From: [R--Ha--s] at [aol.com]
Date: Wed, 8 May 1996 13:30:12 -0400
To: [comics pro] at [netcom.com]
Subject: WonderCon


A SELF-PUBLISHER'S REPORT FROM WONDERCON 

While I haven't spoken with everyone who exhibited in the SMALL 
PRESS ZONE (SPZ), the self-named area devoted to small press 
and self-publishing exhibitors at this year's WonderCon, this 
year's show was a great success for WCG Comics and many other 
publishers. Given the dark mood at last year's WonderCon which 
cast a weird pall over the show (this was shortly after Marvel 
Comics purchased Heroes World, throwing the industry into 
turmoil), I was extremely heartened by both sales and 
attention.

What greatly helped WCG was the introduction of its new trade 
paperback, the ROB HANES ARCHIVES, at the show. This accounted 
for nearly 50% of our sales. We also had new printings of 
issues 2 and 3 for WCG's flagship titles, ADVENTURE STRIP 
DIGEST STARRING ROB HANES, which enabled us to offer the full 
run of the series for interested readers.

As always, this year's show was held at the Oakland Convention 
Center from Friday, April 26 through Sunday, April 28, 1996.

The SPZ was located off to the side of the convention floor; 
although part of Artist's Alley, the SPZ was marked off by 
signs and special columns that were generously provided by 
Jimmie Robinson (Jet Black Graphics). Another separate area for 
self-publishers was also located against the back wall of the 
convention floor, closer to the booths of the major publishers, 
which featured the likes of Batton Lash (WOLFF & BYRD), Larry 
Marder (TALES OF THE BEANWORLD), Paul Pope (THB and BUZZ BUZZ), Carlos
Saldana (BURRITO MAN) and others. 

While WonderCon is to be credited for allowing the SPZ to set 
up, a great deal of the credit for the success of the area goes 
to Jimmie Robinson (CYBERFORCE), who did yeoman's work setting 
up --  extremely committed to promoting all self-published and 
small press work, most of the funds to set up the area apparently came out of
his own pocket: this included table cloths for each table, colored printouts
and plastic stands with everyone's name and company name for each table, and
a special welcome packe for each SPZ exhibitor. He also brought in plaster
columns and metal girders to separate the area from the rest of the floor.

Jimmie also organized the self-publisher's party held on Saturday night
 which was well attended by both publishers and industry professionals. This
was co-hosted by the superlative Cold Cut Distributors who specialize in
backorders for small press and independent titles. (Prior to the party, a
collection for Jimmie was taken among the exhibitors at the SPZ to help
offset his investment into the party and the area set-up.)

Chad Ward of Black Oktober Press should also be commended for 
his work to make the area more visible. Jimmie purchased a table for
freebies, and a VCR was placed on top of it which played a video that Chad
put together promoting everyone's books in multi-media format (it  even had a
soundtrack). 

I was fortunate to have one of the first booths in the area. Since this
portion of the floor was only a ballroom that was opened out into the
convention center, and not part of the floor proper, it was unfortunately not
as well lit as the rest of the floor. Although I believe this had some effect
on sales, I was still very pleased by the results.

On Friday, the gate was apparently very poor, as were sales - 
but Saturday, things skyrocketed for me and, to my surprise, 
matched my Saturday sales on Sunday, the last day of the Con, 
which is traditionally usually the slowest. This was helped in 
large part by the volume sales I made to both retailers and 
distributors.

Apart from sales, I also made very good professional contacts - 
this was apparently true for many people at the show, which 
served to alleviate the disappointment experienced by low sales 
by some. The growing strength of small press and self-published 
work was also underscored by the fact that many publishers were 
approached by representatives from StarReach, who are currently 
developing a program that would provide a number of services to 
self-publishers. There are several similar plans being 
developed in the industry and it will be interesting to see 
where these go and whether they will succeed.

In any case, I hope that my success at WonderCon will bode well 
for upcoming shows.


Randy Reynaldo
Publisher, WCG Comics
Writer/Artist/Creator, Adventure Strip Digest