Max Riffner

The Parlor

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Quick Step is Out!

Printed copies of Quick Step are out and available! There are four ways to buy it.

1. Buy Local: If you live in Omaha, you can stop by Krypton Comics, roll by the Local Talent section, purchase a copy and enjoy!
2. Buy Online: Go to IndyPlanet.com. IndyPlanet is associated with Ka-Blam, the fine folks who printed the books. Each copy is made to order there. Check out the rest of their selection!
3. Get It Signed: I’ve opened up a Shopify store online if you would like a signed copy of Quick Step direct from me.
4. Get It Signed With Art: You can also buy a signed copy with an original piece of art from me. I will draw and ink a Lorenzo piece for you on 8.5” x 11” bristol board.

Also, I’m doing original art commissions through the Shopify store if anyone is interested! My only rules: I will not draw anything that you cannot describe to me in front of children. If you want something of a questionable nature, I’m not your man¹. Once you place your order, I’ll email you for the details on what you would like.

¹ For example, pin-up girls are okay. Pin-up girls depicted in an extended rape fantasy involving tentacles? Not okay.

And Then There Are The Buzzwords

The other day I wrote about the secret vernacular that some professions have and I how like learning about them. Today I was reminded of the dark side of that coin: buzzwords. In a great post from 37 Signals, I was reminded of one of my biggest pet peeves in my professional life. Buzzwords. I hate them.

One of my recent favorites was a business manager telling me I needed to “gain visibility.” What they actually meant was that I needed the different departments of the business to share their goals with me so I could better plan creative changes. I eventually followed the metaphor (I’m high up and can see everything better by looking down), but sorry, gaining visibility makes me sound like the Invisible Man and I just found a miraculous cure.

The thing that bugs me the most about buzzwords is that nothing is safe; I can honestly see some marketing/sales person selling me a service by saying I won’t touch the floor with it. The purveyors of these terms will pull anything and everything to make themselves sound better and smarter.

Say what you mean and mean what you say. It is really that simple.

Sucking at Self-Promotion

When assessing the strengths and weaknesses of myself and where I was headed in the business of comics, one of the things that was missing was self-promotion. I am no good at marketing myself still. I understand the great need for it, but this is where my midwestern upbringing gets the better of me. I get all “golly, shucks, gee” whenever somebody says anything good about me or my work, nor do I go and seek out such praise as actively as I should be. While I don’t think the response is inappropriate, I need to capitalize on it more because I’m selling a product at the end of the day.

When I had originally written this post back before the end of 2005, I was lamenting this weakness and trying to figure out how to compensate. Two days later, I was notifiyed by Chuck Satterlee about bringing Golden Boy to Markosia. Life never works out that well, does it?

It’s a great fit. I signed with Chuck at Krypton back in October, and it was obvious he is a marketing machine. He showed up with a giant banner, a box of free t-shirts, and a stack of his books. When the late afternoon lull came on, he got out from behind the table and started to hand sell his books to the wandering customers. He sold out of every issue of Smoke & Mirror and Of Bitter Souls in the store, including the ones he brought, and he did it with a great pitch on top of a very friendly demeanor.

This is the sort of man you want working for you.

Now, promotion and marketing will never be a strength of mine. Period. Sure I can work to bring those skills up to a competent level, but I’ll never be great at it. Trying to force myself into that role and expect perfection is silly. It is all about focusing on your strengths, making sure your weaknesses don’t get in your way and not attempting to turn those weaknesses into strengths. Instead of settling for competence, I have a whole company marketing me.

Opportunities are already being set in motion as we speak due to my new publisher’s efforts on my behalf. They can open doors I would have never had easy access to. If even half of these plans come to fruition, I will indeed be having a very good year. Until then, I’m very happy with what I have: a group of people who believe in my work and are willing to invest in my creativity.

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