PeoriaCon Andy Zach’s First ComicCon: “C’mon, Andy,” you say. “You’ve been a comic paranormal animal author for three years! You’ve gone to four book conventions. Wouldn’t you go to a ComicCon first?”
Well, yes. You’re right. It only took me three years to realize it. You must consider the usual author learning curve. I was a project leader and Six Sigma Blackbelt for twenty years, not an author or a stinking marketeer!
Thanks to the Peoria Journal Star for the fine picture. I bought it, and you can too at the link from the above photo.
Now let me tell you my convention experience and why I waited three years to go to a comic con.
PeoriaCon Andy Zach’s First ComicCon – Why Now?
First, I didn’t know about comic cons. I figured I was a Fantasy/SF author, so I went to Chambanacon in November 2016. It was close and less expensive. The World ComicCon was five times more per table, plus hotel and travel. And it was crazy, like me.
Then at Chambanacon, I met author Rey who loves comic cons and recommended I go to one. I didn’t want to spend the money. According to my computations I’d need to sell a hundred books to break even, so I actually was reasonable by not going.
I liked Chambancon enough to return in 2017 and 2018. Then, at the urging of my Secret Supers editor Leslie McKie, I also attended Penned Con 2018.
PennedCon 2018
PennedCon was perhaps twice as big as Chambanacon and I got twice the traffic and twice the sales. But it cost four times as much and also included hotel expenses, so I lost money again. But I had fun with my assistant Tori.
Tori and Andy. Tori’s the good looking one.
PeoriaCon Andy Zach’s First ComicCon – What happened?
Then the PeoriaCon opportunity came. It was only a mile from my house! I had a blast, paid less than Chambanacon, and doubled my sales!
Speaking of sales, did you know Zombie Turkeys is on sale for only .99?
“What’s ‘Happy Undead Mother-in-law Day? I know all about Valentine’s Day. That’s today. What’s up with Happy Undead Mother-in-law?”
My Undead Mother-in-law. Get it for your mother-in-law! Click here.
I’m glad you asked! It so happens My Undead Mother-in-law begins on Valentine’s Day. As the book opens, the family has dinner together, the undead zombies and the normal family members. Naturally, we celebrate it every year.
You can also read the book for free on Kindle or Audible.
Finally, if you’re desperate, you can always do what I do when I want to read a book and not pay for it. Go to Amazon and click on the ‘Look Inside’ button and read random sections until you’ve read it all.
One more thing: here’s a Happy Undead Mother-in-law Review
Why is this my favorite review? It’s from a professional author who doesn’t like zombie books, yet loved My Undead Mother-in-law..
When I started to read this book, I was leery. As far as I know, I’m less interested in zombies than anyone on the planet. How could I give a reasonable review? Turns out, it wasn’t hard at all. I’ve said before and it turned out to be true here that, if you have a ridiculous premise that’s hard to swallow, run with it, normalize it, and readers /viewers will eventually accept. And it worked. The original premise of cognizant, virtually indestructible zombies was lobbed and backed until I was a believer, actively rooting for zombies. Plenty of (bloodier than average) action, some smiling, if not guffaw humor, a nice fulfilling story arc in an easy readable length made for a fun book (if bloody action doesn’t bother you) with charm that didn’t take itself to seriously but still capable of many a tender and touching moments.
I’m glad my prejudice didn’t keep me from enjoying this out-of-the-common-way story.
Happy Undead Mother-in-law’s Day – Now What’s Next?
Later this month I’ll have my cover reveal for my next novel, Secret Supers. Watch this blog or my Facebook page for the exact date. I’m waiting to get all the pieces of the book together: interior text (being edited), chapter titles, and back copy blurb.
Once it’s all together, I assemble it and schedule my publication and launch dates.
Here’s a cover tease:
Aubrey, from the cover of Secret Supers.
But that’s not all! I’ve scheduled my first author appearance this year. See this next Facebook post from my page.
My goal is at least twelve author appearances this year. I’ll let you know as I schedule them.
You may ask why is my post entitled ‘2018: Twelve Laughing Months’? Because while working as a comic author and blogger I laugh almost every day. I invite you to share my laughter.
That’s a high standard for a blog! If I fall short, you can always make fun of me! Comment here if you like or dislike this post, or in the comment section below.
So what funny thing happened in January? I finished writing my first draft of Paranormal Privateers,my Novel for November by NaNoWriMo. It’s funny, because you’re supposed to finish in November. It’s funny because I actually wrote the required 50,000 words in November–and was less than half done. I misplanned–badly.
Bruce Lee with a light saber. What more could you want?Following is February . . .
Twelve Laughing Months: February
February was worse for me as a writer–I had to edit my first draft. And I was under a time crunch. And my illustrator was behind. And my editor needed time. And I’d already committed to a launch date in May.
What happens when 100,000 zombie turkeys land during the Thanksgiving Day football game?
Then there is this educational video:
Aren’t you eager to use ‘crapulous’ in a sentence?
Moving on to March . . .
Twelve Laughing Months: March
What can be funnier than your own tombstone? The epitaph on it! It’s all in this blog post, Andy Zach’s Tombstone.But don’t worry–there’s still more to come!
Next, from Fan Comments and Free Books–Get Yours Now we have another photo that looks doctored, but it’s not. How would you like to be on this ship? Or on the B-52?
B-52 pilot behaving badly
I must close with another Weird Al video. Enjoy!
Have you seen a conductor like this before?
Sequeing to September . . .
Twelve Laughing Months: September Twelve Laughing Months: September
September was my big convention month at PennedCon. I have a lot of pictures here. The theme was a 20s speakeasy.
After Thanksgiving I went to Chambanacon, a relaxacon, a relaxed SciFi/Fantasy convention. Here’s a picture of me and Brenda Sutton, to give you the vibe there.
Andy Zach and Brenda Sutton and the Chambanacon mascot
