Tag: conventions

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HerdCon, Here I Come!

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!

You. Are. Awesome.

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This Saturday is FREE Comic Book Day

Here lies an illustration of a mermaid in white ink on black paper. Next to it are two 4 by 6 inch illustrations of a cat-dragon, and a pile of business cards.

This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day – and I’m making a guest appearance!

See, the fine folks at Superscript Comics & Games liked having me at the Genghis Con Mini Pop Up Event last month. (Me and a bunch of others, to be fair). They liked us SO much that they invited us to once again showcase at their Free Comic Book Day Event.

So Saturday, August 14, from 3 to 8 pm EDT, I’ll be showcasing my work! And lots of other folks will showcase there, too! (Superscript has been giving creator shout-outs on their Instagram. Go check it out).

Now, this event is SO big that the artists and vendors will be in Bottlehouse Lakewood across the street from Superscript. So keep that in mind if you’re able to be there in person. Also, masks will be available and encouraged, as well as social distancing guidelines.

If you’re a reader who met me through the Genghis Con Pop Up event – or you’re just local to Lakewood/Cleveland – I have a special surprise for you. I’m announcing it in a special edition Thursday email newsletter. So if you’re not on the newsletter yet, be sure to sign up. It’s free and I don’t sell your email to anybody.

As a gentle reminder, Friday is the LAST DAY for my Ko-Fi Clearance Event. Anything not sold will go with me to Free Comic Book Day – but the show is the FINAL day to get the clearance items. Anything marked for clearance will not be at any show after Saturday.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

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Genghis Con Prep Time

It’s time for another livestream!

Today I trim minicomics for Genghis Con, while also talking about everything from freelancing (and what my freelance streams of income are); to goals I have for Fantasyville Productions.

The next stream will be Wednesday, December 4 at 1 pm EST. I’ll try to keep the stream short next time – I realize now that if I stream for more than an hour and a half, the first chunk of the stream gets cut off. That means that people who later watch the video as just a video will miss the first chunk.

You may notice that the livestream date for next week is on a Wednesday – that’s because I’m out of town the following weekend to visit friends (and go apartment touring) in the Toledo area.

That’s all for now. See you next week!

OR, if you’re in the Cleveland, OH area, I’ll see you TOMORROW for Genghis Con.

Thank you for watching!

You. Are. Awesome.

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September Convention Reviews in 1 Paragraph or Less

Let’s get right to it!

WEST VIRGINIA POP CULTURE CON

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.

That’s all for now! Next I’ll review Youngstown Indie Creator Expo, which is happening this Saturday, Oct. 5.

Thanks for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.

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FOR THE HERD! …Con

Holy banana pants! HerdCon was a BLAST to go to!

I actually left for the show a day early: the organizers informed artists and vendors that the building had only one elevator. Because of that, the organizers suggested (pretty heavily) that we vendors and artists set up the day before the show, to prevent congestion on the morning of HerdCon.

Which is what I did. As expected, the Friday before the show was pretty congested for set-up. But it was still nice to take my sweet bippy time to get the table ready… instead of feeling the pressure to have everything all set up in an hour or less (which is what I’m used to with other shows).

On the day of the convention, I wasn’t sure what to expect for attendance or sales.

By the end of the day, it was the BEST sales day I’ve had at a one-day show since I started selling my work at conventions!

What helped with the sales, I think, were the following key points:

  • The organizers knew what they were doing. They approached the show as a non-profit community event (as events like these should be treated, in my honest opinion). Their communications with the organizers was quick, thorough, and to the point. Plus they made lunch available for vendors for an extra $10…which I took advantage of. I got the veggie sandwich lunch (admittedly, I should have ordered the ham sandwich. But hey – lesson for next time).
  • The show organizers promoted the HECK out of this show. They reached out to local press, updated their Facebook and Instagram accounts consistently, and offered freebies that would entice the audience they were looking for. I remember one Facebook post promoting a giveaway of free dice with the HerdCon logo as the highest roll number. If that’s not nerdy, I don’t know what is.
  • I talked a lot about the show on my email newsletter, and got some peeps from previous shows to show up to visit. Thanks for coming! And thanks for putting up with my incessant talking about it.
  • There were things on my table marked down for clearance. I know what it’s like to be a broke college student. Plus there’s a LOT of inventory that needed to be cleared out so I can make room for future books, prints, and stickers. So I marked all of my 8.5 x 11 prints down to $3 each – buy one get one free. And I had grab-bags. While grab bags didn’t sell as much, prints certainly did – I have only 4 designs left!
  • I also did caricatures on the spot. I was surprised at how well caricature sales took off at Marietta Comic and Creator Con last year, so I thought to bring it here. The sales of caricatures alone made up for the cost of the AirBNB and gas to get to HerdCon.

Would I go again next year? ABSOLUTELY.

Should you go as an attendee next year? DOUBLE-ABSOLUTELY. Everyone I chatted with had a fun time, enjoyed the Artist Alley, and got to go to fun panels and play tabletop games. Fun times were had by all!

I’m so tickled by how well this show did, especially since I mentioned in my previous post that I had been burned by inaugural shows before. So I’m happy to see HerdCon succeed! I hope it continues to do so.

Thank you for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.