Tales from the Con!

So just got back from Winston-Salem Comic-Con a couple hours ago. I sold a few copies, traded a couple copies with some of the other creators there and had a few people take my fliers. Chatted with a few folks. Everyone was very nice.

I got put on the very last row facing away from the entrance, with no other creators selling their comics near me, so I'm not how that effected my foot traffic. I did have fantastically talented artists on either side of me who were also pleasant folks.

And congrats to Juan Gray who won the rare original black and white version of College Follies #1!

Things I learned:

Be prepared to adapt your display. The table, provided by the venue, was much, much narrower than I thought it would be. I had every inch of it taken up by merchandise or signs. So I didn't have room to work on the cover for issue four, which was honestly a big disappointment to me.

Be prepared to cover your table. The tables where old wooden tables that had seen their better days to put it politely. I planned to use just a table skirt, but seeing how the tables looked, I had to literally run out and get a table cloth at Family Dollar to cover it up. I'll have time to order a real proper table cloth for next time, thankfully.

Allow a crazy amount of time to set up. I got there a little over an hour before they opened and thanks to my table covering emergency, it wasn't enough. It's better to get there uber early, just in case.

Don't count on anyone staying after close. I was hoping to do some networking, shopping and seeing if any vendors or creators might want to buy the comic. That didn't happen. I had a few minute window right at 5 I was able to talk to a few creators real quick (kinda the comic creator versions of speed dating) and do a couple trade, but that was it. Within half an hour, 95% of anyone who had a table was gone. So if you want to do something outside your booth, do it before the show, just in case everyone evacuates quickly.

I also had some sign and display malfunctions, which I'll be fining tuning for next time. And I got some experience talking to some folks.

So with experience under my belt, I'll be fine tuning things for a bigger, better, more stream lined College Follies experience at the next con.