I wrote a post – which you can find here – about my preparations for my first ever comic convention as an exhibitor, which happened this past Saturday, the 12th. I woke up at 5:30 am (blergh) to get to the Best Western Robert Treat Hotel in Newark, New Jersey, for the first year of the Newark Comic Con. My brother Jon was along to help out for the day (and crashing the night before at his house in Jersey got me some extra sleep – it could have been so much worse if I had been coming from the Bronx). We got to the hotel at seven, right on time for set-up. We’d have two hours before the con began.
We found the ballroom right away and were confronted with a sea of empty tables, all decked out in alternating red, yellow, or blue tablecloths. There were no assigned locations – the con volunteer said to go ahead and choose any table I liked.
So, you know. No pressure. It’s not like location is vitally important or anything.
Not having ever exhibited before, I had to draw on my experience as a con attendee to guide my decision. I chose a table in a middle row, with a lot of space between my row and the next. And I picked a table second from the end, on the side of the room nearest the doors where the guests would be coming in, but not directly in front of a door. And hoped for the best.
Here’s the table as it looked when we arrived.
And here’s how it looked an hour and a half later.
I’m pretty darn proud of it. Let’s get a closer look…
Kate Danley had advised me not to make my table too neat – people are less likely to pick things up if it looks like they’re going to mess up a nice display, but if it looks like people have already been browsing, they’ll feel free. Uneven stacks of books are good, too, as it looks like people have been buying. With that in mind, I tried to strike a balance between looking attractive and looking inviting.
I bought online some simple display stands, which is what the individual books of Alan Lennox, Caitlin Ross, and Mark Park are standing up in. You see the four books standing up in tiered rows – that black-and-white patterned thing is just a file divider I got at Staples. The later books are kind of shoved in there (they’re a bit thick), but I knew nobody would be taking books from there anyway, and the divider provides a nice, simple way to display the books in a different way from the single stands.
I made sure there was a small stack of each book, slightly uneven. I had more of the first two books in a box under the table, if needed. You can see some bookmarks to the side there, spread messily to encourage grabbing. And they’re right next to the candy I bought as a free give-away. I forgot to bring a bowl for them, but I actually think it worked better with them just piled up on the table. I got Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (which I think I ate most of), regular Kisses, Dark Chocolate Kisses, and some Starburst for those unfathomable souls who don’t like chocolate.
And in the back left corner, I’ve put a cardboard box, covered with a small black tablecloth, to elevate one of the posters that Jon had made up for me out of the four covers. I chose the cover to Dakota Bell to put on the table, as I think it’s the most eye-catching. The poster would have been perfectly visible without the box, but I wanted to add another level to the table, just for visual interest.
And just at the bottom of the picture you can see the rainbow flag we affixed to the front of the tablecloth. I went back and forth on this, but I decided that the diversity of my books, including the LGBT characters, is one of the things my fans seem to really like. I figured there’d be some people at this con for whom the rainbow flag would be an attention-grabber, and for those for whom it’d be a turn-off, well, they probably wouldn’t like my books anyway.
The mailing list sign-up form was front and center. I didn’t expect to actually sell many books at this con (if any), so connecting with potential future readers was my top priority, which meant getting names on that list. Hence the place of prominence for that clipboard. Yes, there’s already a name on it, and no, we didn’t put it there – another exhibitor came by while we were setting up, bought a book and signed up. We hadn’t even opened yet and I was already in business!
In the back is another file divider with the whole series (with book four in front on this one, just so that it looks different from the other), and Dakota Bell on her stand next to the clipboard. Behind are the stacks for the third and fourth books in the series. I didn’t bring as many of those – I brought twenty of book one, ten of book two, and five each of books three and four. So I had no reserves of those books – all five were out on the table. My assumption was that people would probably not take a risk on buying an entire unknown series all at once, and that most of my sales would likely be of just the first book. (You know what happens when you make an assumption?)
More bookmarks to the side there, including some stacked in a pencil cup matching the file dividers. The “Temp Job of Doom” pins are in a nice bowl borrowed from my brother. And behind that is a white board with my prices. Since I buy the books at cost, I can offer a steep discount from the online prices. Ten bucks a pop, with a discount of ten bucks if you buy all four books. And a buck for a button seemed fair. (My printing is terrible. I need somebody else to write the prices next time.) The credit card images are clipped from a sticker that came with my Paypal Here credit card reader – they’re just scotch taped to the board.
When we arrived, we were somewhat perplexed at what to do with the four posters Jon had made of the covers. There weren’t any walls behind us – the vendor behind us was setting up his own display racks, but it seemed a little tacky to ask if we could attach something to the back of it. We were going to just stand up two of the posters on the table and forget the others when a hotel employee came around and lifted up that pole you can see in the top photo, the one with the red, white, and blue cloths hanging from it. I had no idea it was going to be raised, but it solved our problem once it was. Jon stuck the posters up with double-sided tape (they’re on foam board, so they’re nice and light) and boom! Eye-catching display. I didn’t get a separate picture of it, but you can see in the photo below that we hung the banner with my name on it on the white cloth, centered behind the table.
And with that, we were ready for business! Here I am, somehow managing to smile even though the corners of my mouth are clearly pointing down.
And here’s Jon, ready to be much, much friendlier than me. Conversations with strangers are difficult for me, so part of Jon’s role was to jump in if I was stammering myself out of a sale.
At nine the con began and the first guests started to arrive. I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised. The web site for the con was not…encouraging. (That would be my main piece of advice for the organizers for next year – hire a web designer.) But there was quite a decent turnout – I ran out into the hallway around 10 and there was a line out the door. Lots of teens, and lots of families with small kids. I’m afraid I didn’t get any cosplay pictures – sorry, I was working! – but there were some great ones, including a male Harley Quinn with a massive sledgehammer (I was afraid he was going to knock my Dakota Bell poster over but he wielded his tool cautiously), an extremely inventive MJ Watson/Little Mermaid mash-up (complete with Spider-Sebastian), and a couple of very attractive Spider-people.
I did get one pic, because I couldn’t not.
It’s Drew Drechsel, from American Ninja Warrior! I love that show. There was a panel happening at some point during the day (I couldn’t really go to any panels, for obvious reasons). When Drew wandered by my table I recognized him instantly and asked for a photo. He said it was a rule of his that I had to be in it too, which, okay, twist my arm. I almost upended my table trying to get to him. Can you tell how obviously I want to put my arm around his back? I’m doing that awkward hover thing instead because I thought it would be weird to touch him. No matter how badly I wanted to. Ahem. Okay, that was my celebrity sighting for the day. (Actually, we also saw The Amazing Kreskin and Efren Ramirez, who played Pedro in Napoleon Dynamite, but I didn’t have quite the same need for a photo with either of them.)
Actually working the con was exhausting, but rewarding. There were plenty of long stretches where I just sat and smiled as people passed me by, but I also had a lot of great conversations with some really enthusiastic readers. And I learned pretty quickly not to underestimate how willing readers are to take risks – after that one sale before the show opened, my next was of the entire bundle of four books, to a lovely couple of ladies (Rachel and Sarah, you rock). Jon gave them each a free button, which I wish I had thought of at the start – after that, I gave a button away to anyone who bought a book. (Should have put that on the whiteboard…)
So overall, sales were much better than I expected. I sold two more bundles of the full series (!!!), a bunch of copies of the first book, and even one copy of Dakota Bell by its lonesome. I was right about that cover being an attention-grabber – I think having a woman of color as the main character of a sci-fi novel was really appealing to a lot of people. (Representation matters, people! We need diverse books!) I kept having to reassure browsers that she was a main point-of-view character right from book one. But one woman really just wanted book four – I found myself almost trying to talk her out of it, as of all four books I think that’s the one that stands on its own the least (since it’s the wrap-up to the series-long arc), but ultimately she decided she wanted it anyway. I hope I did a good enough job with the recap exposition!
The buttons were pretty popular too, I sold a bunch of those, mostly to people who did not express much interest in the books. “Temp Job of Doom” seems to be a term that a lot of people can relate to.
But again, happy as I was with my sales, that wasn’t why I was there. I learned that my books appeal to younger audiences – mid-to-late teens and early twenties. (Note to self – start looking into Tumblr and Instagram ads…) I sort of knew that teen girls, particularly those who were more progressive-minded, enjoyed this series, but I was surprised at the number of teenage boys who picked up the first book (and one bought all four). Nobody specifically referenced the rainbow flag, but I can’t help but feel that being the only LGBT-identified vendor might have helped me out a little there. (At least, I was the only one I saw, but I only got a look at the rest of the floor before opening, so it’s possible I missed someone.) The teenage girls came in pairs or groups, but the boys were always on their own (one of them I had seen with a group earlier, but he came back alone later to buy).
The mailing list did well – fourteen new sign-ups, which is more than I expected. And I passed out a ton of bookmarks, so hopefully at least a couple of folks will go on to check out the website.
It turns out I had chosen my table location very, very wisely (all right, luckily). It was the widest aisle, and my neighbors didn’t have large displays blocking my foot traffic. I had almost chosen a table two rows over, nearer one of the doors, but that wound up being an extremely narrow aisle, as it faced the back of the opposite row of vendors, rather than the front, so those vendors’ chairs cut into the space. Also, as you can see, not everybody got a backdrop of patriotic cloth on which to hang signs.
A few other random memories from the day, in no particular order:
A boy of about ten or eleven stood in the center of the aisle, holding a bag in each hand, and proclaimed to nobody in particular, “This is the greatest day of my young life!” I said, “So you’re having fun, then?” And he sort of breathlessly panted, “I just met the creator of the Blue Beetle! I got a signed book!” Now I had seen the guy signing copies of Showcase Presents The Blue Beetle and it was definitely not Steve Ditko, but it was sweet to see this kid so enthusiastic, particularly about a comic that I myself loved when I was a kid. (I think who he met was actually Paris Cullins, who was the illustrator on the revamped Blue Beetle in the 80s. Getting a book signed by him is pretty cool too, so the kid’s enthusiasm was not unwarranted.)
There was an adorable little girl there in a pink Wonder Woman t-shirt. She stopped at the booth next to mine, which was selling some really gorgeous original art. She was with her father, and she was really excited about a piece of art she wanted him to buy her. Apparently they had already gone by the booth once, and she asked for it then, but he made her see the rest of the floor first, to be sure she really wanted it. She did, so he bought it for her. She was so excited I thought she was going to collapse into paroxysms of cuteness. The piece of art this adorable little eight-year-old princess wanted so badly? Deadpool, shooting himself in the head.
I met one of my neighbors (on the other side of me from the aforementioned Deadpool artists), comics creator Ramon Gil. He’s an old hand at the con game, so we had some good talks during slower moments about our various experiences in publishing and self-publishing, and the differences between comics and prose writing. I also had a good talk with his young son, who pointed out to me that Mark Park’s name is Park and his book takes place at an amusement park. Which, I swear to you, never once occurred to me.
It was a long day, and by the end my face hurt from smiling (I don’t really use those muscles very often). Here’s me, close to the end.
There are a few slight changes from the top of the day. I moved one pile of bookmarks directly under the candy, because goddammit if you’re taking some free candy the least you can do is take a fricking bookmark. (You might also notice that the Starburst, Peanut Butter Cups and regular Kisses are pretty much gone, leaving just the purple-wrapped Dark Chocolate Kisses. They were not super popular. I still have half a bag.) Also, thanks to the sale of the bundles, I had to dismantle one of my file divider displays, and the other is now made up of two copies of the first two books, rather than one of all four. By the end of the day (after this was taken), I was down to one copy of Dakota Bell, the one on the stand.
Another change I made fairly early was to flip over two books and place them next to the mailing list. Having the back cover text right there prompted a lot of people to stop and read, which often then led to more questions about the series. A lot of those people would have passed on by, I think, if all they saw was graphics. Picking something up makes some people feel like they’re committing to buying, so being able to read without touching made them feel easier about stopping. But once we were talking, they would pick up the other books to read those backs.
The initial information I got from the con said that it ended at five, but when we got there it turned out that we could have stayed until eight. I was done, though, and not too many more new people were coming through, so we packed up and called it a day. Overall, Newark Comic Con was a huge success for me. Not monetarily (although I did better than anticipated), but in terms of my initial goals – meeting new readers, getting mailing list sign-ups, making connections, getting my name out there – I consider them met. I don’t think I’ll be a con regular, given the expense of time, money and effort involved, but if there’s another where I feel like I can reach a good segment of my target audience, I’d definitely be up for giving it a go.
So barring something like that popping up in the meantime, I’m packing everything up and storing it away until August 2016. I’ve already bought my table for Flame Con. Can’t hardly wait!
