Well, I’ve been back from the con for long enough to get some sleep, pay the rent, and hit the gym. I though it was time I put up the con report. Overall I would say it was a really productive convention. I learned a lot, made some good contacts, and in the end had a great time. Evan Keeling, my buddy and co-conspirator with the D.C. Conspiracy, came along and was a great help. My friends, Mike and Grace, were gracious hosts and made us all feel really welcomed in their house. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here goes…
Part 1, how long does it take to get there anyway?
As per usual, I completely underestimated the drive from Maryland to Charlotte. I did the Google map… 8 hours… me, I thought for sure I could make it in 4. Ok, so I tend to overestimate, and not trust the good people at good with their info. ANYWAY, some personal business kept me from driving down Thursday night, like most of the sane exhibitors, so we planned on leaving first thing Friday morning. After it was all said and done (my poor wife, with the baby bladder, needed many pit stops) we arrived at the con about five PM… about two hours before the first day would come to an end. The staff at Heroes Con had their stuff together and quickly processed us and had us at our tables. All weekend I really got a great impression of the tight ship that they run. If anyone is thinking about attending a ‘big show’ and getting the ‘little show’ treatment, check out HeroesCon next year. I’ll definitely be there. The only real complaint I had was that we landed the table right beside the A.C.T.O.R. booth, where George Perez was signing and sketching all weekend. The staff over there was really great, and it was heartwarming to hear Perez’s addictive laughter, but at times the lines of folks trying to get their stacks of comics signed were problematic.
Part 2, the master speaketh!
After the con we beat it back to Mike and Graces, dropped off our bags, woofed down some delicious home cooked spaghetti, and headed back to the Hilton to see Warren Ellis speak. This was maybe 9:30 on a Friday night. The thing that really struck Evan and I was how dead the downtown part of town was. Man, we found on street parking pretty easy, didn’t see nearly another soul on the street (with the exception of a fellow comic geek staggering under the weight of his HeroesCon bag of goodies). After a little back tracking and eventually asking for directions, we made it to the ballroom where a crowd had gathered to hear Ellis entertain with his wit and enthrall with his opinion. Man, I got a really good impression of him. I completely agreed with most of his viewpoints, and really enjoyed his anecdotes about the comics industry. He told this hilarious story about Mark Millar only having one testicle that had the entire audience in an uproar. My hats off to Warren Ellis. I may not have believed every story he told, but he told them well. We made our way to the bar in the Hilton for a drink (they were very generous with the mix on the jack and coke) and made our way back to Mike’s house for bed.
Part 3, The Rebellion Assembles…
One of the greatest things I came away with this weekend was meeting some great Indy oriented organizations. Namely, The Indy Asylum gang and the Comics Review. Trying to self publish a comic can be a daunting task. Don’t look for any help from the pros. Typically they see you as amateurs, and will treat you like so. It’s ok… really. I totally understand. I don’t make my living this way. I don’t charge twenty bucks for an autograph. Hell, if anyone comes up to the table and actually heard about the comic I’d probably kiss them. Anyway, the real problem for the neophyte Indy comics creator is the marketing aspect. How do you get the word out to people that your magnum opus is available? How do you make anyone want to read it? Well, I think I might have made some ground in this avenue. The Indy Asylum is a sort of Indy comics collective that offer many possible ways to get your book seen by many others. I am planning on talking to them about swapping ads space on our site, and possibly the comic (though there are no filler pages, so it may be hard to figure that one out). I think their general punk rock philosophy will fit in really good with our anti-establishment book. The Comics Review is a review site that is dedicated to Indy comics, and has started an Indy comics friend’s space on their website that will allow small pressers to rub shoulders digitally… swap stories and help each other out. I got really good vibes from both of those gangs, and it helped me restore the concept that there really is an underground comics movement out there. If we can simply join up that hopefully there’d be an audience for us.
Part 4, don’t swear at potential customers!!
OK, so I freely admit that this comic book has been a slow moving adventure… I think Jeff and I had talked ourselves into thinking that we were going to sweep the world off their feet right out of the gate with very little effort. The truth is creation of a comic is only half the work… hell, maybe less than that. Marketing, strategy, PR, all the business aspects of comics are the real struggle. I can see why some people are hesitant to self publish because of this. It can be kind of scary. It can be kind of challenging. At times, it can be kind of frustrating. Sunday morning was kind of slow for us, and the line of people getting all thirty copies of their “Infinity Gauntlet” series signed by George Perez at the neighboring table was starting to wear on me. The low point was when my wife came back to the table and asked me if I thought we should try to move to an empty table where the growing line of fan boys might not block. “What does it fucking matter?” I responded, “These fucking mouth-breathers will just block the table over there too.”
Yep… that’s what I said. Loud enough for most of the people in front of the table to turn and look. Immediately I felt like an asshole. One guy walked over and bought a copy of Alberic. He said he’d been in my position before, and knew how frustrated it can make you feel. I felt like a complete heel. Time for a smoke, some water on the face, and freshly plastered smile on my face. We bolted an hour and a half before the con ended, but I think I made six or seven more sales after that. I gotta remember that it’s not personal. If no one knows you they aren’t going to take a chance on you. Well, not no one, but most folks. We made some pretty good sales at HeroesCon. It was definitely an improvement on last months Con. I left with the feeling that we were going in the right direction. I also left with a checklist of stuff that I want to get before the next Con (the Philly Zine Fest in September). Here’s what I wrote down:
Poster of the cover to put on an easel behind the booth.
A vinyl sign of “The Alberic Heresies” to hang on the front of the booth.
Display props to be able to give more of a vertical presence to the table
A flash animated or slideshow film of single panels that I can run on my laptop (or through a projector)
About twenty pounds less body fat.
A digital camera for photos for the post con report
Well, that’s not too unattainable of a shopping list for the fall. I better get off of here and get to work. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth. Thanks for the inspiration!
edit: hey, thanks to the comics reporter for pointing out that I am a great big tard from time to time... too much of that NC sweet tea me thinkest!!
