PR: What Not to Do: Release Wishful Thinking

This is, perhaps, one of the oddest press releases I’ve ever seen, since it basically says “we’re talking and we hope we get to do this”. Tomorrow, I’m putting out a press release that says I hope I can get Adam Hughes to draw a script I’m writing. From Ape Entertainment: Ape Entertainment hopes to set up shop on Sesame Street! Ape Entertainment announced today that it is currently negotiating with Sesame Workshop for the right to produce a series […]

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PR: What Not to Do: Forgetting Where You Are

It’s very important, with a press release, to realize that you’re talking to an international audience. So if you want coverage for your local event, it’s a huge help if you put the physical site of your news in at least the first paragraph of your release. I was reminded of this with a recent email. The headline conveniently said “A Comic Ship Is Reaching Out to Local Artists: The Shop Will Be Hosting a Monthly Art Jam and Other […]

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PR: What Not to Do: Undercutting Your Retail Partners

What exactly defines a release date? If a publisher says that they’re the only ones who can sell their product starting today, but any other retailer won’t have any stock until November, then is the release date today, or are they just making pre-sales (as comic publishers sometimes do at conventions) against a release date in November? I’m asking this question because I got this rather odd press release for the Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods DVD. Its message seems […]

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PR: What Not to Do: Badger Reviewers Into Ignoring You

I was really really tempted to bring the old “Stupid Publisher Tricks” label out of storage for this one, because boy, do they deserve it. I’ve talked before about how dumb it is to require reviewers to jump through hoops before you let them see your comic. I understand that some small companies may be paranoid about copies of their work getting put online for free, so they want to use DRM copies and individual secret passwords and other worthless […]

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PR: What Not to Do: Having a Useless Website

Brigid Alverson has written a wonderful rant about what journalists want from publisher websites, and how many fail at the basics. Here’s what any publisher site should have, inspired by her list: A page on each of your publications that contains the credits, a cover image (in a reusable form), the price, and the solicitation information. (Ideally, updated when you make changes.) A working search engine and understandable navigation. Contact information and basic company information. I like to know what […]

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PR: What Not to Do: Asking Reviewers to Jump Through Hoops

Got an email the other day looking for a review for a self-published graphic novel, which I won’t name because that isn’t the point, but it came from outside the traditional comic industry. The email didn’t bother to answer the questions I request from review submissions, instead sending me to their website. That’s ok, I don’t want to be dogmatic about following my guidelines, so I clicked over only to find all glossy taglines and video teaser, no actual information. […]

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PR: What Not to Do: Pushing Balloon Babes on Me

Between conventions and email, lately I’ve been given the push sell by a couple of different guys. The one thing they had in common was that they were trying to get me to try comics that were being promoted primarily with images of balloon-busted, barely clothed “female” grotesqueries. (I’m talking here about Jim Balent-level caricature, not just the standard Witchblade-style exposure.) They have every right to plaster their covers and promotional material with these helium hussies, of course, and in […]

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PR: What Not to Do: New Technology Is No Longer News

I don’t have a specific press release to show you for this topic, because I’ve gotten too many of them that say basically the same thing: “Hey, my comic/graphic novel that didn’t sell before/you’ve never heard of is going to be on the iPhone!” How nice for you. I don’t have an iPhone, so I don’t really care. I know lots of people do, though, and that’s why there are now something like 100,000 apps out there for that platform. […]

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