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A Rant about Self-Promotion at Conventions
A comic book convention is a seething pit of color, noise, and hyperactivity. How is a
self-publisher with only four feet of tablespace possibly going to get noticed when
they sandwich you between Lou Ferrigno and a skateboarding demonstration? (Yes, this
actually happened to me...) Follow these tips and get yourself seen.
- Vertical, vertical, vertical. Get everything vertical.
People don't look down at tabletops. They look across at you,
and your stuff. I take the small bits of foamcore left over from
other projects and turn them into stands (much more effective than
easels or "plate stands" and then if they get destroyed or left behind
I don't cry). Invest in one of those lucite pamphlet displays from
Office Max. Get your books up so that people can see the covers from
across the room and be drawn in by the priddy colors.
- Vertical, vertical, vertical. Stand up. You won't believe how your
traffic improves. If you're fortunate enough to have a helper at your table,
make sure at least one of you is standing up at all times. Eye Contact is crucial.
Try not to draw during the busy parts of the day unless you have to, and keep
convention sketches FAST. People will only come to your booth if it looks
like you're not busy. Sketching == busy. If you're doing a convention sketch,
look up frequently, get your booth partner to stand up and keep pulling people in, and when
someone approaches, engage them, then say "Mind if I draw while we talk?"
People love watching artists draw, but only if they feel invited to, and not
all creepily voyeuristic. That invite makes them feel like they're "Welcome
in your space". Show them what you're working on, and tell them why it's cool.
- Vertical, vertical, vertical. Get some signage up. Do this incrementally
if you have to, but get some big sign up. Not only does it increase your
visibility, but it makes it much easier for your friends to send business your way.
Example: "Okay, you gotta check out my friend's minicomics. Go down about halfway
down that row and turn left at the guy with the fedora until you pass the guy
selling the crystal wands...." (no.) Example b. "Okay, you gotta check out my
friend's minicomics. See that great big sign down there?
Go there." (yes.)
By incrementally I mean, buy a big huge piece of
white cotton duck ($10 and you don't have to hem the edges.) Print off some
8 1/2 x 11 color images of your book's cover and velcro them on, along with a
big thing what says the name of your comic. Buy $20 worth of plumbing
pipe and put together your own scaffolding. When you can afford it, get a
cheap Kinko's printed banner. Then get the presentation-grade scaffolding.
Then get the presentation-grade banner, chop up the kinko's one and use
it across the front of your table. Use the old printouts as handouts and freebies.
- Teamwork. When you are talking to someone,
make your booth helper work the table. You get one person talking, get two people
talking, and suddenly there's a buzz around your table.
- Free things. People love free things. Make stickers. Make bookmarks.
Put your URL on them. Hand one out to everyone who walks by, no matter how
uninterested.
- The Hook. Have something free and cool to hand out to those who are on the
fence. I can't give out Issue #1 anymore (because I only have about fifty left...)
but I have a scad of issue #3. So, I say, "Look, I can see that you're the
kind of person that would be interested in this series, so here, take Issue #3
(and be sure to autograph it to them) and have a look at it. Sit down over
lunch or a break or whatever, and take a look through it. If you like it,
come back and I'll give you the whole rest of the series for $(slightly
discounted price)." From this, people will remember that a) you're a nice
guy, b) you're generous, and c) you like them enough to give them free stuff.
Make a positive impression and people will come back, and bring their friends,
too. I usually give away something like 10-12 free issue #3s, and I usually get
5-6 graphic novel sales out of that.
- Smile. All the darn time. Park your frustration and baggage at the door,
until the last hour or two of the con. By then you've earned the right to be
a little weary and people are more forgiving. Find out what foods/caffeinated
substances make the idiots more tolerable, and use them liberally.
I usually pack a couple of Red Bulls
for the 3:00pm doldrums, because when I'm overcaffeinated, I'm more personable.
I'm also a freak for Wasabi peas and rice crackers, so I pack them to appease
my cranky inner child. Sugar crash = CrankyJane, so I pack plenty.
Trust me, a pleasant face will draw people in. Laughing like hyenas and hollering
mock insults at the other small pressers for laughs is also a good draw.
- Don't Whine. Your tablemates will hate you, and your sulkiness will only
drive away business. Once, I had the misfortune of getting seated next to
a whiner. He kept whining at me because I was getting customers and he wasn't.
Simple math, bucko. Big smile + physically handing people free stuff = customer
attention. Sitting down + sulky look = no business.
I'd let go a knot of people and he'd say, "Gooosh, I just don't know how
to get people to stop and look at my stuff. *heavy sigh* and go back to
sulking, or drawing with his head down. Look dude, if you're not going to
even make eye contact with people, how do you expect them to stop?
However,It's perfectly acceptable to walk up to another artist and say
"Jeez, my location's terrible this year. Haven't made a sale since noon.
How're you doing?" Commisserating isn't whining until it goes to the next level.
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