Not much commentary on this column, really. It pretty much speaks for itself.

With any luck, pictures from this event (and some of the other signings I’ve discussed) are around somewhere on the website.

Actually, here is one note: we used to do a lot of signings. A LOT of them. But, then, because we did SO many...people stopped caring about them AT ALL. You CAN overdo a good thing :)

I'm writing this on August 3rd. It's one helluva month (past and coming up), so this column will be much shorter (and less controversial) than usual.

On July 24th, we were lucky enough to be able to host the Sandman: Seasons of Mists Hardcover tour. We had Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Matt Wagner, Mike Dringenberg, and Steve Oliff all in the store at once. This tour (sponsored and organized by DC comics) was an unqualified success – we had several hundred people waiting more than 2 hours each to speak with these creators, and spend an average of $40 a person. We had our best day ever ($6316), and all we had to do (practically) was open our doors.

In August, we have signings with Garth Ennis (Hellblazer), Jill Thompson (Sandman), Lewis Shiner (Hacker Files), Dave McKean (Cages), and Alan Grant & Norm Breyfogle (Shadow of the Bat, and for Grant alone, The Demon). In November, we'll host the Love & Rockets 10th anniversary tour, and I'm working on arranging Francis Ford Coppola for Dracula (Crossing my fingers), and Clive Barker. While I don't expect any of these to do anywhere nearly as well as the SoM tour, I am confident that they will all create greater than usual business.

I noted that July 24th was our best day ever -- our 2^nd best day ever was also a signing (Dave Sim). In fact, 7 of our 10 best days have been creator appearances.

Pay particular attention to the line-ups we've been having. With the sole exception of the Grant/Breyfogle, not one of them is in support of mainstream projects. Moreover, when we do mainstream signings, they are generally less attended than their "alternative" counterparts. Why? I suspect it is because alternative projects create customer bases that are supremely interested in the people behind the work. When we had Javier Saltares in for Ghost Rider (at the time it was just about the "hottest" book around) only four people showed up. At least 100 times that showed up for Dave Sim, and in most stores Cerebus is a poor-selling title. It becomes apparent to me, at least, that with mainstream titles, the character is, indeed, more important than the creator. No one cares who draws Ghost Rider (as long as he is good), but everyone wants to know about the guy who writes Cerebus.

Generally, signings attract an older clientele, who invariably will buy whatever special items you may have. For the Gaiman et al signing, we had 20 copies of Signal to Noise imported from England. Those 20 copies didn't last an hour (and that's at $40 a copy!) I could've sold 3 times that, easily. We sold more than 30 copies of Taboo #5 (with the Sweeny Todd Penny Dreadful) at $14.95 a book, and nearly 50 copies of the Endless poster. I could go on and on about the extra stuff we sold (on top of the 150 copies of the SoM HC, at $30 each), but the point is, that by going the extra mile to make sure we were adequately stocked on "fringe" materials by the creators, we garnered many extra sales. What makes our figure even more unbelievable ($6316) is that it was comprised almost entirely of single copy sales, and there was no gimmick involved. We didn't especially "hard-sell" anyone, nor did we give any special deals to customers. How many of you out there can claim a more than $6000 day without multiple copies, "gimmick" comics, or special incentives? Promotion clearly works.

As I said, we had quite a long line, and to make it pleasant for the customers, we bought everyone in line a Coke (Just as, for Dave Sim, we gave out copies of Cerebus for them to read in line). If you go that extra mile for your customers, they'll respond! Moreover, when your staff goes above and beyond the call (like mine certainly did), make sure they know that their efforts matter. I kicked them in for 1% profit sharing. At the least, take them to dinner, afterward!

The final point to the SoM tour is that at least 40% of the people we saw had never been in the store before. By throwing a professional event, where everyone was happy, I am confident that more than half of those will come in to the store again. The success doesn't stop when the event does!

It is possible to make money (oodles of it) without towing the mainstream line. I prove it, day in, and day out. The only thing that matters is that you believe in what you're doing. If you do that, it's hard to fail. A love for comics, the medium, the industry is infectious.

I'll talk to you in a month, with the post-San Diego Comic Con report.