Charles Martin's Blog, page 48

Love and Anarchy print

By Brad Gregg

$10.00 – 11X14

the dominant hand print

By Brad Gregg

$10.00 – 11X17

Aqua Rollergirl

By Karen Martin

$10.00 – 17X11

 

Samurai

By Karen Martin

$10.00 – 11X14

Happy Dragon Print

By Karen Martin

$10.00 – 11X17

Forrest Nymph

By Karen Martin

$10.00 – 14X11

Gay Zombies

By Karen Martin

$10.00 – 11X17

 

Hot Rod Warriors

By Karen Martin

$10.00 – 11X17

Little Dixie Horror Show is Upon Us!

Next time you’re driving through southeastern Oklahoma, be mindful of what road you’re taking, the places you pass and the folks you see or talk with. Especially when passing through Little Dixie. Escaped native, Mer Whinery, explores this dark corner of the Bible Belt in a new anthology of chilling short stories called The Little Dixie Horror Show.

Primed with a sharp, visceral voice, Whinery spins tales of dead hookers that won’t stay dead, the frozen memories of a haunted moviehouse that refuses to let the past die, desperate men doing desperate things to pull themselves out of desperation, the ghoulish revenge of children forced into the insanity of violence, and a satanic farm where murder is the bumper crop.

To celebrate the official coming out party of an exciting new talent in world of horror, Literati Press will be offering The Little Dixie Horror Show for free starting at dawn on Saturday, April 28 in the Amazon Kindle store. The title will then be available for only 99 cents.

For more information on Mer Whinery, visit www.literatipressok.com and to download your free copy, go to http://www.amazon.com/Little-Dixie-Horror-Show-ebook/dp/B007X4CAOK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335453311&sr=8-1.

Scavenging For Sales: Hawking literature at the pop culture orgy that is C2E2.

As unearthed during the long road trip to Chicago.

*Following is an orphaned story I fluffed off as a semi-review of C2E2.

I am a bottom-feeder of the convention industry, and I am at peace with this.

Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo packed in hand-crafted superhero costumes with unsightly bulges, dumpy, middle-aged men with “My Little Pony” bags, hordes of flesh and blood Comic Book Guys, and civilians out to witness the spectacle of the pop culture industry at its shiniest. Safely tucked behind my vendor table, watching a significant chunk of the Chicago-area population walk by, I was awed at the strange confluence of events that brought my career trajectory as a sub-culture novelist to this point. That bewilderment was no doubt also shared by John Cusack and Val Kilmer, who were signing autographs and reassuring themselves that the convention circuit isn’t where careers go to die.

And they are right, it isn’t. Not anymore, not since mainstream consumers began flocking to the events with fistfuls of cash ready to throw at any vendor able to feed their media addictions. When you see soccer moms sans kids and douchey bros in their under-sized douchey t-shirts standing in line with a family in traditional Islamic dress and a cross-dresser squeezed into a sexy Alice costume, you know that this is no longer the primary domain of the fanboys. This is America, the beautiful and bizarre melting pot of consumerism.

So, if Kilmer wants to build buzz for his pet project, “Citizen Twain”, or a novelist (me) is trying to attract a cult following, there is no better place to start. Sure, no one came to C2E2 interested in a biopic about Mark Twain or a dark comedy set in heaven, but once they are in the hall, they are a captive audience with money and time to burn.

Tired of pitching to old women in half-empty bookstores, I began road warrioring the convention circuit five years ago in the classic Willie Sutton strategy, “go to where the money is.” In that time, I’ve become fascinated about the cashflow trends for different types of conventions. Anime and Japanese culture events are massive spectacles, but sales sway heavily to obscure fan art and goofy crap you can put in your hair. Literary conventions have sparse attendees, sales are slow, but it is a great place to network and find loyal fans.

Media expos, like C2E2 and Planet Comicon in Overland Park, are basically autograph farms. Stars arrive, drawing fans happy to stand in line for two hours to get their merch signed. Mission accomplished, thousands of attendees now have the rest of the day to kill. Most of what’s left in the fans’ pockets goes to cheeky Dr. Who t-shirts and off-market toys, but that leaves plenty of opportunity for original content creators, like myself, to snipe attendees waiting in line to pick up a Super Mario Brothers print at the next table.

An added benefit of bigger shows like C2E2 is the swarm of bloggers and podcasters searching for hidden gems. Critical praise is crucial for the type of content created by my boutique publishing company, Literati Press, as well as my tablemates at Dusk Comics. Both print and online journalism was well represented and we glad-handed all weekend long, hoping that one great review turned an average sales weekend into a resounding win.

Side Note: After witnessing the weirdness that is Missouri, I think I am falling in love with that entire state.