It's all about who you know...

As a somewhat solitary and mildly anti social person, I can count on one hand the number of people that I call friends. I define friends differently than most people. To be my friend, you have to have known me for a long time and our relationship can in no way be about what I can do for you or you, me. A friend to me is someone who wants nothing from me and gains nothing by knowing me...and likes me anyway.

So I don't have a lot of friends, but I do have tons of acquaintances and they are in some ways more important to me. To get anywhere in any business, but especially comics, it is often about who you know that will get you in the door enough for you to wow them with your skills. You need to have acquaintances who in turn will open up more acquaintances to you who will ultimately lead you to where you want to be.

In my own example, the road starts at the feet of FRIEND (see above), Bill Nichols. He introduced me to APA-5, where I met Robin Ator (claymation artist and creator of Kyra). Through Bill, I met Bob Hickey (publisher of Sketch magazine and Blood and Roses among other great comics titles...check them out at http://www.bloodandroses.com/). From Bob, I met Joe Corroney (Star Wars artist) and Greg Land (artist for DC, Marvel,etc.). They took me to a convention where I talked to Stan Lee in the elevator, shook hands with Harlan Ellison and loaned a pen to George Perez in a hotel lobby. I spoke to editors that as a kid living in Kentucky I never would have met and they actually said nice (sometimes) things about my work. I know there are many more over the years but the mind fails.Recently, the gents from Sketch (where Bill is now an editor) re introduced me to Allen Freeman ( who may well be publishing a book for me soon). They started an online forum (that I moderate) and my list of acquaintances has grown exponentially to include people from around the world including a New York airbrush artist turned illustrator named Anthony Hochrein who is currently penciling the first issue of the aforementioned comic.

To paraphrase the last episode of Quantum Leap:

"You've touched people's lives and those lives have touched others; and those...others! You've done a lot of good, Sam".

So I have become a firm believer in cultivating acquaintances. You should get out there, join message boards (like mine at http://www.bluelinepro.com/ and click the forums button) , get to know folks as much as you can through a set of wires. You never know when the phrase " Hey, (insert name) told me about you...come draw for me" may jump out at you.

And even if they do nothing to help your ambitions, at least you shared a moment.

And sometimes, that is all you need.