Two chats recently and both around the same subject so as I am currently in between things I'll not answer as much as explain. Steve (from a comic site I will not mention -nothing bad ):
"You are the biggest Independent publisher of black and white comics and graphic novels so why are you never at any events in Bristol?"
Well, I'll explain. I was asked to be at one Bristol event in recent years. Here is how it was pitched to me after a lot of ego stroking (which is wasted on me):
"You publish so much and you've been going since the 1980s so you are a Bristol institution and we would like you to come to our event to sell your books as a featured guest"
Sounded fine. Then...."the table will cost £250 and it's 6 by 3" So I said I was honored they were going to pay that much for a table for me. "uh...no. You'd need to pay for the table" -obviously they had never heard sarcasm before. So, no, I did not attend.
Another for which I applied for a table got me this response: "You publish niche black and white books as well as proper books but we can't see you fitting in at the event". Ahem, "proper books" they mean the wildlife and world mystery books and they could have said "prose" but what the heck. Small Press events I rarely get invited to since at two I was told that my titles looked "too high end and professional".
Yes, Black Tower has been going since 1984 (although I put stuff out in 1983) and I am the largest publisher of black and white Independent comics, comic albums and graphic novels BUT that gets me no favours. I cannot and would never demand a table at an event but think about this: you have to sell £250+ of books to cover the table costs alone which means no profit. Big profit for the organisers but not the seller. If I travel to sell then there is the table cost and travelling, food and overnight stay to cover. NO ONE sells that many books at an event -which is why most sellers are hobbyists who do not think about making money.
There.
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