Do you have any convention tips?

aszabla:

YEah! I have bunch of convention tips and I have no idea if they’re useful or if they’re the kind of tips you want but here I go:

1. Learn what people are likely to buy before you commit to a table. So like, I KNOW you love your OCs, and I love your OCs too…but a random passerby at a con needs a REASON to love your OCs and isn’t necessarily gonna buy a print of his beautiful perfect you-can-tell-hes-a-bottom face without an emotional connection to either the work (because the art is so good/interesting/narrative) or the story behind the work (because you have a comic/animation/game that people know about). So if you’re gonna table at a con I think it’s important to look at the stuff you can sell and try to either gauge it towards people who dont know your work (pins with sayings, prints of cool scenes or concepts, whole books they can get into, fanart even!) OR if you already have a big fanbase of your work online, THEN you can print body pillows of your softest smallest OC and people will come and buy them because they’re already invested in those characters.

2. Lay your stuff out so people can peruse. Especially if you are selling books, I like to lay a bunch of them out so people aren’t afraid of picking them up or flipping thru, or having several groups at my table able to pick them up at the same time. I also like having a copy of my book open to some of my strongest pages so people get an idea of what’s inside (this helps especially with books like Banquet, which have a pretty minimalist cover)

3. Label your work with what it is/comic synopsis blurbs so shy tiny deer people dont have to talk to you if they dont want to. You can (and still will have to) tell your elevator pitch to people who approach you and wanna know more about your book. But having a little blurb written by each book explaining the basic plot is GREAT because for every person who asks you about your pitch, theres like 20 who slink by your table, look at your stuff, and keep going without talking with you. If you can grab them with your synopsis, then you WIN

4. The hard sell is ok if thats your jam but you don’t need it. A lot of people give con advice like “you should be standing at your table and talk to everyone who looks in your direction and shove your books into their hands etc etc” but as a buyer this is TERRIFYING and nothing will send me fleeing from your table faster. I’ve done very well at conventions just sitting back and letting people talk if they want but also letting people NOT talk if they want! If you’re a social person and like to talk, thats fine! But be wary of the hard sell and don’t feel like you need to push anyone into a sale.

5. Take your money with you if you leave your table!! TAKE IT WITH YOU. Keep your money on your body so that if someone tries to steal it they would literally have to be touching your human body and that wigs a lot of would be thiefs out (not the sexy ones tho, watch out! I would be in so much trouble if a sexy thief came after me I am NOT PREPARED FOR SEXY THIEVES but i am very prepared for nonsexy thieves!!)

6. Get a table buddy or someone who can bring you food DONT BE LIKE ME, A FOOL WHO SITS AT A TABLE FOR 10 hrs with no one to watch it if you need a break and eats a piece of dried pineapple when they feel faint THATS A WEIRD THING TO DO thats NOT how to do CONS, SABIN NO

7. If you get bored PLAY THE BABY WAVE GAME

The baby wave game is when you’re sitting at a con table, wave at every baby that passes by. If the baby waves back YOU WIN A POINT!! If the baby looks down at you like you’re dirt on it’s tiny baby boot, you do not win a point and you get to feel something akin to shame of being dismissed by a small but powerful god. If the parent catches you waving and is like “ooooh he’s shy sorryy” or “she can’t wave yet she’s like a week old you fool” you lose a point!!