PulpFest Preview

Hey, Flinch Fans! PulpFest 2026 is fast approaching, and the Flinch docket is pretty full for this year’s four-day convention in Pittsburgh, PA. Here’s a quick look at what we’ll be up to this year:

Team Flinch (you may know them individually as Jim Beard and John Bruening) will arrive on Thursday morning, July 30. The first order of business will be setting up the Flinch table in the dealer room, at which point we’ll be open for business for the duration of the weekend until the convention ends Sunday, August 2. We’ll have all of the books in the Flinch catalog on hand, and a selection of John’s stories in anthologies from other publishers. Jim’s Becky Books will be set up right next to the Flinch table, with many tomes featuring contributions from John and several other Flinch writers.

On Thursday evening at 10:20 pm, Jim will give a talk on “Cosmic Collectibles: Buck Rogers Conquers Merchandising.” (Buck’s adventures in the 25th century are still a few hundred years away, so consider Jim’s presentation a nostalgic look backward and a sneak preview at the same time.)

At 1:30pm on Friday, Jim and John will once again bring FlinchFest! to PulpFest. This year’s theme will be “The Art of the Anthology,” a look across Flinch’s anthologies with readings and discussion, culminating in the reveal of the title, cover, and writer lineup of Flinch’s newest anthology (some of whom will be in attendance at the show).

On Saturday, Jim will moderate a writer’s panel at 2:30pm featuring John and other scribes to talk about their work with licensed characters for other publishers. The lineup also includes Will Murray, Bill Maynard, and Win Eckert.

PulpFest is still about six weeks away, but we’re already out of breath just thinking about our plans for the weekend. Nevertheless, we can’t wait to roll into Steel City and jump into the proceedings and festivities! If you’re planning to attend (and we hope you are), be sure to stop by the Flinch compound and say, “Ya made me Flinch!”