Raina Telgemeier's Blog, page 20
July 28, 2011
Brain Burps About Books Interview!
I recently recorded a fun podcast interview with Katie Davis, the boundlessly energetic children's book author, illustrator, and host of the excellent podcast Brain Burps About Books.
BBAB covers every aspect of the kidlit world. Writing, drawing, publishing, agents, fans, websites, publicity, book trailers–Dave and I became big fans this past spring as we were hunched over our drawing boards day after day. We've learned a lot from Katie, and we've become friends since then, too! If you're at all interested in the wide world of children's book publishing, you should dig through her archives and feed your head.
July 27, 2011
One More Page Books, 8/10
My next upcoming event will be held at One More Page Books in Arlington, VA!
One More Page Books
2200 N Westmoreland St
#101
Arlington, VA
Wednesday, August 10
6:30 pm
[Map & directions]
Me and Dave will be doing a one-hour presentation and signing! Come by and get signed copies of Smile and Astronaut Academy, ask us questions, and help us stage some live readings! Can't wait to see you there!
July 26, 2011
San Diego Comic-Con: 2011 Edition!
2011 was my eighth San Diego Comic-Con International. It will certainly go down as one of my most memorable.
First of all, we scored a room at the Marriott. What a great hotel! And it's connected to the convention center, which is really convenient if you need to run next door and grab supplies or drop stuff off, or if you just need a few quiet minutes. Also, their pool rocks.
My friends at the Flight booth were generous enough to give me a few inches of table space, so I could have a place to sell Smile. It's also just great fun to hang out with everyone there! Such a talented, funny, friendly bunch of people. Flight just produced their 8th and final volume, so it was especially nostalgic. I'm so lucky I got to be involved with this project. And, the spinoff anthology, Explorer, will debut in March from Abrams Books–Dave and I will have a 16-page story in the book!
Dave signs Astronaut Academy at the :01 booth, while Vera Brosgol and Mark Seigel look on
Scholastic threw a party in honor of the 25th anniversary of Jeff Smith's Bone, and all of the Graphix authors were featured guests at the party. Considering Jeff is one of my biggest influences as a cartoonist, it was a humbling evening! And so much fun. A great many of my friends came, and we ate and talked late into the night. I signed books, took some pictures in the Photobooth, and enjoyed introducing my publishing friends to my comics friends. Worlds collide, in the best way.
At the Bone 20th Anniversary Party! The Hilton rooftop is a great party spot.
And of course the main reason I had to be at Comic-Con this year, was because I was nominated for an Eisner Award. Let's skip over the part where I was a nervous wreck, and the part where i got sunburned that afternoon and looked a little lobster-esque, and get right to the good stuff:
I won!!!!!
My category (Best Publication for Teens) came up second in the three-hour gala, so after giving my super-nervous acceptance speech, I was able to relax and enjoy the evening. And the rest of the weekend, for that matter.
Saturday I put my award on the Flight table with my book, and had a wonderful wonderful day! So many handshakes and congratulatory hugs and people asking if they could spin the globe on the award itself.
My one panel was a great time. As promised, I announced my new book title there. Here's that post, if you missed it!
Love & Comics panelists: Jason Shiga, Sheila Keenan, Amy & Kazu Kibuishi, Dave, Raina
I was sold out of books by mid-day Sunday, so the last few hours of the con were spent chasing down friends on the show floor, eating tacos, and buying a few small but nice things (a Gallery Nucleus t-shirt by John Klassen, and a purse hook from Debbie Huey).
The show floor, from high above…
I owe a great many thanks to everyone who voted for Smile in the Eisners. I certainly wouldn't have come this far without the support of my friends and fans, and I'm grateful for each and every one of you. It means so much to me. The more diverse the comics industry gets, the greater by far.
Till next time, San Diego!
I have a book title!
I had promised to announce the title of my new book during San Diego Comic-Con, and now I can finally reveal it here on my site, too. My forthcoming graphic novel will be called…
Drama!
It's about middle school theater geeks, stage crew, putting on a play, love and hate and friendship, and that's all I can talk about for now. Here's some non-spoilery process art:
The final book will be 240 pages, full color, and out in the Fall of 2012. Scholastic/Graphix is publishing.
I'm currently deeply entrenched in the art duties on this book, but I'll share more news about Drama as I am able. Oh, and I need to make a little post about my amazing Comic-Con experience, too…all in good time. Hope you're having a great summer!
July 14, 2011
Wizard Party!
Short notice: Dave and I will have a table at the Victory Over Voldemort Party on Saturday, July 16 in Hoboken, NJ. Tickets are $35 at the door, and include a full evening of food, music, and fun!
July 11, 2011
San Diego Comic-Con!
From Wednesday, July 20 till Sunday, July 25 I will be in San Diego, CA for Comic-Con International!
Here's what I'll be doing while I'm there…
All 5 Days
Flight Booth (#2235)
My home base during this show will be the Flight booth, #2235. Come get a hot-off-the-presses copy of the final Flight Anthology, volume 8. While you're there, you can get a signed copy of (Eisner-nominated!) Smile or a shiny copy of Dave's Astronaut Academy. Or, just stop and say hi!
Thursday, July 21
Evening
The Bone 20th Anniversary Party!
As one of Jeff Smith's fellow Scholastic/Graphix authors, I'll be a guest at this awesome party. If you've got an invite, please come say hello!
Friday, July 22
2-3 PM
Cartoon Art Museum Booth (#1930)
I'll be sketching requests in exchange for donations to the CAM fund. They're an absolutely wonderful organization, so if you'd like a custom sketch, please consider coming by during this time!
Evening
The EISNER AWARDS!
Oh man, I'm nerrrrrvous.
Saturday, July 23
3:30-4:30 PM
Love & Comics Panel
Room 8
Who's showing the love in comics? Comics creators extraordinaire Jason Shiga (Meanwhile; Empire State), Kazu Kibuishi (Explorer, Amulet, Copper, Flight), Amy Kim Kibuishi (Sorcerers and Secretaries), Raina Telgemeier (Explorer, Smile, The Baby-Sitters Club), and Dave Roman (Explorer, Astronaut Academy, Agnes Quill) talk about how their love of comics plays out in the game of life, about how the collaborative process works, and about their most important pictures from the heart.
Beyond all that…who knows. I might be eating tacos at Tin Fish. Or wandering the looping walkways of the Seaport Village. Or, quite possibly, in the pool at my hotel…all I know is that I love Comic-Con, I love this town, and I can't wait to be there!
June 30, 2011
A Cartoonist at the Library Conference
About a month ago, Dave and I heard that the American Library Association's Annual Conference was offering free Artist Alley tables to cartoonists, in exchange for a piece of original artwork for their scholarship auction. 2011 has already been a busy year of touring for me, and I'm on deadline at the moment, but Dave convinced me this was too good an opportunity to pass up. So, we put in our table application, booked a hotel and flights, and headed down to this year's host city, New Orleans.
Even though I attended ALA for an afternoon last year when it was in Washington, DC, we still had no idea what to expect. Artist Alley was a new concept for ALA. Would people buy books? Would they simply want freebies? How many people would we talk to? How would it compare to the comic conventions we usually exhibit at? Would we be off in a forgotten corner, wishing we were closer to the action?
The calm before the storm
ALA's show floor opened on Friday and, similar to Comic-Con's Preview Night, it was only open for a few hours. We set up our table in the Graphic Novels Pavilion and resolved a communication issue involving not having any chairs. Besides Dave and myself, there was Ryan Sias, Rod Espinosa, David Hutchison, Darren Gendron, Ben Hatke, Dan Santat, Alexis Fajardo, Jim Ottaviani, Eric Wight, Carla Speed McNeil, and Chris Schweizer. Not everyone attended the entire show and a few people failed to show up altogether, so there was always an empty table or two. By the second day, I repositioned my Smile banner so that it could be seen from the center aisle of the hall, as well as from anywhere in the GN Pavilion.
Drawing on the Graphic Novel Pavilion stage
The GN Pavilion itself had a nice, centralized location on the show floor, and a huge banner/backdrop announcing its presence could be seen from just about anywhere. My table was right next to the pavilion's stage. The other exhibitors in the area included BroDart, holding a $20,000 Graphic Novel Library giveaway; Top Shelf Comics; Archaia; Boom Studios; the Unshelved guys; and the CBLDF. It was good company, and small enough that we could all refer to and recommend one another to conference attendees. The only downside: our table was directly beneath a massive air conditioner, so we were freakishly cold during show hours (not the worst thing, considering how hot it was outside).
Over the course of the weekend we did fairly steady business. Smile's name recognition really helped our sales—this was my single best show of 2011 thus far, and the best I've done, sales-wise, since last spring when Smile debuted. The book itself was by far my best seller at ALA, but plenty of people sprang for T-shirts or Baby-sitters Club books, too.
Photo by Matt Dembicki
The most amazing thing was the outpouring of enthusiasm for Smile. Close to a hundred people came by simply to share their appreciation for the book. I heard many stories, but there were constant themes: Reluctant readers love the book. We cannot keep this book on our shelves. This book has touched a lot of kids. Many girls are drawing their own comics. Never just one girl, but rather, EVERY girl is a fan. Boys like it, too. It circulates like crazy. This book is routinely "stolen" or "lost" by the kids. Librarians wanted to simply shake my hand and tell me thank you. I never had more than 10 minutes of downtime over the course of the entire weekend. I was completely boggled by this response. I continued to be approached by people on the streets, in hotel elevators, and up until our last late night in town, telling me how much they and their patrons enjoyed Smile.
Dave's Astronaut Academy was also popular, and even though his book has only been out for two weeks, he already has fans among the librarians who were happy to quote their favorite lines or talk about their favorite characters.
We did almost no hard-selling, and very little convincing, two things I find myself needing to do a lot at comic conventions. Librarians are already convinced. In many cases they were buying an extra copy of Smile for their library ("the first 5 copies we bought have been read to pieces") or a personal copy, or one for a special 10-year-old girl in their life.
Monday was definitely slower than the other days, but I'm glad we stuck it out. I signed at Scholastic for an hour, and made some great last-minute connections during the final hours at our own table. The show closed at 2, and we crashed pretty hard afterward.
Raina and the fabulous Emily, at the Scholastic booth
The whole weekend was full of parties, breakfasts, and dinners. I got a chance to connect with lots of old friends, as well as make some new ones. (Shout outs to Mary Ann, Mr. Schu, Grace, Ethan, Heather, Katie, Antonio, Teenage Heather…) Dave and I snuck off on our own for beignets at least three times over the course of the weekend. In the end, we enjoyed New Orleans, and obviously a big part of that enjoyment was tied to the conference itself.
So, will we do ALA again? Absolutely. It's in Anaheim next year, and since the show moves around, I assume it gets a higher presence of local attendees in each place who can't necessarily travel away from home for the conference. That means fresh faces every year. My still-untitled new book should be in galleys by then, and Dave will have Teen Boat. So, we're looking forward to it.
But what about the other cartoonists tabling in Artist Alley? We sat next to Ryan Sias, whose comics are aimed at early readers, and seemingly a better fit at ALA than they are at most comic shows. Ryan said he would have liked to sell more than he did. Ben Hatke had been placed in sort of a weird spot (behind the GN Pavilion stage) and might have benefited from being in our aisle, but still sold artwork and books. Some of our friends weren't able to be at their tables the whole weekend, and a few were focusing on promotional giveaways rather than trying to sell books. If you're willing to put in the time, and you've got a product that would go over well with children's and teen librarians especially, I think it's a show worth doing.
Ryan's table
Eric Wight, who never sleeps
Alexis Fajardo
Lovely Carla
Darren keeps it real
To everyone we met at ALA this year: thanks for making our experience a great one! Looking forward to seeing you again in 2012.
(Full photo set is here.)
June 22, 2011
In just a matter of hours, Dave and I will be heading to ...
In just a matter of hours, Dave and I will be heading to New Orleans for the ALA Annual Conference!
ALA is trying something new this year: there will be a special Artist Alley on the show floor for cartoonists! So, Dave and I will have a table (#1665) from Friday 6/24 through Monday 6/27, and you can come get signed copies of our books, Smile T-shirts, original artwork, and information about the author presentations and services we offer libraries. We'll be sketching, too!
Dave and I absolutely love librarians and libraries, and we'd love to chat graphic novels, comics, and ideas with YOU–so please come find us and say hello!
My schedule:
**Fri 6/23 – Mon 6/27: Artist Alley Table #1665 (My home base!)
**Sat 6/24: CBLDF Live Drawing Event! Graphic Novels Pavilion, 6PM-6:30PM
**Mon 6/27: Signing at the Scholastic Booth #1439 11AM-12PM.
Hope to see you there!
June 14, 2011
Newsletter
I'm trying out a newsletter, because a lot of people have requested that I start one. If you'd like to sign up, the form is over on my Contact page.
This weekend: Kids Read Comics!
Dave and I are off to Michigan for a three-day extravaganza at one of the coolest comic events anywhere: Kids Read Comics!
Here's where you can find me throughout the weekend:
FRIDAY, JUNE 17
We're kicking things off with a special evening at the Ann Arbor District Library. Dave and I are going to be talking about our work, reading from our books live on stage, and getting everyone excited about the weekend of kids, comics, and fun ahead. Afterward, Dave and our good friend Kevin Coppa will be presenting Puppetbenders, the live, puppet version of Avatar: The Last Airbender!
Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier, 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Dave Roman and Kevin Coppa, 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Books will be available for purchase!
The weekend itself will be nonstop Kids Read Comics action, in and around Chelsea, Michigan (directions here). The whole event is TOTALLY FREE, and welcomes kids, teens, and parents all weekend with activities, a chance to meet tons of great comic artists, and hands-on workshops where you can write and draw your own stories and characters! Here are my panels, workshops and events:
SATURDAY, JUNE 18
12:45 pm – 1:00 pm
Quick Draw! improv cartooning with Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier
New Chelsea Market, 125 South Main Street – All Ages
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Artist Spotlight with Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier
Chelsea River Gallery, 120 S. Main – All Ages
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Artist Signing – Raina Telgemeier
Come meet the author of the Eisner-nominated Smile and get your copy signed!
Chelsea District Library Front Lawn – All Ages
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
On Saturday evening, there's going to be a reception for a gallery show I have some work in: COMIC JAM at the Chelsea River Gallery. Join us for the opening reception! All of the artists' work will be for sale, and you can see finished original pieces alongside our process work: thumbnails, rough sketches, and so forth.
Chelsea River Gallery, 120 S. Main St.
SUNDAY, JUNE 19
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Making Your Life into a Comic
Raina Telgemeier shows how everyday moments of your life can be made into a comic strip! Kids will start by making a list of events that will be adapted into comic panels. Book signing will immediately follow.
Chelsea District Library, McKune Room – Ages 8-16
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Interactive Comics Reading
Raina Telgemeier (Smile) Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy) and special guests will perform chapters from their all-ages graphic novels. The illustrated panels will be projected onto a large screen for all to see, and volunteers from the audience will be chosen to play some of the characters.
Chelsea District Library, McKune Room – All Ages
Please note that I do not have my own table in the artist alleys. My books (and SMILE t-shirts!!) will be for sale at the Green Brain Comics table (located in the Registration Tent on the front lawn of the Chelsea District Library) all weekend, and you are welcome to bring your own copies of my books for me to sign, too!
See you there!
