I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by my table. It was very gratifying to know that my book still has a devoted readership. Several prominent distributors, retailers, industry pros, and reviewers also came by to express their support for the series. That meant a lot to me as well! Now we just need to get the word out (and I need to stay on a regular schedule!) It's clear that I have established a presence at San Diego, because people mentioned to me how they look for my booth every year; others confirmed that the only time they have a chance to stock up on my latest issues is when they see me at the show! I also encouraged everyone to give me their retailer's name to ensure they are on my mailing list and can order my books for their stores.
Since I've exhibited at the show quite a few times, I sometimes don't read the exhibitor's instructions. I'm glad I didn't do so this year, however, since many things have changed over the years, partly because the organizers sometimes change their due dates and policies to improve and streamline the show. Had I decided not to read the documentation, I might have failed to complete and submit the many requisite forms that are now required, let alone miss other crucial information about the appropriate procedures and times for move-in and set-up!
For those who have never attended the show, it would be an understatement to call it "huge." I often describe the convention—which is the biggest of its kind in the country—as sensory overload, with more than 500,000 square feet of exhibition and programming space. It's easily the length of a couple of football fields (maybe more?)—and that's just the main floor! It can be exhausting to try and see everything.
Although Preview Night is a nice perk, for the most part it is like any other day of the con—in other words, it's just as crowded! In the "old days," when ProCon used to be part of the show, I believe a similar time was set aside for retailers to visit publisher booths. However, because of the show's shift from purely a comic-book convention to more of a "popular culture" convention, this retailer preview seems to have fallen by the wayside, and has morphed into Preview Night.
As always, being among other small press publishers was fun and energizing. There always is a good mix of older publishers (like myself) and new ones. This gives one a great opportunity to see other people's work, to meet up-and-coming artists, and to talk shop and swap trade secrets! I had the fortune to be seated next to Janet Hetherington and Ronn Sutton of Hetherington/Sutton Studios, and not too far from me were friends and fellow cartoonists Anson Jew and Benton Jew, who had just published Babes in Space. Comics industry people who stopped by to chat include Karl Kesel, Batton Lash, Heidi MacDonald, and James Sime.
The "star wattage" at the show continues to be high, which is indicative of how the show has become a requisite showplace for the Hollywood movie studios and their stars promoting their films. Jude Law, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Keanu Reeves, among others, all made appearances. (Last year, Ben Affleck, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Halle Berry showed up in back-to-back panels to promote their respective projects.) To accommodate the crowds, the convention took advantage of a new meeting hall that seats close to 7000 people (with closed-circuit monitors down the length of the hall so that those in back can still see what's going on). This is an improvement over the room used in previous years that seated "only" 5000 people-but was still impossible to get into! It was possible to just sit in this room all day watching one program after another-in fact, I have some acquaintances who did just that on Saturday! (Of course, I saw little programming myself since I was at my table most of the show!)
But, of course, there were comics too—lots of it! There also were the usual fans of all stripes walking around in costume; characters from the Lord of the Rings and the Crazy 88s from Kill Bill were popular themes this year. This was in addition to the usual comic-book/Star Wars /Star Trek/anime fans who are always there. Though there was no single comic-book series that seemed to dominate the show, there was nevertheless lots of projects generating heat: friends Batton Lash and Stan Sakai, for example, both were celebrating the tenth anniversary of their respective series, Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre, and Usagi Yojimbo. Jeff Smith and Dave Sim also celebrated the planned conclusions to their respective magnum opuses, Bone and Cerebrus the Aardvark (though I don't think Sim was actually in attendance). Technically, I'm celebrating my 10th anniversary as a comic-book publisher as well, but I presume the policy requires one to have actually published 10 years in a row! There was much, much more so this is just a small taste of what was happening at the show.
I must admit the first two days of the show were very slow for me in fact, among the worst I have ever experienced in sales! When I first received my booth assignment, I was very excited—I was placed on the outside perimeter of the Small Press Pavilion on a main aisle and assumed there would be a lot of foot traffic and casual prospective buyers. Unfortunately, because it was a main aisle (and very wide), the opposite ironically turned out to be the case. Because the aisle was a major "artery," people were zooming by without browsing or stopping! In contrast, the heart of the small press area seemed to be teeming with people who obviously had gone down those aisles expressly to look at publishers' wares. People who were looking for me specifically had no problem finding me, but it was difficult attracting casual buyers those first few days. In talking to some people, however, they often had the same feeling--buyers seemed to come in waves. I say this knowing that my first word of advice to anyone who asks me about exhibiting at the show is that they should not expect to make money! The show is as much promotional as it is sales.
Midday on the second day (Friday), however, things picked up. Though there was no direct connection I can say that the turning point came when a fan of the series purchased a page of original art (the cover to Rob Hanes Adventures #3) that in itself nearly paid for the cost of the whole table! This somehow seemed to change the tide because after that sales were brisk, which continued into Saturday and Sunday. So my thanks to that fan for helping to change my fortunes!
Well, assuming that I stay on schedule as I intend to, I plan to be at San Diego next year. I still haven't decided yet whether I will be in the small press area or upgrade to the slightly more "upscale" Independent Publishers' Pavilion. But that all will depend on what kind of buzz and momentum I have going into next year's show!
Below are some sample photos from the show—or go to the full photo gallery.
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I modestly refer to my booth display as a marvel of engineering design. Created and first used in 1998, it's constructed of PVC pipes and four pieces of foam board covered in felt. The blow-up art and foam boards hang in place thru the miracle of velcro. Fortunately, I had the foresight to mark the various pieces and create a diagram of how they fit together. It had been 3 years since I last used the display, and it would have taken me a lot longer to put it together!
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| Anson Jew, Deana Igelsrud, and Benton Jew |
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| Jack Hsu and Julie Yeh (respectively, 893 and Poppie's Adventures) |
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| Kyle Baker |
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| Steve "The Dude" Rude |
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| Mark Wheatley, Insight Studios |
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