward to seeing all of you who will be there NEXT WEEK!

A

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My SDCC OR How I Manage to Really Enjoy San Diego

15 Jun

Me on the balcony of the Bayfront Hilton doing the pointing thing I do sometimes

I really like going to SDCC. Probably cause I don’t really have any obligations. Chris usually has to run around to signings and panels but during a lot of that nonsense, I get to have lunch with friends I don’t usually get to see but a couple of times a year.

That doesn’t mean I’ve never had to work at SDCC. As Monkeybrain, Chris and I used to exhibit, pop up display and all.

Chris sitting at our booth in 2005 trying to stay awake on Sunday

That was NOT very fun. (Especially the year I was pregnant) It was during that time we coined our description of San Diego, “the Bataan Death March with drinking.”

But now, with the expense, hassle and lack of available space, we gave up all that exhibiting nonsense and really enjoy ourselves as much as possible.

HOW DO YOU ENJOY YOURSELF IN A SEA OF A GAZILLION PEOPLE?

Me and Stormtrooper Elvis on the con floor in 2005

I am prepared.

Chris was the Eagle Scout (believe it or not) but my 15 years in film production trumps and would make a logistics goddess out of anyone. So I’m going to let you in on how you do it and have fun.

LOCATION. LOCATION. LOCATION.

Ever heard that phrase in terms of real estate? Same goes here. Your HOTEL LOCATION is a factor for a fun SDCC. I know. Getting a hotel you want without having to sell a kidney is really hard. If you have a tiered back up plan, you can usually do all right.

  1. ASK YOUR PUBLISHER FOR A ROOM IN THEIR BLOCK. Lots of publishers get blocks of hotel rooms and get to go through the Travel Planners system prior to the public.  This happens around February. They might not pay for your room (or they might, if they are super awesome) but you could be in their block at the con rate. Most comic publishers have blocks that are in the main downtown hotels.
  2. Even if you get a room with your publisher, ALWAYS DO THE TRAVEL PLANNER’S LOTTERY. And do it right when it opens. You never know, you might get a better hotel location. And it’s also just a good back up plan. Never rely on your publisher to get you a room. Things can always go array.
  3. MAKE A RESERVATION A YEAR BEFORE THE SHOW. This was how I got into the Bayfront Hilton this year. We usually get in the DC block at the Hyatt, but last year we spent most of our time at the new Hilton. So I made a reservation as soon as I got home.  The rate is slightly higher than the con rate, but not that much.  Hotels usually open up rooms for reservation a year out, so if you want to be super prepared I recommend this as a solution

DO YOUR PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION EVEN IF YOU AREN’T SURE YOU ARE GOING

Even if you are on the fence (which I really don’t understand), do your professional registration anyway. That way you aren’t left in the lurch when you end up wanting to go at the last minute.

IF YOU WANNA RUN WITH THE BIG BOYS AND NOT ACT A FOOL, TRAIN BEFORE YOU GO

I know this sounds kinda crazy, but Chris and I have a few drinks everyday a couple of days before the con. That way we can still drink, but don’t get drunk. There is a reason some people call us the Nick and Nora of the business. But it takes practice.

DON’T OVER-SCHEDULE YOURSELF

Whether it’s panels you want to see, or signings you have to do, don’t over-schedule yourself.  Build in breaks and learn how to say no. Use one of the con apps if you’re so inclined and make a document or put on a calendar you can update, your appointments, dinners, panels and signings as things get booked up before the con. This helps you avoid double booking and helps you visualize your schedule.

RALPH’S IS YOUR FRIEND

First thing Chris and I do after arriving in San Diego is a trip to Ralph’s.  If you are staying downtown, its not far and perfect for stocking up on water, snacks, healthy juices for an immune boost and liquor. Gotta love CA liquor laws.

When the bars close or you don’t want to spend $12.00 for a drink you are all set and when you are super dehydrated at 6AM you don’t have to pay $8.00 for the bottle of water in your room.

WEAR SHOES THAT YOU CAN REALLY WALK IN. I MEAN REALLY WALK A LOT.

You will be doing an amazing amount of walking. Whether or not you lounge with me on the balcony on the Bayfront Hilton or not. Walking to dinner, through the con, getting out of the con you can cover a lot of distance. I recommend a shoe with arch support and some kind of padding to the sole.  As a lady who wants to be stylish, I often take many pairs of shoes in order to change them out. I never take any shoes that aren’t completely comfortable.

Chris signs at the Vertigo table with his water 2009

TAKE A WATER IN YOUR BAG AND TAKE VITAMIN C BEFORE AND DURING THE TRIP

AND DON’T FORGET THE SUNSCREEN

You will be doing a lot of drinking. Drinking lowers your immune system. So does staying up till 7AM for three days straight. Counter that with water and vitamin C. Stay hydrated. Or you will get the con crud. Just ask Sims, con crud sucks.

Also, it may be cool temp wise, but a few hours in the sun, and you can get really burned. Put some on the top of your heads guys.

Chris on the SDCC floor in 2010

TAKE BREAKS FROM THE SEA OF HUMANITY

Go hang out with people for lunch, afternoon drinks or whatever.  If you can, I promise this will make your experience so much the better. Also, most business at SDCC is done in the bar NOT on the con floor.

Lunch at the Gaslamp Hilton with lots of comic folks in 2009

Chris and I typically only go to the floor if he has a signing or to a panel that he’s on. Then we head back to our refuge at the bar. You could do this or take a nap which is also recommended by many people who know of which I speak.

Chris at BOOM! Panel with Paul Cornell in 2010

HANGING OUT IN THE BAR IN THE AFTERNOON WILL HELP YOU GET A DRINK AT NIGHT

Tip well, treat the staff like human beings during the slow afternoon, and you can get a drink when there are a gazillion people also trying to get one. Last year, Chris and I were the only people at the Bayfront Hilton bar who got preferred service while the rest of the crowd went thirsty. That’s cause by the time everyone got there, we knew the waitstaff and ALL their names.  You really want to impress someone? Get them a drink when no one else can.

Me and Dave Justus on the Bayfront Hilton Balcony 2010

THERE IS A FERRY TO CORONADO ISLAND

That isn’t too far a walk from the con.  If you want to really get away from it all, take a boat to a beach and walk around. It’s nice. I’ve done it.

TAKE MONDAY TO TRAVEL

You will be a zombie on Monday and probably the rest of the week. Make it your travel day and if you can fly out in the afternoon all the better. Make sure you don’t have a heavy work schedule the week after San Diego. Your brain won’t work right for a few days.

And please also read up on this and this and this and this to make sure you are doing the business end correctly.

Repeat after me: NO PITCHES IN THE BAR OR BATHROOM.

If you are a comics professional, and don’t make the trek to mecca every year, reconsider. I think this con is vital to a continually prosperous career.

I know a lot of you folks aren’t free agents like me and actually have to work and do stuff.  But if you have the opportunity to take some of my advice, please do. I promise you will have a good time.

Only 5 more weeks! I can hardly wait.

A

See you soon balcony!

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Rolling the Dice OR What the DCnU Means to the Business of Comics

14 Jun

We’ve all been talking about it. What team is on THIS book? Who’s going to be writing or drawing THAT one?

And if you have no idea what I’m talking about and you are in the business of writing, drawing, selling or publishing comics, my only guess is that you lost internet access and haven’t spoken to anyone for the last 4 months.

Now that the first wave plan from DC is out (mostly), I’m not as much concerned about the particular creative teams as I am with what this means for the industry as a whole.

You may or may not know how much the business of comics depends on what the “Big 2″ do. Those event comics, that you may groan about, actually help bring people into the stores. Getting eyeballs in the stores mean greater sales for everyone. So IDW, Image, BOOM!, etc. all see a benefit.

This move by DC to ‘reboot’ 52 titles with all new #1′s IN ONE MONTH, while offering day and date digital access, will either be a huge success or an epic failure, while also impacting other comics companies either positively or negatively. And I don’t think ANYONE knows which it will be until the end of this year.

Am I making too much out if it? I don’t think so. We could all be looking at the catalyst that transformed the business of comics whether or not DC succeeds or fails. It will be different regardless.

AND NO ONE HAS ANY IDEA WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.

I listened to an interview with Brian Hibbs today, one of my favorite people, as well as a very knowledgable comic retailer, talk about this very subject. If you are in the comics business (ANY PART OF IT), it is VITAL that you listen to it as well.

I suspected from a retailer perspective, this was going to be a huge upheaval. But now I KNOW it is.

I also know the most recent round of speculation in the comics market is over.  The sales will never be what they were 10 years ago, not even what they were 5 years ago.  It’s time to change and adapt, to create new and innovative ways of finding more eyeballs in order to make the razor thin margin of profit make sense, for EVERYONE.

I look forward to seeing what we all come up with.

A

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Eisner Nominee Linky Dinks

9 Jun

I decided yesterday after writing my post about digital comics, to post as many links possible to Eisner nominees who’s publishers have put up FREE content for voters to read.

Award nominations are perfect marketing opportunities and I wanted to reward those companies utilizing the marketing potential of  their nominations and promoting their creators!

BEST SHORT STORY

Hamburgers for One, By Frank Stockton, in Popgun vol. 4 (Image)

BEST HUMOR PUBLICATION

I Thought You Would Be Funnier, By Shannon Wheeler (BOOM!)

Afrodisiac, By Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca (Adhouse)

Prime Baby, By Gene Luen Yang (First Second)

BEST SINGLE ISSUE

Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom #1: Sparrow, By Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)

Locke & Key is also nominated for BEST CONTINUING SERIES, Joe Hill for BEST WRITER and Gabriel Rodriguez for BEST PENCILLER/ INKER

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM REPRINT

Tumor, By Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon (Archaia)

BEST DIGITAL COMIC

Abominable Charles Christopher, By Karl Kerschl

The Bean, by Travis Hanson

Lackadaisy, By Tracy Butler

Max Overacts, By Caanan Grall

Zahra’s Paradise, By Amir and Khalil

I want to congratulate all the companies and creators listed above with online content for Eisner voters. You guys are already winners in my opinion.

What I would love to do now is link to my own Eisner nominee, my husband Chris, who’s work is nominated in two categories:

BEST LIMITED SERIES

Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love, By Chris Roberson and  Shawn McManus (Vertigo/ DC)

BEST NEW SERIES

iZombie, By Chris Roberson and Mike Allred (Vertigo/ DC)

But I can’t. You can’t even buy these titles digitally.

Super lame right?

You will just have to take me at my word these are both really great books, along with all the other books on that very long Eisner list that you have to buy to get a glimpse of.

Maybe next year we can do a little better.

If you know of other links to Eisner nominated content, please let me know and I will add it.

And if you are eligible to vote for the Eisner’s, please make sure you cast your vote by June 13th. (Vote here)

Happy voting!

A

The State of Monetization at the Start of a Digital Age OR Just Do It!

8 Jun

With all this talk about the importance of “day and date” and a push to distribute more comics in a digital format, I thought I might give about my opinion on all that.

I think web comics and digital comics apps that allow you to buy or legally download comics for free is a GREAT marketing tool. In fact, I think it may be the BEST marketing tool. (We’ll come back to this point later) But at this stage of the game, the digital medium has not moved into significantly profitable territory.

The way I see it, the book trade (and I include comics in this mix) is in a state of transition.  The public at large is just getting comfortable with the digital delivery method. You still hear people discuss the feel or smell of a book or floppy, and that’s to be expected. But over time, this rationalization will begin to fade as opportunities change for both the publisher and the consumer. (Listen to this podcast where I and others in the biz talk about it here.)

My husband and I often sit around and speculate on the future of publishing. Sounds thrilling, right? These barn burners have brought us to the following conclusion: digital delivery will replace the mass market distribution of books and comics.

It will not replace all books. Hardcovers and trades with coexist with digital delivery but the mass market paperback and the floppy comic will eventually become a thing of the past.

Whoa.

Before you get all up in arms, let me also say this prediction will also take a good while to happen.  How long? Not really sure, but I can tell you it isn’t going to happen overnight.

I heard this  piece on NPR a few months ago, talking about how the publishing/ book selling business would eventually end up being a “device for free/ digital books for subscription” based model and for the first time in the digital debate, this argument made sense.  I would link to the article if I could find it again (I’ve now hunted for an hour and a half) but instead I will link to a paper I found titled “Stage Five Book Publishing.” Which talks specifically about university presses, but I think is applicable for ALL publishing and book selling.

What’s the point of all this? My point is that RIGHT THIS MINUTE, nobody is making any real money from digital publishing. We might as well just call it a part of the marketing department cause right now that’s where it belongs. Yes I know there are exceptions. There are ALWAYS exceptions. But as an overall rule, it ain’t happening.  So don’t expect for your web comics or digital comic that you made available to be paying the rent. But also don’t expect it to sell a great number of printed books, UNLESS YOU HAVE SUBSTANTIAL DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS.

And when I say substantial distribution, I mean the book, on the front spinner rack, (that you have to pay extra for) in all brick and mortar stores.

Digital marketing is a tool for cutting through the noise. There are just SO MANY THINGS OUT THERE. Maybe the free sample is it, maybe the first couple issues of something at a low price point (I’m not getting into the psychology of price point here, but it is a factor. The lower, the better), or the fact the book is serialized online made someone pick up the book the next time they were in the LCBS or place that Amazon order.

I respect the companies going out front promoting their books using the digital medium. I KNOW it helps them sell books and not just the electronic kind. It’s a multifaceted complicated equation nobody actually knows. But to do decent numbers, you also need to find the people who aren’t living on the internet too, cause we just aren’t at stage five yet folks.

How does this info help the yet “unpublished?”

The most important thing for you to be doing is marketing YOURSELF and one of the best ways to do that is online. Got an idea and an artist. Make it and put it online. Now you have a place for people (the kind who will pay you money for your work) to go look when you charm them with your bar etiquette and conversation skills. Been a while since you made that last thing? Make something else, and repeat.

Most people give up cause it’s hard, the successful ones don’t know how to stop.

Now go download some Starborn cause it’s the only book currently coming out from my husband available digitally.

Gotta love that marketing department.

UPDATE 6/8/11 7:25PM CDT:

Here are more links to access more marketing comics via my favorite marketing maven. He’s a reader.

Read free preview of Starborn at Comics.Comixology.com in your web browser

Buy Starborn directly on web at Comics.Comixology.com to read on web browser (will also show up on Comixology and BOOM! Studios App)

Buy Starborn directly at Graphicly on the web (will also show up on Graphicly’s app)

And I found out today through a weird fluke, you can currently get Superman #707 through #710 at Comics.Comixology.com written by my hubby.

A

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