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.

West Virginia Pop Culture Con: ROUND 2!

My second year at West Virginia Pop Culture Con went SUPER FREAKING WELL.

Somehow Dave (my table buddy and Patreon patron) and I managed to get TWO table spots (don’t ask me how. I’m still baffled). I wasn’t prepared for the extra long table space, but now I’m getting ideas for how I want to do a two-table spread at future cons, if that ever happens again. Or even better – a corner spot.

This year was awesome, not just for me but for Dave, as well. It also went really well for Cheyenne, another art buddy! WV Pop Con is really the place to go as an indie creator, because the show focuses a lot on the creative talent. I don’t think there were any celebrities at this show, except (arguably) for the guy who’s currently working on the art for Scooby Apocalypse, Patrick Olliffe.

There was only one thing that did not turn out well at WV Pop Con, and that was the silent auction I had for the framed original inks and lines for “God.”

pagan god illustration

For one thing, I forgot the jar to slip bids into. Oops.

Not that it would have mattered, because there were only two bids placed on this baby – one bid was for $5. The other was for $7.

My minimum bid was $50.

So, not going to do the silent auction again. I kept the framed art piece because I am NOT selling off an original art piece measuring 11 by 17 inches WITH A FRAME for $7.

Just gonna’ mark it to $150 as a flat rate and take it to Comicon Erie (unless someone in Saint Clairsville, OH, Wheeling, WV, or Youngstown, OH REALLY wants it. In which case, leave a comment. Let me know).

On the more positive side of things, my profit margin was higher than last year because I lowered my cost on one major thing – a place to crash.

Last year I stayed at a hotel (La Quinta). This year I stayed at an AirBnB and saved myself an EASY $100.

Another thing – having a table buddy lowered my table cost. And it got Dave a place to showcase his work… which is good because it turned out that this was his best show as an exhibitor EVER.

Win-wins all around!

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

You. Are. Awesome.

P.S. The AirBnB I stayed at had a 15-year-old cat named Splash. She is the sweetest ball of fluff I ever had the joy of holding and petting.

West Virginia Pop Culture Con 2017

west virginia pop culture con artist alley 2017

West Virginia Pop Culture Con happened August 26th and 27th, 2017.

Holy dang I took a while to finally write this out, didn’t I? It’s the start of the second week of October already.

Anyway! I was a bit nervous because I had never exhibited at this particular con before, and there was a lot of communications from the staff that appeared at the last minute. Like, I wasn’t 100% sure when set-up was until an email was sent the day before the event was set to start. Then, when I got there, I was moved to a new spot on the con floor because another artist decided to expand their set-up from one table to two, and overtook the one I was supposed to have.

However, the move worked out – I got situated next to super-cool-guy Travis, who helped watch my booth the few times I had to run to the restroom. (Comics buddy Dave Columbus also helped with that once or twice.) Plus, the booth right across from me had a Pride flag, so the folks who stopped by their booth for Pride gear saw my booth and the rainbow watercolor paintings I brought with me (those paintings are ones I talked about in the post about Parkersburg Pop Con). That helped boost sales a bit.

I also learned a thing or two about displaying my large prints that weekend – like having to reinforce the back with tape lacing through the gaps in the milk crates. Because yes, I use milk crates to display my prints… And pack my gear up to take to the show, as well as pack up at the end of the show.

Milk crates are GLORIOUS.

But back to the con – even though there was a bit of a mix-up figuring out where I was supposed to set up, the con staff was friendly and willing to help. They also helped me figure out a discount for staying at a local hotel, so that’s nice.

What surprised me was how popular my zines and mini-comics were. I was surprised because I forgot my spinner rack I use to display them, so I had to lay them flat on the table. In my experience, doing that meant fewer zine and minicomic sales. But not at this con! No, my zines and minicomics were my most popular items!

Even more surprising – Lazy Diana was popular!Lazy Diana is, as I pitch it at shows, “Paganism for Lazy People.” It’s a zine that talks about different aspects of Paganism and how they can be applied simply and lazily for everyday use. Because not everyone who wants to get into Paganism has the time to do an hour-and-a-half-long ritual two days after the first quarter moon, ok?

I was unsure how well this zine would be received, considering that the show was in West Virginia. But to my pleasant surprise, I had a family of practitioners buy Lazy Diana issues 1, 2, AND 3. Plus there were others who got some issues just out of an interest in the subject.

All told, by the end of two days, I made $398 in sales. Pretty. Darn. Awesome.

With that said, I am now fully caught up on blog posts talking about the conventions I’ve been to this year thus far! My next show (unless Champion City Comic Con pulls something off) will be at Genghis Con in Cleveland November 26th. The show runs from 2 pm to 7 pm. Mark your calendar, yo.

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

You. Are. Awesome.