MangaOverload
Thanks to Emman, Xavier, Ian and the rest of the Mangaholix Crew for inviting us to their event last Saturday. Thank you for letting us hang out at that one corner of your booth and for allowing us to sell TRESE.
When Emman invited us and said we were going to their “guest stars”, I assumed there would be other “guests”. (Well, there were musical guests, lots of bands played before the cosplay event-- which was what everyone was waiting for). I just thought there would other comic book creators would also be on stage and we’d all talk about making comic books.
As it turned out we were it. Just me and Kajo on stage with the hosts.
I looked out into the crowd and thought, “99.99% percent of these people are here for the cosplay and anime and manga. Will they really be interested in our book which isn’t really manga?”
Thankfully, the hosts had some questions at hand and that prevented us from having any dead air. Then there were the four very nice people also went up to the mic and asked about TRESE.
I think the interview went well and I can only hope we didn’t bore the audience too much.
We stayed at the event until 7:30pm and I think we were able to sell 30 copies.
30 copies in 7 hours.
Roughly, 4 copies an hour.
I have found new respect for sales ladies and those guys at the mall who try to spray you with a bottle of perfume.
I was standing up most of the time. It just felt weird to just sit there and stare at people walk by. So, I stood outside of the booth, right beside the books.
I noticed some people would stop, look at the book and then the poster and then continue walking. Others would pick up the book and read the blurb at the back.
I then remembered something that our client always required us to write: what is the 5-second spiel you tell your customer? Aside from writing scripts for TV and radio commercials, we also sometimes write that spiel that is said by promo girls at the mall; the ones who give you samples of products. Our client made it a point that the promo girls aka “The Promodizers” always say something about the product and not just give it away.
So, the next time somebody stopped and picked up the book, I took a step towards them and said, “It’s a new horror book. If you’re into horror then you might want to try it. Here’s an open copy if you want to see the art inside.” And there were some people who did end up buying the book.
We also met a couple of people who came to the event because they already bought the book and wanted to hello and told us how much they liked TRESE. Thank you very much for dropping by.
Thanks also to the VPE crew (Ella, Sally, and Eli) for bringing copies of TRESE to the event and most especially to Sally, who kept watch and sold the book during the times we were away from the table.
There were times when me and Kajo were distracted by the cosplayers and Sally would be the one entertaining a customer. She’d then quietly point to us and say, “Gusto niyo magpa-pirma sa kanila? Sila gumawa niyan.” (We later found out that Sally was part of the staff that literally made the book. Her job at VPE is to collate the pages, bind them, glue the cover, and then shrink-wrap the book in plastic. Thank you Sally for all the hard work!)
And for our next trick … me and Kajo plan to lurk around the TOYCON in June. More details about that soon.
p.s. it was our first to go to the SMX (the convention center of SM Mall of Asia). It’s a well-designed place for such events (better designed than the World Trade Center on Roxas Blvd). Makes me wish that the other comic book events can also be held at the SMX, but I was told it’s also one of the most expensive venues. Maybe, with enough sponsors, it can be done.
Ninja Girl Not Happy?
Marco & his ninja girl
Thanks to Emman, Xavier, Ian and the rest of the Mangaholix Crew for inviting us to their event last Saturday. Thank you for letting us hang out at that one corner of your booth and for allowing us to sell TRESE.
When Emman invited us and said we were going to their “guest stars”, I assumed there would be other “guests”. (Well, there were musical guests, lots of bands played before the cosplay event-- which was what everyone was waiting for). I just thought there would other comic book creators would also be on stage and we’d all talk about making comic books.
As it turned out we were it. Just me and Kajo on stage with the hosts.
I looked out into the crowd and thought, “99.99% percent of these people are here for the cosplay and anime and manga. Will they really be interested in our book which isn’t really manga?”
Thankfully, the hosts had some questions at hand and that prevented us from having any dead air. Then there were the four very nice people also went up to the mic and asked about TRESE.
I think the interview went well and I can only hope we didn’t bore the audience too much.
We stayed at the event until 7:30pm and I think we were able to sell 30 copies.30 copies in 7 hours.
Roughly, 4 copies an hour.
I have found new respect for sales ladies and those guys at the mall who try to spray you with a bottle of perfume.
I was standing up most of the time. It just felt weird to just sit there and stare at people walk by. So, I stood outside of the booth, right beside the books.
I noticed some people would stop, look at the book and then the poster and then continue walking. Others would pick up the book and read the blurb at the back.
I then remembered something that our client always required us to write: what is the 5-second spiel you tell your customer? Aside from writing scripts for TV and radio commercials, we also sometimes write that spiel that is said by promo girls at the mall; the ones who give you samples of products. Our client made it a point that the promo girls aka “The Promodizers” always say something about the product and not just give it away.
So, the next time somebody stopped and picked up the book, I took a step towards them and said, “It’s a new horror book. If you’re into horror then you might want to try it. Here’s an open copy if you want to see the art inside.” And there were some people who did end up buying the book.
We also met a couple of people who came to the event because they already bought the book and wanted to hello and told us how much they liked TRESE. Thank you very much for dropping by.
Thanks also to the VPE crew (Ella, Sally, and Eli) for bringing copies of TRESE to the event and most especially to Sally, who kept watch and sold the book during the times we were away from the table.
There were times when me and Kajo were distracted by the cosplayers and Sally would be the one entertaining a customer. She’d then quietly point to us and say, “Gusto niyo magpa-pirma sa kanila? Sila gumawa niyan.” (We later found out that Sally was part of the staff that literally made the book. Her job at VPE is to collate the pages, bind them, glue the cover, and then shrink-wrap the book in plastic. Thank you Sally for all the hard work!)
And for our next trick … me and Kajo plan to lurk around the TOYCON in June. More details about that soon.
p.s. it was our first to go to the SMX (the convention center of SM Mall of Asia). It’s a well-designed place for such events (better designed than the World Trade Center on Roxas Blvd). Makes me wish that the other comic book events can also be held at the SMX, but I was told it’s also one of the most expensive venues. Maybe, with enough sponsors, it can be done.
Ninja Girl Not Happy?
Marco & his ninja girl
Marco with cosplay champion Alodia Gosiengfiao
Comments
Pinagmamalaki ko pa sa kanya na college friend and barkada ang gumawa nyan. :) At least hindi lang transformers ang alam niya sa akin.
Cya at Toycon ! :)
glad you were able to drop by and glad that miguel was intrigued with the book! hope he comes back for Book2! hehehe
hi anino!
thank you very much :)
--budjette