Genghis Con 2017

Genghis Con happened last Sunday, November 26th in Lakewood, a suburb of Cleveland.

This was actually my first time in Cleveland, and I had no idea that the city was so FREAKING HUGE.

Genghis Con happened in a building that was once a former warehouse – as such, the elevator the exhibitors used was a cargo elevator.

At least attendees could take the stairs if they were able. I didn’t see a people elevator when I was there.

Anyway! I originally requested only a half table, and I was set to be seated next to my buddy Carlos Rivera, who runs Youngstown Indie Creator Expo (he was going to promote Yo-ICE at Genghis Con). However, he had to cancel at the last minute because of bronchitis. Carlos, if you’re reading this, for the love of Pete, take it easy and take care of yourself.

So yeah, I ended up having a full table.

genghis con 2017 artist alley table

I have this layout down to a SCIENCE.

I would like to tweak the table layout again, though: there are so many small things that it takes a long-ass time to set up, AND a long-ass time to break down everything.

That’s partially why I have a sale going on Storenvy. More on that in a minute.

In terms of sales (and trades – I’m always up for trading books with peeps), the show went well! It wasn’t as successful as the YWCA Mini-Con, but it was more of a success than RathaCon. Still, people got to discover my work and sign up for the email newsletter. Plus I got some cool stuff.

To top it all off, I came across my old caricature buddy, Clarence, from my days drawing caricatures at Cedar Point back in 2012. He invited me over to another caricature buddy’s house for Burger Fest – an annual-ish tradition where caricature buddies get together and eat burgers.

To which I was like “HECK YEAH.”

There’s something to be said about saying “Yes,” to the right things. Don’t say yes to everything (otherwise you’d have some weird experiences, if Yes Man is any indication). It also helps to know what your focus, or as Neil Gaiman put it once, “your mountain,” is. Anything that pulls you away from your mountain does not deserve a Yes.

To me, being in one place with people I hadn’t seen in years just after a good indie comic convention was a good reason to say Yes.

Thank you for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.

P.S. Yes, I’m running a sale on Storenvy – from now until December 18th, you can check out the new Clearance section, where things like mini-prints, mini-comics, and posters are anywhere between 20-50% off. Once these are gone, they’re GONE. So be sure to get them before December 18th.

PIX 2017 Was Awesome

Pittsburgh Indie Comix Expo happened on Sunday and it was GREAT to be there! Got to meet lots of cool punx and zinesters. Today’s video highlights the zines and comics I got while I was there.

It was also just a good weekend overall. I got to step away from social media and focus on comics, from producing to selling, and it helped put a lot of things into perspective.

For instance, I have an idea, which I’ll elaborate on in a future blog post, that I’m not announcing quite yet until I write up a rough plan for it. Of course there are comics and zine ideas I got from PIX, too.

But one of the epiphanies I had was in regards to social media. Specifically, Twitter.

This is the second or third time I’ve seriously considered leaving Twitter, and I have a rule for myself that if I seriously consider leaving a thing or a person three times, I have to act on it.

But I’ll explain that in another post. Just know that PIX was awesome, and it helped bring me back to focus on what’s really important.

And before I forget, here’s the links to the zines I got and the creators who made them:

Embroidery Zine (listed as www.babe.city but I couldn’t get the link to work. So find her on instagram @annesley.bug)

Frizzball (frizzball.com)

The Not Dog (notamalia.blogspot.com)

Landscape (themedialuna.com)

Sharks are Larks (http://sharkworks.tumblr.com)

Home In My Pocket (http://www.radiochio.com/)

Staring at Walls: A Sketch Collection (retrokinetics.tumblr.com)

Dani and Emma’s webcomic, Sightings (sightings-comic.com)

Cartozia Tales (cartozia.com)

Chicken: A Comic Cat Memoir (chickenthecat.com)

Laser Kittens RPG (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/189398/Laser-Kittens)

Thanks for watching and reading!

You. Are. Awesome.