DanSlott

Dan Slott · @DanSlott

24th Apr 2017 from TwitLonger

My last word on the window box/BC nonsense.
Have talked with multiple freelancers who did signings through out the weekend.
ALL of them signed "window" bagged books at the booth.

The booth only deals with the problem when it BECOMES a problem with too many similarly taped, window bagged books started showing up. And that's a sign of one party abusing the free signing time for some serious flipping. (Something that might have been nice to know in, say, a news article that was researched before it went up online.)

(Remember the show where BC reported that the Netflix Daredevil booth signing was canceled? This was an article that was still up on the site while the the Netflix Daredevil booth signing was actually going on. That's the danger of sites that don't do due diligence.)

The free signing times at the Marvel Booth are there so that the greatest number of fans can get personal items signed by their favorite creators. The time is limited and when people try to game the system and get stacks of books signed that they can turn around and flip, it means the lines get capped early and many fans are turned away.

There actually ARE people out there who fill the lines with their employees, or pay people to stand there with stacks of their books, all for a way to turn those free signing times for personal mementos INTO large paydays. That's not fair to everyone who misses out.

The people working the Marvel Booth put in crazy hours at the show-- and they do it because they want everyone there to have a great time. With that comes times when they have to be the "bad cop" and cap a line, clear an aisle/entrance, enforce a book limit, or-- at certain times-- do things like ask people not to bring windowed/taped bags to the signings. This isn't done to punish fans. It's done because some bad apples have abused the system and the people at the booth want as many people as possible to have a chance to get through the line.

With individual creators, we have tables in artists alley. If something like this ever happens to you and you want your windowed/taped book signed, you can always find us there. I can't speak for other creators, but I'll sign them free of charge (as long as it's not a stack of the exact same comic with the exact same cover). And I have started asking that anyone with 5 items or more make a donation to the Hero's Initiative charity. 5 things is reasonable though, yeah?

Last thing:
Be nice to the booth guys, okay? It's a tough gig. The hours are CRAZY. And they've been there before you, setting up the booth-- and will be there after you, taking it down. Especially be SUPER-nice to 'em on the last day. :) I love them all very much. They're the hardest working sons of bitches at each and every show!

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