(no subject)
This weekend was my very first comic book convention as an “exhibitor” selling comic books that I wrote. I went to the Dallas Comic Convention (www.scifiexpo.com) this weekend and had several self-published books and one book published by Warpton Comics (www.warpton.com). Unfortunately the Warpton book wasn’t finished in time to get copies from the publisher out to the show, but I did manage to print up some ash-can editions for sales. I didn’t have any “superhero” comics on my table. I had one dark noir, modern vampire comic called Dusk (the one Warpton is publishing) and a cyberpunk action comic called Nightgate (I have it at Comixpress.com). I also was helping some friends, so I had some flyers for Rachel Nabors’ site (www.subcultureofone.com) which a few guys took her flyers, but it was mostly young girls who picked them up (there was even this one little girl who was probably only 8 years old and she kept trying to get her mom’s attention about how funny the flyer was), and I had a collection of web comics strips by my friend L. Sinclair (www.nightgig.com/sgp/). I talked to another friend who used to have a comic store and he pointed out to me that by having no superhero work, I was limiting the audience but I was willing to take that risk. Interestingly enough, there were several people who stopped by to look, and then buy, my Dusk comic merely because they overheard us talking about vampires. So I guess there’s a market for any book; the trick is getting the word out to them.
A quick little info about Dallas Comic Con is that it was originally a smaller con that had some big name comic guests (like say Tim Bradstreet and Kevin Eastman), but the shows were a tad small (which I personally thought was great because I had easy access to the guests). Later, they combined forces with the local sci-fi media con, Sci-Fi Expo. So while they’re billed as comic shows, the attendance leans more toward the sci-fi side of the show - kind of like the Wizard World Texas seems to do, but the Dallas Comic Con is more reasonably priced, has a fairer system to see stars, and is better located (putting a con in Arlington just makes it obvious that you’re from out of town).
So enough about that (I spent too much time paying attention to the local convention scene). When I got there Saturday morning (it’s only a two day show), I found my table which was next to the CGC folks and across from Rich Buckler, Jim Daly, and Matt Brooks. So it made me slightly nervous that I was the only “amateur” surrounded by people who have done professional work. As I sat there waiting for the doors to open to the public, Erin Grey of “Buck Rogers” and “Silver Spoons” walked by and we exchanged good mornings (she then proceeded to hang out at Jim Daly’s booth and really talk about his work, but I’m not bitter ). Then I saw Kevin Sorbo walk by, but he had more handlers around him so it was hard to talk to him.
The doors opened up, and people flooded in (they was a good-sized line at the door an hour before the start time of the show). I was going for a more passive style of selling so I’d make eye contact with people, exchange good mornings, and slowly point out books, if they showed interest. That didn’t work too well at the show opening because everyone was in a dash to the autograph lines. Knowing that, I wasn’t too concerned because they’d have to finish getting autographs sometime. I did also tried a gimmick of having my friend Lance dress up as the main male character in my comic Dusk and that also didn’t work as well. Sunday, with Lance and me, I had my wife Carrie and my friend Erin who was dressed up as the female lead and that did attract more attention, but not because there were two women at the table. It was because Erin would say anything to get people to the table. If you were wearing a Serenity t-shirt, she’d say that Serenity fans would love my comics, if they were carrying a toy dinosaur she’d say dinosaurs like my comics (which I quickly followed up with that’s why dinosaurs died out because they were waiting for my comic and it didn’t come until millions of years later). So Sunday was a lot more of a harder sell that Saturday (and Sunday was the better day in terms of sales).
Anyway, while waiting for the autograph rush to die down, I did get a chance to talk to some interesting con-goers. I talked to one older gentleman (in his 50s I’d guess) about how comics aren’t really how they used to be. That became a theme that came up during the show where several people mentioned they “grew out” of comics, or they stop collecting except for maybe one or two titles (and the hint was the comics weren’t from the big two.) I also got to meet and talk to Gary Tiner, who’s done a lifetime of freelance cartooning work (sadly the only work I can remember is Cracked). He had some funny jokes (like a blonde joke none of my friends or myself have heard). He had a really refreshing view of a strong work ethic in artists, and he gave me some good encouragement work on my drawing. I’ve tried drawing in the past and didn’t have a talent for it like others so I focused on my writing (which I feel I’m better at). When Mr. Tiner saw me drawing a little something I got talked into doing for a mini-comic workshop, he stated that my style was bad at all. I proceeded to tell him that it wasn’t my style at all; I was just taking bits and pieces of other artists’ styles that I’ve seen before. Mr. Tiner said that is how he learned to draw, that he just kept working at it, and kept learning from other people’s artwork until finally his own style developed. He even had me draw a sketch in his sketchbook; the theme was “draw what you think you look like”. I was quite flattered to draw in his sketchbook because he had everyone from Joe Jusko to...uhm...well there was so many I forgot them all.
So by the end of the day, I had sold about 26 comics over all.
Sunday started off a bit better mainly because my wife was with me this time, but other small things did make it better as well. Right before the show, Marc Singer of “V” and Beastmaster fame came out and said hello to each and every person in Artist Alley. Carrie asked if he made it out to Oak Cliff, a section of Dallas, and he said no but last time he saw Oak Cliff, it was nothing like he remembered. When we saw Mr. Singer at Megacon and we mentioned we lived near Dallas, he told us about how he used to visit his grandparents’ farm out in Oak Cliff. We found this particularly odd because today Oak Cliff is considered a “rough” part of Dallas and there’s nothing but strip malls and grocery stores out there now. We also saw Adam Baldwin of Serenity and Full Metal Jacket fame walking around. Erin was quite excited to see him because she’s a big Serenity/Firefly fan, but it took us a little bit of work to get her to go get a picture with him (which he was more than happy to do while Erin was going all fangirl on him). Here is the picture http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2262/427/1600/adambaldwin.jpg.
The day proceeded much better. Erin’s carnival style of promotion worked well, and there were actually several aspiring artists and writers walking around looking for advice and just wanting to talk shop. It was really fun to talk with fellow struggling creators like myself and be able to simply discuss the craft. Also it was somewhat amusing that they thought I was higher up on the food chain because I had a table at a show. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that I was just another wannabe with ideas and dreams of making my own comics. The other surreal thing I couldn’t get over was that people wanted me to sign the books. Actually, they had me, the two “models” Lance and Erin, and even my wife, the un-credited copy editor of the story (I’m terrible with spelling and grammar sadly enough) sign the book. Erin mentioned that she helped me out for basically just a Serenity pin, but I stated I raised her “Q Quotient” by a tenth of a percent.
A really cute fandom moment is when we trying to sell to one lady, who stated that she was interested but had no cash. I jokingly replied that she surely had $3 left and she then proceeded to explain how she sold off her DVD collection so her daughter could see her heroes. So I guessed she meant Carrie Fisher, but I was a bit off as she stated it was Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker. She then called over her 9 year old daughter over and asked her who she got to see, and the little girl replied Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew as she was nearly bouncing with joy.
At the end of the day, I had sold 37 comics bringing my weekend total to 63 comics. I recouped my costs with just a little bit left over (and I even accounted for gas into the cost). I talked to 7 comic shops that’d be willing to carry my comics (but to be fair, those shops already know me and I’m on very good terms with them), and I was tentatively invited to two conventions CAGE Con (www.cagecon.com) and Texas Frightmare Weekend (www.texasfrightmareweekend.com).
So overall I’d say my first con as an exhibitor was a great and wonderful time, and I can’t wait to do it again. Also, I want to say thanks to all my friends who helped and came out to support me.
A quick little info about Dallas Comic Con is that it was originally a smaller con that had some big name comic guests (like say Tim Bradstreet and Kevin Eastman), but the shows were a tad small (which I personally thought was great because I had easy access to the guests). Later, they combined forces with the local sci-fi media con, Sci-Fi Expo. So while they’re billed as comic shows, the attendance leans more toward the sci-fi side of the show - kind of like the Wizard World Texas seems to do, but the Dallas Comic Con is more reasonably priced, has a fairer system to see stars, and is better located (putting a con in Arlington just makes it obvious that you’re from out of town).
So enough about that (I spent too much time paying attention to the local convention scene). When I got there Saturday morning (it’s only a two day show), I found my table which was next to the CGC folks and across from Rich Buckler, Jim Daly, and Matt Brooks. So it made me slightly nervous that I was the only “amateur” surrounded by people who have done professional work. As I sat there waiting for the doors to open to the public, Erin Grey of “Buck Rogers” and “Silver Spoons” walked by and we exchanged good mornings (she then proceeded to hang out at Jim Daly’s booth and really talk about his work, but I’m not bitter ). Then I saw Kevin Sorbo walk by, but he had more handlers around him so it was hard to talk to him.
The doors opened up, and people flooded in (they was a good-sized line at the door an hour before the start time of the show). I was going for a more passive style of selling so I’d make eye contact with people, exchange good mornings, and slowly point out books, if they showed interest. That didn’t work too well at the show opening because everyone was in a dash to the autograph lines. Knowing that, I wasn’t too concerned because they’d have to finish getting autographs sometime. I did also tried a gimmick of having my friend Lance dress up as the main male character in my comic Dusk and that also didn’t work as well. Sunday, with Lance and me, I had my wife Carrie and my friend Erin who was dressed up as the female lead and that did attract more attention, but not because there were two women at the table. It was because Erin would say anything to get people to the table. If you were wearing a Serenity t-shirt, she’d say that Serenity fans would love my comics, if they were carrying a toy dinosaur she’d say dinosaurs like my comics (which I quickly followed up with that’s why dinosaurs died out because they were waiting for my comic and it didn’t come until millions of years later). So Sunday was a lot more of a harder sell that Saturday (and Sunday was the better day in terms of sales).
Anyway, while waiting for the autograph rush to die down, I did get a chance to talk to some interesting con-goers. I talked to one older gentleman (in his 50s I’d guess) about how comics aren’t really how they used to be. That became a theme that came up during the show where several people mentioned they “grew out” of comics, or they stop collecting except for maybe one or two titles (and the hint was the comics weren’t from the big two.) I also got to meet and talk to Gary Tiner, who’s done a lifetime of freelance cartooning work (sadly the only work I can remember is Cracked). He had some funny jokes (like a blonde joke none of my friends or myself have heard). He had a really refreshing view of a strong work ethic in artists, and he gave me some good encouragement work on my drawing. I’ve tried drawing in the past and didn’t have a talent for it like others so I focused on my writing (which I feel I’m better at). When Mr. Tiner saw me drawing a little something I got talked into doing for a mini-comic workshop, he stated that my style was bad at all. I proceeded to tell him that it wasn’t my style at all; I was just taking bits and pieces of other artists’ styles that I’ve seen before. Mr. Tiner said that is how he learned to draw, that he just kept working at it, and kept learning from other people’s artwork until finally his own style developed. He even had me draw a sketch in his sketchbook; the theme was “draw what you think you look like”. I was quite flattered to draw in his sketchbook because he had everyone from Joe Jusko to...uhm...well there was so many I forgot them all.
So by the end of the day, I had sold about 26 comics over all.
Sunday started off a bit better mainly because my wife was with me this time, but other small things did make it better as well. Right before the show, Marc Singer of “V” and Beastmaster fame came out and said hello to each and every person in Artist Alley. Carrie asked if he made it out to Oak Cliff, a section of Dallas, and he said no but last time he saw Oak Cliff, it was nothing like he remembered. When we saw Mr. Singer at Megacon and we mentioned we lived near Dallas, he told us about how he used to visit his grandparents’ farm out in Oak Cliff. We found this particularly odd because today Oak Cliff is considered a “rough” part of Dallas and there’s nothing but strip malls and grocery stores out there now. We also saw Adam Baldwin of Serenity and Full Metal Jacket fame walking around. Erin was quite excited to see him because she’s a big Serenity/Firefly fan, but it took us a little bit of work to get her to go get a picture with him (which he was more than happy to do while Erin was going all fangirl on him). Here is the picture http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2262/427/1600/adambaldwin.jpg.
The day proceeded much better. Erin’s carnival style of promotion worked well, and there were actually several aspiring artists and writers walking around looking for advice and just wanting to talk shop. It was really fun to talk with fellow struggling creators like myself and be able to simply discuss the craft. Also it was somewhat amusing that they thought I was higher up on the food chain because I had a table at a show. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that I was just another wannabe with ideas and dreams of making my own comics. The other surreal thing I couldn’t get over was that people wanted me to sign the books. Actually, they had me, the two “models” Lance and Erin, and even my wife, the un-credited copy editor of the story (I’m terrible with spelling and grammar sadly enough) sign the book. Erin mentioned that she helped me out for basically just a Serenity pin, but I stated I raised her “Q Quotient” by a tenth of a percent.
A really cute fandom moment is when we trying to sell to one lady, who stated that she was interested but had no cash. I jokingly replied that she surely had $3 left and she then proceeded to explain how she sold off her DVD collection so her daughter could see her heroes. So I guessed she meant Carrie Fisher, but I was a bit off as she stated it was Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker. She then called over her 9 year old daughter over and asked her who she got to see, and the little girl replied Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew as she was nearly bouncing with joy.
At the end of the day, I had sold 37 comics bringing my weekend total to 63 comics. I recouped my costs with just a little bit left over (and I even accounted for gas into the cost). I talked to 7 comic shops that’d be willing to carry my comics (but to be fair, those shops already know me and I’m on very good terms with them), and I was tentatively invited to two conventions CAGE Con (www.cagecon.com) and Texas Frightmare Weekend (www.texasfrightmareweekend.com).
So overall I’d say my first con as an exhibitor was a great and wonderful time, and I can’t wait to do it again. Also, I want to say thanks to all my friends who helped and came out to support me.