Heck yes, I’ll be at Awesome Con in Washington DC March 30, 31st, and April 1st. This is the largest show I’ve done in 5 years – there are roughly 645 vendors and artists in the exhibitor hall! Here’s where I’ll be on the map:
In case it doesn’t load, I’m at table E13 in the Pride Alley. Yes, Awesome Con has a special aisle on the exhibitor floor for LGBTQ creators called Pride Alley, and I have a table there.
While there, I’ll have a new Convention-exclusive print and mini-print available. Since the show is in DC, and there’s a pretty big indie/punk scene there, I thought I would combine the two into…
The print is 8.5 by 11 inches and $5, while the mini-print is 4 by 6 inches and $2. Available only at Awesome Con, so if you can make it, be sure to grab one.
Here’s another convention-exclusive deal: Get all three Charlie & Clow adventures at Awesome Con (Charlie & Clow, Charlie & Clow: The Bonus Arc, and The Case of the Wendigo) for $20.
If you backed The Case of the Wendigo on KickStarter AND are going to Awesome Con, leave a comment and let me know BEFORE THURSDAY (March 29). I’ll have your reward set aside for you at the show.
If you can’t make it to the show, stay tuned – there’s a special event happening on my Storenvy shop starting April 6.
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in a Denny’s, waiting for my dinner. But this show went so well I had to write about it while waiting for food.
This was a last-minute decision to go – one of the guys at New Dimension Comics asked if I wanted to go to signal boost the shop as well as sell my stuff. I said yes.
Y-City happened in Zanesville, at a place called Weasel Brewery. Believe it or not, I have roots in Zanesville – it’s where I went to high school. While I had my table set up, I came across my old high school buddy and current fan, Morgan. After chatting a bit, we exchanged contact information so we could work together for First Fridays and the arts festival that happens annually in town.
It must be said that Y-City Con is still new – this was its second year of operation. So it was wee. I still wish I had something like this growing up though. In my formative years, the most nerdy things in Zanesville were the Waldenbooks before they went out of business, and the exchange store that carried video games and movies. Once there was a Hot Topic in that mall but it moved out when I was a junior or senior in high school. Point being: growing up I had no comic shop or comic con in the town. So I’m glad to see Y-City and the comic shop that hosts it, Mass Media Comics LLC, actually exist.
I’ll close it here – this is a shorter blog post than usual, but I wanted to get these thoughts on paper before I stuffed my face with congratulatory food.
Fantasyville Productions is something I’ve talked about with patrons on Patreon but I don’t think I’ve discussed it here. Basically it’s this: I wanted to file Fantasyville Productions, LLC into existence because my business has grown enough that I need to separate my personal and business information and finances. Plus, my goal is to grow Fantasyville Productions, LLC into a viable small-press publisher and distributor. I admit, it’s mostly because I DON’T want to deal with Diamond. I have no positive experiences with them so far, at least on the retail-end. I don’t think Fantasyville Productions would get so big that it would compete with Diamond, but I’m not ruling the possibility out either. I have accepted that the world is weird.
So – I filed Fantasyville Productions, LLC into existence earlier this month. Today I FINALLY got my EIN, which will help me set up a separate checking account for the business. #adulting.
This might sound boring to you, but I’m genuinely excited that Fantasyville Productions, LLC is now a thing!
PART 2 – CONVENTIONS
Currently I’m gearing up for Classic Plastics Toy and Comic Expo in Parkersburg, WV. If you’re going, I have a freebie for you (more info in this link). Things are printed and ready to go, and I have an artist buddy I’m crashing with for the weekend. Thank you, Kampie, for being so awesome! The plan is to go down Friday night, that way I don’t have to get up at the butt-crack of dawn Saturday for set-up.
While this is going on, I’m doing what I can to get ready for Awesome Con in Washington, DC at the end of March/beginning of April. I’ve never been to this show but I know it’s huge. Like, possibly bigger than Phoenix Comic Con huge. I haven’t been to a show this big (as a seller) in five years. And I’m terrified that I won’t be able to have enough for the show! But I can’t really order excess stock on books until after Classic Plastics. May grace give me patience.
There’s a couple of other shows between the two that I MIGHT go to, but the appearances will be related to the comic shop I work with now, not to sell my work. I’m already booked for Rathacon, 3 Rivers Comic Con, and Parkersburg Pop Con, though. Working to get back into more of the shows that I went to last year.
PART WHAT – MONSTER MADNESS
You know how March is typically March Madness for basketball? Well, I’m doing Monster Madness and drawing monsters. This’ll be like what I did for Witches: The Sketchbook – drawing a new sketch every day as an art challenge, and posting those sketches on my Facebook and Tumblr pages. Then I’ll be compiling them into a book.
Also…(I can’t believe I’m writing this) I might finally buckle down and get an Instagram. I’m still on the fence about it, so leave your most convincing arguments about whether I should join or not in the comments below. If I join, some of the first sketches will be Monster Madness-related.
PART THING – THE LEGEND OF JAMIE ROBERTS
The Legend of Jamie Roberts WILL be happening. The goal is to get the story’s script complete this summer, and then start drawing pages in the fall and winter.
Why the wait? Well, The KickStarter campaign for The Case of the Wendigo raised enough money to make the comic short story Dance Around the Maypole. So that story will take priority. That and, well, the script for The Legend of Jamie Roberts is still being worked on. It’s in the final draft phase! But still.
OK THAT’S IT FOR NOW.
I may be able to squeeze a video update after this blog post. Don’t hold your breath.
Thank you for reading, and for your support! Hope to see you at Classic Plastics this weekend.
You. Are. Awesome.
P.S. That sassy teapot was found at some mall in Phoenix, AZ back in 2013/2014. You’re welcome.
West Virginia Pop Culture Con happened August 26th and 27th, 2017.
Holy dang I took a while to finally write this out, didn’t I? It’s the start of the second week of October already.
Anyway! I was a bit nervous because I had never exhibited at this particular con before, and there was a lot of communications from the staff that appeared at the last minute. Like, I wasn’t 100% sure when set-up was until an email was sent the day before the event was set to start. Then, when I got there, I was moved to a new spot on the con floor because another artist decided to expand their set-up from one table to two, and overtook the one I was supposed to have.
However, the move worked out – I got situated next to super-cool-guy Travis, who helped watch my booth the few times I had to run to the restroom. (Comics buddy Dave Columbus also helped with that once or twice.) Plus, the booth right across from me had a Pride flag, so the folks who stopped by their booth for Pride gear saw my booth and the rainbow watercolor paintings I brought with me (those paintings are ones I talked about in the post about Parkersburg Pop Con). That helped boost sales a bit.
I also learned a thing or two about displaying my large prints that weekend – like having to reinforce the back with tape lacing through the gaps in the milk crates. Because yes, I use milk crates to display my prints… And pack my gear up to take to the show, as well as pack up at the end of the show.
Milk crates are GLORIOUS.
But back to the con – even though there was a bit of a mix-up figuring out where I was supposed to set up, the con staff was friendly and willing to help. They also helped me figure out a discount for staying at a local hotel, so that’s nice.
What surprised me was how popular my zines and mini-comics were. I was surprised because I forgot my spinner rack I use to display them, so I had to lay them flat on the table. In my experience, doing that meant fewer zine and minicomic sales. But not at this con! No, my zines and minicomics were my most popular items!
Even more surprising – Lazy Diana was popular!Lazy Diana is, as I pitch it at shows, “Paganism for Lazy People.” It’s a zine that talks about different aspects of Paganism and how they can be applied simply and lazily for everyday use. Because not everyone who wants to get into Paganism has the time to do an hour-and-a-half-long ritual two days after the first quarter moon, ok?
I was unsure how well this zine would be received, considering that the show was in West Virginia. But to my pleasant surprise, I had a family of practitioners buy Lazy Diana issues 1, 2, AND 3. Plus there were others who got some issues just out of an interest in the subject.
All told, by the end of two days, I made $398 in sales. Pretty. Darn. Awesome.
With that said, I am now fully caught up on blog posts talking about the conventions I’ve been to this year thus far! My next show (unless Champion City Comic Con pulls something off) will be at Genghis Con in Cleveland November 26th. The show runs from 2 pm to 7 pm. Mark your calendar, yo.
