Tuesday, July 2, 2013

How to Be A Con Artist Part II


Since things have settled a bit and after reading posts on an Artist Alley group page on Facebook, I decided to pick back up on this and post another blog on being a convention artist.  Sorry to those who thought this was about something else, but you can read the first part here:

How to Be A Con Artist Part I

We've covered my brief history lesson of conventions as I knew them and a bit about myself so you know, I have some experience under my belt.  I've done just about all types of conventions (manga, anime, fantasy/sci-fi, comic, literary and so on) and so, I'm coming at this from different angles.

So, you've decided you want to not only attend a convention, but set up a table or booth in an Artist Alley or Artist Bazaar, or Seller's table?  Congratulations... I hope you enjoy loud music, bad acoustics, weird smells and the taste of coffee.  I'm not being mean!  Anyone who has attended a con will attest to those things existing and being experienced!

Dealers' room at an anime convention. (Source: Google images)

The first question you really need to ask yourself next is: Do you want to be/are you a professional artist OR do you just want to hang out and have fun as a hobbyist?

The reason I ask is because you really can't do both.

See, if you are doing it as a hobby, there is no pressure.  You're there to have a good time, not make money.  Sure, hey, getting some money for your art is great, but whatever...  Its all good!  And whatever money you make can go right into the Dealer's room with no guilt!  Your friends can come and hang out with you at the table, block it, yap, show off the latest cute plush they bought and it doesn't mean a thing.

That isn't how it can go if you're going in to be a professional artist.  This isn't to say, it can't be fun.  I had a GREAT time in the artist alley, no matter where it was.  Socializing, looking at the new work, sharing ideas, yapping, drinking coffee and a lot of laughing were all part of the experience.  But it wasn't why I was doing it.

I was there to make money and to expand my audience.

Yes, the dark side of art rears its ugly head.

When you are a professional, you have to have your paperwork in order, you have to keep track of your expenses, you have to keep track of your income, you have to be able to talk to people - and you have to know when to joke and when to have a professional demeanor.  The money you make is going to parking, your hotel room, your registration cost, your supplies.  Your friends hanging out at your table are distracting you from addressing customers, and them standing in front of your table is blocking your items from being seen by potential buyers.

I'm not saying you should shun your friends, but be aware of the balance of socializing and working.  Because as fun as conventions are, they are work too if you want this to be a business of any kind.  I learned the balance and because my friends were all professionals, they understood that when a customer walked up to me, they stepped aside to allow me to do business - without me even having to ask them to.  Same thing for me... when I went to see another artist, if a potential customer walked up, I stepped aside, no questions asked.

So, you want to be a professional artist?  Great!  Get ready to work for it.

The first thing you have to do is start thinking in terms of what you can afford to do so you can make a profit.  Some cons are close but might have a smaller audience.  Other cons that have a large attendance might be too far away to go to.  Many shows have Art Shows you can submit work to on top of having a table to maximize the amount of views of work.  There are sites like this one: animecons.com/events/ that list all the anime cons all over the world, or this one devoted to Science Fiction conventions: www.upcomingcons.com/science-fiction-conventions that you can use.  Just Google Convention List and see what you find.

Once you do that, you can see what conventions are close to you - usually more than you think.  One point I'll make here is that you shouldn't limit yourself.  I've gone to all sorts of conventions and I changed my inventory very little.  I brought the same items to all the different cons I had a table at.  At anime cons, my fantasy work was something different and stood out.  At Literary cons, my more anime inspired items drew attention.  The reason is, people who like one genre, tend to like others as well.  Sci-fi/Fantasy lovers probably also like some anime.  Manga fans probably also like comic books and so on.  So go to different conventions if you have the time and money to do so, keeping in mind that the anime stuff MIGHT not do as well at a literary convention right off the bat.  Best rule of thumb here is... GO TO CONS YOU ENJOY GOING TO!

When you get your list of conventions that you are interested in going to set up, go to each site for each convention and start your pricing.  Calculate hotel room cost, table cost, any parking cost and if you can, gas cost.  Also, write down how far away those cons are from you (Google Map directions with the address of the hotel or convention hall to your house).  Write those things down next to the con title and go down the list.  You'll be able to start seeing what conventions are plausible and what others might be too difficult to attend.  It will also help you prioritize.

What I mean by that is this:  You may have to sacrifice a closer cheaper convention to attend a larger more expensive one.  For example...  Let's say you want to go to Otakon in Maryland.  It is expensive to attend and have the cost of the hotel room, but you REALLY want to go because you know its large and you'll have a larger audience and besides, there will be a guest you want to see there.  To have the money to go, you may have to forgo 3 smaller conventions that are closer and won't cost much.  OR, you may not go to Otakon because you'd rather attend other mid-sized cons.  You don't want to spread yourself and your finances too thin and now is the time to make decisions and figure it out.  Keep the cons you wanted to attend but for some reason couldn't go on another piece of paper...  you'll see why in a bit.

Now we have a list of conventions you want to go to - Great!   Give each of those conventions a separate page and list under each, all the things you need to get ready for it.  That means things like:
  • Hotel Registration
  • Convention Registration
  • Artist Alley Registration
  • Art Show Registration
Etc...
Think of all the things you might need.  As you do each item or arrange for each thing, you can put a check next to it and know you have done that part.

Sometimes, even though a convention has been announced, the registration isn't available yet - MARK YOUR CALENDAR!  Check the site every other day.  Many Artist Alleys work on a first come first served basis and the tables go fast.

http://www.geocities.ws/fujiakon/dragonpics.htm
Read the Artist Alley rules for application before you apply.  If they require a portfolio, provide the work in the format and way they request.  Some Artist Alleys judge what work will be a part of their show.  Dragon*Con does and there is a reason: REAL ART DIRECTORS ARE THERE!  (And professional artists like Keith Parkinson and Yoshitaka Amano have shown there...) They have a reputation they are trying to uphold and present to the audience at large.  Is it fair?  That isn't even a question.  Fair has nothing to do with anything and you do have to suck it up and accept it as a professional artist.  If they ask for jpegs of your work at a certain size, send your artwork as jpegs in the requested size.  Some panels may not even consider your work, no matter how amazing it is, if its not in the format they want - if you can't follow directions, why do they want you?

If you don't get into an Artist Alley, cross the convention off.  Keep in mind why you didn't get in (missed a deadline, didn't register fast enough, wasn't chosen, etc...) so that you can adjust for next year.  Don't make it sour grapes and say, "They didn't want me so screw them!" Learn from what happened and move forward.  If you don't get judged into a show, KEEP TRYING THE NEXT YEAR.  If you are working as an artist should, you will improve and who knows, you may get in next time!  And sometimes, you can contact the person in charge and find out why your work wasn't accepted.  Sometimes it makes sense and sometimes it still doesn't and might not seem fair.  Take it as a lesson and move forward.  There are plenty of other conventions to try for!

Get some folders, one for each convention, and a planner or calendar (electric or real - though having a real calendar hanging on the wall is a great in-your-face reminder of when you have to do things and you can see things coming up).  Print out paperwork and confirmations and put them in the appropriate folders.  For example, hotel, artist alley, art show and convention paperwork for Otakon ALL goes in the Otakon folder.  You keep this with you when you go so if there is a problem, you have easy access to the papers you need.  Conventions are dealing with thousands of people and those in charge are HUMAN BEINGS WHO MAKE MISTAKES.  Having paperwork to back you up will simplify things and streamline situations into solutions for everyone.  Don't expect the convention to be keeping up on YOUR information.  That's YOUR responsibility.  Failure to do so isn't the convention's fault.  Its yours.

I'll go more into what to do when things go wrong in follow up posts.  I know I am sounding harsh, but remember, this is from years of experience and seeing things happen from personal experience and from friends.

So, let's say you have not gotten into all the cons on your original list.  Well, now is the time to bring up that back-up list!  See if you have time to go to those and do the same as you did for your first cons.  Sometimes going to small cons is great because you can build up your audience faster than jumping into a big con where you are a small fish in a big sea.

There is another aspect here and that is, even if you can't attend a convention, perhaps you can mail work in to their Art Show.  Most conventions have a mail-in policy for their Art Shows and its a way to get your work seen, even if you aren't there to have a table.  It is also a bit more cost-effective if you can't afford to go traveling.  Handle this the same as the convention list above.  Read all the rules!  And follow them!  Not just because you want to make sure your work is seen, but you want to make sure your work that doesn't sell gets sent back to you.  I know a few cons where people didn't follow directions and the staff couldn't send the art back to the artist...  Not where you want to be - especially if you are planning on using that art in another show.  Follow the directions!  You may not have to register for the con, but you may still have to register for the Art Show and see if you get in.  I'll cover sending to art shows in a later post as well.

There are some of the first steps to consider and hopefully some ways to start thinking about attending and being organized about it.  If you have questions you specifically want answered, post them and I'll do my best to answer them!  Even if it isn't business oriented!

Hopefully this helps a bit!

See part III here:  How To Be A Con Artist Part III

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