Two Weekends, Two Appearances

This weekend I'll be at Nyancon in Mentor, Ohio, talking writing and drawing My Little Pony and Love and Capes among other things. I don't get to do a lot of shows that are this local, so I'm looking forward to it. Then, next week, I'll be in New York City for the aptly-named New York Comic Con. I donated a hand-colored classic Wonder Woman piece to the charity auction, which you may notice has become the new header for the website, as well as doing a kids' drawing panel. And, of course, the aforementioned talking writing and drawing My Little Pony and Love and Capes. I seem to do that a lot.

"Cosplay Killing" Follow-Up

Denise Dorman has posted some clarifications to her earlier piece. She points out emphatically that she appreciates cosplayers, and that Bleeding Cool went with a click bait headline… which certainly worked. I take her at her word on this. Her first piece did reference the cost of costuming as being a factor in convention spending patterns, so I think it's understandable to draw the connection. But sometimes we make clearer points in our drafts than our finished pieces. I know I certainly meant to mention the headline being dramatic and not being written by the author. I worked at a newspaper long enough to learn that.

To my reading, her clarified point is that the convention market is changing, largely by people who just want to be there because it's the cool thing, and that these people are happy to get a photo with a costumer and move on, rather than recognize and support the awesome talent in the room.

That's fair, though in my experience it isn't the case. It's anecdotal of course, but I don't pick up on many "here because it's cool" people. Lots of families, first timers, and one person in particular at the last convention who didn't realize that she should bring money to the show. But I don't get a vibe of people going to be seen.

The bigger point, though, is this: The market is the market. You can either find a way to work it, or you find another market.

Just this year, I've had to cut a show because, financially, it's just not feasible for me to exhibit at it. Deciding when to pull that trigger is part of being self-employed.

And, I don't think anyone would look at the convention market ten years ago and say "That's a market that's looking for a funny, happy relationship book" like mine, but I found a way to find those people who were being underserved and give them something to enjoy.

But ultimately, you don't get the choose the people in the pool, only the pool you play in.

My Thoughts on the Current Convention Talk

Yesterday, Bleeding Cool ran an article by Denise Dorman with the provocative headline "Are Cosplayers Killing Comic Conventions?" She went on to describe her experiences at a couple of her recent shows, San Diego and Wizard Chicago. As you might expect, I have some thoughts.

I was going to wait for this week's Comics Assembled! to talk about this, but I don't think I can wait. But be sure to listen anyway. Brian will be sure to ask lots of interesting questions I haven't thought of yet. First, to the headline. Are cosplayers killing cons? I don't think so. For a couple years running, DragonCon was my best sales show, and that is virtually all costumers. I do really well at MegaCon, too, and that has a huge cosplay and anime element.

If anything, cosplayers are an indicator of a changing show attendees, not the change itself. The people who show up at a convention are your market, and it is in your best interests to pay attention to it. Remember the first time you noticed all the Adventure Time outfits? That wasn't just letting you know that Finn and Jake were big, but that a new audience was showing up.

In the years I've been attending and exhibiting at shows, there's been a quantum leap in the number of female attendees. I'm thrilled to see it, but it also means that as an exhibitor that there's a whole new market for you.

Not all shows are the same. A Wizard show is different than Comic-Con is different than Baltimore is different than a new local show. Wizard gets a bad rap in the industry. I've said they're the McDonalds of comic book conventions, but that's not a bad thing. They're a known quantity, just like the Golden Arches. I prepare for a Wizard show differently, but I also know what a Wizard show will be like, regardless of the venue. What changes with them is geography. In Chicago, the comic-heavy audience may go to C2E2 instead. In Austin, it may be the biggest show there and as such grab more of that comic audience. You've got to do your research.

Not all pros are the same, either. I'm working on My Little Pony. Does that help me? Heck, yeah. I've got a brand new group of people coming up to see me and there's only a handful of us that have worked on the book. That puts me in an advantageous position. But back when I was doing just Love and Capes, I still did well at shows, because I knew to sell to my audience. You don't always have a winning hand, but there are lots of things you can do to make that hand play better. And I won't always have Pony. Eventually it won't be the hot thing, or IDW could lose the license or all sorts of things. I'd be a fool not to prepare for that day.

Baltimore is currently my favorite show. My sales were up 30% there from last year. But I've also read a report or two from creators who died on the vine there. As a businessperson, you've got to do what works best for you. If a show doesn't play well for you, and you think you've done what you can, move on and go somewhere that does. It's business.

You've also got to do your numbers. I've largely resisted speaking directly to the Dorman article because I want to address the larger issues and not pick on any one person. But there was one fact that jumped out at me: They spent $7000 on San Diego. That really surprised me.

To me, there are advertising shows where I set up and hope to break even, and selling shows, where I generate revenue. San Diego is definitely an advertising show. But by the article, it sounds as if the Dormans treat SDCC as a selling show. And she also mentions that they could make more money being in the studio rather than setting up at some shows. Let's talk about that.

Using that paradigm, I'm shocked that San Diego would ever be a good show. If your setup costs are $7000, you've got to sell that to break even. So what would a good show have been? $10,000? $15,000? The amount of product you'd have to sell to generate isn't something I can conceive of. I suppose it's possible for someone with a body of work different than mine, but it still seems like a lot.

At San Diego, and shows in general, I do what I can to get my costs down. My booth is $2500, but I split it with someone to make that number more manageable. Same with my hotel. I go to Target and get a flat of water and snacks so I'm not living on five dollar coffee and three dollar pretzels. I even designed my own shelving system that would fit in my suitcase so I could save the significant cost of shipping racks to the show. The less you spend, the quicker you turn a profit.

So if the numbers don't work on a show, or you're not getting what you want out of it in terms of networking or exposure, it's your duty as a businessperson to cut that loss. I do a hefty convention schedule, but there are one or two shows I'm dropping because the math doesn't work. That's my responsibility.

The most important takeaway from all this to me, though, is that the market is dynamic and always will be. We're all living through creative destruction.

When I was at Kubert, the thing I was best at was hand lettering. It was the mid-90's. Hand lettering was going away. I was riding the wave of getting enough hand-lettering work to buy a computer and learn how to work digitally. And I always made sure that lettering wasn't my only revenue stream. That shift was a defining experience in my life.

It's easy to lament the changes that cost us work, but we're constantly on both sides of that equation. The computer lets me create color comics without needing to hire a color separator, which is great for me but lousy for the separator. I feel bad for all the people who lost their job when MacWorld folded their print version, but print magazines have been in trouble for a while. Such changes are rarely stealthy. We see them coming and we have to react. Digital comics? Digital distribution? Changing convention attendance? More media guests? Bad economy? Start figuring that stuff out.

It's always a game of inches, and you're always adapting. You have to know what game you're playing. My sales on Love and Capes will never be the same as Spider-Man. But they don't have to be. I'm not paying for offices in New York. I'm not paying anyone else to produce the comics. What is a success for me may not be a success for you.

But the great thing about being self-employed is that you get to steer the ship. The scary thing is that you're the one who has to chart the course.

When it comes down to it, my job isn't being an artist or a writer or storyteller.

My job is being employed.

My Regular Con Carry

Following up on our discussion on the last episode of Comics Assembled (Wait, you're not listening to Brian Ward and me talk about the business of comics every week? Shame on you! Check it out here right now.) I thought I would post my regular Con Carry. All of this lives in my Brenthaven shoulder bag so that I don't have to worry about remembering it. It's always stocked with these things, which are duplicates or travel versions of things I have in my studio. Buying two things is sometimes much easier than remembering to bring one.

[image src="http://thomz.com/blogall/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/concarry_ab.jpg" align="center" border="image_border" link="#" alt="" title="" lightbox="false" ]

A. Pad of lined paper. Great for writing lists, keeping track of commissions and more. I'm partial to college ruled white paper, particularly the Tops Docket Gold pads.

B. Clipboard. Having a solid writing surface makes marking things down easier anywhere. During shows, I clip my tally sheet to it and I can mark everything down while standing.

[image src="http://thomz.com/blogall/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/concarry_ce.jpg" align="center" border="image_border" link="#" alt="" title="" lightbox="false" ]

C. A folder. This one is a way-cool Rocket Raccoon Guardians of the Galaxy one. But hey, My Little Pony, New Kids on the Block, Transformers, whatever your deal is, it's all good. I keep my frequent convention needs in there: Travel documents, sales permits, letter and postcard stamps, a couple of blank checks (for signing up for next year's show) as well as…

D. French curve. I use this all the time drawing commissions. It's an art supply, but it fits better here. And…

E. Circle template. For the same reason.

[image src="http://thomz.com/blogall/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/concarry_fl.jpg" align="center" border="image_border" link="#" alt="" title="" lightbox="false" ]

F. Small notebook. Conventions are full of new action items. "Remember to send this editor a pitch." "Remember to mail this out." And I frequently get new ideas, too. This little book is perfect for idea capture at a show.

G. Passport. It's got to live somewhere, and if I'm traveling I have this bag. On top of that, if I lose my regular ID, I've got a spare to make sure that I can still get on a plane.

H. Business cards. I carry a lot of these a lot of places, including Moo Cards on my keychain, but having these here means I never don't have them.

I. Pens. You'd think I wouldn't forget them, but it's really easy for me to accidentally throw my pens into my lunchbox art bin. So I make sure I have a few that stay in here. I'm a big fan of the Sarasa gel pens and Huntington Bank gives out the best ball points.

J. Square Reader. Can't live without this. It lets me take credit card sales at shows. It has revolutionized con sales altogether. I actually keep a couple in my bag, just so I can have a spare in case one breaks, gets lost, or I need to lend one to a friend. If you do shows and you don't have one, get over to Squareup.com right now!

K. USB car charger. I've always got this bag when I'm traveling, so having a charger to plug my iPod into is great to have and not have to remember. You can get these just about anywhere, including Amazon.

L. Mophie. It's a battery case for my iPhone. I usually only need this when I'm on the road, so it lives in my bag. Get the right one for your phone. You won't regret it.

[image src="http://thomz.com/blogall/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/concarry_mv.jpg" align="center" border="image_border" link="#" alt="" title="" lightbox="false" ]

M. Cocoon Grid-It Organizer. I first heard about this from the estimable Andy Ihnatko. This is a board with stretchy straps on it, allowing you to store all sorts of things. The advantage of this system, rather than a plastic sandwich bag, is that you can see everything you have at a glance. No more bringing two cords because you couldn't tell if it was already in the bag.

N. Apple Charging Plug. This is an Apple product, and I have several from several Apple devices, but you can plug any USB charger into here.

O. iPad Charging Cable. I still have an older model iPad, pre-lightning connector, so I have a cable for that.

P. Micro-USB Charging Cable. I could have a regular charger cable that ends in a USB, but this one has a plug. I don't know where I picked it up, but it's great. It charges my Kindle and my Mophie.

Q. iPhone Charging Cable. Apple switched to the lightning connector, so I got this spare one so my phone always has juice. This is a six foot cable which means it's really easy to make sure it sits on my nightstand in a hotel no matter where the outlet is.

R. Male to male audio cable. Most rental cars have an aux jack, so with this I can easily plug my iPhone in and play music or podcasts.

S. Audio cable extender. Because Apple moved the earphone jack to the bottom of the phone, Mophie had to start including this so that the earphones could still connect through the longer opening.

T. Apple earbuds. I love my Apple earbuds and have a few pairs. It's great to be able to listen to stuff on the walk to the Javitz Center, play podcasts as I do the treadmill, and take calls easily in the airport. lThese have a microphone on the wires as well as a click button that let me use Siri, answer and play messages and more.

U. Audio splitter. This little dongle allows me to plug in a second headphone into my headphone jack. So when I'm traveling with a companion, I can split the audio so they can listen to whatever burned video I'm watching.

V. Lanyard. Cons don't always provide lanyards, or sometimes they're uncomfortable. So I make sure to have a backup one in my gear.

Hello, Sweetie

[image src="http://thomz.com/blogall/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/riversong.jpg" align="left" border="none" link="#" alt="" title="" lightbox="false" ] A River Song commission that I just wrapped up this morning.

Baltimore Comic-Con 2014!

We’ve hit the point where I just can’t be objective about Baltimore Comic-Con anymore. I just adore the show and the people and the staff. It’s just the best. This year, I got to be on TV, drawing for Fox-45 Baltimore and Amber Miller, being called upon to draw her as a super hero early in the morning. Fortunately, I had coffee.

The show was in a new, bigger part of the convention center and while the layout took some getting used to, sales were up from last year.

I was on the “Sexy or Sexualized” panel (check out the write up here) which was fun to be on, especially with such a stellar line-up of talent. It was my only panel of the show, but it was a great one to be on.

The Baltimore Yearbook seemed to be a hit, too! It was tight shipping them to the show (apparently, my printer didn’t account for the Labor Day holiday)  but they arrived on time and everyone seemed to like them. I signed a crazy amount of them, and driving traffic to the table is part of what they’re about. Best of all, the auction raised $10,000 for Seth Kutchner’s medical treatments.

Baltimore will be a little later in the year next year, but it doesn’t matter to me. Whenever there’s a Baltimore Comic-Con, I’ll be there. You should, too.

Late to the party: My DragonCon wrap-up

This is the time of the year where I seem to have more conventions than not. I just did DragonCon, which continues to be a delight. It is a convention with it’s own flavor, one unlike any other. It’s fan run, has multiple programming tracks and is capable of becoming exactly the convention you’re looking for it to be.

I was set up in artist alley, as usual. The artist alley is small and friendly in a way a lot of shows aren’t able to be. And it’s always a nice mix of new fans and old friends.

This year I also did my first panel, being invited to be on the Star Trek writer’s panel. I co-wrote ‘Til Death (with Bob Ingersoll) for one of the Pocket Books Star Trek: The Next Generation collections. That was a lot of fun, and there seemed to be interest in me coming back next year, too.

And, as always, the costumes are insanely awesome. Viggo the Carpathian? Bernie? Femme Captain Carrot? Nothing surprises me anymore. (Okay, the Captain Carrot one was a jaw-dropper.)

The show was a lot of fun, and I hope to be back next year.

Tomorrow… Baltimore Comic-Con.

This is a test of cross posting Tumblr

I’m testing how to cross-post Tumblr to my main blog and seeing what I need to do to have titles in it, too.

So, how does it look?

Remember this cool Hawkgirl cover?

Here’s that cover. Loved, loved LOVED it. So well rendered, so well colored. via Comics.org

Hawkwoman Warm Up Sketch

Since I did Hawkman yesterday, I thought I’d do Hawkwoman today. I see a lot of pictures of her with a mace, but I like the sword and shield from that awesome Hawkman #6 cover.

Since I did Hawkman yesterday, I thought I’d do Hawkwoman today. I see a lot of pictures of her with a mace, but I like the sword and shield from that awesome Hawkman #6 cover.

Since I did Hawkman yesterday, I thought I’d do Hawkwoman today. I see a lot of pictures of her with a mace, but I like the sword and shield from that awesome Hawkman #6 cover.