Selling the Drama
At this time tomorrow I will be in my truck on my way to Oakland, Ca. for the Wondercon with my friend/artist Bobby. The purpose of this trip is very simple: make connections. I want to be a comic book writer… this is where the comic book people are, hence the six-hour drive. My hope is that I will get a chance to talk to an editor or publisher that I can convince to give me a chance with their properties. Basically it’s going to be a three-day schmooze fest.
The only problem is that I don’t schmooze well. Okay, I do, but I have to totally psyche myself up to do it. My brother is a natural salesman… all the clichés of selling ice to the Eskimos… that would be him. I’m not a natural salesman. Those genes remain dormant in me until I absolutely need them. The problem is I’m shy. No one ever believes me when I say that, mainly because they have seen me in “The Zone”. What is “The Zone” you ask? It’s this switch that gets flipped inside of me when I walk into a convention. I become focused on being out going and fun. Selling myself to anyone who’s listening.
The odd side effect is that I forget stuff… eating, sleeping, sitting down, etc. I did the same thing when I went to the Arizona photo shoot. There was a dinner Friday night, a barbecue Saturday and pizza on Sunday… I think out of that I had two pieces of pizza. I stayed up until 1 A.M. each night and was up at 5 A.M. each morning. The other bad thing is when I get back from the trip and out of “The Zone” I crash hard. I am usually running on enthusiasm from the show for a day or two and then I’m toast for a week.
Now I love going to these conventions and I really want to be a comic writer… so that’s why I go and put myself through this stuff… but it would be really nice to go up to one of these and not have to sell myself… so if any editors or publishers are reading this: Hi, I’m Dan and I would like to work for you.
At this time tomorrow I will be in my truck on my way to Oakland, Ca. for the Wondercon with my friend/artist Bobby. The purpose of this trip is very simple: make connections. I want to be a comic book writer… this is where the comic book people are, hence the six-hour drive. My hope is that I will get a chance to talk to an editor or publisher that I can convince to give me a chance with their properties. Basically it’s going to be a three-day schmooze fest.
The only problem is that I don’t schmooze well. Okay, I do, but I have to totally psyche myself up to do it. My brother is a natural salesman… all the clichés of selling ice to the Eskimos… that would be him. I’m not a natural salesman. Those genes remain dormant in me until I absolutely need them. The problem is I’m shy. No one ever believes me when I say that, mainly because they have seen me in “The Zone”. What is “The Zone” you ask? It’s this switch that gets flipped inside of me when I walk into a convention. I become focused on being out going and fun. Selling myself to anyone who’s listening.
The odd side effect is that I forget stuff… eating, sleeping, sitting down, etc. I did the same thing when I went to the Arizona photo shoot. There was a dinner Friday night, a barbecue Saturday and pizza on Sunday… I think out of that I had two pieces of pizza. I stayed up until 1 A.M. each night and was up at 5 A.M. each morning. The other bad thing is when I get back from the trip and out of “The Zone” I crash hard. I am usually running on enthusiasm from the show for a day or two and then I’m toast for a week.
Now I love going to these conventions and I really want to be a comic writer… so that’s why I go and put myself through this stuff… but it would be really nice to go up to one of these and not have to sell myself… so if any editors or publishers are reading this: Hi, I’m Dan and I would like to work for you.
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