Author: AB Sigler

Stan Lee died today.

Stan Lee was a remarkable creator and a dedicated advocate of his chosen genre. He spent his life being an ambassador for the work he loved, which is loved in turn by millions around the world. It’s easy to recognize what a gift that was to the rest of us, but I have little doubt it was just as fulfilling for him.

I was not a big comic book reader as a kid. Of course, I knew about the Marvel superheroes, and the Incredible Hulk was on the television once a week, suffering through his tortured existence and scaring the bejeezus out of wee little me. So I knew about comic book heroes, even if I wasn’t much into the comics themselves.

Of course, these days I bet there are folks who don’t even realize the Fantastic Four or Spidey were ever part of a physical comic book, but just know them from their many origin-story movies. Same with the Incredible Hulk. Stan Lee created characters that people discovered on television, in movies, reading graphic novels, comic books or cartoons. Even live-action entertainment … Marvel Universe Live anyone? Once discovered, Stan Lee’s creations are loved and admired for years and years.

That is undeniably a mark of a stellar and varied career, remarkable by itself. Once you add some metrics around how loved and admired Stan Lee’s cast of characters really are, it’s humbling and awe-inspiring. It’s a helluva thing to have added “with great power comes great responsibility” to the nerd lexicon, and even moreso to have had a decades long involvement with it, and so much love and acknowledgement for these creations. As a partner at a very small entertainment company, it’s also motivating and inspirational.

At Empty Set, we see our job as “making cool things for cool people” and we take our work very seriously. Even when that work is silly, or funny, or obviously not real here on Earth. Entertaining is essential work, I have no doubt. As Stan Lee said himself, “entertainment is one of the most important things in people’s lives. Without it, they might go off the deep end. I feel that if you’re able to entertain, you’re doing a good thing.”

Farewell, Stan Lee. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us. Excelsior!

I talk all the time on this blog about the ins-and-outs of running our small business. And how small our small business actually is — we’re a two-person shop. Granted, we’re lucky to have great contractors who we count on to help us bring things out into the world, but when it comes to choosing […]

As 2017 comes to a close, as happens every year, I can’t help but look back on what we accomplished this year. Since my job as the Creative Adjacent is to manage logistics of our work, I tend to think in numbers: miles flown, projects accomplished, words written, books & t-shirts sold.

It’s always a moment when I’m partially surprised, a little exhausted, and certainly very proud.  This year we finally added a European Tour to the Sigler Map, and it was a delightful time. You European Junkies sure know how to make a tiny bridge publishing house feel super welcome!

Our goal at Empty Set is simple: make cool things for cool people. If that’s several books and three new t-shirts, plus a handful of “hanging out with Scott Sigler” memories — as it was in 2017 — we’re happy with that. It’s good work, and it puts good things out into this increasingly fraught universe.

That said, if in 2018 we can add “TV pilot” or “sold screenplay” or something a little more visual to the list of things we accomplished, that’s surely good too, right?  So we’ll add that to our 2018 list.

What’s on your list of things you’d like to accomplish in 2018?

Today I stopped on my way into the office to drop off mail. This time of year the post office is always crowded and the staff probably do without all the free time and breaks that they are afforded during other times of the year. Other times that are not the holidays.

This particular post office is quite close to the office, and this time of year I am there pretty much every workday, dropping off goods purchased in our online store. That’s how the month of December works for my small business where I sell things, and it’s the way the giant business of the post office works too.

Here’s my favorite part — today everyone was happy to be there, happy to have a big ol’ line first thing in the morning, and happy to chat with people sending out holiday greetings and presents. To be honest, the staff at this post office are lovely folks all the time. They know my dogs by sight and by name, and they are always pleasant and happy to chat a bit while we’re transacting. But this time of the year some of them are doing it in Santa hats, or wearing Christmas light necklaces. Since Hanukkah starts tomorrow, someone was giving out little chocolate gelt.

It was a great reminder that life offline is often lovely and fun and unexpected and graceful. I know life online can be that way too, but it’s nice to see folks being congenial and friendly in one of the very places things are supposed to be hectic and angry this time of year.

Here’s your gentle reminder: if you’re a gift giver, gift giving starts tomorrow for Hanukkah, and pretty much keeps up until the new year. Still time to get a few last minute items for the folks you love! And when you head to your local post office to send them off to points else, be sure to enjoy the holiday cheer (and maybe spread some of your own!)

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Today is Small Business Saturday. The ideas is that you shop small businesses like ours and support small, local folk who will put money and heart back into your community. We are a pretty small business, and we always appreciate folks who support us. This year we’re not doing a Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday sale, and I’ll be honest, it’s a nice break and a little weird.

We’ve done big things and small things in years past. This year we’re sitting back and letting some of our retail partners do the heavy lifting, with Amazon and Audible putting our titles on sale today and over the weekend.

The holidays are always an interesting time for us at Empty Set, because we already price our merchandise fairly competitively, so it’s hard to make a big splash with a “50% Sale! One Day Only!” or something like without losing money on the merchandise. But sometimes that’s just fine to do. Car dealerships use loss leaders to great effect, and we’ve done the same in the past. We bundled the first four GFL books in paperback a couple of years ago and that went gangbusters.

I love shopping the sales this weekend, as a consumer. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber — I’ll take them all! I know some deals are barely deals, but I still love it for trying new things. That said, when I want or need something, I rarely wait for a potential upcoming sale. I’m not sure about anyone else, but I love to take a risk on something. Two years ago I bought my beloved Instant Pot, and last year I tried coconut oil. Both were wins.

How do you shop at this time of year? It is different than the rest of the year?

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