Post by Pulp Fiction on Feb 18, 2005 20:37:02 GMT -5
Dear Mr Perez
My name is Michael Lerner and I am an owner of a new bookstore, Pulp Fiction, in Long Beach, California. I would like to share with you a little about our store and philosophy and ask for you input and assistance.
We opened about six months ago with the idea of marketing our products and services to the general public. In terms of merchandise, we specialize in graphic novels, comic books and manga, along with various other toys, figures and collectibles. However, we offer much more than just a place to shop to our customers. We have art classes, a (Free) library, a graphic novel book club, movie nights and more. Our store is clean, comfortable, well-furnished and lit. We have chairs and coffee available to our patrons and encourage them to sit around and read or hang out with their fellow fans to talk shop. My partner and I have tried to create the type of store that we have always wanted to go to and the type of store that anyone would be comfortable being in and shopping in. In short, we see ourselves as more of a Borders for the graphic novel crowd.
My partner and I are both social active and our store reflects this. One of our main goals is to promote reading/literacy in general, and of course, reading of graphic novels specifically. Our first promotion, in October, was Give the Treat of Literacy this Halloween. We gave local adults free packets containing Spiderman comic books to hand out on Halloween. This was very successful and popular among locals and we were able to distribute over 6000 comics. We have also sponsored and ran a food drive (Thanksgiving) and toy collections for the underprivileged (with Toys for Tots this past Christmas).
Our most popular “event” is our How to Draw (Manga) classes on Saturday mornings. More than half the participants are younger kids, and they have a great time. Their parents love it as it gives the kids a constructive outlet. We also have many adults in the class, most of whom are in various stages of creating their own comics. In the near future we would like to add a writing/storytelling workshop to the mix as we have had a lot of demand for this. I (and our customers) would love for someone “in the industry” to come in and speak about the art of writing in general, and specifically on how to write for comics.
We have also started a Graphic Novel Book Club that meets on the last Sunday of the month. We had our first meeting at the end of January (Neil Gaiman’s Sandman was the book of the month) and it was very successful. Everyone had a great time as we served up scintillating conversion along with some yummy coffee and pastries from a local coffee house. We had a Neil Gaiman radio interview in the background and it was almost like he was with us. The best part of the meeting was when our resident Neil Gaiman fanatic was suggesting more obscure Gaiman books to other attendees based on their interests, and they were all open and willing to try new material. Our next meeting is the last Sunday of February and Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is the book de jour. Future featured books/writers will be Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing and Watchmen and Frank Miller’s Sin City and Batman books (Year One and Dark Knight Returns).
One of our best “promotional” tools is the Pulp Fiction Library, where anyone can check out and take home select graphic novels and manga absolutely free. This has been a great way to get many non comic books readers to try new material. The library features books for all age levels with a mix of many genres. As an example, we feature the first CSI graphic novel prominently in our Recommended Reading section. Many newcomers see this and pick up a graphic novel for the first time. I have had many (non-comic) readers tell me what a pleasant surprise the book was, recommend the title to others, and oftentimes check out other, more diverse graphic novels from the Library and store.
Here is our plea for help and assistance. While everyone who shops at our store loves us and our ideas, we need more customers. Starting a new business (and this is the first one for me and my partner) has been much more challenging than we ever imagined. We have many other ideas for building our store and interest in graphic novels in general (not enough hours in the day). The biggest obstacle is getting people through the front door for the first time. With this in mind we decided we would like to start doing signings and/or workshops (writing/drawing) with local professionals. We will have a table at the upcoming LA (Long Beach) Wizard Convention, and see this as an ideal opportunity to generate word of mouth for our store and specifically publicize any events we have in April and May. If you could contribute any time during those months in any capacity it would be much appreciated. We are open to listening to any ideas you have or anything new and/or different you might want to try.
I am also taking this opportunity to invite any professionals who might be attending the Wizard Con to check out our store and tell us what they think and any ideas they have for publicizing either their books or the industry as a whole.
Please feel free to email or call me at any time if you have any comments or suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours,
Michael Lerner
Pulp Fiction
562-496-3343 (store)
www.pulpfictiononline.com
My name is Michael Lerner and I am an owner of a new bookstore, Pulp Fiction, in Long Beach, California. I would like to share with you a little about our store and philosophy and ask for you input and assistance.
We opened about six months ago with the idea of marketing our products and services to the general public. In terms of merchandise, we specialize in graphic novels, comic books and manga, along with various other toys, figures and collectibles. However, we offer much more than just a place to shop to our customers. We have art classes, a (Free) library, a graphic novel book club, movie nights and more. Our store is clean, comfortable, well-furnished and lit. We have chairs and coffee available to our patrons and encourage them to sit around and read or hang out with their fellow fans to talk shop. My partner and I have tried to create the type of store that we have always wanted to go to and the type of store that anyone would be comfortable being in and shopping in. In short, we see ourselves as more of a Borders for the graphic novel crowd.
My partner and I are both social active and our store reflects this. One of our main goals is to promote reading/literacy in general, and of course, reading of graphic novels specifically. Our first promotion, in October, was Give the Treat of Literacy this Halloween. We gave local adults free packets containing Spiderman comic books to hand out on Halloween. This was very successful and popular among locals and we were able to distribute over 6000 comics. We have also sponsored and ran a food drive (Thanksgiving) and toy collections for the underprivileged (with Toys for Tots this past Christmas).
Our most popular “event” is our How to Draw (Manga) classes on Saturday mornings. More than half the participants are younger kids, and they have a great time. Their parents love it as it gives the kids a constructive outlet. We also have many adults in the class, most of whom are in various stages of creating their own comics. In the near future we would like to add a writing/storytelling workshop to the mix as we have had a lot of demand for this. I (and our customers) would love for someone “in the industry” to come in and speak about the art of writing in general, and specifically on how to write for comics.
We have also started a Graphic Novel Book Club that meets on the last Sunday of the month. We had our first meeting at the end of January (Neil Gaiman’s Sandman was the book of the month) and it was very successful. Everyone had a great time as we served up scintillating conversion along with some yummy coffee and pastries from a local coffee house. We had a Neil Gaiman radio interview in the background and it was almost like he was with us. The best part of the meeting was when our resident Neil Gaiman fanatic was suggesting more obscure Gaiman books to other attendees based on their interests, and they were all open and willing to try new material. Our next meeting is the last Sunday of February and Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is the book de jour. Future featured books/writers will be Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing and Watchmen and Frank Miller’s Sin City and Batman books (Year One and Dark Knight Returns).
One of our best “promotional” tools is the Pulp Fiction Library, where anyone can check out and take home select graphic novels and manga absolutely free. This has been a great way to get many non comic books readers to try new material. The library features books for all age levels with a mix of many genres. As an example, we feature the first CSI graphic novel prominently in our Recommended Reading section. Many newcomers see this and pick up a graphic novel for the first time. I have had many (non-comic) readers tell me what a pleasant surprise the book was, recommend the title to others, and oftentimes check out other, more diverse graphic novels from the Library and store.
Here is our plea for help and assistance. While everyone who shops at our store loves us and our ideas, we need more customers. Starting a new business (and this is the first one for me and my partner) has been much more challenging than we ever imagined. We have many other ideas for building our store and interest in graphic novels in general (not enough hours in the day). The biggest obstacle is getting people through the front door for the first time. With this in mind we decided we would like to start doing signings and/or workshops (writing/drawing) with local professionals. We will have a table at the upcoming LA (Long Beach) Wizard Convention, and see this as an ideal opportunity to generate word of mouth for our store and specifically publicize any events we have in April and May. If you could contribute any time during those months in any capacity it would be much appreciated. We are open to listening to any ideas you have or anything new and/or different you might want to try.
I am also taking this opportunity to invite any professionals who might be attending the Wizard Con to check out our store and tell us what they think and any ideas they have for publicizing either their books or the industry as a whole.
Please feel free to email or call me at any time if you have any comments or suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours,
Michael Lerner
Pulp Fiction
562-496-3343 (store)
www.pulpfictiononline.com