My First Convention

Edith and Me at the Vermont Comic Con 2017

Martin Luther once said, "How soon, not now, becomes never."

When my younger brother suddenly died early last year, I realized that we don’t know how many tomorrows any of us have left. For years, I have thought about publishing my comics or having a table at a local comic book convention; but I always said I could do it later. The fragility of life hitting me in the face, made me take my dreams more seriously.

When I went to the Vermont Comic Con in 2016 and wandered down Artist Alley I was first introduced to the Vermont Comic Creators group.  Over a dozen of the artists were from this group and invited me to join.

Being an independent comic creator is a solitary vocation.  The Vermont Comic Creators group gave me a place to talk about my work and we used each other as sounding boards and provided advice, critique, and feedback.

With their support I was ready to have my own table at the 2017 Vermont Comic Con.

What I Learned

I wasn’t doing commissions or selling prints of my versions of famous characters; I was just selling copies of my comics.

What did this mean?  It meant that I was selling not only my skill, but my creations.  This is hard for the first time, and I hope this part gets easier.  My wife who sat behind the table with me kept commenting that I needed to sell more.

Hopefully this will get easier with more exposure to conventions.

Which brings me to my final thought:

The Mere Exposure Effect

There wasn’t a deluge of sales, but that is because I feel my ‘brand’ is yet to be familiar.  I’ll keep plugging away and see where the future takes me!