My last Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sales of 2018 were Friday and Saturday, August 24-25. The hours of the sale were supposed to be 9 am to 1 pm each day, but my garage door remained open a touch longer on both dates. Fun sets its own timetable.
I had a great time and so did my customers. Of course, many of my customers are also dear friends of mine. We talked about all things comics. There were some special moments as well.
Folks I had met at last weekend’s NEO Comic Con and who picked up fliers for my garage sale came to my house. One was a mom and her shy son, who wants to be a comic-book writer. He had a wee bit of difficulty asking me questions, but he has my e-mail address so I can answer any other questions as they occur to him.
Near the end of Saturday’s sale, a woman who had been there earlier in the day came by with her neighbor. Her neighbor loves the Black Lightning TV series and was so excited to meet the creator of the character that she was practically jumping up and down. She called a family member so that he could talk to me as well. When she left, I gave her a signed Black Lightning poster.
Since I’m always asked this...my garage sales were very successful. I made 147% of my goal for the weekend. I sold all but two of the dozen $10 mystery boxes I had prepared. I sold all but one of the collector boxes I had on hand. I sold hundreds of dollars worth of dollar comics and more expensive comics. I sold a great many manga volumes off my fifty-cent table and every issue of Commando that I had put out. Since I have two stacks of unread issues of Commando - it’s a British comics digest featuring war stories - you’ll have a chance to buy issues again next year.
I learned some lessons from this year’s garage sales. Advertising in my local newspaper is simply not cost-effective. There was not enough civilian traffic for the $60 it costs for a tiny classified ad. Next year, I’ll try to come up with “events” that will get the newspaper to give me free publicity.
My Craig’s List announcements were free and seemed to bring in some customers. I even got a “fan letter” from a non-comics fan because she enjoyed the photos and my writing. I’ll try to make them even more fun next year.
And, of course, my promoting the sales on Facebook and Twitter, and in this bloggy thing were the most reliable way to draw customers to the sales. At the risk of sounding hokey, my life is better for all the social media friends I’ve made.
I’ll be starting work on my 2019 garage sales next week. The plan is to utilize my son’s now-vacant bedroom as a staging ground for bagging and pricing comic books, making mystery boxes and preparing all the other items I’ll be selling. You can expect the return of the quarter boxes, the return of the fifty-cent table, collectible phones at insanely low prices, additional boxes of more expensive comic books and at least one box of Isabella-written comic books. With the Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands trade collection coming out in October and Black Lightning: Brick City Blues in early 2019, I’ll have those in stock as well.
Thanks to everyone who came to my garage sales this year. With the advance planning I’m doing, I hope to be able to start them just as soon in 2019 as the weather permits.
******************************
In my new-found zeal to get out of my office more often, I’ll be at the opening reception of the Vagabond Comics Retrospective. It will be held on Friday, August 31 from 5-8 pm at the Gordon Square Art Space, 1386 W. 65th St., Cleveland, Ohio. To quote from the event notice on Facebook:
Join us for the opening reception of Vagabond Comics Retrospective, and celebrate the launch of Vagabond Comics, Issue 9: Midnight Creepers. Vagabond Comics is an independently published, all-ages anthology.
Much like a trash can fire serves as a gathering place for the wild tales of ragtag travelers, we aim to provide a welcoming platform for a diverse collection of voices. This show features work from various contributors across two year’s worth of quarterly comics.
******************************
My next public appearance will be a first for me. I will be doing a reading from my Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands mini-series in a nightclub setting. If you’re going to be in the Cleveland area on Saturday evening, September 1, think about coming to this event:
Tap Dance Killer's Comic Book Cabaret
Hero Tomorrow Comics is throwing a loving farewell for the Phantasy complex featuring a vaudeville show of rock and theatre performers, dancers, poets, and comic book writers! It'll be a night like you've never seen!
The Symposium Nightclub
11794 Detroit Ave
Lakewood, OH 44107
The doors open at 6 pm. The show runs 7 pm to midnight. Admission is $5 at the door. If you’re under 21, it’s $8 at door. This venue is cash only.
Yeah, this is a little out there for me. But, barreling towards 67, I remain committed to trying new things, spreading my “brand” far and wide and always, always going forward.
******************************
My next convention appearance will be the Hall of Heroes Comic Con on Saturday and Sunday, September 8 and 9, in Elkhart, Indiana. I will have more information at that event next week.
In the meantime, I’ll be bringing you new bloggy things on a nigh-daily basis with discussions of Black Lightning and much more more. I’ll also be working on various books and comics. I’ll let you know how those are going as they progress.
Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2018 Tony Isabella
