From: [insig h t] at [clark.net] (Insight Studios)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: Racing to the Pitt Stop: A Writer's Diary!
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 1995 16:33:45 GMT

RACING TO THE PITT STOP
the diary of a self-publisher, on tour
by 
Mark Wheatley

Sept. 7, 1995 - Thursday

If self-publishers have a motto, it's, "There's not enough time in the
day."  I know that producing RADICAL DREAMER on a regular basis is a 
full-time job.  (Actually, self- publishing is several full-time jobs.
I put in an average 10-hour day, seven days a week, for most of the
year.  The rest of the year, I work much harder.)  Today, in addition
to being the writer, artist, designer, letterer, painter, typesetter,
etc., I'm also the road crew.  I'm preparing to travel from Baltimore
to Pittsburgh for a personal appearance.  

This is one of a series of independent conventions known collectively
as the Spirits of Independence Tour.  The tour is the brainchild of
Dave Sim, self-publisher of CEREBUS.  Since this is a Pittsburgh con, 
Pittsburgher Don Simpson, self-publisher of bizarre HEROES has called
it the Pitt Stop.  

From the moment I arrived at the studio today, my priority was packing
for the con.  Instead I spend the day racing to deliver issue four of 
RADICAL DREAMER to the printer about half a week early.  There's a
paper price increase I'm hoping to beat by printing before the end of
the month.  

Dinner time and my wife and Vice President, Carol, arrives and I
haven't come near the packing.  After dinner with  Carol, we hit the
studio for the day's standard second shift.  Carol can help pack.  

Carol pulls together the MARK'S GIANT ECONOMY SIZE COMICS! booth.
(This is a little tricky, as my partner, Marc Hempel, is headed to an
entirely separate convention to promote his new self-published book;
TUG & buster.  We have to split the booth in two.)  After that, Carol
hauls out the books.  Her load includes copies of eight different
issues of RADICAL DREAMER and an assortment of my other comics.  

Meanwhile, I split my time between the computer and the drawing board.

On the drawing board are pages from issue four of RADICAL DREAMER.
I'm going over them for the tenth time, making a few touch-ups.  On
the computer I write thank-you notes to the convention coordinators
who have helped me with this summer's tour.  (I've done four
conventions and one store signing in four months for a total of
eighteen days on the road.)  It's been a great summer for
self-publishers.  Retailers are working to broaden their customer base
and the buzzword of the moment is diversity.  

Finally the time has come for me to head home.  I carry the three 
portfolios, seven cases of books, one case of T-shirts and a luggage
cart out to the car.   At home, I throw clean socks and underwear into
a bag, kiss Carol, play with the cats and fall into bed.

Sept. 8, 1995 - Friday

I'm up early to feed the cats.  Carol and I hit the road to Pittsburgh
by 10:00 a.m..  Five hours of driving passes like . . . five hours.
Carol is from Pittsburgh and her family still lives there.  Carol and
her mother head off for an evening of shopping and I make the
forty-minute drive to the downtown convention location, the Holiday
Inn University Center.  

With the help of a downtown map and good directions printed in CEREBUS

#197, I find the hotel with no trouble.  I go directly to the bar.
Dave Sim has started a tradition.  For the benefit of retailers he
makes himself (and other self-publishers) available in the hotel bar
on the evenings of a convention.  The first bar-night I spent with
Dave and the self-publishing crew was over a year ago, at the last
Diamond Trade Show.  There were over a hundred retailers who came to
talk with us instead of taking the offer, from Steve Geppi, of a free
night at the ball park.  That was the first time that I got a sense of
the change in the industry.  Retailers were beginning to understand
what the small press had to offer them.  Since then there's been a lot
of success for self-published titles like BONE, TYRANT, STRAY BULLETS,
STRANGERS IN PARADISE and others.  That was followed by major changes
in the distribution network.  The result has been a rapid growth of
retailer support for the small press.  And much of that sincere
support begins with the one-to-one contact we create at these
bar-nights.   

True to form, I find Dave Sim, Don Simpson, John Rovak and Steve
Bissette in the bar that doubles as the hotel restaurant.  The guys
are having dinner while trading gossip, advice and stories of the road
and self-publishing.  I know everyone except John.  He is the retailer
who organized the Vermont Alternative Comics Exhibition (ACE).  John
and Steve drove down from Vermont together.  They report that the
Vermont ACE was as big a success as all the other Spirits of
Independence shows across the country have been.  I know from my own
experience that these shows attract a distinct group of fans and
retailers.  All the self-publishers have experienced second-class
treatment at the usual comic conventions at one time or another.  Oh,
the show organizers are often our strongest supporters and fans.  But
the attending fans come by the thousands to get their latest
collectibles signed by our industry's superstars.  This larger show
crowd is younger and generally preoccupied with the adolescent, male
power-fantasies that the super-hero books embody.  The power of the
fame of the superstar creators is a true extension of that mind-set.
In contrast, these smaller conventions attract fans who show a wider
range of interest.  They are people who enjoy comics, but also have
interests that reach into family, community and general society.  In
many ways they are our peers.  And Steve, Don, 
Dave and I all agree that we feel at home with "our" people.   Make no
mistake about it.  This is most assuredly our audience.  This is an 
audience that the industrial-strength comic publishers will always
have a hard time reaching.  Our audience is looking for books with
depth and evidence of personal commitment.  This is something that the
flavor-of-the-week publishers can't deliver with any guarantee or
regularity.

More self-publishers and a retailer or two show up.  We move our
chairs to allow them to sit near the table.  The conversation is loud
and filled with excited energy.  We're all talking about what we love
best, publishing our own comics.  Our talking takes on an almost
evangelical quality and I decide that we've gotten a kind of religion
called Self-Publishing.  And Dave Sim is doing a good job of writing
the bible for self-publishers.  I don't know that Dave would be happy
to be cast as a religious leader.  But there is no doubt that he is
our head cheerleader.   And not because he wanted the job -- he did it
because he had to.   Dave has the longest time of experience on the
front lines.  He's been there.  He's done it.  Hell, he probably
started it.  But Dave obviously welcomes the new blood, the new energy
that publishers like Don, Steve and I bring to the table.  I'm not
surprised to note a pleased twinkle in Dave's eye as he sits back and
enjoys his cigarette.  He's content to let Steve lead the cheer,
outlining a new publicity technique that is working well for him.
Dave appreciates the company of experienced voices joining him in the
self-publishing arena.  He's talking to Scott Roberts, self-publisher
of PATTY CAKE, when I hear Dave repeat a story I told to him.

I was working the San Diego Trade Show in July.  A husband and wife 
retailer team approached me at my booth.  The woman informed me that 
their shop has done really well with RADICAL DREAMER.  She says, "I
hate to admit it, but I only ordered three copies of your first issue.
It's my job to put the numbers together.  My husband fills out the
order forms."  Hubby nods.   She continues, "This time, though, he
read my '3' as a '30'.  So we got thirty copies of RADICAL DREAMER
number one.   And we sold them!"

I'm grinning, ear-to-ear as I say, "Great!"

"Yes, but I knew we hadn't ordered anywhere near enough on issue two.
But, by a miracle, Diamond shipped thirty copies of RADICAL DREAMER 
number two, too!"  She went on to say that a week after number two 
shipped they had sold almost all of those thirty copies.

I listen to Dave tell my story.  And I see how he uses it to
illustrate the conservative nature of the direct sales system.  It is
our single greatest distribution problem.  It is a problem that
requires our most ingenious and inventive solutions.  Dave is on a
roll and I just sit back, happy that I'm in the company of smart,
resourceful friends and allies.

Dinner is over.  Steve is about to perform his Journey into Fear slide
show for the benefit of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.  I'm 
introduced to Susan Alston, the Executive Director of the CBLDF.  She 
will be working, today and tomorrow, to raise donations for the CBLDF.

Steve's Journey into Fear slide show is a college lecture quality 
production.  It traces the horror comic from the 12th century BC
through to today.  Steve turns education into entertainment with his
energetic, on-stage personality and the three hour show (a three hour
show!) goes by quickly.  The audience of about 30 is active with
comments and questions.

It is after 11:00 p.m. when I step out of the hotel, ready to make the
long drive back to my mother-in-law's home.  It is raining and I worry
that if the weather continues like this, Saturday will be a messy day.
I find myself hoping it won't put off attendance for the show.

Sept. 9, 1995 - Saturday

My fears for a rainy Saturday aren't dispelled by my morning view out
my bedroom window.  At 6:00 a.m. the sky is a dark grey and the air is
wet with an all-obscuring fog.  We frustrate Carol's mother as we rush
through a quick breakfast and hurry out to the car.  Traffic is light
on our trip into the city.  The other publishers are making the same
drive. It is the start of a new school year at Carnegie Melon
University and Hotel rooms are at a premium in Pittsburgh.  The comic
book people ended up at motels outside town.

The day stays foggy, but brightens as Carol and I carry our booth and 
boxes of books into the exhibit hall.  It is now 8:00 a.m. and we are 
treated to a rare sight.  The room is full of artist/self-publishers,
all awake and doing heavy labor before noon!  A partial listing that
Carol and I can spot includes the guys from Nowpet Press, Steven
Peters and David Nowell.  There's Jimmy Gownly who does SHADES OF
GREY, Joe Chiapetta with his book SILLY DADDY.  We see Bebe Williams
with several issues of BOBBY RUCKERS and Joe Zabel with his new GREEN
SKULL.  The guys from 5th Panel Comics, Marc Reichardt, Will Kilber
and Kevin Sheehy, build a heavy duty booth directly across from me.
Up the asile a little is Steven Blue with his sharp looking RED RIVER
on display.  Around the corner is Chris Yambor and crew of Moordam
Comics and Derek Drymon with FUNNYTIME FEATURES.  Greg Hyland and
Steve Remen are making the world safe for LETHARGIC COMICS.  Rob
Walton comes over and introduces himself and the impressive two issues
of RAGMOP.  Gary Porro and Andre Salles are on hand with their
TAPESTRY.  There are many other unfilmilar faces and 
books.  I know I'll never have time to meet everyone.

At 9:00 a.m. the doors open and only a few fans wander in.  Fans like 
their sleep as much as artist/self-publishers.  But by 10:00 a.m., the
room is packed.  The noise level, from all the excited talking, is 
ear-deafening.  I'm already starting to loose my voice as I shout at
my fans who are less than three feet away.  This is
standard-operating-procedure and the only way to be heard.  And I'm
happy to do it.  Moments like these are some of the sweetest in the
process of self-publishing. This is when I get to meet my fans, people
who can talk about my story and characters with almost as much
authority as I can.  It is a little strange for me, because events and
people that I'm accustomed to finding only in my imagination have
become "real" and alive for my readers.  We talk about Max Wrighter,
Colin Knight, Dr. Tori Winkness and Tom Dission as if they are our
mutual acquaintances.  People keep telling me that my 
secondary character, The Reality Knight, is the best character in the 
series.  I don't argue with them because by this point I'm having a
great time.  

By the end of the five-hour show we've sold over $200.00 worth of
books. This is about average for a show, including multiple-day shows.
The alternative/self-publisher/Spirits of Independence shows have
proved to be a smart option for self-publishers.  The expense of
attending is low and the return, both in terms of cash and audience
attention, is high. 

And why not?  Our audience showed up, as expected.  This audience is 
older, more adult, with more women, than your usual comic convention 
attracts.   Seeing the women was no surprise.  RADICAL DREAMER, 
BREATHTAKER, MARS and BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT have all had a large
female readership.  And that's just the way I like it.

Carol (my favorite woman!) helps me break down the display.  We're
doing this a bit early, and in a rush.  The hotel staff is getting
pushy to have everyone out.  They want the room clear for a large
wedding scheduled to start at the same moment the show is supposed to
close.

After the dust has settled, the publishers all gather in the hotel 
bar/restaurant for one more bar-night.  Susan Alston announces that
the CBLDF raised almost $750.00 during the two days.  That makes
everyone feel good about themselves.

The local culture paper for Pittsburgh has a reporter on the scene.
He has arranged an interview with Dave, Steve and me.  We have drinks
and snacks as he asks his questions.  He wants to know why we
self-publish. The reporter knows enough about our past work to realize
he's talking to a group that has, in the past, or continues to work
for what he calls the "mainstream" comic publishers (And, yes, that
includes Dave Sim).  Steve answers first, talking about how he just
wanted to do a book he could devote himself too, completely.  Steve
explains the editors and publishers usually get in the way of the
creative process.  He uses the example of his series, TYRANT.  The
first three issues tell a story that all takes place before the birth
of the main character.  He is sure an editor would never have allowed
that idea to be developed.  From my own experience, I agree with him.
Steve goes on to say that when you know somebody else is going to own
your ideas, then you hold back the best ones.  Steve looks around the
table and asks Dave and me, "We're all guilty of that, right?"  Dave
and I nod agreement.

And I elaborate, "Steve, it's more subtle than that.  In the last few 
years I've found myself wondering why I was ever so excited about
working on comics.  The mainstream work I was doing was slipping
closer and closer to becoming 'just a job'.  That's changed, now.
Working on RADICAL DREAMER has renewed my love affair with comics.
All my pent-up enthusiasms are alive again.  I know you are doing the
best work of your life on TYRANT and I feel that's true of my own
work.  When you can do comics exactly the way you want -- that's the
pure experience."

I've hit on something.  Steve is bouncing up and down in his seat,
he's so strongly in agreement.

The reporter asks Dave how he thought the show went.  Dave answers as
a parody of the standard coach response at the end of a game, "It was
a good show.  Everybody on the team was in there and played a good
game. There were some stand-out plays.  Steve Bissette attracted a
good crowd and got off a round of powerful sketches.  Mark Wheatley
came through with a radical display and did his deals and moved his
books.  Gerhard and I kept that line of fans moving and we drew a lot
of CEREBUS sketches.  Don Simpson, hometown boy, showed 'em what he's
got and I know the crowd loved it."  We're all laughing as the
reporter asks about how Dave sees the future.  Dave answers, still in
character, "We're training hard, we're staying on the road, doing the
shows.  We're staying in the studios, doing the books.  We're doing
this because self- publishing is the future!"

********

Mark Wheatley is an award winning creator of radical comic books.  
Preferring the title, "Comic Book Maker", he is known internationally
for clever and insightful stories, told with exceptional, color art.
Mark holds the Inkpot and Speakeasy awards and was twice nominated for
the Harvey Award.  His comic book creations include Mars, Breathtaker,
the Black Hood, and Prince Nightmare, as well as his productions of 
established characters such as Tarzan the Warrior, The Adventures of 
Baron Munchausen, Jonny Quest, Dr. Strange, Legends of the Dark
Knight, the Flash, Doom Patrol, Argus and others.  Mark is also an
inventor of color production technology for comics and has worked as
an editor (Semic, Apple, AAARGH!) and art director (DC, Classics
Illustrated) for the comic book industry.  He currently performs all
the creative tasks on the  RADICAL DREAMER series for his own
publishing company; MARK'S GIANT ECONOMY SIZE COMICS!

The INSIGHT STUDIOS home page offers up-to-date info on Mark
Wheatley's and Marc Hempel's projects including RADICAL DREAMER and
TUG & buster.

http://www.clark.net/pub/insight