SPX, the popular Bethesda, Maryland convention for alternative and small press comics, has announced that its table lottery application period will begin midnight Monday, March 18. It also gave a timeline for the exhibitor application process. This year’s SPX – its 30th anniversary year – will take place September 14 and 15, 2024.
The SPX Executive Committee said:
“The SPX 2024 Lottery will soon be upon us! Stay tuned to your Inbox (or possibly your Spam folder) as we are a week away from the lottery. The email notice and social media posts will be sent out at midnight March 18.”
The signup form for exhibitor news regarding the lottery can be found here.
Between March 18 and the deadline of March 31, hopeful exhibitors can apply for a chance to sell their comics-wares. The lottery selection itself will take place after the application period closes March 31, so all should theoretically have an equal chance of being offered a table. Exhibitors can send in only one application – with a warning that multiple applications may lead to a default rejection. Bear in mind that applicants must have proof that they are cartoonists; social media and websites will be checked. According to email notes:
“We will be checking to make sure you publish single panel cartoon and comics (minicomix/comics, graphic novels, anthologies, etc., etc.), so if you’re exclusively an illustrator, novelist, cosplayer or anime figure retailer (we get them) you will not be eligible for tables.”
The email added key dates in the exhibitor application process – though it noted there may be delays “here and there”:
• Monday March 18: The lottery will open at Midnight Eastern Time
• March 31 – Lottery closes at 11:59PM Eastern Time
• April 15 – Lottery participants contacted
• Mid-May – Table payment and hotel room block information sent to all table holders
• June 5 – Payments due for all tables
• Mid-July – Table assignments sent out, begin to collect badge info and Debuts
Contact details for queries will be via [email protected].
