Broken Frontier

As a publisher, there quite literally is no more stressful time of the year than Early July.  The San Diego Comic-Con is the Prom to all of the other con’s “Spring Flings.”  It’s the big show, and you simply have to be there.  There are one hundred-thousand people you get a chance to interface with one on one, which, in case you don’t know, is about ten thousand times the audience for most indie books.  So, what’s my week of prep look like?

A nightmare.

Here’s a round up of why.

1) We had to move up production on TWO of our books, the final issue of Western Tales of Terror and the third issue of Elk’s Run, in order to make the show.  It’s partly a mistake on our part to not plan for the show in our long term publishing schedule, but, we work so far ahead it wasn’t TOO bad to move things up.  Except there’s always one or two scragglers on every book, an artist or two on Western Tales were getting us art literally hours before the files had to go to the printer.  Which means my letterer and I had to letter, prep, and layout all those pages overnight, so that we’d get the files in by the morning cutoff that guarantees the book will be printed in time.  Thank god we work so far ahead.

2) We have THREE new properties we’re developing which we want to have ready to showcase for San Diego.  Which is fine, and we started prep on all three months ago.  And then one of our artists quit.  We had two weeks till the show, and an artist who’d invested MONTHS of research and time in the project up and quit.  It’s been a mad scramble not just to find the right artist, but to find someone who can get us pages in time for the show.  That one’s still pending.  Ultimately, it’s not the end of the world, but, this is the best place possible to showcase the things we have just on the horizon.

3) Banners, Booth Design, and Staffing.  Man, it’s tough.  Even with the map telling you where you’re going to be, it’s hard to tell exactly what your visibility lines are going to be, and impossible to tell what your neighbors are going to do, so you’re left guessing as to how most effectively showcase your booth and properties.  We added a new banner to our stack, and have to hope we have enough to make it meaningful.  Staffing is fun because we’re broke.  It’s all friends doing us favors.  That means making schedules and begging for people to cover the hours that need covered.

4) I got hit by a car.  No. Really.  I was crossing the street in Hollywood, and a car lunged through the crosswalk and tapped me.  Then I jumped out of the way.  And landed in a pothole.  And fell down, and hurt my wrist, my ankle, my knee, and my back.  I’ve been in agony for the better part of three weeks, and, being a Small Press Publisher… I don’t have that pesky health insurance so many people in other lines of work do have.  So, my days have been tempered by me fighting through the pain (including not being able to type for almost two weeks, not being able to walk without a cane and brace for another week on top of that, and my inability to turn my head still ongoing.)  It really helps to be entrenched in a crunch month.

5) Money, money, money.  These shows are PAINFULLY expensive.  I’m talking more money than I’d earn at my old day job in two months, all blown on one weekend.  Between the hotel, the booth, feeding your staff, and the time missed from ‘work work’, a show this big really teeters on the edge of insanity.  I’ve written before about cons being a marketing expense, and it’s true.  This one even more so.  We’re still playing out options and situations from last years show, and it’s been twelve months.  San Diego is a powerful convention, all of the producers, publishers, agents, and managers make it out, and, for a change, are actually interested in our little cottage industry.  The money is scary, but, not going is even scarier.

So that’s it.  It’s not so bad.  Of course, I just stopped and looked at my To Do list for the rest of the week.  Here’s hoping it’ll all get done.  Or rather, it’s knowing that it all HAS to get done. 

If you’re coming to San Diego, please stop by our booth, number 1833, for a look at all the hard work we’re doing while the rest of the world is sleeping!  See you in San Diego!