Anyone here done a comic con before?

jvartandillustration

One of my goals in the next year or two was to get a space at my local comic con or other craft/art fairs.

I reached out to an event coordinator who told me what the general cost of renting a small space in artist alley be, which seemed reasonable. I suspect that my cost of printing artwork and stickers would be pretty significant as well.

There was also this disclaimer on their website about ensuring that you have all the rights to sell artwork of licensed characters. I had heard that there was a general understanding that corporations and other participants generally left comic cons alone in this regard, but idk.

Anyone else participated in one of these before? I want to get a sense of whether or not it is worth the investment from the money you make with sales?

@jvartandillustration about 21 years ago I was asked to gray render the pages of what we might now call a graphic novel. A group of young artists and a writer developed a cool story and was striving to get it printed before the San Diego comicon. They knew it was a key part of getting a financial return to offset the expenses of having a booth. They also chose a few images to feature as post cards and posters. The other thing they did was continually draw and offered to do comic style portraits, for a price, for those who approached the booth.

jvartandillustration

@thomas-young said in Anyone here done a comic con before?:

The other thing they did was continually draw and offered to do comic style portraits, for a price, for those who approached the booth.

Thats a good idea. I think I recall seeing other artists there with tablets out drawing, but I’m not sure if that was what they were doing.

braden H

@jvartandillustration Comicons are great fun. I've had an artists alley table at 10 or so now. Couple of things I've learned about making money and selling fanart:

Unless you're very very lucky, special, or found a gimmick that sells like hotcakes, you will lose money. It's possible you won't even make your table fee back. Don't table at a comicon unless you comfortable essentially setting your investment on fire. Go to have fun, meet people, and share your art.

Nobody cares if you sell fanart and such based on established IP. It is expected in an artist alley. Morally it seems to be a grey area (depending on how transformative your art is and whether the product you sell interfered with their sales) but legally it's pretty cut and dry. They have every right to tell you to stop. But you're right, generally they don't care.

SO if you sell prints of a fandom character in your style, video game characters in the style of famous renaissance artists, or japanese woodcuts, or norse rock carved runes, or TV characters as cats, or robots, etc. that's cool. It's fairly transformative. If you sell bootleg copies of prints you've seen online, that is NOT okay.

My advice would be to go to a few cons and talk to folks who sell stuff in the artist alley. Buy some merch. See what's selling and not selling (it'll be obvious after you watch the booths for a bit). Don't just go in blind hoping your art will sell. Besides, going and wandering around is just as fun as selling

jvartandillustration

@braden-H This is very helpful info. I suspected that they wouldn’t be big money-makers, but they still look like a lot of fun.

Thanks!

makekong

@jvartandillustration hi there! As some mentioned, It is better to first have a following and some products than to dive in. For example lets say you made a kickstarter and now have printed books and some extras like stickers that you calculated into the campaign funding so the investment for those materials is technically zero. Now you have more flexibility to sell in your store online and then take advantage of a local fair or con. Also a well planned kickstarter is free market research

There is a lot of advice in the comiclab podcast as Dave does Comicon religiously (20 years I think?) even tabling with Jake sometimes.

I could share some links and other things related If you would like. Just let me know if interested and where you are right now (have a comic, webcomic, etc)

jenirose92

I've sold at some smaller pop up events and local anime conventions, as well as two out of state cons: I've been doing this for over seven years now. It's a great opportunity and learning experience. Competition is very fierce but I wish you the best on your creative journey: Key things to consider BEFORE you start, based off my experiences:

What kinds of styles, themes and aesthetic are you going for?
What types of items do you plan on selling?
Target Audience/demographic: Who do you expect to sell to? I love making cute, colorful creations. Examples are chibi animals and/or food. my stuff does well with young crowd and LGBTQIA+ community.
Register your business through the IRS. Disclaimer: This part is definitely not my strong suit. We have a family accountant to help guide me through these steps. I started out just selling in my home state. For every state you plan to sell at, especially for a big con, you need to register your business for those states. Tax reasons
Record business investments, keep track of sales, profits and losses. For reporting/filing taxes to the IRS. Again with the disclaimer: Not my strong suit dealing with IRS or filling out paperwork
Research the cons/events beforehand, especially if not local. This includes location, what the con has to offer (programs, panels, guests, etc.)
Having a well -put -together, powerful, and eye catching display will attract more people. Part of marketing your brand.

I still have A LOT more to say regarding cons, lol, both as attendee and seller. Feel free to message me :). ALSO: STAY HYDRATED, FEED YOURSELF ENOUGH, STRETCH/ WALK AROUND PERIODICALLY.