my recent convention observations…
2022 was a big year back at shows post covid (heck i even got to copenhagen!)… here are a few thoughts…
– comic fans are pretty awesome (and many are willing to the a chance on a book if a creator is enthusiastic and sincere with the sales pitch*)
– *no matter how much you feel you’ve saturated your social media with ramblings about books (PERHAPANAUTS, KYRRA, YOUNG HELLBOY), there are PLENTY of folks who’ve never heard of ‘m…
– it’s like living in the future with technology and smartphones, square, paypal qr codes, contactless payments, venmo for payment
– designing a well set up table with displays for books, art, merch etc is an art form (and while a lot of the clear display book stands are great… they could be tweaked slightly to hold comics a bit better and maximize valuable table space)
– there is literally NO way to predict what will sell based on previous shows
– a convention that works with good local breweries for a show branded beer is a step above in my book…
– the venn diagram of people who say “oh, i’d DEFINITELY buy that print/sketchbook/sketch cover!” and the people who actually buy those things… are two very distinct circles (with the former being MUCH bigger than the latter)… i’ll be selling remaining prints/sketchbooks exclusively through the website from here on out (and for the most part, when they’re gone… they’re gone)
– i’ll defintely look into revisting my “stand up” desk setup again for shows in ’23.. it’s MUCH nicer be standing and make eye contact with folks…
i’m sure there’s more… but for now, back to the drawing table…