More MoCCA Thoughts
I'm back home in Iowa, not twelve hours since Hanna, Carter, Ian and I departed our Chinatown lodgings for random other parts of the county. We did a little exercise called "What Have We Learned?":
1) Play more to the distribution strengths--I'm working up bookmarks to give folks who are interested in books but are rationing funds. They'll be a reminder to order the book later with instructions and data on how to do it. Useful and informative.
2) It's time to look at the table layout. We have almost twenty books and comics for sale at cons and it gets pretty overwhelming for buyers. We're always proud of the length of our shelf, so to speak. But for someone new to it all, it's pretty daunting. I think we're going vertical on that point.
3) Prints and art books. I've made good on my threat to make an art book (FRAGMENTA: The Art of the Writer), now the other fellows are going to pony up. Also: more prints and such for sale. Sometimes, folks just want some art.
Much of this will be addressed by Wizard World Chicago in August. Come and see!
Foodwise, more excellence to report. We all went to a great German place called Lederhosen, a classic beer hall. I drank a fine pilsner the height of a chair leg and had an amazing beef stew. We all had a fine time and threaded our way back through the remnants of the NYC Gay Pride Parade. On the subway, Hanna helped some folks find their way via public transport to the Empire State Building. Offhandedly, she said "Well, I'm not a local, so..." and the fellow broke in: "You could have fooled me." Hanna is Davy Crockett, and I tell her so often. She reminds me Davy Crockett didn't have a map to work from.
Other random bits I forgot to mention:
--We spent one evening at The Slipper Room (previously mentioned), watching an all-star show. The fourth performer was a fellow named Tigger who came out in stylish guy clothes, sparkly lipstick and a viking helmet. He frowned as he stripped, then put on a mermaid outfit and went all beatific. Right when he went naked, Todd (who was at one time organizing a film version of NUMBERS) leans over to me and says "I was thinking about Tigger for the Fearsome Shade role." And I think you know, he's the right height, stocky, muscular...aaaaand now I've seen the Fearsome Shade's wiener. Even the Fearsome Shade doesn't want to look at the Fearsome Shade's wiener.
--The hotel we stayed at, the Windsor, was excellent. It was close to everything and quite reasonable.
--I ended up with a lot of free minis, including three by Suzanne Baumann. I bought one of her fridge magnets years ago at a Chicago Comicfest I think it was. I've always liked it. This year I got Hanna a donkey in a sombrero.
--There are pictures, and you will see them soon. Ian took some, but he's still prowling NYC a few more days. Will took some (I think), but he took the red-eye back to Iowa this morning and probably went to work today so I'm gonna let him sleep. Hanna took some and I'm sure she's right on top of it.
--We didn't know if we were going to have web access this weekend, so I asked Mike Ayers to stand by and transcribe calls each day to the blog and I just remembered I forgot to tell him that. Mike, thanks for standing by!
--We will be back at MoCCA next year! I reserved a table already.
--Carter is probably just now getting home to Des Moines. Get some sleep already!
More tomorrow.
--John
1) Play more to the distribution strengths--I'm working up bookmarks to give folks who are interested in books but are rationing funds. They'll be a reminder to order the book later with instructions and data on how to do it. Useful and informative.
2) It's time to look at the table layout. We have almost twenty books and comics for sale at cons and it gets pretty overwhelming for buyers. We're always proud of the length of our shelf, so to speak. But for someone new to it all, it's pretty daunting. I think we're going vertical on that point.
3) Prints and art books. I've made good on my threat to make an art book (FRAGMENTA: The Art of the Writer), now the other fellows are going to pony up. Also: more prints and such for sale. Sometimes, folks just want some art.
Much of this will be addressed by Wizard World Chicago in August. Come and see!
Foodwise, more excellence to report. We all went to a great German place called Lederhosen, a classic beer hall. I drank a fine pilsner the height of a chair leg and had an amazing beef stew. We all had a fine time and threaded our way back through the remnants of the NYC Gay Pride Parade. On the subway, Hanna helped some folks find their way via public transport to the Empire State Building. Offhandedly, she said "Well, I'm not a local, so..." and the fellow broke in: "You could have fooled me." Hanna is Davy Crockett, and I tell her so often. She reminds me Davy Crockett didn't have a map to work from.
Other random bits I forgot to mention:
--We spent one evening at The Slipper Room (previously mentioned), watching an all-star show. The fourth performer was a fellow named Tigger who came out in stylish guy clothes, sparkly lipstick and a viking helmet. He frowned as he stripped, then put on a mermaid outfit and went all beatific. Right when he went naked, Todd (who was at one time organizing a film version of NUMBERS) leans over to me and says "I was thinking about Tigger for the Fearsome Shade role." And I think you know, he's the right height, stocky, muscular...aaaaand now I've seen the Fearsome Shade's wiener. Even the Fearsome Shade doesn't want to look at the Fearsome Shade's wiener.
--The hotel we stayed at, the Windsor, was excellent. It was close to everything and quite reasonable.
--I ended up with a lot of free minis, including three by Suzanne Baumann. I bought one of her fridge magnets years ago at a Chicago Comicfest I think it was. I've always liked it. This year I got Hanna a donkey in a sombrero.
--There are pictures, and you will see them soon. Ian took some, but he's still prowling NYC a few more days. Will took some (I think), but he took the red-eye back to Iowa this morning and probably went to work today so I'm gonna let him sleep. Hanna took some and I'm sure she's right on top of it.
--We didn't know if we were going to have web access this weekend, so I asked Mike Ayers to stand by and transcribe calls each day to the blog and I just remembered I forgot to tell him that. Mike, thanks for standing by!
--We will be back at MoCCA next year! I reserved a table already.
--Carter is probably just now getting home to Des Moines. Get some sleep already!
More tomorrow.
--John
posted by John Ira Thomas at
9:34 PM
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