Zub Tales

Short Version: I’m thrilled to announce that the crew at Comic Sketch Art will be handling my upcoming appearances that haven’t already been booked for 2022 and 2023. If you work for a convention or store and want me to attend your event, please reach out to them or drop me a line and I can put you in touch with them to work out details.

Long Version: I’ve been going to comic conventions as a professional now for twenty years. Just looking at that typed out in front of me, it feels utterly strange. With well over two hundred shows under my belt at this point I’ve run the gamut of events, from store signings and small book festivals to some of the largest pop culture gatherings in the world.

Attending conventions has been an incredible boon to my personal life and creative career, as both a fan and professional. That said, it’s also been a tremendous amount of stress on top of juggling my writing deadlines and teaching day job. Every show has its own set of logistics that need to be worked out – travel, lodgings, shipping, scheduling, set up and tear down – and dealing with all that takes time and energy away from other things, especially creative things.

Part of me really enjoyed intrepidly heading forth each new trip, hauling my banner and other stuff to each show, doing it all myself or traveling with Stacy and having the two of us figure out each challenge as a team. But again, it’s a ton of work, especially now.

Here in 2022, as soon as we returned to the con circuit, I could feel the difference.
Two years away and things had changed.

My time is being squeezed more than ever. The number of meetings and meet ups happening off the show floor have increased and, honestly, I’m not getting any younger, so hauling everything and doing set up every time just doesn’t feel as fun or satisfying as it used to. The mileage is literally starting to catch up with me.

On top of that, conventions are more corporate than ever before. In the face of celebrity-driven mega-events and so many companies throwing their weight around, it feels good to have a group like CSA advocating for the creators they represent, leveraging our skills and credits to get better placement, promotion, and compensation as part of the ongoing convention business. I know that’s not something a lot of other creators talk about, but I’m always pretty open about my experiences, both creative and financial. Time, money, and hassle all factor into this decision.

I want to do more events, see more people (friends and fans alike), and experience more places without wearing myself down to the nub and working with CSA looks like it’ll enable all that and more. The fact that they’re also repping a bunch of my friends and we’ll get to spend more time together on the road is just icing on the cake. With so many exciting projects on the horizon and now extra resources in place to handle coordination on events, I’m even more pumped for the future.

Thanks, as always, for your support. Getting to write stories for a living is a gift and I never want to take any of this for granted.