As usual, Kevin Bolk had perfect timing. On the final day of the Otaku Journalismsale, he let me know that the flyer designs were ready.

Take a look below, but I’ll warn you: since they’re in print-ready CMYK instead of web-friendly RGB, the colors look a little different than usual:

That’s right, I had Otaku Journalism flyers made for handing out at conventions. If you’re going to Otakon next month, I’m sure you’ll spot one. I also want to bring a stack in my suitcase to Geek Girl Con in Seattle this October.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “you’ve got to spend money to make money?” Because that’s what my experience with publishing has been. Adding in the flyer costs in, I’ve spent about $1,100 on publishing and promoting my book in order to sell about 150 copies, both full price and on sale. I’ll need to have sold 200 copies at full price in order to finally break even.

My entire career as a writer up until now, you could read my work online for free. My main gig, ReadWrite, compensates for that with ads, while Otaku Journalist makes up the difference in affiliate links. One thing I didn’t realize however, is that “free” is the best advertising. When you decide to charge for something, suddenly you have to work harder to promote it.

This has meant running my first sale while trying not to feel gross about it. It means bringing Otaku Journalism into the real world with paper flyers where potential readers congregate. Today, it means writing about money matters honestly so I don’t feel like a sell-out.

Sorry for such a self indulgent post. The original post I had planned for today fell through. On the other hand, if you like hearing about the business side of things, let me know. I think it’d be awesome if I had more self-published geek books to read, but it does take time and money. If I can make that side of the process less nebulous, I’m happy to help.