This year, Wizard World took over the Mid Ohio Con, so it was supposed to be a whole 'nother show. And it was... in a way.
Last year was a nice, fun show, but I didn't do as well as expected, or as well as I had at the Baltimore Comic Con. I came again since it promised to be a different experience, but I could have done better... at least sales-wise. The thing is, you have to look at the intangibles, such as meeting nice people, and enjoying the show itself, seeing friends, and seeing who stops at your booth, what they look at, and learning a bit about your audience.
I met some great people... some of them very nice, interesting, and talkative, but few were what I would consider my 'audience'. Future audience, perhaps, but like last year, there was very little at this show that mentioned comic strips. Movies, toys, comic books, yes, but comic strips, no. Tom Batuik of Funky Winkerbean was there, which was a plus, but I didn't get a chance to get over his way. It would have been nice to talk to him about comic strips, if he were willing.
It just isn't Comic Con without Stormtroopers. :0)
And there were few people who seemed to be looking for 'something different'. There may have been, in Artist's Alley, but I wasn't in Artist's Alley this year, and more's the pity. I had a Small Press booth, but I wasn't in a Small Press area... a few people even asked "What are you doing in this area?".
The people who did stop by to talk or buy something I feel stumbled upon me, which is quite possible since I was surrounded by a guy selling t-shirts, a guy selling toys, and a guy selling old comic books. Thankfully I was able to get the attention of some great people. but I feel like some people didn't make it down my alley, or if they did, they moved down it too fast, or were captivated by the t-shirts. I did see several people who I felt definitely would have liked my material, but they never even saw it as they went by.
So am I over analysing things? Perhaps, but hey, if you want to sell something, especially in this economy, it pays to know a little psychology. And yes, perhaps the economy did affect things. I mostly sold only the small money items, such as my comic books. This was the first time ever I didn't sell several of the big books.
Don't. Blink.
So did I have a terrible time? No, not at all. I did, however, spend all my earnings on Fantastic Four collections, but hey, I got some great deals. And I did meet some wonderful people, like the kid above in the Weeping Angel costume. Most of the people in costumes seem like nice folk, and fun, and most of the people who bought my stuff were friendly and articulate. I had a lot of fun, at times, but those times when no one stopped by were dreadful. All shows have slow times, but today was really slow.
If I had written this yesterday morning, it would be all praise and exclamation points. After all, I finally sold out of The Inquiring Minds #1, and The Inquiring Minds: Funny Pages #1 did very well. In fact, most of the people who stopped by were kids with their parents.
I'll have to think long and hard about next year. I do have big plans for HappyGlyphs, and depending how things go, I may have to do a lot of shows to support those plans.
We'll see! JOHN :0)
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