Steve's note: what follows is a guest blog post from Adam Wallenta, the owner of American Mule Entertainment, an independent comic book publisher responsible for a number of titles including the official Public Enemy comic book.
By Adam Wallenta
First off let me say that I love going to the San Diego Comic-Con. I have been attending as an independent publisher since 1997 and I have had a lot of success. I have met some of my best friends there. Made invaluable connections and learned a great deal. Most importantly, attending the con, provided a great opportunity to get my work out to the people and I have had the honor and pleasure of meeting some of the greatest fans and supporters a guy can ask for.
That being said, The San Diego Comic-Con has always been the hardest convention to sell books at, even back in my early days. It's a huge show with tons to see, do and spend your money on. Throw in the cost of admission for the attendees, hotel and travel costs and food and there isn't much money left over for fans to go out of their way to try new books. Even with a great product, you have to be an even greater salesman to get the attention of the fans and hope that they haven't spent all of their hard-earned money elsewhere.
Besides competing for the fan's hard-earned dollar you now have to make sure you don't outspend yourself. As an independent publisher you have all of the typical expenses: hotels, travel costs, food, shipping, plus table/booth fees. It all adds up and is extremely expensive. And it hasn't gotten any cheaper or easier of the years.
More than any other convention, Comic-Con has become less of a comic show and more of a multi-media spectacle. So while they boast record-breaking attendance, these thousands of attendees are not all traditional comic book fans. So while the convention has grown in size and popularity, over the years many of us have seen a decline in actual comic book sales. Comic-Con is not where an independent publisher goes to sell books, it's where they go to make connections, shmooze and hope some Hollywood producer will take notice and option the rights to your properties.
San Diego is a great place to party, make new friends, see old friends and if you work hard enough sell of comic books and hopefully gain some new loyal fans. The great thing about Comic-Con fans is once you manage to snag them, they are fans for life and every year it's like a giant party where you get to check in with all of the wonderful people who have helped support you over the years.
Unfortunately this year the economy and high cost of living along with other pressing financial responsibilities has prevented me from attending the show. I'm not upset about the sales I will miss out on, or missing that movie deal. What I will really miss are talking to all of the supporters, fans and friends from all over the world that I owe to the San Diego Comic-Con experience.
