On December 8th, I attended the EBABZ (East Bay Alternative Book & Zine) Fest in Berkeley.
I found out about the EBABZ when I picked up a postcard about it at APE (Alternative Press Expo) in October.
EBABZ was a small but interesting Fest and I enjoyed walking around, checking out what other people were up to, chatting, building my zine library, and getting some advice.
＊ Milk & Carrots #2
Milk & Carrots is an anthology featuring a number of artists with vastly different styles of illustration and storytelling. I think this is a good start for anyone who’s just getting into the world of zines! Printed by Keness.com. For more information about Milk & Carrots, please visit www.ebbandflood.net.
＊ Between Here and Here by Brendan Monroe.
This zine is a dream-like abstraction filled with science, sexuality, and emotion. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but anyone can see that Brendan Monroe is insanely gifted. Check out his amazing paintings, sculptures, and comics/zines on his Tumblr!
＊ Murder Dollhouse No. 1 by Teppei Ando
Murder Dollhouse is a completely bizarre but wonderful little zine! This volume includes The Man Who Lived In Their Attic (part 1 & part 2), the full-color and delightful short She Made Me Feel Four Inches Tall, and a number of fun extras. If you like a good pulp fiction, then this is the zine for you!
＊ Melancholy Rainbow: A Sitcom, “Tastes Like July” Issue One by Nina Kim
Melancholy Rainbow feels to me like a mix between Daria and The Book of Bunny Suicides – a perfect blend of sarcasm and sadism. This is an autobiographical affair and, judging by my brief interaction with the artist, a pretty accurate one at that. Read Melancholy Rainbow for yourself at www.melancholyrainbow.com.
＊ 1984 Printing
Also, I discovered this wonderful local printer. Their products are really beautiful, high quality, and fairly priced. They gave me their very useful pricing list as well as a cute free notebook. I’m seriously considering using them down the line, whether for a small zine or possibly a bigger project.
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After stopping by the EBABZ, Wes and I ended up at this great soba restaurant called Ippuku. The whole experience was very authentic and I’d love to go back sometime.
Then, somehow, we ended up in Haight-Ashbury. We visited some of Wes’s favorite stores like Super 7, Kidrobot, and Amoeba Music, which were all a lot of fun.We also went to The Booksmith and proceeded to drool over all the gorgeous Penguin Classics hardcovers.
So, all in all, it was a very exciting day!
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas
8 comments | tags: 1984, Abstract, Abstraction, Accurate, Advice, Alternative, Alternative Book, Alternative Press Expo, Amoeba Music, Anthology, APE, Art, Artist, Artists, Authentic, Autobiographical, Autobiography, Beautiful, Berkley, Between Here and Here, Bizarre, Blend, Brendan Monroe, Brian Herrick, Bussan 33, Buy, Chatting, Christopher Gray, Comic book, Comics, Creative, Creativity, Cute, Daria, December, Delightful, Different, Discover, Discovered, Dream, Dream-like, Drool, East Bay, EBABZ, Ebb and Flood, Emotion, Endeavor, Exciting, Experience, Extras, Featuring, Fest, Free, Full-Color, Fun, Gifted, Gorgeous, Graphic Novel, Haight-Ashbury, Hardcover, Hardcovers, High Quality, Illustration, Illustrator, Independent, Insane, Interaction, Interesting, Ippuku, Issue, James The Stanton, Jen Oaks, Josh Birdsall, Keness.com, Kidrobot, Library, Local, Malachi Ward, Matthew Sheean, Melancholy Rainbow, Melissa Geppert, Milk & Carrots, Mix, Murder Dollhouse, Nina Kim, Notebook, October, Paintings, Part, Penguin Classics, Postcard, Price, Pricing, Pricing List, Print, Printed, Printer, Product, Products, Project, Publish, Publisher, Pulp, Pulp Fiction, Read, Restaurant, Sadism, San Francisco, Sarcasm, Science, Sculpture, Sexuality, She Made Me Feel Four Inches Tall, Short, Sitcom, Small, Soba, Story, Storytelling, Strange, Super 7, Tastes Like July, Teppei Ando, The Book of Bunny Suicides, The Booksmith, The Man Who Lived In Their Attic, True, Useful, Volume, Wonderful, Writer, Writing, Zine, Zines | posted in Graphic Novel, Illustration/Design, Links
Related post: Plans for APE
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Wow, what can I say about APE?
Well, this was definitely an experience!
Firstly, I believe that APE (Alternative Press Expo) was a productive endeavor. I learned much more about the nature of each publisher I’ve been tracking online. I hope that Shannon and I managed to get the names of our projects (The Poet and the Flea and The First Reich) out there just a little. And I learned a lot about what techniques make a successful table.
As far as the bigger publishers go (Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, Last Gasp, Top Shelf, etc.), I was glad to see them at the Expo — to see all their products laid out in front of me, rather than squinting at images on a computer screen. Some of them only had marketing representatives who didn’t know much about the submissions process, which was too bad. Others had more knowledgable people to talk to, who offered some useful advice. I guess it really just boils down to submitting material and seeing what happens!
I very much enjoyed talking to some of the smaller publishers. They were very enthusiastic, helpful, and informative. And just because they’re smaller doesn’t mean they have inferior products. They are extremely professional (but in a laid back sort of way) and their books are gorgeous!
I loved talking with the kind folks at Yam Books. Tim Hensley (creator of Ticket Stub) was shocked that someone in their twenties (me) was a Barbara Stanwyck fan!! Both Saturday and Sunday, we had conversations about the film noir starlet, exchanging movie titles and laughing away. He even drew me this awesome illustration of Barbara (see below) in Double Indemnity — bangs and sunglasses and all!
Also had good but brief conversations with the good people at A Raven Above Press and Never Press.
I’ve only recently become interested in learning more about the world of zines. And Tugboat Press seemed like a good place to start. I really admire what they’re doing. I’m glad I talked with them because I learned that, rather than taking submissions, they commission artists. I also received recommendations about which volumes of their anthology Papercutter to buy and realized that they are interested in a vast array of genres. I’m excited to really sit down and read my purchases.
Sunday, I finally figured out where Uncivilized Books got to (I just could not figure out that map!). Their chief Tom was excellent at patiently answering my questions and encouraging me to submit my work. I’m excited to start working on sending out some follow-up e-mails to everyone I talked with!
Also, I picked up a lot of interesting flyers, cards, stickers, etc. from around the expo and from the free table. Below are some of my favorites!!
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Here are my notes of what makes a successful table in case I end up getting one for APE next year!
(This is just a rough list for my personal use. In no particular order!)
- Need a billboard/banner advertising name of artist/graphic novel.
- Need a tablecloth.
- Need a sign (or maybe t-shirts) to hang off the front of the table.
- Wear one of your own t-shirts to further advertise your graphic novel.
- Perhaps a sign or two saying: “Pleas talk to us — we’re friendly!”
- Perhaps a big bowl of free candy.
- Attract customers with a selection of cheaper items ($1 pins or stickers?).
- Need a clipboard and form for customers to sign up for your mailing list.
- Provide plenty of business cards and/or postcards.
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Among the flyers and such was a postcard for the East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest, free and taking place December 8th in Berkeley. I’m very interested in checking it out!
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas
19 comments | tags: 4th Dimension Entertainment, A Raven Above Press, Admire, Advertising, Advice, Alternative Press Expo, APE, Author, Bangs, Banner, Barbara Stanwyck, Billboard, Blog, Business Card, Candy, Cards, Chance, Chief, Comic book, Comics, Commission, Conversations, Customers, Double Indemnity, Drawing, Drawn & Quarterly, E-mails, Encouraging, Endeavor, Enthusiastic, Exhibitors, Expect, Experiences, Expo, Fantagraphics, Fantagraphics Books, Film Noir, Flyers, Follow-up, Free, Free Table, Friendly, Future, Genres, Ginormous, Gorgeous, Graphic Novel, Graphic Novelist, Half-Table, Helpful, Hoping, Idea, Illustration, Illustrator, Information, Informative, Interested, iPad, Last Gasp Books, Learned, List, Luck, Mailing List, Movie, NBM Publishing, Networking, Never Press, Next Year, October, Opportunity, Out of the blue, Papercutter, Patient, Perfect Day Publishing, Perhaps, Pernicious Press Magazine, Personal use, Photographs, Photos, Plan, Please, Plenty, Portfolio, Postcard, Preperation, Productive, Products, Professional, Projects, Publishers, Puna Press, Purchases, Rare, Rough, San Francisco, Saturday, Scans, Screenplay, Screenwriter, Script, Selection, SF, Shannon, Shlep, Showcasing, Snuck Up, Sparkplug Comic Books, Starlet, Stickers, Submissions, Successful, Sunday, Sunglasses, Supplement, T-Shirts, Tablecloth, Tables, The First Reich, The Poet and the Flea, Ticket Stub, Tim Hensley, Tom, Tomorrow John Press, Top Shelf Productions, Tugboat Press, Uncivilized Books, Visitng, Vistaprint, Volumes, Wear, Weekend, Wes, Wilhelm Reich, William Blake, Writer, Yam Books, Zines | posted in Brainstorming, Graphic Novel, Research, The Poet and the Flea, Travel
I feel as though the APE (Alternative Press Expo) has snuck up on me from out of the blue!
I’m hoping that this event will be very informative, and help me take my graphic novel projects to the next level. Not only is this the perfect networking opportunity, but also a rare chance to talk with publishers I am interested in and get a better idea of what they’re looking for in a graphic novel.
Saturday (October 13th), I’ll be attending with Shannon, my collaborator on The First Reich. I think Wes, who is also a graphic novelist and screenwriter, will be attending both Saturday and Sunday. My mom will be checking out the expo too, so maybe she’ll cover ground I won’t be able to.
As a supplement to my business card, I’ve ordered postcards (see above) from Vistaprint advertising The Poet and the Flea and showcasing some of my illustrations. I’ll also bring my iPad loaded with scans of The Flea so I don’t have to shlep around my ginormous (and heavy) portfolio.
Furthermore, in preparation, I’ve been compiling a list of exhibitors/tables I’m interested in visiting.
(This is just a rough list for my personal use. In no particular order!)
- 4th Dimension Entertainment
- A Raven Above Press
- Drawn & Quarterly
- Fantagraphics Books
- Last Gasp Books
- Yam Books
- Uncivilized Books
- Tomorrow John Press
- Top Shelf Productions
- Tugboat Press
- Sparkplug Comic Books
- Puna Press
- Pernicious Press Magazine
- Perfect Day Publishing
- Never Press
- NBM Publishing Inc.
You can expect a future blog post about my experiences at APE 2012. Depending on how everything goes, perhaps I’ll plan on getting my own table (half-table?) at next year’s expo.
Please wish me luck!
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Update: Check out the last-minute DIY postcard for The First Reich. Now I just need to find a paper cutter…
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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
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Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas
5 comments | tags: 4th Dimension Entertainment, A Raven Above Press, Advertising, Alternative Press Expo, APE, Author, Blog, Business Card, Chance, Comic book, Comics, Drawing, Drawn & Quarterly, Exhibitors, Expect, Experiences, Expo, Fantagraphics, Fantagraphics Books, Future, Ginormous, Graphic Novel, Graphic Novelist, Half-Table, Hoping, Idea, Illustration, Illustrator, Information, Informative, Interested, iPad, Last Gasp Books, List, Luck, NBM Publishing, Networking, Never Press, Next Year, October, Opportunity, Out of the blue, Perfect Day Publishing, Perhaps, Pernicious Press Magazine, Personal use, Plan, Portfolio, Postcard, Preperation, Projects, Publishers, Puna Press, Rare, Rough, San Francisco, Saturday, Scans, Screenplay, Screenwriter, Script, SF, Shannon, Shlep, Showcasing, Snuck Up, Sparkplug Comic Books, Sunday, Supplement, Tables, The First Reich, The Poet and the Flea, Tomorrow John Press, Top Shelf Productions, Tugboat Press, Uncivilized Books, Visitng, Vistaprint, Weekend, Wes, Wilhelm Reich, William Blake, Writer, Yam Books | posted in Brainstorming, Graphic Novel, The Poet and the Flea
