Promotionally Speaking #1: The Inauguration
Written By: Susan Soares
Welcome to the inaugural edition of “Promotionally Speaking.” The journey we will embark upon in this monthly column is a familiar one for some, an unknown one for others and possibly a dreaded one for the rest. But it is an important journey nonetheless. This column is, and will continue to be, targeted toward those of you in the comic book industry. You may be an experienced creator who works for the “Big 3.” On the flipside, you may be a novice who has a story to tell and that’s all that matters. Each one of us has one thing in common – we want someone, anyone to read our stories, to admire our artwork. Of course, we all would love for our readership to consist of many, but we’ll settle for just someone to notice us. The unfortunate answer to this dilemma is that it doesn’t come easy. Our work doesn’t have the ability to stand up and scream from the rooftops “Read Me!” We, the creator, are charged with that task.
I guess now is a good time to make an important confession. Ready? I don’t read comic books, or at least I didn’t before March of 2007. I often get teased about it from my peers in the industry. I will admit that when I was younger, I read Archie, Betty and Veronica and all those great kids’ comics. As I grew older, my reading interests changed to novels. Then when my husband and I met, I was forced to adopt his 8 long boxes of comic books. With the lunacy of a new bride, I forced him to sell the boxes to the local comic book store for a ridiculously low amount. Sneakily, he only got rid of 2 boxes. The rest he shoved to the back of our storage space. A couple years later, I discovered 6 boxes remained. I made him get rid of a couple more boxes. Then I found Ebay. “If he did not get rid of them, I will!” I proclaimed. Then I made a startling find – he had autographed issues! I am obsessed with collecting autographs. So what happened? I started collecting comic books. I still didn’t read them, but I learned which artist was popular and which autograph was rare. I stood in line for 2 hours to get George Perez’s signature on my husband’s Crisis on Infinite Earth #1 at New York Comic Con. I found my niche in the comic book world, or so I thought.
As my by-line reads, my name is Susan Soares. I am a “Promotional Goddess.” No, I am not an egotist. This is a title bestowed upon me by the penciler of Sky Pirates of Valendor, Brian Brinlee. I am their Promotions Coordinator and we were in a contest last year that helped us enter this exciting industry of independent comic book publishing. Well, one day I came up with this brainstorm, I don’t even remember what it was. But all of a sudden Brian sent this email to our entire creative team, “Sue, you are a promotional goddess!” So the nickname stuck. As a student at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT, I had the opportunity to complete an internship in promotions at my local radio station. It was there that I found my passion. I not only loved what I was doing but found that I was really good at it. It was a calling. Unfortunately, the promotions field is a small one and living in Rhode Island, it is even smaller. So reality kicked in and I was forced to find a job that paid for the roof over my head – I work in a call center for a bank. It pays the bills.
It wasn’t until March of 2007 when the promotions bug bit me again. My husband is the creator and writer for Sky Pirates of Valendor. He entered this contest for aspiring comic book creators and part of the contest involved getting the public to vote for his project. It was a 4-round contest that ran from March to July. It was a lot of work and I learned a great deal about what works in the comic book industry and what to not do at all costs. It is those lessons that I will share with you on our journey. Having survived the contest, my husband’s book is now published by Free Lunch Comics and I have advanced to doing promotions for not only SPoV, but the entire company. It is a lot of fun and I love what I am doing for the first time in a very long time. It is my ultimate goal to spread that love of promotions to you, my readers. If anything, though, I’ll be happy to just teach you to not fear it.
When I am not busy doing what I do for Free Lunch, I am also the Membership Coordinator for an amazing organization, the Comicbook Artists Guild. CAG is a nationwide non-profit organization designed to bring together artisans for the common love and goal of comic book creation. As the Membership Coordinator, I am charged with the task of recruiting new members and maintaining the records of the entire Guild. It is a different kind of promotions that requires different techniques. Over the course of our time together, I will share anecdotes and tips on the many activities done to build the organization.
Now that I have told you a lot about me, let me share with you what we will discover over the course of our expedition into the world of comic book promotions. And just to say this upfront, if you are not a comic book creator, I hope you will still join us into this exciting world. The stories I will tell and the tips that I will share can be applied to any industry, any product. Don’t forget – most of what I learned was from radio promotions. As I mentioned earlier, this column will appear monthly. In each issue, I will talk with you about a different topic. We will spend a good amount of time talking about the internet and how it has made comic book promotions so easy. Then we will discuss at length comic book conventions. As a creator, why are they important? We’ll tackle the different strategies to choosing which conventions are the best and how to approach customers. With each topic we approach, I invite and encourage each of you to share with us your thoughts. Tell us your horror stories, and your successes. Ask questions. In turn, I will talk with a variety of folks in the comic book industry and will share with you their experiences.
So as we wind down this first edition of “Promotionally Speaking…” I ask you all this – what is the most memorable promotion you have ever seen, comic book or another product? What was memorable about it and did you end up buying the product?
Until next time, I remain promotionally yours.
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Comment by CarbonKnight on 24 June 2008:
Nice article Sue, looking forward to reading more.
Comment by Susan Soares on 24 June 2008:
Thanks Chris. Ladies and gentleman – Chris Ring who is doing a story for The Valendor Chromicles! However I didn’t pay him to post that comment…lol!
Comment by Michael W. Kellar on 24 June 2008:
Nice article Sue, right out of the gate it already says alot about who you are and that was cool.
Gotta get back to work…Later
Comment by Susan Soares on 24 June 2008:
Thanks Mike. Folks – that was Mike Kellar our inker. He was paid to say that….
Just kidding? Stay tuned to find out!
Comment by ThePerfessor on 24 June 2008:
Great start, Sue, promotion (especially for small companies) is something that many folks don’t really understand. I can see how this column will prove to be valuable to those who read it.
The Perfessor
Comment by Susan Soares on 24 June 2008:
Thanks Bob! I appreciate your comments and I know you feel my pain. Bob is the Communications Director of Guild Works Productions.
Comment by Cary on 24 June 2008:
Wow! I had no idea you were writing a column Sue! Nice start there! Can\’t wait to see what else you have for us. Keep up the good work!
Comment by Susan Soares on 24 June 2008:
Cary, thank you so much for stopping by. Everyone, Cary Kelley is our letterer for Issue #0 and #1!
Comment by Stephanie O'Donnell on 24 June 2008:
Good read! I could always use some pointers myself. Every little bit helps. Really looking forward to more.
Comment by Susan Soares on 24 June 2008:
I got news for you Ms. Stephanie. I am getting more bold in my promotional efforts based on the tenacity I see you have. You do a great job!
Comment by Jet Amago on 24 June 2008:
Great article, Sue! Of the 4 Ps of marketing I’ve always believed promotion to be the most important. What good are the others when not enough people know about what your selling anyway. It’s true in the real world and it’s most especially true out here in the Internet.
I’ll be keeping eye on your column and I’m looking forward to more write-ups from you!
Comment by Kurt Mitchell on 24 June 2008:
I am anxious to see what I can learn from your upcoming columns. As an outsider and a self-published Indie, I need all the help I can get.
-Kurt Mitchell
Comment by Susan Soares on 24 June 2008:
Wow Jet, that’s awesome. You know promotions has been important! Folks – this is our colorist!
Comment by Susan Soares on 24 June 2008:
Nice to meet you, Kurt!
Comment by Richard Ian Bird on 25 June 2008:
Great article and a really nice story about yourself and your husband, reminds me of how me and my wife met at the local comic shop i worked at and she was one of my customers, looking forward to reading more about your thoughts on comics and the comic industry, keep up the good work.
Comment by Susan Soares on 25 June 2008:
Hi Richard. Thanks for your comment and it’s great to have you here!
Comment by Susan Soares on 25 June 2008:
Hey Everyone! Don’t be shy….tell me what your thoughts are!
Comment by Diane on 25 June 2008:
Great article, Sue. I also read comic books as a kid (Betty and Veronica, Wonder Woman) and then took a 25+ year break from them. Now I’m back to being a kid at heart and enjoying them more than ever. Hell, I have more action figures now then when I was 12.
— Diane
Comment by Susan Soares on 25 June 2008:
Diane, thanks for stopping by. It’s nice to see another CAG member read my column.
Comment by David Lance on 26 June 2008:
One promotion that sticks in my mind was a cardboard cut-out display for \"Cool World\". Her mouth was drawn in an erotic way.
Please notify the LJ group at each installment- I don\’t want to miss it!
Comment by Susan Soares on 26 June 2008:
David, thank you for getting the conversation started on best promotions. Any other stories out there?
Comment by Keith J. Murphey on 26 June 2008:
Sue,
great job, I look forward to more great articles from you in the future!!!
Comment by Susan Soares on 26 June 2008:
Hi Keith, thanks for coming! Guys – president of the Comicbook Artists Guild, Keith Murphey!
Comment by Dave Baxter on 27 June 2008:
Hey, Susan! It’s awesome to see you hooked up with Septagon – all my favorite small press guys getting rolled into one! YEAH, BABY!!! Got the advanced copy of SP #3 the other day, and cannot wait to read it. Tell your husband and the assorted creative crew they rock hard.
On the memorable promotions angle, I’ve got the cheap “out” answer and the more pertaining answer.
The cheap answer is: the best promotion I’ve ever experienced, oddly, is no promotion at all. Nothing casts obsessive loyalty into the hearts of men than to have them believe they’ve discovered something all on their lonesome. Even as far back as the early 90’s, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I’d see a new comic on the racks that I’d never ever heard of. I couldn’t NOT get it. And nowadays, if something actually makes it through the gates and before your eyes and yet you’ve never seen or heard anything about it? It’s mind-blowing. Especially when the product looks professional and better than most mainstream stuff. SKY PIRATES and SCORN and NUTTY FUNSTERS, etc. These were all wonderful things to discover. Promotion, I think, when it’s at its best, is simply getting the actual product in front of people, practically a hop skip and a jump away from distribution, even if it’s only online distribution via PDFs or free/cheap downloads.
The real answer is: I yearn for those days when promotions started really, REALLY small and then grew. They’d start with a single image, then add a catch phrase, then a date, then a few extra images, and so on and so forth until full preview pages and the like. Comics and movies used to do that, and they still do, only nowadays you can find all the information online at the same time. You see the image, do a google search, and then you know. Now that I live in Los Angeles, I feel a little of that magic again as LA uses giant movie posters like candy, about movies long before you can find out much on the web. So you’re left wondering what any particular image/title MEANS, and soon you’re dying to know. I’d love to see comics promote themselves long before any solid info was actually available, really build up the mystery/mystique.
Cool, I can’t wait to read all the advice given here. I am sincerely curious to know what being a comic promotions and CAG membership coordinator is like! –Dave B.
Comment by Susan Soares on 27 June 2008:
Dave you are such a fan of ours and we thank you. Thanks also for your thoughts. I agree with most of what you said. One thing I can promise our readers here is that I will not endorse flashy, in your face promotions. It weill be more in line with Dave’s 2nd scenario. Dave, thanks for contributing to the column. Stay tuned!
Comment by Steve Kanarsa on 27 June 2008:
Congrats on the column Sue. I look forward to reading more.
Comment by Susan Soares on 27 June 2008:
Thanks Steve! I apporeciate the comment. Fans – without further adieu – Steve Kanaras, Free Lunch Comics Publisher and “very important man!”
Comment by Rolf Lejdegård on 30 June 2008:
Nice work, Susan. As you said, now I have a bit more info on what’s Susan Soares.
Comic book creation is my life, my dream, everything else is just static. For me, due to constant “reality punches to the gut and mind” it’s been a long journey and now I finally am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. A tiny light, but man it will brighten my skies and open even more dark shadows of creation in my heart:)
Best of luck with the column,
R
Comment by Susan Soares on 30 June 2008:
Rolf, Thanks so much for your comments. Indpendent comic book creation has been the most rewarding experience for us as well. I look forward to your thoughts as we journey through this column. Thank you for your interest in our work.
Comment by Philip Clark on 1 July 2008:
Good stuff. Looking forward to gleaning more knowledge. Pity it’s only coming out monthly.
Comment by Susan Soares on 1 July 2008:
Another CAG member! Thanks Phil! I wish I could do an article more frequently but my scheduled is packed…..
Comment by Rachel Kadushin on 29 October 2008:
Good introduction to where you are coming from… while also demonstrating one of the ways to promote yourself and your associated works… tell your story! (That’s right non-fiction is a story, too!).
The most recent promotion that I recall participating in and buying the book was through my facebook and myspace pal Vito Delsante. He also works at a local comic book store, and I “know” him from other groups and indie publishers. I followed this promotion on facebook, but I imagine he ran it on other networking groups as well.
He was having a script published in a Superman book – and it was “help sell out Superman #….” I can’t remember the number.
But I often buy the comics of people who I have met in person to get to know their work. I figured I would check out the comic book at the chain book store, and if it didn’t suck I would buy it. I bought it. Did his run sell out? Well, that I’m not sure of. Perhaps if he had teamed up with someone he’d get an “after promotion” release on how well he did get some press miliage.