Small Press Day returns on Saturday 18th July

By John Freeman on February 22, 2020

Small Press Day, the brilliant annual celebration of self-publishing, DIY culture, and grassroots comics across the UK and Ireland, is back, taking place Saturday 18th July 2020.

What started as an off-the-cuff idea on social media back in 2016 has been met with great enthusiasm and continued every year since.

As ever, the core aim of Small Press Day is to spotlight the possibilities of small press publishing and to bring its practitioners to the far wider audience they deserve. At its heart, it’s an elegantly simple idea that involves minimal organisation for everyone involved but continues its aim to be hugely rewarding for shops, creators and the small press community.

The aim of Small Press Day is to encourage shops and venues of all kinds take part in the day by holding in-store signings with small press creators. This may involve simply dedicating a small space in a store for a few hours in the afternoon or, as some shops are planning to, turning it into an all-day event with a number of creators in residency signing their published works in hourly time-slots.

Stores that have taken part in previous years have included a number of Forbidden Planet International stores, London’s Gosh! Comics, Mega City Comics, and Orbital Comics, the Travelling Man stores in Leeds, Manchester and York, and many others.

The set-up for events is flexible and the Small Press Day team are keen that shops and venues taking part feel they can tailor the day to their local situation.

“We welcome any input you may have about running talks, workshops or panels as tie-ins,” says a SPD spokesperson.

“The important thing is that we have a day where shops, creators and customers can meet, engage with each other, have fun, and see what great work is being produced by the next generation of UK comic and zine creators!”

• Want to get involved? All the details of how to here

• Further information about the aims of Small Press Day – for both shops and creators – are available here

• Have your Small Press Day event all figured out? Let the Small Press Day know the details here

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.