I have a Graphic Novel coming out about early fandom, collecting and cosplay.

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If there is a second edition, the note will be in it.

 

I haven't had time to read mine yet but online opinions seem to like your book.

 

Have you got much feedback from distributors? Is it doing well? I hope so.

The book has been received well, if I can judge by what people have told me and written. It seems to have been well received even by people who have never heard of fandom and haven't read a comic since they were children. I know my limitations as an artist but some people have told me, unsolicited, that they like the art. I can believe that the art works well with the story but I don't think that anyone with 20/20 vision would buy it for the art.

Beguiling bought 40 copies. Silver Snail has never heard of it and told me to try the Beguiling. I got a guest pass and a table at the March Toronto Comicon. I haven't been offered one of those in a while. It made distribution numbers at Diamond. I am still working on making fifty cents an hour for all the work I have done.

But there have been a lot of little perks, the Ditko letter being first among them. These things (graphic novels that don't have Batman or Wolverine in them) don't have great distribution and the book is doing as well as or better than I anticipated just by hitting minimum at Diamond.

What I have to do now is hope enough people see it and speak well of it to get a second edition that is advertised in a meaningful way by the publisher. Mind you, I don't want to sound like I am complaining. Caliber did buy an ad in Diamond and they don't do that for all their titles. What I would love to see is a large ad. I expect to promote the book at conventions, when possible.

I have a Facebook page called, "The Tower of the Comic Book Geeks". About two-thirds of the people who are on it come there every day. Every day I put something new up. If you go to Facebook and ask to join, the answer will be "yes".

I got the book a few weeks ago and read it. I got my comic shop to order it for me but they did not get any copies for the store.

I enjoyed the book despite me thinking it was going to be a different type of story.

I have been sending out complementary copies to some of the professionals who were working in comics during the Silver Age. I got this response from Steve Ditko.

 

I feel like I have been zinged by Don Rickles.

 

 

That's FRIGGING awesome!!!

I would take that note, the envelope, and a copy of your book and frame it all together for a display.

that is pretty friggin classic alright

he barely sugar-coated "I don't give a carp"

 

 

I downloaded the Simpson image. I will use it somewhere.

Thanks, NCN.

 

The best pizza I have ever had was at a small place about a block from Times Square. It was an anchovies pizza, with lots of cheese and one filet of anchovy on each slice, six in total. I have often tried to duplicate it but it never turns out the same. Added bonus, since it was an anchovy pizza I didn't have to share it with any of the unsophisticated people I was with.

 

The NY Bagels though have not been memorable for me. Montreal claims the best bagels and handmade bagels are sold here in Toronto as Montreal bagels. I prefer the Toronto bagels which are a bit drier, probably because they were the bagels I was brought up on.

 

I hope you enjoy the book. It contains no bagels or pizza but it does have a short sequence with an egg cream.

Thanks, NCN.

 

The best pizza I have ever had was at a small place about a block from Times Square. It was an anchovies pizza, with lots of cheese and one filet of anchovy on each slice, six in total. I have often tried to duplicate it but it never turns out the same. Added bonus, since it was an anchovy pizza I didn't have to share it with any of the unsophisticated people I was with.

 

The NY Bagels though have not been memorable for me. Montreal claims the best bagels and handmade bagels are sold here in Toronto as Montreal bagels. I prefer the Toronto bagels which are a bit drier, probably because they were the bagels I was brought up on.

 

I hope you enjoy the book. It contains no bagels or pizza but it does have a short sequence with an egg cream.

What?No Montreal,Smoked meat bagel pizzas?

Hi, Porcupine. I get the allure of Montreal smoked meat. I have had the pleasure of eating at Ben's a couple of times. We do it well in Toronto, too, but Ben's and that other one near it are well known for good reasons.

A contender for best pizza was one I had in the Eastern provinces in a small, inexpensive and inconspicuous restaurant about two years ago. I was told that the quality lay in the cheese. They don't pasteurize it there like they do in Ontario. It tastes different and better.

you must try Pictou County pizza in Nova Scotia..famous.Something in the sauce and cheese.

I have been sending out complementary copies to some of the professionals who were working in comics during the Silver Age. I got this response from Steve Ditko.

 

I feel like I have been zinged by Don Rickles.

 

 

That's FRIGGING awesome!!!

 

I would take that note, the envelope, and a copy of your book and frame it all together for a display.

eBay it and send him another letter saying you passed his autograph off to someone more interested in it.

I have been sending out complementary copies to some of the professionals who were working in comics during the Silver Age. I got this response from Steve Ditko.

 

I feel like I have been zinged by Don Rickles.

 

 

That's FRIGGING awesome!!!

 

I would take that note, the envelope, and a copy of your book and frame it all together for a display.

Classic.

I'm being lazy not reading though all the pages, besides LCS and Amazon are you doing any direct sales?

I'd rather you get the lion's share of the money anyway.

I have been sending out complementary copies to some of the professionals who were working in comics during the Silver Age. I got this response from Steve Ditko.

 

I feel like I have been zinged by Don Rickles.

 

 

That's FRIGGING awesome!!!

 

I would take that note, the envelope, and a copy of your book and frame it all together for a display.

 

Classic.

 

I'm being lazy not reading though all the pages, besides LCS and Amazon are you doing any direct sales?

I'd rather you get the lion's share of the money anyway.

Hi, Boba.

I have not been doing direct sales. I have been doing direct giveaways. For years people have been giving me their books, zines, comics, helping me with computer stuff I can't do. They all get free copies. Same for family. This year everybody on the list got a disappointing Christmas gift-- my book.

The gang at work got them-- I brought only five so I wouldn't give away more there. Caliber's policy is no comps so I bought them at cost which is printing, transportation and tariff (I am in Canada). One of my friends who writes books for a living liked it very much and wanted to buy two more for his own friends which was a very nice gesture. I gave them to him at my cost. He gave one to a big time illustrator whom I have met but whom I am not close to. He loved it and phoned me to tell me so. I wasn't home and he got my answering machine so I am able to use his exact words in a quote.

The reaction I have gotten so far is excellent and I am making a bit of money from comic store and amazon sales. I still haven't hit 50 cents an hour for the time I put in.

I am an advertised guest (in small type) at a large convention in March. I designed banners and I am having them printed now. We will see if I get any sales from that. I will certainly be trying.

I hope you are enjoying the book.

I will put up more information a little later. For now, I haven't been at these boards in a while first because they shut down and second because I have been busy with The Tower of the Comic Freaks. Thanks to those of you who gave me input on it. In the end I went with the cover that the people on Collector's Society said they liked best though there will likely be a second edition where I will use the other cover. It peaked in its category on Amazon at #16 which makes me very happy. I also got positive reviews from Peter Bagge, Dave Sim and Scott Edelman (the guy who wrote the Marvel Bullpen Bulletin Page) and I will print some of the reviews later. For now, if you haven't seen the book I have many of the sequences in it up here. http://thetowerofthecomicbookfreaks.blogspot.ca I hope you take a look at it and I hope you enjoy it. 

The book continues to sell. This is unusual almost a year later with a book from one of the smaller publishers. I think word of mouth is helping it along.