I’m bringing my usual setup of comics. I’m also bringing…
A new (and framed) piece of original art, priced on a sliding scale,
Extra copies of The Stars of Fantasyville, my latest sketchbook,
misprints of The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 1,
The last of my pins from my (now closed) Pin Club,
2 for $1 stickers,
Lots of grab bags,
Materials to draw caricatures,
And a LOT more!
Any and all profits will help towards my move to a new apartment in May.
After this show, I have no other events lined up until maybe Free Comic Book Day (still figuring out plans for that weekend, to be honest).
HEADS UP: My online shop will be closed during RathaCon weekend. It should reopen sometime on Sunday, April 2. That said, commissions are still open. Any and all commission sales will help towards moving to a new home.
I’m VERY excited about RathaCon! Hope to see you there!
This Friday AND Saturday, March 24 and 25th, it’s HerdCon Weekend in Huntington, WV!
I’m only going to be there for Saturday – but be sure to go for the Friday events, including a 1 pm live show of Sawbones, the podcast from Justin and Sydney McElroy, yo.
But yeah, I won’t be down in time for the Friday events, since I’m coming in from Toledo – which is a hike, to say the least. I WILL, however, be there all day on Saturday. Find me in the Artist and Vendor hall.
WHAT WILL I HAVE?
I’m bringing my usual setup of comics. I’m also bringing…
Extra copies of The Stars of Fantasyville, my latest sketchbook,
misprints of The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 1,
The last of my pins from my (now closed) Pin Club,
Free stickers,
Clearance prints,
Lots of grab bags,
And a LOT more!
Any and all profits will help towards my move to a new apartment in May.
Heads Up – if it sells out at HerdCon, I WILL NOT restock it for RathaCon the following weekend.
Another Heads Up – My Ko-fi shop will be temporarily closed during HerdCon weekend. To be specific, the Ko-fi Shop will be closed all day Friday, March 24, until Sunday morning, March 26. Thank you for your understanding.
That’s all for now. I’m so excited to be going back to HerdCon in person this year!
Thank you for your support. Hope to see you there!
So I went to GalaxyCon, but not by myself. This time I split a table – not in two, but five ways. Because this time, I was with the Columbus Cartoon Coalition.
I’ve been part of their executive board for a couple of months now, as the Convention and Festival Lead. It’s basically my job to watch out for conventions and say to the other exec members, “Hey! This looks interesting. Maybe we can get a table here?”
GalaxyCon popped up on my radar sometime in the middle of the year. Maybe even September? It’s been a while. But I reached out to the other CCC members to gauge if there was any interest. We got our stuff together, we coordinated, and we set up to show our work!
How Did It Go?
Well…mixed?
This was our first time at GalaxyCon Columbus. And…well, I hesitate to call these “red flags” but they certainly were signs that got us to worry. Here’s what we noticed before the show even started:
The website focused on celebrities. Exclusively. Kudos to the organizers for getting some big names on their tickets, but this show promoted the celebrities over just about everything else. Glad they got a Muppet puppeteer for Friday, though. That was neat.
The Artist Alley was shoved to the back of the floor. We were right by concessions, so we weren’t isolated. But when attendees first walked through the door, they saw Vendors right away, not Artists.
GalaxyCon’s set-up hours were unusually early. And strict. Usually, if a convention starts at 2 pm, organizers want artists to show up two hours ahead of schedule to get set up. GalaxyCon opened Friday at 2 pm – and their set-up hours ran from 8 am to 12 noon. After noon, the doors for the loading dock shut.
Whoever organized Artist Alley did not care who sat next to whom. For the most egregious example, I saw a cutesy crafter with overall skirts and adorable mascots next to someone who drew Lovecraft Tarot with exposed vulvas. It gave me Put-N-Play flashbacks.
At the show itself, we managed to make back the cost of the table. In hindsight, I’m REALLY glad I stayed with family in town. That saved me from spending money on hotels. And I did budget for food and gas – though parking fees were an issue. Thanks for chipping in towards the cause, Geo. You should check out his comics. He’s a member of the coalition and a great table buddy.
What Sold the Best?
FAN STUFF. 110%. Fan works sold the most at this show. Junior’s comics, especially Growing Up Gerudo, were the most popular thing at our table. Shout-out to Junior, as well, for being a great table buddy and for sharing a TON of great ideas. We also sold a lot of Bubblegum and Marceline prints that our cohort Jeremy drew for the table.
That said, we DID manage to get the word out about our coalition – attendees were super intrigued that a coalition of cartoonists even existed in central Ohio. We ran out of business cards by Saturday afternoon.
And people DID support the original stories we did. Geo sold some copies of Tukk & Rol, Junior sold some copies of The Divine Intervention, and I sold so many copies of The Legend of Jamie Roberts that I got down to 1 copy on hand at the show.
In hindsight – I DO wish I brought my pins and keychains. Those were REALLY popular at other tables at GalaxyCon. I only brought my books that would fit in one suitcase. In fairness, we at the coalition agreed that everyone who could split the table would bring two items each for sale. We only expanded when we realized:
a) with the right displays, we could fit WAY more and still have room on the table, and
b) we needed more things out to draw and keep attention.
We DID make back the cost of the table overall. But would we come back to GalaxyCon next year?
Nah.
We decided that if we WERE to go back to shows like GalaxyCon, only members with fan works or experience at fan conventions should go. Otherwise, members would be better suited to anime conventions, local shows, and events dedicated to comics.
Would I go to this show solo? Probably not. The table fee was too high for me to go solo. That’s why I brought GalaxyCon to the coalition’s attention. And at the end of the show, the organizers proclaimed that if we signed up to return next year THAT DAY, our table would be “discounted” to $350.
Just…Nah.
If you’re new to showing your work at conventions, skip events like GalaxyCon Columbus. Unless you have a REALLY cool buddy to split the table with. Your wallet will only thank you.
This will be my return to the show proper since 2019. They did not run in 2020 for obvious reasons, and in 2021 they did small pop-up events to keep crowds more manageable.
Now, Genghis Con is back for 2022, at the Pivot Center for Arts, Dance, and Expression in Cleveland, OH! The show runs on November 27 from 12 pm to 5 pm EST.
Yes, that IS the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It’s been their date to organize since I first started attending the show years ago. Masks WILL be required at the venue.
What I’m Bringing
I’m bringing some sales items from Aistear Con 3 that did NOT sell out yet. And yes, I’m keeping the sales prices active on these things.
Here are the things I’m selling on CLEARANCE:
My remaining stickers are $1 each, or $5 for a sticker sheet
Greeting Cards are $1 each, with a free envelope. A bundle of 10 cards is $5 while supplies last.
Mr. Dino’s postcards are $1 each. Proceeds will benefit the Zebra Coalition in Florida to help LGBTQ youth in a hostile state.
Prints smaller than 11 x 17 inches are now $1 each
Misprints of The Forest Spirit, an 11 x 17-inch print, are $5 each.
Grab bags are 2 for $5. Each grab bag has at least 1 sticker, 1 mini-print, and an extra couple of goodies.
My LAST Mermaid art piece is priced on a sliding scale. A $10 minimum is needed to cover art supplies.
If you buy The Legend of Jamie Roberts, Volume 1 (or its misprinted version), you get the Artifacts sticker sheet FREE.
I’m also bringing with me bagged and boarded original sketches at $10 each. This INCLUDES sketches made during the production of Witches, Gods & Spirits, and Dragons: The Sketchbooks.
For folks interested, I’m also running pre-orders for my new book, The Stars of Fantasyville: A Sketchbook, for folks who missed the KickStarter campaign. This will be kept simple – just $11 for the pre-order (that covers the book plus shipping). No extra PDFs or miscellaneous things, because those things are already on the table.
Plus! I’m bringing the remaining pins and zines left over from fulfilling Zine Club and Pin Club orders. My hope is by selling the remaining stock, folks get interested in signing up for the clubs. That way they get more delivered to their mailbox each month.
Before I Forget…
Since I’m at a convention, there will be no stream on Sunday (at least from me. What the Gnomes Know will be running streams). There won’t be a stream the following weekend, either, because I’ll be at GalaxyCon with the Columbus Cartoon Coalition.
That said, keep an eye on Instagram. I’ve been doing live streams there Fridays around 12 noon.
That’s all for now. Hope to see you at Genghis Con on the 27th!
