Comments on: Soliciting for me, but not for thee

By: THE BEAT » Blog Archive » The week in Con Wars

THE BEAT » Blog Archive » The week in Con Wars — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:37:01 +0000

[...] As far as the “not promoting rival shows” thing goes, Colleen Doran posted about how Big Apple emplolyees had approached her at NYCC : I remember the first time I was approached by someone from Big Apple. J. Michael Straczynski was [...]

By: Is Brian Michael Bendis a casualty of the Con War? | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:02:48 +0000

[...] latest "Con War" round-up at The Beat directs us to A Distant Soil creator Colleen Doran's Big Apple horror story from the pre-Shamus days, the gist of which is that Big Apple's current complaints about Reed's [...]

By: VT

VT — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:39:05 +0000

I was not prepared for the forest of fliers that we got handed at the studio’s booth. We were swimming in the things! And almost all of them were wildly inappropriate and totally unrelated to what any of us actually did… or they wanted us to work for free.

I especially dug the people handing out flyers and soliciting for artists who claimed to know friends and acquaintances of mine who are Big Names. I would patiently listen to them, all the while thinking, ‘I wonder what would happen if I called [Big Name] right now?’

By: Colleen

Colleen — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:36:52 +0000

And by the way, by the end of a show, every single pro has an ENTIRE STACK of fliers from God knows how many people engaging in various acts of soliciting. Every morning you get to your booth, and several people have come through and put fliers all over it. I usually end up with an entire box of fliers I have to sort through and toss.

I kinda figure the point of going to a show is to buy and sell things. So, soliciting at a show has never bothered me, and I can’t recall being at a show where people from other shows weren’t soliciting.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:28:11 +0000

I’ve been to comic conventions where Star trek red shirts got invited.

I remember one of Khan’s minions who did nothing but sit at a console in front of Ricardo Montalban’s chest – she was the guest, not Montalban’s chest. What she had to do with comics, I do not know.

After the initial shock of diss in broad Brooklynese wore off, I howled with laughter. It really is awfully funny.

I was told the dude from Big Apple who treated me to this experience is no longer with Big Apple.

Good riddance. What a maroon.

As I recall, he also told me that Neil Gaiman was another author from whom I had received the fairy dust sprinkle, but I don’t think I’ve worked with him since 1990-something. So, they weren’t, like, real up-to-date on my resume.

The guy just didn’t really know who the heck I was, frankly. I was just next to someone Very Important.

And while JMS is Very Important, that’s a dumb reason to invite me anywhere.

It’s even dumber to tell me that’s the reason you’re doing it.