Legendary Ron Turner of Last Gasp came by to sit with us for a bit at the Papercutz booth. That’s me with him.

Back to the dinner (see last post):

Me with Rick Geary and wife Deborah.

Everybody doing a better job of smiling here:

Again, from left to right: Patrick Turner our booth mgr., Ted Rall, friend and wife of Rick Geary, Terry Nantier, Miran Kim, Sean Michael Wilson, Mark Badger and son.

San Diego is an exhausting experience but thrilling oftentimes as well.  It’s great to hear from fans about their excitement on certain series or even to hear ‘what a great publishing company you are!” For all the hard work, such compliments are music to my ears. Also, many of our authors that we publish we first started talking to at this show, from Geary to Shane White.

And so, every year, we celebrate our authors in a dinner get together where we all unwind and have a good time together.

Here from right to left is Rick Geary with wife and friend, Ted Rall. On the other side Mark Badger.

And here from left to right: Miran Kim, Badger and son. The other side: Patrick Turner, our booth mgr., Stephanie McMillan, Ted Rall, Geary facing away and co.

One you can barely see in the top picture behind Miran is Sean Michael Wilson, who just did AX, alternative manga at Top Shelf and is about to do with  us Story of Lee. He’s a Scot living in Japan. You can imagine the stories he regaled us with in his rich accent.

And now back to the daily task of getting out those books you want from us and see you at the next show (SPX in Washington in September where this time I plan to attend, hadn’t been able to in a few years).

The authors of Networked: Carabella on the Run which we premiered at the show, Gerard Jones and Mark Badger. Talking with Gerry is Sean Michael Wilson of Story of Lee.

A wider view of our booth. Ted Rall and Richard Moore are signing. Moore had to call off coming because he was so sick but finally struggled in on Saturday. Also in the booth, Patrick Turner our booth manager, thanks to Patrick for a terrific job. Further behind is Deborah Pierce of Privacy Activism Organization on hand to help promote the new Networked book.

And there’s our sister company Papercutz who had Papa Smurf going around the show to promote its new series of Smurfs graphic novels this fall. Here he’s posing with Terry Nantier, president of the company.

All in all, however, not a good show, we have to say. The aisles around the indie publishers were sparsely populated for too much of the show. The big budget movies are taking over the show and it felt like indie comics lovers have been turned off to coming. What a shame…

Some slight changes from last post on this.

We’ll be having Mark Badger and Gerard Jones in to launch Networked: Carabella on the Run hot off the press, Ted Rall, Richard Moore (Boneyard), Rick Geary, and Sean Michael Wilson signing an ashcan of his forthcoming Story of Lee

 Naomi Nowak was supposed to come all the way from Sweden but unfortunately had to cancel last minute due to personal circumstances, she’ll be missed.

Our sister co. Papercutz is looking for two people at the San Diego con, one no higher than 3 apples, um, well, 5′3″ to don a Papa Smurf costume at various intervals Thursday through Saturday, and one to be the guide to Papa Smurf going around the exhibit floor, for some extra money as well as a pass to the show.

Interested? Contact petranek@papercutz.com. Tell him you heard about it from the NBM blog.

Have a smurfy day.

Our 20% off sale comes to its grand finale on this summer celebration weekend, the 5th being the last day!

Order $25 (at full retail value) or more of our books and magazines and the cart will give you 20% off!

This has proven quite popular, if you haven’t taken advantage of this yet, you’ve got a few more days left. All books from Dungeon to Boneyard to Rick Geary, Ted Rall and Eurotica. Also including books to come you that you can pre-order (see Coming Up)!

Spread the word!

And, in advance, our thanks to you for helping us continue to bring you some pretty good stuff…

This includes all our books to come for the rest of the year which we have up on our website under “Coming Up,” even $3 sale books! NO EXCEPTIONS!

Fact is, cash is tight and we need your help!

So, until the end of this month, come on over and get a fabulous discount on our exceptional books! No code needs to be entered, as soon as you reach $25 on your order, the cart will give you your 20% discount.

Adult, New, the latest Geary, A Home for Mr. Easter, or latest Dungeon… come and get’em for 20% off!

Writer Eric Hobbs is putting on a writing contest around the theme of the forthcoming The Broadcast graphic novel announced for August and presently being solicited. Here’s his release on this fun challenge:

In 1938, Orson Welles used fake news bulletins to convince more than one million Americans the Earth was being invaded by visitors from the planet Mars. Most were outraged when Welles eventually stepped out of character and revealed the elaborate ruse, but everyone was relieved.

Almost everyone, that is.

Coming from NBM and already named one of the “hottest graphic novels of summer” by GraphicnNovelReporter.com, THE BROADCAST is about a rural Indiana town that loses power halfway through the infamous radio play having never learned the so-called attack is a hoax. Fearing the worst is upon them, four diverse families band together in an effort to make it through the night. But tensions build, as differences surface, and it isn’t long before everyone involved realizes they have as much to fear from each other as they do the “alien invasion” heading their way.

In anticipation of the book’s release, writer Eric Hobbs and Harvey-nominated artist Noel Tuazon are launching the “Your Broadcast” Writing Contest where one winning writer will receive a signed copy of THE BROADCAST along with an original piece of art based on their story.

“I’ve always been fascinated by that night,” Hobbs explained. “Not only by the stuff that happened with Orson… but by the events that took place all across the country. There are thousands of true stories but an endless number of stories writers can tell.”

Interested writers are asked to submit short stories that take place on the night of Welles’ infamous WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast. Hobbs will read the entries, and Tuazon will create an 11X17 sketch that serves as a depiction of the winning story.

“Noel’s work is perfect for a project like this,” Hobbs continued. “Forget the signed book. Someone’s going to get a beautiful piece of art for their wall by one of comic’s most unique talents.”

Stories should be sent as attachments to broadcastcontest@gmail.com. Entries should be no longer than 2500 words and must be received by August 30, 2010

THE BROADCAST is available in the June issue of PREVIEWS (page 301) and can be pre-ordered using order code JUN10 1062. Visit erichobbsonline.com for an exclusive 21-page preview of the project.

Eric Hobbs previously wrote the underground mini-series, AWAKENINGS, set to be collected this winter from Arcana. Noel Tuazon work on ELK’S RUN was nominated for the Harvey Award. His most recent work, TUMOR, debuted exclusively on Amazon’s Kindle before being collected by Archaia.

The Big Khan
The Year of Loving Dangerously
Famous Players
But also: Joe & Azat, Things Undone, the Dungeon series, Little Nothings, Mijeong, Vatican Hustle, Graylight. We had not much luck with the Eisners, maybe the Harveys? If you’re a comics creator, get your ballot to nominate. Deadline is this Friday!