Small Press Idol & Faction - Why it's cool

You know, I love the competition this year... Not only do we have some serious talent in the pool this time around (seriously, a TON), but a lot of us are becoming friends and even talking about working on projects together at some point. It sounds cheesy, I know, because if you watch things like American Idol, you hear the people on the show talking about being such great friends and you think to yourself, "God they're so fake!" I believe them now, though. There are always going to be competitors who are there for the "game", don't want to mess with the other contestants, etc, but it doesn't always seem to be the case. Take this year, for example, on American Idol... The contestants all really seem chummy.

Small Press Idol is like that this year. Everyone wants to win, of course, why wouldn't they, but no one is consumed with it to the point that they can't say "hi", give someone a pat on the back for a job well done, be a sounding board, or whatever. I like that! Maybe I read something wrong, but it seemed like half the point of the competition besides making a great book and marketing the hell out of it IS to network, mingle, and make friends. Long term, these are all people who could end up in the industry. Why not make friends with them now? Remy, from WhereMonstersDwell.ca, made a comment to me last week after I was on their show when I asked him if they "adopted" me or something (joking of course). He said (paraphrasing) basically that it's easier to make connections with someone before their boat has left the dock, right? Exactly! You never know if the person on the other side of that email, PM, IM, etc is going to be your next writer, artist, editor, or "in" to another great opportunity. As it is, I'm trying to help out those I think I can if opportunities come up (a couple have already)...

So, what spawned this ramble? Well, last night Michael Nelson AKA the artist for the Associate, another SPI entry, posted the below picture in the Faction Round 2 forum with a comment, "And a lil' piece of fan art I whipped up to symbolize the team spirit we all have here in this competition! Everybody here has been super cool and Erik and KT are kicking some serious butt with getting out the vote! That's great for them, but also brings tons of traffic here to see all of our other projects as well. Thanks to Team Faction, and all the other competitors; you've all made this competition a whole lot of fun!"



If that doesn't encompass what I'm talking about, I don't know what does... Kick ass image, though, isn't it?