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Ah, sod it, may as well tell you what *really* made me uncomfortable about this shouty Kickstarter email (buckle up kids, it's thread time!).
So then, this shouty email I got from a UK indie publisher asking/pleading with me to back their Kickstarter. They have a reputation for aggresive marketing tactics, but given the amount and general quality of their output, it works for them, so... cool. I guess.
They were exhibiting at a con I went to 3/4 years ago. We'd met before in person, exchanged emails. We'd played the review/interview game before. We were chummy. They ask how I was doing with their comics. I said I hadn't read them yet.
Their response: "YOU WHAT?!?!"
Their response: "YOU WHAT?!?!"
I'm thrust into this squat chair by their table. A copy of their flagship comic flung into my hands. "Read that", they said. "Read it now. But just the first story and tell me your reaction, because it's got a really cool twist."
"Help", I scream internally.
"Help", I scream internally.
I'm sat in this small chair feeling like I'm in everyone's way. The hubbub of the con swirls around me. I'm awkwardly caught in the middle of strangers' conversations. I'm trying my best to compose a decent reaction to a comic I'm barely processing.
I finish the comic. There is indeed a twist. I close the book and get up from the chair.
"Well well well what did you think? Pretty cool, twist, right?!"
-externally- "Yeah, it was great!"
-internally- "Please, let the ground swallow me up."
"Well well well what did you think? Pretty cool, twist, right?!"
-externally- "Yeah, it was great!"
-internally- "Please, let the ground swallow me up."
I say my thanks and goodbyes and start to go.
"You'll be buying a copy then?"
Shit.
"I'll let you have it for a fiver. Mates' rates, amiright?"
"You'll be buying a copy then?"
Shit.
"I'll let you have it for a fiver. Mates' rates, amiright?"
I finally escape with a comic I didn't really want and an experience I really didn't want. Phew.
So that's my story! Hopefully no-one else has had to endure a similar experience.
So that's my story! Hopefully no-one else has had to endure a similar experience.
