LA Comic Con 2025: View from Booksellers Row

Step into the chaos and communion of LA Comic Con 2025 with your bald and bloviating host, Mookie Spitz. From booth-side book barking with sci-fi author Ingrid Moon to weaving through seas of stormtroopers, cosplayers, and holographic Stan Lee, this episode captures the raw energy of a cultural carnival where camp, commerce, and creativity collide.

Mookie shares what it really feels like to stand for three straight days selling books to strangers, why covers sell more than content, and how selling techniques straight out of SPIN Selling and Glengarry Glen Ross can make or break your day. Along the way, he unpacks the deeper meaning behind cosplay as camp, the difference between L.A. Comic Con and its cousins in San Diego and New York, and the eternal struggle every creator faces—chasing attention in a saturated digital world without selling out your soul.

He also lays down battle-tested best practices for any creator trying to sell at a con:

• Put QR codes everywhere (Amazon links, newsletters, payment apps).
• Covers matter more than content—make them bold, professional, and on-genre (MAYA: Most Advanced Yet Acceptable).
• Invest in signage, posters, and visuals that legitimize your booth.
• Give away freebies (bookmarks, stickers, cards) that double as conversion tools.
• Personalize signings with the event name—it turns a book into a keepsake.
• Always be converting: if they don’t buy, leave them with your QR code or email.
• Engage passersby with humor and small talk—don’t wait for them to approach.
• Lead with the pitch, not the synopsis (“Fallout meets Hunger Games” sells faster than 60 seconds of plot).
• Tailor your pitch to their tastes—make it about them, not you.
• Value networking as much as sales—the long game matters.

Mookie's rant isn’t just a recap of a convention; but a meditation on why we create, why we sell, and why we still show up. Expect stories of sore feet, overpriced sandwiches, surprising sales wins, unexpected encounters, and the lessons that stick long after the crowds go home.

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