We’ve been in publication since the beginning of 2014, and we knew from the beginning that publicity would be an uphill climb. Nobody knew who we were as creators or a publication, and we were asking people to pay $30 for our book. We had no connection to publishers, distributors, or publicists, not so much as a cheat sheet to go by, and we had to sink or swim in the cutthroat world of publishing.
But we came in with certain advantages. First is the book itself. The simple beauty of the layout and the artwork draws people in immediately. And we kept it a perennial, meaning we expect to be actively selling this for at least the next couple of years.
Indeed, the traditional publishers’ schedule of “two month media blitz and forget it” couldn’t really apply to us when it took us a few months just to get into Barnes and Noble. Not to mention nobody would look at us until we had a physical copy to show them.
With that in mind, this year went better than we could have hoped. We exhibited at several conventions, including San Diego Comic-Con, Wondercon, Amazing Las Vegas Comic-Con, and a preview at Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco.
We’ve experimented with various forms of advertising. From online ads, to an ads in local journals, to a small neighborhood billboard.
We’ve had successful signings at events and bookstores, too many to mention here, but which include iconic stores as Barnes and Noble on 3rd St Promenade, and Meltdown Comics, Hollywood’s premier comic book shop.
Our reviews are still lacking, as reviewers tend to like already established productions. But we got a small review in Fanboy Comics and a great writeup in The Argonaut, a local LA Beach Cities paper with a circulation of about 30,000.
Looking back, I would say bookstore appearances have been our best bet by far. Bookstores remain irreplaceable as a place to meet authors and find new and exciting material, and that remains our greatest asset.
So, looking to next year, our biggest issue remains the same. Once people see us, they love us. The issue is to get people to see us. We will keep pushing for more book reviews, more writeups, and more book tours, in Los Angeles and other cities.