Phoenix ComiCon 2010 – It’s over! I made it! I survived! I’m going to fall over! *thud*
Thank you to all who came out and visited with me! It was lovely to meet you all and see some familiar faces 😀
For those who have asked, sales were better than I expected for my first convention (read: I wasn’t expecting any), and I think I’ve gotten a better feel for what people will and will not buy. My prints and posters already printed will go up on my Etsy in a few days, and I will probably not make many/any more. I think I’m going to stick with charms, stickers, and 4x6s from now on. I may even advertise that I do sketches, who knows?
If I do any more larger print work outside of commissions (yes I do commissions, no I don’t do my characters nude), I think I will focus more on getting a book together. I had a lot of people read through my portfolio of original comics, laugh, and enjoy it. It seems like this is more of what people want than one-shot prints or posters. In short, I’m not going to waste my time and energy on things everyone “likes” but isn’t willing to purchase (that defeats the purpose of spending money to have them made in the first place).
Thank you to Zach Reddy of Zach Reddy Art and PaleoComics for the opportunity to share a booth with you, and thank you to Randy Milholland of SomethingPositive.net for (coming to Arizona and) good advice.
My next convention will be Intervention Con in the DC area September 10 – 12. It’s a first year convention that honestly has a really good lineup and will probably be the best first-year convention I’ve ever heard of.
A quick note (only because it was brought to my attention):
For those of you who took/take pictures of my stuff without asking – please ensure that you do ask in the future so I can keep track of you, but know that I won’t be mad if you remember to credit me and link back to my site.
Just for perspective: I spent well over 3 weeks working my ass off on the Corset Gamer Girls poster that no one purchased. This particular piece doesn’t exist in my comic archive in that amount of detail (it is however available on MySoti). If I calculated my normal freelancing hours on that, I’d be in the red by about $1,200.00, or 240 chai lattes. That’s even cutting a deal with myself because I know me, and not including my professional printer’s cost. You can see why I might be a little annoyed, right?
That doesn’t mean I don’t want you guys to display photos of my art, ever take pictures, etc, etc. It just means that I would like you to consider the effects of not getting my (or any artist’s, really) permission and not giving credit. My stuff is all © me and it’s like keeping track of my babies. I want to make sure they don’t get in trouble or get others into trouble.
So, THANK YOU to the one person who asked and took my bookmark with my website. 🙂
I think for a first convention you did AMAZING, trust me I talked to enough artists for to have horror stories to share. My take on the gamer girl thing. This is just me, but I think you need to work it into your story. Have a small arc that is is a part of, something that makes the reader care about the characters. Even if it is just a sort of typing at the computer and complaining about pants ect ect. No on knows these characters, even if they are bit parts make them something someone will care about.
Beyond that don’t think I don’t know where my Gummy Bears went….
Oh and when I have money a print will be purchased, so save one for me.
For once, it wasn’t me who stole the Gummi Bears. Maybe it was the roomie. She’ll have some esplainin’ to do for not sharing!
The post wasn’t meant to be a complaint about not selling the Corset Gamers print. I was more using that particular print as an example for how much time I put into it, only for people to take their own photos and go home with an unauthorized copy of my artwork, leaving me with nothing to show for it. It is a form of theft, they just didn’t take the physical paper print. Again, I don’t mind them asking, but I wanted to spin the other side of the perspective and show why I don’t approve. The could have at least given me a page hit 😛