Sometimes fans go above and beyond the call of duty to help get the word out about the awesomeness of ElfQuest. The most recent star fan is Emily Dionne, who purchased multiple copies of Dark Horse’s reprinting of the very first ElfQuest issue for just one dollar, and distributed them throughout her community.
We asked Emily what inspired this awesome “guerrilla marketing.” Here’s what she had to say:
I discovered ElfQuest after raiding a box of my older sister’s books. I began my own collection in much the same way, raiding comic shops until I stumbled across ElfQuest treasure. ElfQuest is becoming easier to find and read online and sometimes I miss the old days of unexpected discovery. When Frankie Wolf posted her idea of leaving ElfQuest comics around town in random locations, I was inspired to do the same. I loved the thought of someone stumbling across ElfQuest in much the same way I did and hopefully becoming a life long fan.
I’ve left two comics around town so far, one in a Lending Library at a popular downtown food court and one in a doctors waiting area. Inside each comic I left a sticky note welcoming the new fan and inviting them to join our online discussions and read more at ElfQuest.com.
ElfQuest is my favorite comic, the only comic I’ve read and loved from childhood until now. I hope to help others out there discover it and love it too!
As she mentioned, Emily was inspired by fellow fan Frankie Wolf, who did something similar a few months ago. Frankie gets double-awesome points, because not only did she come up with this innovative idea for sharing ElfQuest, she also volunteered to transcribe the conversation from The ElfQuest Show podcast so that fans with hearing impairments can enjoy it (get the transcriptions at the ElfQuest Facebook Fan Group in the Files tab).
Frankie also professionally restores old and damaged books. She shared this tip with Emily and others thinking about following in her footsteps:
If you have access to a printer, glue and a small brush, you can actually tip-in a page of info about the series in the back. Tip-ins are what we do in book repair to stick a loose page back in or add a missing page. You just brush a thin bead of glue (I use PVA) along the gutter of a page and set the page in. You’ll have to trim the margins of ordinary copy paper to fit this particular edition (the edition is roughly 6.5 x 10.25 and copy paper is 8.5 x 11). This also means that depending on how much info you include you’ll have to use a rather small font (I ended up using 8 point Calibri).
I mention this because sticky notes fall out easily and with this method, the information stays with the copy no matter how many hands it passes through. Hopefully it passes through many. For myself, I’m not treating these like collectables… I’m treating them as a means to introduction.
I printed both sides of my tip-ins to get the most informational bang for the buck. The first side contains bio information about Wendy and Richard. The second side contains a short history of ‘ElfQuest’, a paragraph about ‘The ElfQuest Show’ and URL links to the most useful websites. At the bottom is the copyright blurb.
Hope you find this suggestion useful!
So, we want to say a great, big AYOOOOAH to both Emily and Frankie for sharing their love of ElfQuest in such a creative way. The challenge has now been issued: how many other fans will follow in their footsteps and pick up a few extra copies of ElfQuest issue #1 for a buck and distribute them for unsuspecting new fans to discover?
