So I HAD an email newsletter. The service I used was MailChimp.
I logged in this morning, thinking, “Hey, I should delete the unsubscribers from my contacts. That should improve the open rate on my emails.” So I go to the menu showing all of my subscribers, including unsubscribes and bounces. I go to check the box to select the unsubscribes on the page shown to me.
Little did I know: clicking the “select all” button selected ALL of my contacts, not just the unsubscribes shown on screen.
And, well, all of my contacts got deleted.
Active, inactive, and unsubscribed people – all gone.
THREE YEARS OF WORK. GONE.
Due to a clunky mechanic through my email newsletter service, I have permanently deleted all of my subscribers.
I can’t contact support to fix this because I was on the free member plan. Tech support is only available for people who pay for a monthly plan.
There is no way to get them back on again. So I have to start over. From scratch.
And I’m going to start over with a different email client.
Please bear with me as I get this fixed.
Words cannot describe how disappointed and angry I am at this.
They changed the dates this year and that affected attendance HARD. Had a great time, saw cool peeps, and got to hang out with table buddies whom I would totally have a corner booth with again. Also, corner booths are where it’s at.
8/10, PLEASE get the old dates back!
SMALL PRESS EXPO
HOLY BANANA PANTS a dream come true for me. Had the best table neighbor and assistant, KickStarter gave me incredible freebies, and everyone was AWESOME. But got a case of the con crud after.
11/10, sales were worth the sickness. Wanna’ go again.
FLAMING RIVER CON
Oh good lord I can’t sum up my feelings about this show in a short paragraph. I need a full-on review.
Spoilers: it was emotional chaos.
I can’t number this/10, most likely not going back next year, sorry.
PARKERSBURG POP CON
While tables were REALLY affordable at this show, low attendance was a concern. At least I shared a table with Ben Wright-Heuman again, and our table neighbor helped out by lending me an extra card table for the event.
meh/10, I might actually skip this next year. We’ll see.
I couldn’t draw one page in my sketchbook everyday. Because LIFE happens.
I had a habit tracker all set up in my bullet journal, and when I looked back on the year so far, I discovered something. When it was a convention weekend, or on days when I was backed up on studio work, I did NOT draw a page in my sketchbook that day.
And you know something? I used to beat myself up over that.
Until I decided to let it go.
I made this decision during my vacation in Philadelphia earlier this month. While I was on vacation, I realized that a lot of daily habits I was holding myself to were hurting more than helping.
And one of those habits was forcing myself to draw everyday.
So, I stopped.
And the funny thing is: now I can’t stop drawing!
When I was forcing myself to draw everyday, I was beginning to resent it. It was like a chore.
Now that drawing everyday isn’t a requirement, I can fill up my sketchbook with whatever I want, whenever I want.
Will this stop me from doing Inktober – the artist challenge of making a new ink drawing everyday? Heck no. I still have every intent of participating in Inktober.
But that’s because I WANT to. Not because of an obligation or a habit tracker making me do it.
That’s just me though! What has helped you with your creative practice? Is drawing everyday a good goal for you? Or is it something else? Let me know in the comments.
RathaCon is an Athens, OH-based pop culture con that’s been running successfully for 8 years. This year they’re running a KickStarter to give special passes and rewards to convention goers.
I offered to draw a limited-edition, KickStarter-exclusive print themed around RathaCon. And they REALLY liked this idea.
So I sketched out the following two ideas and sent these to the crew, asking, “What do you think?”
Of course, if they have a hard time deciding, they could pitch it to KickStarter backers and ask for their feedback.
I do this with everyone I collaborate with, no matter if it’s a comic strip I’m paid for, or a logo I’m designing pro-bono for a non-profit. I sketch out the ideas I have, send them over, and ask, “Eh? Thoughts?”
I’ll be sharing the progress of this project as it develops.
Usually, posts like this are shared only with patrons on Patreon(unless there’s a contract saying not to). I’m making the progress of the RathaCon print public so you can get a taste of what patrons on Patreon get to see. Of course, they see more projects in progress than the general public does.
If you’re interested in seeing more behind-the-scenes progress on art, go to my Patreon page and pledge. You can change or cancel your pledge amount at any time, and it’s totally optional. (But the option to support gets you goodies and helps me make more art.)
