Birmingham International Comics Show 2008

[chebbo]

This year's 'BICS' will be happening on 4th and 5th October at Millennium Point once again, with a Launch Party on the Friday night.

A whole host of UK creators will be attending plus special guests from overseas, including the legendary Michael Golden.

To find out more, or to book tickets, please go to: http://www.thecomicsshow.co.uk

Hope to see you there

Shane

[felneymike]

I got an email about this... probably FROM you XD. I'm thinking about going... if only because i seem to have £40 worth of university printing credits left so can rush out a small A5 comic of some kind XD. Ought to try and get another 1-2 issues of my Red, White & Blue comic done too

[chebbo]

I got an email about this... probably FROM you XD. I'm thinking about going... if only because i seem to have £40 worth of university printing credits left so can rush out a small A5 comic of some kind XD. Ought to try and get another 1-2 issues of my Red, White & Blue comic done too

I can think of no better way of spending £40.

Have I seen this comic?

Shane
http://www.smallzone.co.uk

[felneymike]

Not yet, issues 1 and 2 are launched at the Thing on Saturday. If i don't sell many i won't make any more, if i sell 'some' i'll make more but wait until the next thing and if i sell lots i'll make more and go to other conventions... remains to be seen XD

[chebbo]

So how did sales go in London?

[felneymike]

Well i sold 20-ish of my old crappy Scum Slaughter (i reduced it to 20p), about 12-15 of issue 1 of The Red, White & Blue (my Hotspur/Victor/Valiant etc inspired comic) and only few issue 2's

Still a bit undecided on Birmingham, it is £90, cheaper than the Thing per day, but i'd need a hotel etc. Plus you get two passes/chairs and i do it on my own, maybe if i can find somebody to share with... but who else is doing the same thing as me?

[Lew Stringer]

Well i sold 20-ish of my old crappy Scum Slaughter (i reduced it to 20p), about 12-15 of issue 1 of The Red, White & Blue (my Hotspur/Victor/Valiant etc inspired comic) and only few issue 2's

They're pretty good sales figures for one day. More than most comics sell in our corner shop.

Lew

[chebbo]

Yes, that's pretty good sales for such a small event.

I'm sure there are many small pressers who would be happy to share the price of a table with you.Why not just post onto the CI yahoo group, or the Red Eye Yahoo group? Most of our exhibitors lurk on those groups.

At a two day event with so many more people attending you should easily cover your costs. Also, these events are about a lot more than sales. They are about letting people know about your work, and meeting up with other like minded creators.
I often find that giving away a few hundred flyers or business cards at a show always generates more than enough sales to cover any table or hotel costs.

RE: Hotels, we are looking into getting some cheaper rates at certain hotels as we did last year. Also there is always the Ibis, which is simple and cheap.

Hope that helps,

all the best,
Shane

[felneymike]

Hmm, yeah will have to have a look around. Though for covering costs, well even if i sell all of issue 1 of my comic i'll only make half the print costs back. But then if you want to make profits, be an investment banker.

[chebbo]

Sounds like your print costs are a little high. Maybe give us a chance to quote for your printing?

Details at: http://www.ukomics.co.uk

all the best,
Shane
http://www.thecomicsshow.co.uk

[felneymike]

Sorry, but i rigidly stick to A4 size, the way it "should" be from the early days of the Beano, Dandy, Union Jack and Halfpenny Marvel.* This "new UK size" makes it sound like British comics are only a recent invention, and a poor imitation of US ones

*Well actually early UJ's where a bit smaller, and they werent exactly A4, ever so slightly different... but close

[chebbo]

Sorry, but i rigidly stick to A4 size, the way it "should" be from the early days of the Beano, Dandy, Union Jack and Halfpenny Marvel.* This "new UK size" makes it sound like British comics are only a recent invention, and a poor imitation of US ones

*Well actually early UJ's where a bit smaller, and they werent exactly A4, ever so slightly different... but close

The new Format, was designed just so indy publishers could get cheaper printing, but we still provide quotes for all other formats, including A4.

Anyone who knows me certainly knows I don't feel that UK comics are an imitation of US comics, but then I guess you don't know me, so I'll let that one slide

Personaly I love the A4 format for comics, it lets the artwork breathe and makes the book more of an impressive item and less of a throwaway mag. Unfortunately A4 is also very expensive compared to other formats, and very dificult to sell through Diamond as I've discovered in the past when submitting A4 comics I've published for distribution.

Even so, there are some great A4 UK anthologies out there, featuring some great work, including Madram, Omnivistascope, Bedlam and FutureQuake.

all the best,
Shane
www.smallzone.co.uk
www.thecomicsshow.co.uk

[Captain Storm]

Aren't they fanzines as opposed to regular comics?In this case Size really does matter

[Lew Stringer]

Sorry, but i rigidly stick to A4 size, the way it "should" be from the early days of the Beano, Dandy, Union Jack and Halfpenny Marvel.*

Does that apply to comics you buy too? You must have missed some great comics from Fleetway and other publishers then. No Eagle, no TV21, no Lion, Valiant, Smash, Buster etc..... just because they weren't A4 sized?

Shane's new UK format is quite a nice tidy size actually, and with the card covers the format looks great.

Lew

[felneymike]

I wasn't alive when most of those where around... and the one and only Valiant i have seen (think it was mid 70's) looked about A4-ish? But i really don't care about the format of ones i buy... though might draw the line at circular.