Very busy. From three single-day local shows at the beginning of the month, all leading to a three-day convention in Las Vegas at the end of the month. It’s always great to gain a lot of momentum as a vendor in the form of multiple shows, no matter how they turn out for you. A schedule that starts out slow but ends up very busy can snowball into other vendor opportunities.
ANA-CON: Taking place at the Anaheim Central Library during the second Saturday in April, Ana-Con was a small local event that I had done once previously as a vendor way back in 2019. It is an event that is absolutely free for both attendees and exhibitors, but the other thing that stood out for me regarding this show is how the event dates are scheduled either before or after the spring extravaganza Wondercon, just a few miles away at the Anaheim Convention Center. The 2019 show took place before Wondercon, while this year’s event (which was also their return show since the pandemic) happened afterward. I feel that in both cases, you will get alot of families and single older adults who aren’t able to attend Wondercon, and flock to this show instead once they hear about it. Sales between the two shows I did were radically different, mostly because of what I had on my table. I did just one sale of $20 during Ana-Con 2019, though I had already done San Diego Comic Fest a few weeks earlier, and was low on my first two Damn Tourists issues. I instead brought a mix of Damn Tourists and Cosmic Force books to Ana-Con, which may have made my table setup confusing to some customers at the time. For this year’s show, it was all about Damn Tourists’ six issues for $8 each, my art portfolio, and my bundle deals (issues 1 and 2 for $10 altogether; all six issues for $40). I did much better, with three sales that totaled $50, which is not bad for a free table. I also really liked being able to park in the library parking lot right outside, instead of a church parking lot across the street that vendors had to do during the 2019 show. The only crosswalk far down at the corner. That made for some rough loading in and out for vendors. I would definitely do this show again next year.
COMIC SHOP SIGNINGS: It has been quite some time since the first and last two in-store signings I did in 2015 at Pulp Fiction Comics in Culver City, and at the former Meltdown Comics in Hollywood respectively. Since most shop owners like to schedule signings on Wednesdays during new comic release day to help ensure more customers for the creator, that usually means taking a day off work. As I am currently still unemployed unfortunately, I fortunately can at least take advantage of these mid-week opportunities to promote and sell my books. This brings me to my latest two in-store shop signings at The Comic Bug in Culver City, and Hi De Ho Comics in Santa Monica. I’m no stranger to The Comic Bug, as I have been in their flagship Manhattan Beach store several times over the years for comic creator meetings, and mini-conventions featuring a lot of fellow artist and writer friends of mine. I was also a vendor at their former Culver City location for Free Comic Book Day from 2017-2019. However, contacting them via their general website email about a signing in their new Culver City store was a different process entirely, as I didn’t expect much of a response due to them having so many other various emails to answer. Low and behold, I got a positive response that allowed me to set up shop in their shop on a Wednesday in April from noon-5 pm. The store, placed in a strip mall behind a larger shopping center, got decent traffic between 3 and 5 pm, which was when I made a couple of sales. It was a different story with the Hi De Ho Comics signing, as both myself and the owner are comic book creators, and members of the Comic Arts Professional Society. He gave fellow members a first crack at doing in-store signings at his shop, and I was more than happy to take him up on the offer. I did a few more sales in the afternoon at that shop, where my signing hours were also 12-5 pm. The owner also purchased a few of my books to sell in his shop afterwards. Much like Ana-Con, both signing events were free for me, so it was all profit, no matter how big or little.
AMAZING LAS VEGAS COMIC CON: All of those local events were leading to the big out-of-state one: The 2023 edition of Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con. Held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, this show returned from the pandemic hiatus back in September 2022. Their usual dates pre-pandemic were in June, but the promoters were unable to secure any weekends in that month. I had done this show three times before, but with a 4-year gap in-between, so it was hard to make a comparison with those shows to see how good or bad I do in Artist Alley there. To remedy that, I exhibited at the 2022 show, which was a rough return, as many artist tables and half the convention floor was empty, causing low attendance. I did ok in sales, but not what I expected for a three-day show. I tried it again last month, and I only did slightly better sales-wise. However, the show floor was filled with activities and booths from end-to-end, with a lot of special guests for attendees. My best showing at this event was back in late June 2018, where I was part of an 8-artist exhibitor booth (already paid for) that was near the front of the convention hall. While I didn’t expect to immediately replicate or surpass that showing, it seems that many of the same attendees who flocked to conventions before co-vid have either not returned yet, or may have moved onto other activities. Nonetheless, I decided to skip vending at this show based on my two consecutive years of flat sales. Unless I get another free shared exhibitor booth scenario.
And that was Carter Comics business for the month of April. As we get into the rest of May and later June, I have a few more shows on the horizon, specifically two that came completely out of nowhere. I also have one more comic shop signing, a guest spot on a podcast interview, two magazine interviews, and an offer later in the summer to discuss my work and a friend’s livestream program. Until next month!
Regards,
Allen Carter
Carter Comics