NY ComicCon

I love ComicCon.

I started out by going to the San Diego con, which became an annual trip with my and my evil twin/partner in crime Jay, and sometimes the lovely ladies in our lives. I was on the ground floor when ComicCon came to NYC, caught up in the ridiculous lines and fire-hazard overflowing room capacities of the first couple of years, and then the slightly more comfortable scene last year.

I’ve been a comic book and fantasy fan my whole life, and was going to conventions even as a kid, where it was often the only place where you could hunt down obscure back issues of books if they weren’t in the bins of your local store, because the internet hadn’t been invented yet. I loved going to see my favorite authors and artists speak, getting signed books and sketches, and seeing people dressed up as my favorite heroes. I have had some really good times at comic conventions in general, and ComicCon in particular, as my blog archives can attest.

But this year, man. This is going to be the BEST. CON. EVER!

Why? Because this year, I’m not going as a fanboy. This year, I’m going because it’s my job.

How fucking cool is THAT?! I get to talk on panels, give away free books, sign autographs, and say “See ya, suckas!” to the chumps on the main line as I sneak in the side door reserved for presenters.

And not only is it my job to go and promote my new book, but I discovered yesterday that in some ways, I will be the belle of the ball.

You see, I ordered a weekend pass to the con for my wife, and it arrived in the mail yesterday. It looked like this:

I was confused at first. Was this a special badge for me from my publisher? Why was it addressed to my wife?

Then it hit me. The badge wasn’t personalized.

I called my publisher, freaking out, and found out that sure enough, they had paid for 50% of the badges at the con to be Warded Man badges, and the other 50% to be for Richard Morgan’s The Steel Remains.

Now, last year’s ComicCon had somewhere in the vicinity of 30,000 attendees, and this year is supposed to be bigger still. Every year the attendance has gone up considerably.

Can you imagine somewhere between 15 and 20 THOUSAND people wearing ID badges with my name and book title on them? I keep trying to, but my brain keeps shorting out. It’s incredible. A little boy’s dream come true.

And did I mention ComicCon is falling on my birthday this year? And that we will be giving away hundreds of free signed copies of The Warded Man, and thousands of free temporary ward tattoos? And that I will be speaking on author roundtable panels and the like?

Just when I thought I was dreaming and needed a pinch, I got a MMS message on my phone from my friend Jon, who had gotten his passes in the mail. He enclosed a picture:

Awesome.

So if you were on the fence about attending this year’s con, get off the bench and into the game by ordering tickets now! There are only three days left to order and have them sent to you in the mail. After that, you will need to pick them up at the door, and I assure you, you do NOT want to wait in that line, if you can avoid it.

Hope to see you all there!

P.S.

If anyone else sends me pictures of them with their badges, I will happily post them!

Posted on January 14, 2009 at 5:23 pm by PeatB
Filed under Events, Life, Reviews, Sales, Writing
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