Since WonderCon a month or so ago, I've received a number of messages that said basically the same thing. All but one of them put it nicely. One of them seemed slightly pissed-off that I wasn't seated behind a table for the duration of the con. I decided to run the slightly pissed-off one, minus the name of the sender, and to respond to it here…
I appreciate that you don't like sitting behind a table signing books all day at a con but you were a Special Guest at WonderCon and some of us go to cons under the assumption that we can bring things for Special Guests to sign. I brought quite a few books that I wanted to get your signature on and for three days, I was unable to locate you. It's no fun to carry a large bundle around for three days in search of the man who isn't there. Isn't that a little inconsiderate of your fans?
Well…first of all, let me say that I signed a lot of comics at WonderCon. Unlike any guests who may have canceled (as does happen), I was there all three days. Other folks had no trouble finding me, especially those who looked at the program schedule, saw when and where I was hosting panels and attended those panels or waited for me outside.
Secondly, I've never known of a convention that by announcing someone was a Special Guest was guaranteeing that the person would be there (like I said, guests sometimes have to cancel) or that they'd be there every day for all day…or that they'd sign everything for everyone for a price you'd find acceptable. In my case, the price is zero. I don't charge to sign a reasonable number of items for any one person…
…though if enough people start treating it as some sort of business obligation on my part, maybe I should start.
Listen, Slightly-Pissed-Off Person: I'm sorry I made a decision you don't like. Maybe part of the problem is that I've never been able to fully wrap my brain around the concept that I have that many fans. For a long time, I guess I thought that a lot (not all but a lot) of the people who asked me to sign a comic were merely interested in enhancing its resale value…and that is really the case with many of the requests.
I plan to be at Comic-Con where I'll be hosting a jillion-and-three panels. If you're there and you consult the programming guide, you should know exactly where I am about 80% of the time. I'm also looking for a spot where I can be available to sign stuff for maybe a half-hour a day. I'd do longer but I really don't anticipate that much demand.