Comic-Con report

Comic-Con International was, as always, insanely crowded, chaotic, overpowering, and a ton of fun. We had a number of authors there, plus our sales force braved the con for the first time, and loved it. Most of Comic-Con is running around meeting authors and others, then wandering the floor in sensory overload, but here are a few highlights.

Wednesday/preview night, I found the most traumatizing sight of the con: colognes based on Star Trek, including Pon Farr, Sulu pour homme, and Shirtless Kirk.

Thursday's Morrow/Avon/Eos cocktail party was a blast--with authors, booksellers, bloggers et al. hanging out in the swank Bardello lounge. The unisex bathroom was alternately a hit or a shock, and apparently I missed Dolph Lundgren walking past totally drunk... Attendees included Raymond E. Feist, Sophia Nash, Guillermo del Toro, Richard Kadrey, Jocelynn Drake, Merrie Destefano, Lou Anders, John Picacio, Ann Vandermeer, and many more.

Friday morning Guillermo del Toro signed THE STRAIN and gave away a few galleys of THE FALL. That afternoon Brom signed THE CHILD THIEF.

That afternoon, our BITE ME: Beyond Vampires in Urban Fantasy panel was a huge success. Authors included SDCC Special Guest Tanya Huff, Random House YA author Lauren Kate, and Eos authors Mario Acevedo, Merrie Destefano, Jocelynn Drake, and Richard Kadrey.  Room was packed (despite Joss Whedon speaking down the hallway) and topics ranged from vampires, writing and research, to evil unicorns.  Signing afterwards was great, run by the fabulous Mysterious Galaxy booksellers (special thanks to Maryelizabeth Hart for all her help!).

Saturday we had a Hot @ Harper panel, talking about all of our current and upcoming titles--science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, paranormal romance, and beyond.  One lucky attendee won a Sony e-reader, and everyone got a free book or galley.  You can check out the great titles & covers here. 

People say Hollywood has taken over SDCC, it's losing its focus, etc. Yes, it was tons of fun star-gazing while having dinner right behind the SyFy/EW.com red carpet, but on the book front, there were numerous literary panels with authors ranging from China Mieville to Naomi Novik, Scott Westerfeld to Charlaine Harris, numerous artists from Brom to Dave Seeley, tons of editors from all the sf/f imprints, and many, many more.  I also saw too many people to mention (special call-outs to John Picacio, Scott Westerfeld, the too-cool-for-school Chris Roberson & Allison Baker, Lou Anders, China Mieville, Rome Quezada et al.) and missed a ton of others. 

You get high quality author panels and signings, plus insane costumes, displays, stars, toys, and much more. Including the Hoff dancing on a double-decker bus! Only at Comic-Con.  I can't wait for next year (I just need to recover a bit more..).

Many more SDCC pictures are here, and also at our Facebook page.

-- Diana

Comments

[Amy @ My Friend Amy]

I missed your two key panels sadly but it was a great time! I love all of the bookish events.

[Steven R.]

I always wanted to go to Comic Con but because of distance I've lately had to settle for it's sister, Wonder Con, in San Francisco. It's also really neat; the only problem there is that you don't get the literary scene (aside from comics and graphic novels) and all the other good stuff like you do in San Diego.

I didn't even know Guellermo Del Toro had a novel out already! He's one of my favourite directors! I need to purchase a copy of his and Hogan's The Strain read it so I can read the sequel that just released!

Thanks for the recap!

--Steven R.

[Diana]

Amy--so glad you enjoyed SDCC! Maybe next year you'll find us. =)

Steven R--Enjoy THE STRAIN! THE FALL will be out in October.

Diana