[...] Butcher returns to dissect How To Get Published The Open Book Press Way. I was snarky about one of Open Book’s early press releases back in March, when they tried to capitalize on Speakeasy’s demise. [...]

At the time this release came out many members of the comics news journalism community questioned our motives behind offering the opportunity to work with us.

Several journalists took the time to actually contact me and get more information, and have me clear up any misconceptions about our motivations. Foremost this entire idea came about because I am personally a Speakeasy fan. Those journalists who took the time to question us found that we do not have opportunistic motivations in mind.

This has resulted in the news release being carried by many prominenet sources such as newsarama.com and others. Several Speakeasy creators are now working with us or talking with us about future projects, and we are currently talking with Speakeasy owner Adam Fortier about other opportuinities.

We are a fairly young company and many people have yet to hear of us. Our goal is to change that in the near future as well as over the long term.

I freely welcome anyone who believes the motives of Open Book Press to be purely selfish to contact me and ask questions, raise flags, and discuss points. I invite everyone, and do not expect anything such as media or news coverage from anyone who has questions whether or not they are part of comics journalism or not.

I will also paste a copy of one of my private e-mails with a comics journalist who had questions below in order to shed more light on the situation.

I do thank you for raising critical points for us to consider on future press releases.

I wish all Speakeasy creators the best of success in the future no matter where this industry takes them, and I truly appreciate the critical eye that Johanna Drapper Carlson has placed on this news release.

Thanks for anyone taking the time to read all this and thanks to comicsworthreading.com for providing the space for people to write.

Mike Gagnon
Open Book Press

Pasted excerpt below…

“Just curious why you’d not simply contact any creators you’re interested in directly? To be honest, this kind of comes off like an opportunistic cry for attention.”

Sorry to come off that way. We have approached creators, but haven’t been able to get contact info on all of them. I felt it imperative to move quickly so that these creators would know about the option to submit work and the opportunity to be involved with our new comic line.

Also, as stated in the release there is only room for a few series here, so it wouldn’t be fair to contact all of them in person and then refuse most. Also we did want the news to be tied in with the fact that we have approached Speakeasy about buying their company for a possible future revival and we have already done the same for SMASH! Comics.

We really simply are trying to help out those creators who have been stuck without a publisher. I know it sucks because I’ve been there.

I personally really want to help these creators out. I know that kind of thing is not common in business today and I did expect to receive some cynical responses from people who believe I’m making the offer out of my own self-interest. If I truly wanted a publicity stunt I could have offered much more hype than what was offered in that press release.

I truly am a fan of many of the comics that just lost their publisher, and that was my motivation and inspiration for making the move. I fully expect
that some people will question my motives and I am fully prepared to answer for any actions or statements made and explain any misunderstandings.

If you would like to discuss any questions you have further I would be more than happy to elaborate and answer. If not that’s fine too and I really do
appreciate you taking time out of your day to at least contact me and pose the tough questions as opposed to simply slagging the press release or the
company.

Again if you do have any question or misgivings or need more info let me know, and thank you for your time.

Mike Gagnon
Open Book Press

That being said, we’re still working on our solution for Elk’s Run, and should have some news very soon.

Plus, is anyone else alarmed by the fact that they don’t indicate that they’ve gone to the trouble of… y’know… reading any of Speakeasy’s titles to see if they’re any good?