The Con Game

Being a self-publisher is a never-ending battle between the necessity of promotion and that of eating.

Well, it's not always that dramatic, but it can be. The basic problem behind Being Your Own Man is it takes alotta dough to do so - competing head to head with giant corporations with huge marketing budgets is an arduous task, particularly in our small industry, which is geared to serve the needs of the big guys. Of course, it's a rare industry that doesn't serve the fat cats, cuz they're the ones who run the show... we are fortunate that in the monopolized world of comics, DCD still gives some indy cats the chance to compete - but this is gettin' besides the point, and that point is - in the comics biz, ya gotta do the con circuit to Spread the Word, but doing so is damned expensive, perhaps prohibitively expensive.

It's basically like being in an unsigned rock 'n' roll band. Ya gotta get out there and meet the people and win them over with your wit and charm and artistic merit. Nothing moves product by the indies like the Meet and Greet. In comics, the way to do that is via the comic cons, but unlike the rock clubs, the cons aren't on every corner and open every night of the week. Comic cons are big events, and most of the important ones tend to fall in the summer months. This is bad for the indy peeps, cuz trying to get the money up for one con's worth of travel, hotel and table costs ain't easy, and it's made even more difficult when the major "must attend" cons all occur within weeks of one another. Ya gotta save up a huge chunk o' cash and vacation time to make the big cons, and needless to say, that's not all that simple.

One big stick in the spokes is the day job. While the famous comics pros get their way paid to the show, the struggling guys take a double whammy. Not only do we shell out for our own tables, travel and lodging, we lose money by taking time off from work. That's a major factor in why I attend so few cons. Typically, I can expect to shell out around $800.00 to attend a show that's outta state (and hailing from western Massachusetts, all the major cons are outta state - WAY outta state). I can also expect to take 1-2 days off from work, which costs me another chunk o' change. That's pretty much money lost, because while I do sell a decent amount of books at a show, in no way do I ever cover costs (except at the cool local shows that donate tables to creators).

Thus the "Loss Leader" comes into play - you gotta spend money to make money, and doing shows may be hugely beneficial in the long run - but it's damned hard to deal with that when in the short run you're eating peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. It's hard to keep your eye on the brass ring while the landlord is pounding on the door for the rent.

I know I'm gonna lose alotta money if I go to the Comic Con in San Diego. I also know that it's The Show to attend to drum up new interest in my comic. Lately I haven't had the time or jack to hit the trail to San Diego, but I know I'm gonna have to at some point. Same is true for alotta other shows out there. My bank account trembles at the notion.

The vile Catch 22 nature of attending cons as a self-pubber is maddening. It's the endless cycle that's also true of advertising - I can't afford to do cons because no one knows who I am, and no one knows who I am because I don't go to cons. What's a poor bastard to do?

Apparently write a web column to whine about it. =O)

So what does this all boil down to? Not a Helluva lot. Nothing ever does around here, so that should come as no surprise to you. Anyways, I knew the job was dangerous when I took it - but for those of you considering the self-publishing gig, here's something else to worry about.

Word.