Small Press Day 2016 – How Your Local Comic Shop Can Get Involved on July 9th

Small Press Day is coming this July 9th and with a whole host of shops involved including Gosh! Comics, Orbital Comics, Travelling Man, Raygun Comics, Forbidden Planet Éire, Sub City and many more to be announced, it looks set to be a wonderful celebration of the worlds of self/micropublishing and DIY culture.

Below is the official press release for stores explaining how they can get involved on the day. Don’t forget there is a wider aspect to Small Press Day as well and small press artists are encouraged to take the initiative and approach their local retail outlets and/or set up their own zine events. With Broken Frontier lending our support to #SmallPressDay we’ll obviously be keeping you informed on developments here but for regular updates follow the Small Press Day Twitter account here, visit the website here, and keep tabs on announcements from our friends and co-organisers at Alternative Press.

Hello and thank you for your interest in Small Press Day!

What started as an off-the-cuff idea on social media has been met with great enthusiasm and we’re very thankful for all your support for the project. We’ve been working behind-the-scenes to provide a framework for the day and we hope the following information will give you an idea of the philosophy of the event.

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 will ultimately be hugely rewarding for shops, creators and the small press community.

What we envision is that shops and venues of all kinds take part in the day holding in-store signings with small press creators. This may involve simply dedicating a small space in your store for a period for a few hours on the afternoon or, as some shops are planning, to turn it into an all-day event with a number of creators coming in to sign in hourly timeslots.

The set-up for events is flexible and we want you to feel you can tailor the day to your local situation. But we welcome any input you may have about running talks, workshops or panels as tie-ins. The important thing though 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!

For promotional purposes we will have a website listing all the shops involved and their guests at http://smallpressday.co.uk/. We will also be supplying a web poster and banners. A print version can also be supplied if you wish to print it out for your window. As well as the main poster, each shop will get a custom version with their signing details included (see samples above).

As you may know we already have a buzzing Twitter account which is a focal point for creators, shops, magazines, celebs and info here: @smallpressday. We also have the support of the small press champions and specialists at both Broken Frontier and Alternative Press who will publicise your Small Press Day line-ups in the run-up to the day.

So what do we need from you…?

It’s easy! Just think of any UK small press/self-publishers who you would like in-store on Small Press Day or whose work you already stock and invite them to come into the shop on July 9th to sign copies and meet customers. It’s as simple as that! When you have your creators/micropublishers confirmed then let us know at info@samu.co.uk and we can add you to the rapidly growing list of shops and events.

If you need help finding out about local creators or getting in touch, we can also do our best to help out. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Thanks again and let’s make this a groundbreaking event together!

The Small Press Day Team.

Amneet Johal – AlternativePress.org.uk, Andy Oliver – Broken Frontier Editor-in-Chief, & David Ziggy Greene

For regular updates on all things small press follow Andy Oliver on Twitter here.