Pen-Elayne on the Web

Self-Promotion

Most artists, Robin and I have been informing a comic art collectors' mailing list on which we participate, do not attend conventions for self-promotion. They go to see friends and meet people who might like their autograph or a sketch or to check out the convention themselves. Sometimes they go because they're graciously asked. Self-promotion is more in the realm of e-mail/message board signatures and... blogs! Robin and I will be among the guests (why my name is listed I cannot fathom; while I have had at least three comic book stories published I have never gotten a cent for them, so I'm scarcely a professional writer) at the next Big Apple Convention in NYC, about a block west of Columbus Circle. The main reason we'll be behind a table in the crowded and somewhat dingy church basement, besides that I adore guest coordinator Allan Rosenberg to little teeny bits, is that it's also a stop on the Tony Isabella Farewell Tour, after which the writer and CBG columnist has either promised or threatened to leave the comics industry if not offered new work, meaning that of course his plan has backfired/succeeded and he's got some projects in the pipeline about which I will doubtless grill him mercilessly when we see him. The show takes place on Friday and Saturday, May 2nd and 3rd; the 3rd is, as many may know, Free Comic Book Day so maybe I'll schlep in some comics to give away. Probably be a good idea if they're ones on which Robin worked, I guess. Anyway, the 2nd is when X2 opens, so we might just make a comic book'y weekend out of it and see the film that night if we can get into the theatre. Hope to see some of you NYC-based folk at the con! End of plug.