I can’t wait to eventually bring you out to the Oklahoma Comic Arts Festival. Just comics & creators, no Funko Pops or Power Rangers fresh from rehab! In an arts center, not a convention hall! You will be treated like the royalty you are.
I want to thank you sincerely for posting about your experience tabling at different cons and what you’ve learned. I’ve got my first tabling experience as an indie comic artist in just a few days (yikes!) and your Substack has been far and away the best resource for getting a sense of what I might be able to expect.
So please, keep up the knowledge sharing! 🙏 There are so few resources reviewing different cons and tabling strategies for indie comic artists, so you’re definitely filling a void!
Wow, thank you for the feedback, Quinn! I really appreciate it and am so glad you're finding my posts helpful. I will definitely keep sharing my experiences and any new insights I gain from them!
Good luck with your first convention table! I was nervous at my first con, too. I hope it goes swimmingly!
I was at Edinburgh Comic Con a few years ago and sold one £2 comic over the course of two days. I felt embarrassed and disheartened and had a wee tantrum in front of a couple pals, promptly vowing never to make another comic. In hindsight, it was one of the best cons I've ever been to, for several reasons.
1. I met Tony Esmond and Adam Flap for the first time at that event and they're two of the funniest people I've ever met.
2. I realised that I had to make better comics.
3. I realised that the pamphlet format didn't work economically for small pressure and I shifted to making hardback comics at a higher retail price.
4. I experienced a rite of passage that all comic creators need to face at some point.
5. I realised that I make comics for myself, for the love of the craft and the medium. It's great when other folk (particularly other comic creators) like my comics or connect with them, but that's just the cherry on top.
Your comics are great, sales don't reflect how great they are!
Thanks for the words of encouragement, Johnny! I'm with you on point number 5, ultimately I'm doing this for my own enjoyment and I'm not going to let one slightly down day damoen my enthusiasm. I think it was just the contrasts that struck me here: the contrast between this one and the previous week's con, which was great, and the contrast between the Artists' Alley area and the main hall at this con, which was figuratively but also literally (because of the lighting) like night and day.
My wife I took our 9 year old daughter to Rai Con last year as she's obsessed with manga and anime. There was literally no manga on sale, it was all low resolution prints, plushies, bags and Funko Pops. There was a retro video game room too.
The larger comic cons seem to be moving from extended cast members from film and TV to wrestling, with the only consistent through line being young people off YouTube.
I wonder if a more sustainable and possibly creatively vibrant space for comics would be in literary and art festivals. Like a mini version of SPX.
Yes I'm definitely going to be looking out for cons and events that are specifically, if not exclusively, focused on comics, small press or zines. I think I stand a better chance with that crowd.
I can’t wait to eventually bring you out to the Oklahoma Comic Arts Festival. Just comics & creators, no Funko Pops or Power Rangers fresh from rehab! In an arts center, not a convention hall! You will be treated like the royalty you are.
Royalty? Aw shucks...
That sounds awesome!
I want to thank you sincerely for posting about your experience tabling at different cons and what you’ve learned. I’ve got my first tabling experience as an indie comic artist in just a few days (yikes!) and your Substack has been far and away the best resource for getting a sense of what I might be able to expect.
So please, keep up the knowledge sharing! 🙏 There are so few resources reviewing different cons and tabling strategies for indie comic artists, so you’re definitely filling a void!
Great read as always.
Wow, thank you for the feedback, Quinn! I really appreciate it and am so glad you're finding my posts helpful. I will definitely keep sharing my experiences and any new insights I gain from them!
Good luck with your first convention table! I was nervous at my first con, too. I hope it goes swimmingly!
That sketch cover ROCKS!
Ah, thanks very much, Tony! Too kind , sir!
Also, that be day/duotone stamp blew my mind. I need to get one.
I was at Edinburgh Comic Con a few years ago and sold one £2 comic over the course of two days. I felt embarrassed and disheartened and had a wee tantrum in front of a couple pals, promptly vowing never to make another comic. In hindsight, it was one of the best cons I've ever been to, for several reasons.
1. I met Tony Esmond and Adam Flap for the first time at that event and they're two of the funniest people I've ever met.
2. I realised that I had to make better comics.
3. I realised that the pamphlet format didn't work economically for small pressure and I shifted to making hardback comics at a higher retail price.
4. I experienced a rite of passage that all comic creators need to face at some point.
5. I realised that I make comics for myself, for the love of the craft and the medium. It's great when other folk (particularly other comic creators) like my comics or connect with them, but that's just the cherry on top.
Your comics are great, sales don't reflect how great they are!
Thanks for the words of encouragement, Johnny! I'm with you on point number 5, ultimately I'm doing this for my own enjoyment and I'm not going to let one slightly down day damoen my enthusiasm. I think it was just the contrasts that struck me here: the contrast between this one and the previous week's con, which was great, and the contrast between the Artists' Alley area and the main hall at this con, which was figuratively but also literally (because of the lighting) like night and day.
My wife I took our 9 year old daughter to Rai Con last year as she's obsessed with manga and anime. There was literally no manga on sale, it was all low resolution prints, plushies, bags and Funko Pops. There was a retro video game room too.
The larger comic cons seem to be moving from extended cast members from film and TV to wrestling, with the only consistent through line being young people off YouTube.
I wonder if a more sustainable and possibly creatively vibrant space for comics would be in literary and art festivals. Like a mini version of SPX.
Yes I'm definitely going to be looking out for cons and events that are specifically, if not exclusively, focused on comics, small press or zines. I think I stand a better chance with that crowd.