Posts Tagged ‘reading with pictures’
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Remember that big news I’ve been teasing about for the past several months? Been asking yourself why the website hasn’t been updating lately? Well, it’s because my lifelong dream has taken a major step forward to becoming a reality. I’ve been published.
Reading with Pictures came out several weeks ago, and the premiere event was at Challengers Comics in Chicago. Several of the creators were on hand, including Josh Elder, Russell Lissau, Jeff Brown, and Jill Thompson. And the book sold gangbusters!
Lots of people came into the store that day, and many of the creators were on hand to sign books and mingle with fans of the book, the project, or our individual works. The store bought boxes of the books (and I’m told, have bought and sold boxes more), and we signed them all.
There was a charity BBQ as well, with the coolest guy making some great food.
The book was available for order in the June Diamond catalog. Diamond ordered about a thousand copies of the book, and we’ve been selling them individually at conventions as well.
I have a bunch of events that have been keeping me away from the regular updates, and I apologize for that. My schedule looks like the following:
August 17-22: Wizard World Chicago (con report to follow)
September 9-12: CECE (guest of honor)
September 11 (yup, same weekend): Library workshop in Lincoln Square for kids on how to make comics
October 4: FallCon
October 8-10: New York Comic Con
November 6-7: Mid-Ohio Comic Con
Littered throughout the year I have weddings to attend and whatnot as well. It’s a very ambitious convention schedule, and unfortunately it’s cutting into my creation time. On top of all this, I’m also working on another children’s story AND a regular series pitch based on my Reading with Pictures short story.
Lots of great work on the horizon, and I hope to see some of you at a convention soon. Thanks for sticking with me, and no worries – comics will start up again soon.
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Friday was the first official day of the convention, and I headed down to breakfast with Russell and Steve Horton (DC Holiday Special) at O’h (the restaurant at the Hyatt).
After breakfast, we headed out to the floor to set up the tables (which were right by the main entrance of the show – we couldn’t have asked for a better location). As people started filtering in, I was approached by several groups of people for pictures and autographs – which I’m always glad to give.
Our tables were over by the other comic guests including Misako Rocks! (Savage Love) and Fred Gallagher (MegaTokyo), and we were also joined by our good friend Josh Elder (Batman Strikes, Mail Order Ninja).
Around 1pm, I was escorted to the stage in the Hyatt for Opening Ceremonies. All of the guests are invited and encouraged to attend, even though the event tends to start a little late. Unfortunately because of that late start, Josh and Steve had to step out to get to a panel that they were both on, and since Russell wanted to stay on the floor to sell, it made me the resident comic guy at the show.
Behind the stage I met some cool people, including the band members of the Spoony Bards, many of their members being from Chicago. They even invited me to one of their shows this coming weekend, but I digress.
So while Vic Mignogna is on the stage, I’m told that I’ll be next. Suddenly a very cold sweat hits me – one of the most popular people at the show is on stage, and I have to follow his act. Thankfully, our speeches were separated by the announcements of the missing comic creators.
I came out when my name was called, looking out at a good thousand plus people in the audience. The lights mostly obscured my vision, so I couldn’t count exactly, but I could tell that the room was filled. The amazing thing was that the clapping that welcomed me wasn’t just polite and sparse – but a roar from the crowd!
“So I guess they selected me to represent the comic creators at this show,” I said. “Which means we’re all in some kind of trouble.”
(pause)
“Just kidding, the rest of the guys are at a panel right now.”
After informing the crowd about my panel schedule for the weekend, and why they should stop by and buy my stuff, I exited the stage and watched a few more presenters before returning to the floor.
I met fans and sold my heart out until my first panel of the weekend, Marketing and Advertising your Comic at 5pm. For what promised to be an education (and therefore less entertaining) panel, a good chunk of people showed up. Many were actually looking to promote something other than a comic – some even just looking to get into marketing or advertising as a career – and I tried to keep the panel as open as I could. Come Q&A time, the questions went flying. Thankfully, I was able to follow up with some of the people after the panel ended to make sure that they walked away with satisfying answers.
I went back to the floor with just enough time to pack up the table, and then the group of us went to dinner at the O’h restaurant again (at the behest of one of the convention coordinators). After dinner, we returned to the green room for relaxing and drinking. I met one of the con liaisons and we ended up playing DJ Hero (which I suck at), and then went to the rave (where we watched some 16 year olds in a sweaty “hump train”), and then back to the green room for one last drink of the evening before bed.
Saturday would be the big day, and I didn’t want to miss a moment of it!
To be continued…
Help Bring Comics into the Classroom
Reading with Pictures is an educational non-profit organization that promotes literacy and the visual arts through the use of comics in the classroom. To achieve our goals, we’ve recently launched a pledge drive on kickstarter.com to finance the publication of a groundbreaking educational comics anthology. The anthology features a cover by Jill Thompson (The Sandman) and original stories by over 50 all-ages creators including Fred Van Lente (Amazing Spider-Man), Chris Giarrusso (Mini-Marvels), Jim Gownley (Amelia Rules), Jeffrey Brown (Sulk), Scott Sava (The Dreamland Chronicles), and RWP Executive Director Josh Elder (Mail Order Ninja). This limited edition anthology will serve as a proof of concept that comics can be both entertaining and educational, and the only way to guarantee that you get your copy is by pre-ordering on Kickstarter today!
Learn more by visiting us online at www.readingwithpictures.org.
At Reading with Pictures, we’re getting comics into schools and getting schools into comics.
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