Comics Worth Reading, a great US indie comics advocate, has featured a recap on some recent posts following last weekend’s Small Press Expo in the US, and offers some useful advice on using possibly duff copies of your new book, that I thought might be useful for indie press publishers going to the British International Comic Show at the weekend.
“When you’re unpacking your books, comics, or minicomics for a show, you’ll notice some copies don’t look as good as the others,” notes site runner Johanna Draper Carlson. “Maybe they’re print errors… or packing damages.
“Set those copies aside, and give those out as review copies or press freebies,” she suggests. “Save the good ones to sell. Most press members won’t mind; if you explain, they’ll even understand.
She also suggests taking some some kind of small stickers (red dots) or flags to the con, and mark your damages as you see them so you’ll be easily able to find them when you need them. If you have more damages than you’d like or want to give away, sell them at a discount to bargain hunters. One respondee to the post also suggests they would also make good donations to a school or local library.
CWR is a great site: it’s posted lots of info, often on Manga information on to selling you Manga in Japan and PR: What Not to Do: Review Copies and Guilt Trips
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.
Categories: Creating Comics, Links
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