Deus ex New Year

If only because it was the year I published Deus ex Comica: The Rebirth of a Comic Book Fan, 2009 was pretty amazing. But after you get over how cool it is to think that you published a book and the excitement of holding a physical copy of it in your hand, there is the suddenly daunting task of somehow getting the word out about said book. Self-promotion is decidedly not in my comfort zone, but through necessity and the help and encouragement of Tracy and John, I stepped outside of it and surprised myself with how much fun I had!

My local comic shop, JC Comics & Cards, stepped up and hosted me for my very first in-store book signing in April, and, despite competing with a gorgeous day outside, it was a success! From there I promoted the book at a bunch of regional comic book conventions and did an in-store signing on Free Comic Book Day at Bill’s Books and More.

Learning to write a press release and sending copies of the book to local newspapers resulted in write-ups in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal, and interviews with Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources’ Tim O’Shea and Elliott Serrano of the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye Geek to Me blog, and a great review and interview on Wired Magazine’s GeekDad blog.

The year ended with two well-received author visits. The first came out of nowhere when my old friend Mark, a professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, asked me if I’d like to be a part of the Fall for the Book Festival. What an amazing experience that was! My prepared reading in front of an audience of 50 or so was followed by a great question and answer session.

I was able to get copies of Deus ex Comica in virtually all branches of the Akron-Summit County Public Library, which led to my other author visit, this one at the Fairlawn-Bath Branch of the library. Although attendance was lighter than the GMU festival (somewhere around 20 attendees), it was just as fun and, again, the conversation with the audience afterward was wonderful.

Amid all this, I was fortunate enough to give copies of the book to both Stan Lee and Neil Gaiman, and share Deus ex Comica with friends and influences at the Chicago Comic-Con.

So now I feel like I sort of have a game plan. Or, at least, that’s what I tell myself. And as 2009 wound down, I set out to line up as many appearances as I could to start off the New Year. My hope is to average one book-related appearance per month in 2010, and while I’m still working on some dates and opportunities, I’m thrilled to so far have seven appearances confirmed between now and mid-July!

The first Sunday in February I’ll be promoting the book at the Akron-Canton Con (John will be there too, selling copies of Collect All 21!). The following Saturday, February 13, John and I will both be at The Learned Owl Book Shop in Hudson for a local authors event, sharing some prepared readings from our books, chatting with customers, and signing books.

March and April will find me doing author visits at the Northwest Akron (March 04) and the Nordonia Hills (April 29) branches of the Akron-Summit County Public Library. I’ll be following that up by helping Comic Heaven celebrate Free Comic Book Day on May 01 with an in-store signing event at their Willoughby store.

The end of June brings another Akron-Canton Con (June 27) and then two weeks later I’ll be speaking at the Firestone Park branch of the library.

I have more book promotion opportunities on the horizon as well, but they aren’t firm enough to share just yet. Some are nearly finalized and some are still just ideas I’m exploring. As soon as things do finalize, I’ll be sure to post them. I hope, if you’re able, you’ll come out, say “hello,” and support a local writer!

• February 07, 10am-4pm: Akron-Canton Con (with Collect All 21! author John Booth), Chapparells Community Center, 2418 S. Arlington Road, Akron
• February 13, 3pm-5pm: The Learned Owl Book Shop (with Collect All 21! author John Booth), 204 N. Main Street, Hudson (330.653.2252)
• March 04, 6.30pm-7.30pm: Northwest Akron Branch (ASCPL), 1720 Shatto Avenue, Akron (330.836.1081)
• April 29, 7pm-8pm: Nordonia Hills Branch (ASCPL), 9458 Old Eight Road, Northfield (330.467.8595)
• May 01 (Free Comic Book Day!), TBD: Comic Heaven, 4847 Robinhood, Willoughby (440.942.6960)
• June 27, 10am-4pm: Akron-Canton Con, Chapparells Community Center, 2418 S. Arlington Road, Akron
• July 10, 2pm-3pm: Firestone Park Branch (ASCPL), 1486 Aster Avenue, Akron (330.724.2126)