Well, I’m glad that cons have been such a positive experience for me lately, and BCC was no exception! It was a small convention here in Buffalo, NY, and Emil Novak of Queen City Bookstore was gracious enough to give me a free table! As we learned from my previous experience at Corn Hill Arts Fest (where I got a $300 booth for $15!), I do NOT like to let opportunities pass me by.  So go I did, even though it was short notice for me, and even though I have an exam on Tuesday.

Here’s how it went down!

It was from 10-4pm at a Marriott hotel. It was a nice-size room, well set up, with nice large tables! There was no real artist’s alley like at larger conventions, which was kind of nice, since we were right next to the dealers. BCC was NOT an anime convention, it was a comic book convention, so that was what was big. There was a nice diverse crowd though. A lot of parents bringing their children, which was nice to see! I’m sure most comic fans are aware of how the main audience for print comics nowadays is uh…the same audience that liked them 40 years ago.  My Not Alone books are also aimed at a younger crowd, so that was good for me!  I only have 3 left now, AND turned a nice profit on them from the 50 I originally printed out.

My prints did well also. Since this was a traditional comic crowd, I tried to have more “action” stuff this time around. Got a lot of compliments, which was nice. Two groups of people pitched web-business “aids” to me…but I wonder how aware they even are of the webcomic crowd. Tons of people grabbed my business cards too. I don’t think I’ll ever go to a convention without cards. :D

This time around I ALSO had a bunch of original sketches and inked sketches for sale. I was actually a bit sad to part with some of them. I don’t have a scanner here, so I don’t even have a digital copy. BUT, what I’m getting at here for digital artists is that people who go to conventions LOVE originals.  It also turns out that digital art really does help you out on real paper. My sketching was 100% better than when I last tried. It was very confidence inspiring!

I have 3 main pieces of advice this time around:

Always price your items to what is easiest to “break.”  I recommend going by 5’s.  No odd prices! It makes purchases really hard when people keep coming around with 20’s. Be sure to come with small bills yourself.

You look really professional if you have bags for people to use when they buy your stuff. If you’ve got prints, paper bags or tubes work very well. Regular shopping bags for anything else. I forgot both, so I folded up some regular print paper as a mini-holder. That way, no one got their finger grease on my beautiful prints!

Be completely confident in your work! You may sit next to amazing artists who are better than you. So what? It’s YOUR work, and you made it, and no one is going to buy ANYTHING from you if you keep going on and on about how “oh, this isn’t perfect and that sucks and I can do better I swear etc etc emo etc.” The only thing you’ll get is pity-sales by some lady who has too much mercy. This is especially important if you are “out of your element.” Holy freakin’ poopsicle, folks, I don’t read DC/Marvel comics, much less like them! I even dislike most of the movies made off them! I think only 1/20 of BCC goers had even HEARD of webcomics. But damn, I stood out, and that’s how I sold stuff. And, oh yeah, I was the only female comic creator in attendance. Booyeah.  A lot of women were like, “power to ya, girl!” Fun times. Semi-embarrassing, but fun!

The final tally for this small con: $30 spent on prints, $120 made, for a net profit of $90 in 6 hours. Not awesome, but not bad!

My prices: $5/sketch, $10/ink/11×17 poster/Not Alone book, $20/22×34 poster.

Sold 2 inks, 7 books, 3 11×17 posters. Sold ZERO sketches (but gave 2 away) and ZERO 22×34 posters. Either the posters were for the wrong crowd, or $20 is just too expensive (economy? This convention? Unsure!).

Sat next to John and his awesomely-talented son, who have a Facebook comic called Captain Outstanding going! Check that out here. It’s a REALLY funny premise.

Finally, the “character” of the convention was this totally…cliche…youngish dude dressed in a green shirt, a dark brown blazer, and YELLOW CORDUROY PANTS, with a military-green messenger bag and an unkempt beard. Can someone scream “emo poet” a little louder please? I need to bring a camera to these things! That’s all from me! The next con I will be attending is Steel City Comic Con in Pittsburgh, December 4, 5, and 6!