GalaxyCon Columbus 2022 – How It Went

the table i shared with Junior, Geo, and the Columbus Cartoon Coalition at GalaxyCon Columbus

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.

That’s all for now. Come back tomorrow to catch me drawing commissions live on YouTube.

Thanks for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

Streaming Schedule Post-GalaxyCon

live streams every sunday at 2 pm EST unless i'm at a convention or sick with the cruds. Next stream is December 11. Let's Draw commissions! Watch on Youtube at kelcid

Now that GalaxyCon is over, here’s the streaming schedule for this week. (A proper review of GalaxyCon is coming soon.)

On Sunday, December 11, I’m streaming once again on YouTube. I’ll be drawing commissions! Feel free to lurk while I work.

If you would like me to draw a commission for you live on stream, you need to buy a commission first! Book your spot over on my Ko-Fi page.

And be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you would like to watch past and future streams. I also have new and exciting projects coming to the channel!

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

You. Are. Awesome.

The Pin Club is Open for December!

My Pin Club is open for new orders this weekend! If you want to get the club pin for December, this is your window of time to get it.

If you’re not a member yet, you have UNTIL DECEMBER 5 to become a new member and get this adorable acrylic holiday pin mailed to you…

beatrice the crow witch wears a santa hat

After December 5, Pin Club sign-ups will close for a month, and won’t re-open until the first weekend of January.

This is to make sure I get accurate counts for the printer and to make every effort to get these to you before the holiday rush.

All pins are printed in double-layer acrylic. The art is single-sided, with a pin and rubber clutch on the back.

By joining the Pin Club, you also get on a special segment of my email newsletter where I share comic scripts, early webcomic updates, and more. Plus you get a new zine with your pin!

So if you want a new pin, a new zine, and a peek behind the curtain, sign up for the club BY DEC 5 at 5 pm EST.

By the way, Pin Club memberships make a great gift that keeps on giving. Wink wink.

If you’re broke, share this post with your peeps! Shares help more than you know.

That’s all for now. Thank you for your support!

You. Are. Awesome.

The Pin Club is Changing (for the Better)

The Pin Club I run is changing. Here’s why, what that means, and what comes next.

WHAT’S CHANGING

Two big things are different now: the supplier I use, and the time you can sign up. They both tie into each other.

So I found out the hard way that my usual go-to printer for acrylic pins – StickerMule – actually sucks. They have contributed to anti-LGBTQ causes, including the Dingus Gump himself, and haven’t paid fair overtime wages to their employees.

I won’t give my money to them anymore because of those factors. So I found a new product team – Vograce. They specialize in stuff for convention vendors like me, so they do MORE than just acrylic pins. But for the purposes of the Pin Club, I’m going to try their pins out.

WHAT THIS MEANS

Because of changing to a new printer, how folks join the Pin Club will be different.

Moving forward, new members can join the Pin Club ONLY on the first weekend of the month.

Why?

  • Having a limited window for folks to join will make it easier to know how much I need to print. I’m a one-person operation, after all! I do all the logistics and packaging. On top of that, there is a minimum order requirement, and the more pins ordered, the less it costs to print per pin.
  • Plus: I want to make sure everyone who joins the club gets the pins they sign up for. And if I did a Patreon model where people joined whenever they wanted, it would make keeping and ordering stock harder.
  • Also, working with a new printer, I want to make sure that pins for each month come in and get shipped at a reasonable pace. This is especially true because Vograce ships from overseas.

What’s Next?

The window for joining the December Pin Club opens this Friday, Dec 2nd! The last day to join will be Monday, Dec 5th. The Pin Club won’t open for new memberships after that until January.

I’m also going to tweak the wording on my Subscribe Page to reflect this change. Maybe I’ll even make a pop-up listing in my Ko-Fi shop

So yes. Moving forward, Pin Club memberships will open on the first weekend of each month, First Friday to the following Monday. The schedule will help everybody involved.

Digital Club and Zine Club memberships can happen at any time. Those rewards are ones I can provide from my current studio setup. Just the Pin Club is changed.

If you still have questions, post them in the comments and I’ll answer as best as I can.

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

You. Are. Awesome.

It’s Genghis Con Time Again, Kids!

It’s time for Genghis Con once again, kids!

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.

genghis con pop up event 2021

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!

You. Are. Awesome.