• When is 24 Hour Comics Day 2006?
• Who can host an official 24 Hour Comics Day 2006 event?
• What is required of me to host an official 24 Hour Comics Day event?
• Will About Comics charge me a fee for hosting an event?
• What support will About Comics give me for hosting the event?
• Will About Comics be offering any 24 hour comics-related product that this day will promote?
• How do I line up cartoonists for this event?
• Will all the cartoonists show up?
• Am I going to have an exclusive in my area?
• Does the event have to run midnight-to-midnight?
• Why has the date changed from April?
• Is About Comics "sponsoring" or otherwise responsible for the event at my location?
• Okay, so how do I apply for my store or organization to host an even?

When is 24 Hour Comics Day 2006?

October 7th, 2006.

Who can host an official 24 Hour Comics Day 2006 event?

Events can be hosted by any comic book shop, educational institution, museum, civic organization, arts organization, business, or previously-established comics club in the world.

What is required of me to host an official 24 Hour Comics Day event?

• A room to draw in, including chairs and tables. While many retailers are planning to host the event in store, thus putting the cartoonists on display, this is not a requirement. It could be any space with tables and chairs, (hotel meeting room space, space at a local school). This space needs to be available to the cartoonists for at least 27 hours, so that people who do not complete their work in 24 hours can still finish up, and those who arrive late still have a full day.
• A nap room: a quiet separate room with cots, sleeping bags, or reasonable sleeping surfaces, for those who feel they will they'll be able to keep going better after catching forty winks. (Somelocations in the past have used RVs or simply a van with a mattress in the back; you should consider the risks in doing this, particularly if the vehicle will be in a place that risks break-in or collision.) This should be open for the same period as the drawing room.
• A bathroom! People need bathrooms. People drinking a lot of caffeine to stay up need bathrooms a lot.
• Food. This is apt to be a "snacky" effort, so full multi-course meals aren't needed, but some substantive food will be need, and at multiple times (and not the same food all the time -- yes, pizza should be involved, but not solely pizza).And plenty of snacky bits.
• Drink. By which I mean primarily caffeine in key liquid forms (coffee, sodas, energy drinks), but also some non-caffeine ones for those who choose to go that way. And yes, water is needed and useful. We don't particularly recommend alcohol, as it has the effect of putting people to sleep.
• Access to a 24 hour convenience store or supermarket, because needs will arise.
• Manpower: someone from the organizing group (someone not doing the challenge themselves) should be on hand at all times. This should be done in shifts, so that someone alert is always on hand. It might be good to have two people on hand, particularly if you're hosting this in an open store, so that one can run out for any emergency supplies.
• Transportation: I'm not worried about folks getting to the event, but none of the participants should be allowed to drive themselves home after being up for 24 hours. This is not just a kindliness thing, this is also a safety thing and a liability thing. You can provide transportation, or you can require cartoonists to give you the name and the phone number of the person who is going to pick them up. The last thing any of us need is for some sleep-deprived cartoonist to cause a major accident. This is a very serious matter, and there may well be major financial liability issues involved.
• Drawing supplies. While the participants should bring their own drawing materials, it's still good idea to have a supply of drawing paper on hand. You don't need full-size comic book drawing paper; because folks doing 24 hour comics generally draw smaller. If it's convenient, have some other drawing supplies as well.
• Copying and shipping. After the event, you need to mail us photocopies of all of the comics created at the event. If you have a good photocopier on hand, that would be the best way to handle this, so that people don't have to wait for you to copy it elsewhere or to return their art later. If someone doesn't want to leave their art with you or you really don't want the hassle, you can alternatively provide the participant with a stamped, addressed 9"x12" envelope with sufficient postage for mailing 25 photocopied pages. Note: we will not be accepting scans on CDs instead of photocopies this year. If you want to send scans in addition to copies, in case we choose to produce a book and include some of those stories, that's fine and appreciated, but in any case we need the paper copies.

What support will About Comics give me for hosting the event?

However, there are things that we provided in past years that we will not be providing this year. We will not be providing the video tape of Scott McCloud talking about the 24 hour comics phenomenon. We will not be mailing out certificates of participation to the participants (although we may provide a certificate form that you can print out yourself.) We will not be offering returnable copies of any of our products. We do not anticipate expending much effort trying to find corporate sponsors to provide food, drink, and art supplies. We've done that in past years, and our success was very small when compared to the time and money invested.

Will About Comics charge me a fee for hosting an event?

No! About Comics does not charge any fees for the event hosts, nor for the cartoonists. We might offer event hosts the chance to buy t-shirts or promotional posters at some reasonable price, but you will not be required to buy them.

Will About Comics be offering any 24 hour comics-related product that this day will promote?

While we are not planning a new book of 24 hour comics to be released in conjunction with that day, you will still be able to order copies of four existing books:

• The original 24 Hour Comics anthology, edited by Scott McCloud with tales by Neil Gaiman, Al Davison, Steve Bissette, and more.
• 24 Hour Comics Day All-Stars with the very first 24 hour comic by Scott McCloud, plus Paul Smith, Sean McKeever, Tone Rodriguez, Dave Sim, Chris Eliopoulos, and other commercial comics creators.
• 24 Hour Comics Day Highlights 2004, the ultra-thick book with stories by Josh Howard, Eric Wolfe Hanson, Ken Lashley, Christian Gossett, and many more.
• 24 Hour Comics Day Highlights 2005, thick as a brick with dozens of stories, incuding tales by Lea Hernandez, Ben Avery, Svetlana Chmakova, Chris Fason, Mark Englert, and so many others.

These books will be available on a non-returnable basis through Diamond Comics Distributors and on a returnable basis through Diamond Book Distributors (and via the standard book wholesalers who order through them, such as Ingram and Baker&Taylor.) Some or all of the books may be available to direct market comic book stores through Cold Cut.

How do I line up cartoonists for this event?

First, let me clear up one misunderstanding I've gotten from a host. About Comics will not be providing professional cartoonists to the retailers. We will be publicizing the event to the comics community and use our list of stores to steer interested folks to you. While we do know of professional comics creators who are intending to be involved in the events, we expect the vast majority of folks will be amateurs. Art students, your local minicomics community, the folks who buy your copies of Draw and Write Now! and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel and even How To Draw Manga are all likely folks.

So what do you do to get your local cartoonist community, amateur and pro, involved? First, you have to publicize it. These easiest way is in store -- put up some of the downloadable signs, hand out the flyers, talk to any of your customers that you know are cartoonists. We also recomend using the customizable press release we will provide to get local press attention. And getting signs up at your local art school, college, and possibly the art supplies store could all help.

We will get you sign-up forms. Do keep in mind how much space you have, and don't overbook your space (and realize not only that folks drawing take up more space than people just sitting there, but also that people staying together all night need space to stretch, to walk around, and perhaps to simply get out of each other's face at times.) You are, of course, allowed to set a limit of how many people may attend.

You may charge for participation. In the past, almost all hosting comic book stores chose to forego this, seeing all of the expenses as reasonable promotional costs (and the only exception that I'm aware of was a store that used the money they raised for charity.) Remember, these cartoonists are helping your store look like a hip place where things happen, and this whole event should help you get the word out about your store. If you are charging, keep the price reasonable, and make sure that the charge is included on your flyer and other materials.

(Even if you can't talk the local known professionals into taking the 24 hour challenge, you might be able to convince them to make surprise visits during the event, giving encouragement to participants. Do keep it a surprise, because that way if the pro fails to show for any reason, no one is disappointed.)

Will all the cartoonists show up?

Perhaps not all of them. You can expect a certain amount of people flaking out. This isn't surprising; even the best-intentioned of folks are apt to find out that there's something they have to do during a fixed 24 hour period. In the past most sites had most or all of their cartoonists show up and many had people join in at the last moment; there was only one location where the flake rate really caused problems with the event (leaving one poor soul drawing alone in the store window... turning out a well-done if morose story.)

Am I going to have an exclusive in my area?

We are not going to guarantee exclusivity in any area. Most sites are likely to have a de facto exclusivity, but if an area has more than one shop that is cool enough to host such an event, it likely also has enough cartoonists to get attendees at both.

Does the event have to run midnight-to-midnight?

No. We allow any location to start at any time they want, not only on October 7th, but as long as it's October 7th anywhere in the world. (This will allow many locations to start the evening of October 6th, or even in the morning, quite handy for schools doing this as a curriculum activity.)

ADDED 21 SEPTEMBER 2006: We're expanding acceptable start times to include any time on October 6th local time, which means that your event will overlap with October 7th, the announced day. END ADDITION

I recommend against the midnight-to-midnight scheduling. The downside about starting at midnight Friday/Saturday is that you have trouble getting rested cartoonists. Most will have been up since Friday morning, a tough way to start a marathon session. Starting at, say, 9 AM Saturday will let them start rested, and thus be more likely to complete it.

However, there are up-sides to starting at midnight. First off, it sounds cooler. If you're holding it in store, it's easier to publicize that your store will be open all day Saturday. And if people are stopping by the store at normal hours, running midnight-to-midnight means that they're more likely to see the heart of creation. Plus, some media-savvy retailers feel that it's easier to get TV coverage if the event starts at midnight.

It's your choice. Pick times you think will do best for you.

Why has the date changed from April?

This change was made with the input of many past event hosts. The April scheduling proved problematic for many comics retailers who wanted to host events, as it was too close to Free Comic Book Day. Also, there were problems for school sites with the dates falling at a difficult point in the school year. October is a relatively quiet time, generally without major comics conventions, superhero movie releases, or other events that can cause complications.

Is About Comics "sponsoring" or otherwise responsible for the event at my location?

No. While we work to coordinate 24 Hour Comics Day, we cannot control the situation at your event site. We do not offer any assurances or guarantees against problems or liabilities arising. While we attempt to offer insight from our experience coordinating the day, we are not lawyers and do not represent any of our materials as protecting you from any legal, financial,or practical situations that may arise.

Okay, so how do I apply for my store or organization to host an event?

Simply email us at info@24hourcomics.com. Tell us that you agree to the conditions listed above. Let us know your store/school/organization name, location (or multiple locations, if you want to have events at multiple locations), phone number(s), website address if any, and also any questions you may have. In fact, you can email us at that address even if you just have questions and are still far from committing. (Note: we may follow up any applications with a request for a signed document.)