‘We also have post-feminist body horror on offer!’

The advantages of nerd culture for a publishing house and why a table in the Comics Business Centre protects against collapse: An interview with Sam Birkett, Rights Manager at Rebellion Publishing.

Hello Sam Birkett, your CEO presents himself on YouTube in knight's armour and writes medieval novels. On the channel you also show tricks for gamers: e.g. how to kill Adolf Hitler in ‘Sniper Elite’. Some of your themes are zombie apocalypses and speculative fiction. Do you have to be a nerd to work at Rebellion? 

You don’t have to be a nerd to work here, but it certainly helps. Everything we do as a company is deeply immersed in what you might call “nerd culture”, and we’re a group of enthusiasts first and foremost. I expect that even the most nerd-resistant person would become one after any extended exposure to our offices. 

Your company and publishing history is unusual: you started as a game developer in the 90s and later published comics and books. How do the different media influence each other? Do you also realise adaptations from books to games?

There is a coherence between the various media we produce. It all sits within the genres of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror and Action. We even have post-feminist body horror on offer with the imitable Aliya Whiteley’s "The Beauty".   

Our upcoming game "Atomfall" ties a lot of these genres neatly together. Set in the 1960s, the game is a fictionalized ‘what if’ story that uses a nuclear incident in Northern England as a starting pojnt. There’s also an in-game synergy with our publishing business, as comics from our extensive archive of British comics appear as collectibles scattered throughout "Atomfall’s" world. 

There has historically been plenty of crossover and adaptations between the different media we produce. We have also published adaptations from games to books such as our comic "Sniper Elite: Resistance" and have plans to publish tie-in fiction to the world of "Atomfall". This variety and cross-pollination of media is one of the great advantages of our company structure.

Your publishing house Rebellion is exhibiting again this year in the Comics Business Centre at FBM25. What needs to happen for it to be a perfect trade fair for you in Frankfurt?

Book fairs are the epicenter of all rights business in the industry, the points from which almost all new business in a year spring from – and the essence of that business is connection between publishers. A perfect trade fair for me is being able to meet with as many new and known contacts as possible, without collapsing from exhaustion. 

Since I usually attend Frankfurt alone, any external support I can have in reducing the friction of coming to a show is vital. Having a table at the Comics Business Centre means that I have all the essentials covered – WiFi, a place to sit, a place to store my books, a café within 20 seconds rushing distance – as well as the benefit of being in a dedicated area for comics. This makes it easier for people to discover us, but also to find me for a planned meeting. Being so close to our peers who are also exhibiting in the business center is great, too – it brings a communal feeling. 

All of these things help towards having that perfect fair, so I can overstuff my schedule with meetings in peace. 

Thank you for the interview!

Interview by Frank Krings, PR Manager at Frankfurter Buchmesse.

Registration form Comics Business Centre: registration-comics-business-centre.pdf