[ Poll ] Artists Alley Information Compilation

Most intimidating thing about your first AA?

What if I don't sell anything?		30.0%	[ 12 ]
What if I don't break Even?		27.5%	[ 11 ]
What if they HATE my work?		25.0%	[ 10 ]
What if I sell out of prints too soon?		0.0%	[ 0 ]
All of the other artists are going to think I suck!		15.0%	[ 6 ]
Other (Please share!)		2.5%	[ 1 ]

Total Votes: 40

[[Kako]]

Hey everyone! Be sure to check out the Artist's Alley Guild!
(And help me out with my list of sales & use tax laws by contributing information for your state!)

Lately I've noticed a distinct lack of something when it comes to Artists Alleys. There's no guide on what to prepare for! Every artist has to look for this info on their own, and I don't think that's fair. So here we'll be trying to collect information and make sure it's accessible to anyone who needs it's information!

We're currently looking for reviews of different printing services. Just go ahead and post what you know!

Want to help out? Here's a basic survey to fill out! biggrin

Part A- Getting the table:
1. How many months in advance do conventions usually release tables, in your experience?
2. How much does a table usually cost?
3. How quickly are the tables reserved?
4. What complications should one be prepared for?
5. Anything else?
Optional: What skill level would you suggest entering the AA at? If possible, please provide examples.

Part B- Preparing to sell:
1. What sort of merchandise would you advise selling?
2. What sort of merchandise would you advise against selling?
3. What sort of stuff sells best?
4. Where would you suggest going to get things printed?
5. If printing at home, what preparations should one make?
6. How far in advance should one have one's merchandise finished?
7. Anything else?

Part C- At the Con:
1. How early should one arrive to be sure of reserving a good table?
2. When setting up one's table, what sort of layout would you suggest?
3. There are some pretty bratty congoers out there. How would you suggest dealing with assholes?
4. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. What issues should one be prepared for when running a table at the Artists alley?
5. Anything else?


Want to do more? Post whatever tips you have in the thread. We're currently looking for lists of reliable printers both online and off, and reviews of said printers. If you print at home, suggestions as to what sort of printer to use and what sort of paper would be awesome. I'm particularly wondering about using a cheap color laser printer.

Don't be afraid to ask questions! Chances are if you want to know, other people want to know as well. If the question is really good or significant, I'll even feature it in the first post.

Speaking of being featured in the first post, here are some great questions:

Quote:

+How many prints should I have? I'll probably only have, at most, about ten pictures that I'll be selling, but I have no idea how many are likely to sell.

+Should I have a display?

+Should I have numbered prints? My style changes pretty quickly - my table next year will likely feature nothing that I've got right now. A friend told me she sold limited prints faster, so I wondered if that was wise at all.

+What sort of prices are people usually willing to pay, IN GENERAL? I know quality has a great deal to do with it, but I'm looking for a range here, I suppose.

+Glossy or matte paper?

USEFUL LINKS

Looked through the thread and still have questions? Take a look at this Artist's Alley Podcast! It's run by Songjewel and some of her friends, and it's awesome.
You can also check out the Anime Boston Artist Alley Beginner's Guide, which has quite a few helpful tips!


A big thanks to sad NEW! Click on their name to go to their post! Unless it's on the first page. In that case, just scroll ya lazy b*****d)
Look
Kattalina
Yrindale
Shadow Ivy
Asashi
leloi
Kitsune_rei
Juno
Lissa Quon
StarMasayume
caleyndar
Arekuchan
dev kimiko
Darkishstar
Delicious Apple Crisp
T i r a e l
Gothamiteknight
R a i r e n
Raven Grimme
who all fillled out the form and helped make this thread what it is!(If I missed your name, just PM me with a link to your post. biggrin )

---
Finally, this thread has a wealth of information for anyone looking to break into the business, no matter what sort of item it is you're considering selling. I highly recommend reading the entire thing. I am slowly working on compiling it into a more manageable compendium, but I would still recommend making your way though.

[[Kako]]

Absolute Gems

Some posts in this thread are beautifully and wonderfully helpful, but require a little digging to reach. The best of them are featured here so they can be seen by all. (Please forgive me if there's a really helpful piece of information I passed over.... I am very tired and don't have a lot of time to reread the thread)

"Dev Kimiko"

Here's a few general tips from me from my AA FAQ xd (The full thing is about twice as long)

PREPARATION
Consider your market
What sort of products will you be selling, who do you expect will want to buy it, and how popular do you think it will be? Balancing the budget-book and being confident in your sales are important things; the market for selling cosplay accessories or badges will be different from the market for a Naruto Doujinshi, which in turn will be different from the market for an original artwork or publication.

As a general tip, cute, cheap and accessible merchandise sells well. Things such as badges, accessories, postcards and bookmarks are always popular because they're fun and inexpensive for the consumer. Fanart generally sells better than original art because the customer has already developed an attachment for that series or character. However, fanart relies on fanbases, so expect fanart from big popular series to move faster than an obscure niche title. Original artists fear not, for there is always an appreciation for great original artworks. If you're unsure what people would want to buy, a little market research never hurt. Ask around on convention and other online forums for feedback and advice.

Budget
The main priorities for your budget will be: a) the cost of the convention and table space itself, b) printing costs, and c) working out what kind of margin you can afford on your goods. It also helps to plan a guide of how much you need to sell in order to break even, and keep track of your sales during the convention. Remember, a lot of that cashflow on the day is covering costs you have already outlayed. Avoid the temptation to spend the cash in front of you unless it's profit.

Setting prices for your goods can be fickle; some customers may buy it at whatever the cost, but you should consider precedents set by other artists, the quality of your work, comparable merchandise prices, production costs, and the spending budgets of the people who are most likely to buy your products. Avoid underselling yourself; do what you feel is reasonable to yourself and the customer.

PRINTING
The basics – DPI and CMYK
DPI is 'Dots/pixels per inch' and refers to the resolution quality of an artwork. 300 DPI is the standard minimum for print design. This is important because it's really hard and time consuming to scale a picture UP for print quality. Therefore, it is always prudent to work at a high resolution for artworks that you want to print. An A3 picture at 300 DPI is roughly 3500x5000 pixels, whereas the average size of an image you put on the internet isn't going to be more than 1000 pixels in any one dimension (Around 72 DPI).

CMYK is Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (Key). Unlike monitors and televisions which emit light and output to RGB (Red, Green, Blue), CMYK is an absorption of light on a surface. It's the colour method used by printers, and importantly, there are some colours which RGB can project but CMYK cannot (Such as extremely saturated colours). This can create problems when you go to print pictures from your computer, only to find they look duller on paper. This is most likely because your file is in RGB and some of the colours are outside of the spectrum of CMYK. For this reason it is important to either work with your files in CMYK, or save them as CMYK before you send them off to get printed. The option for changing colour format in Photoshop is listed under 'Image' -> 'Mode'

THE DAYS BEFORE

Get monies
And not necessarily of the spending kind. It is important to organise sufficient change for patrons; banks can easily provide you with bags of coins. Do this beforehand, as you will not be able to go to the bank on the day of the convention. Gold coins and small notes are the most important, but it's also good to have a buffer for when someone has a fifty dollar note to break.

Make sure you have what you need
Print off/write up any price lists and signs beforehand, as well as making sure you have all the equipment you need for sticking up said signs and display prints. Most fabric backing boards hate bluetac and stickytape; masking tape is your friend in this department. Invest in a box of rubberbands and consider how you are going to organise your notes and coins on the day (Cashbox, tin, waistpouch, pencilcase, etc...). Unless you're going to bolt it to the table, it's probably not worth investing in anything fancy to hold your money. Something inconspicuous and easily taken with you is often best.

Also know how much space you will have at your table in terms of organising your display. If you have a half-table and want to put postcards, badges and a display folder for your prints, it makes more sense to have an A4 folder, not an A3 one.

Plan how you'll get you and your stuff there
The last thing you want is to be half an hour late for the opening of the convention, or get stranded in the middle of nowhere on the wrong bus with several kilos of prints and folders hanging off one arm. Bump-in times will be advised by the convention organisers, but you will need to get there at least half an hour before opening in order to set up your table. Get some sleep, eat something for breakfast, and make sure you know how you're going to get to the convention. And importantly, how you'll get your stock there.

ON THE DAY

Eat!
This should not be understated! You would be surprised how easy one can forget to, well... eat food of substance when sitting at an Artist table. Especially on the first day, you'll have to get an early start in order to be at the venue on time to set up your table. So you're looking at a full day from 7am wake-up to 6pm pack-up. And unless you have a friend who can cover for you at length, chances are you'll be spending a lot of time at your table. Therefore I advise you to bring a trusty old bottle of water, something to snack on, and plan a time to take a break and eat a good solid meal. Artists cannot survive on Ramune and Pocky alone.

"Devilkitten"

One thing I can say for all people wanting to do artist alley at a con, Form a Group! A $50 Artist alley table + printing + registration for the con is not nearly as bad when split 2, or in the DFC's case 4 ways. Then you make a lot more profits since costs where shared. The more members in the group the better off you are. And organize how you split the money too. we spilt it 2 ways. #1 by how much of your stuff sold and #2 10% off the top goes to the DFC to be split 4 ways. This works out pretty well. This way the people who may not have sold well will make some money for there investment too. At neko con our member, TheDVantOne, made the most amount of money, but at Animazement i made the most, $481 xd . So she still made money since I made money. And some things will sell at one con and not another.
And if possible bring food with you to the con that saves $$$. Nothing that needs to be frozen. Instant and just ad hot water. most conventions have coffee makers or a microwave somewhere.

+How many prints should I have? if you aren't lucky enough to have a computer and printer that's portable then at least 10 of each is good. Oh and look for printing sales and cupons. we were lucky and one of our former members had a cupon for office max and we got off cheap.

+Should I have a display? Yes. People won't notice you if you don't get their attention. even if it's just a massive poster board you've drawn a kickin' pic on, preferably in color, something will help.

+Should I have numbered prints? we didn't use numbered prints except for the poster sized piece we put in the Animazment art show.

+What sort of prices are people usually willing to pay, IN GENERAL? we have mini prints $3
regular prints ( 8.5"X11" wink $5
commissions start at $30-35 and each extra is like $5
And book marks are about $2-3 i think razz

+Glossy or matte paper? the DFC uses glossy. It makes everything look professional and nice.

[Look]

Part A- Getting the table:
1. How many months in advance do conventions usually release tables, in your experience?
That varies. And I almost always miss out the table booking, but for the ones I've been to, they usually start the booking 3-4 months prior to the event. Though AX this year had taken a really early spin.


2. How much does a table usually cost?
Depends on the size of the con. But for the ones I've been to, I'd say $30-$40 for a full table. Though non-anime convensions, such as Wizard of the Coast, Comic Con, and others would cost hundreds.


3. How quickly are the tables reserved?
Very fast. Usually within a month. Popular cons tend to get it booked up within two weeks.


4. What complications should one be prepared for?
Some places ask for sellers permit, while others aren't so strict about it. And it seems some cons starting to put a maximum allowed copies to be sold for fan arts.
Minors will need a gardian to be with them and co-sign forms.

5. Anything else?
Can't think of.


Part B- Preparing to sell:
1. What sort of merchandise would you advise selling?
Prints, bookmarks, postcards, buttons, stickers. But I've seen comics, artbooks, T-shirts, hats, jewelries and other stuff in the AA.

2. What sort of merchandise would you advise against selling?
Anything that would cost too much. People tend to buy things under $20 dollars. Small things like bookmarks that cost under a buck or two usually sell faster, while larger things (especially appareals) would be harder to sell.

3. What sort of stuff sells best?
In my experiences, prints of fan arts.

4. Where would you suggest going to get things printed?
I prefer to print all stuff on my own. More control over print quality and color adjustments.
Local Kinko, Officemax and Staples are my old choices, but be sure to send print to them at least 6 weeks before hand. It takes them longer to process large orders, and on top of that they tend to mess up and you may need extra time to re-print.
Here are a few online sites my friends and I use for merchandize:
http://www.ezprints.com
http://www.mpix.com
http://www.cafepress.com
http://www.bestcolorphoto.com/
and http://www.deviantart.com 's print service


5. If printing at home, what preparations should one make?
Print a sample first to see how the color and brightness look. And print a few weeks before con, in case your printer break down or you ran out of ink/paper, you still have time to restock.


6. How far in advance should one have one's merchandise finished?
At least a week if not two.


7. Anything else?
Epson makes the best color inkjet printers. And it uses ink very effectively if you print it on Matt Photo Paper instead of Glossy.


Part C- At the Con:
1. How early should one arrive to be sure of reserving a good table?
As early as possible. At least an hour ahead, and if you need to pick up your con badge the same time, I'd suggest ask your friend to wait in AA's line while you get the con badges.


2. When setting up one's table, what sort of layout would you suggest?
I prefer putting my work in a portfolio/binder so people can flip through. And have frame above the table to hang prints from. But other people like to scatter their works across the table.


3. There are some pretty bratty congoers out there. How would you suggest dealing with assholes?
I don't recall running into any. Maybe ignore them?


4. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. What issues should one be prepared for when running a table at the Artists alley?
Prepare dollar bill and 5 dollar bills for changes. Bring a CD of your prints in case you sold out, you can always make more copy at nearby Kinko/Officemax.
Watch your money and valuables. There had been cases of people have their valuable items stolen.


5. Anything else?
Get to know the artists sitting next to you, you never know when they can lend you a helping hand. Not to mention it's always nice to meet other artists.

[Kattalina]

Part A- Getting the table:
1. How many months in advance do conventions usually release tables, in your experience?

You can usually reserve a table pretty far ahead of time; although, some cons work off a first come first serve basis. Meaning once they're gone they're gone. So I'd recommend getting one as early as you possibly, and some cons may make you register first before reserving a table.

2. How much does a table usually cost?

At Animazement, it cost around 20.00 for a whole table, and 10.00 for
a half. Not sure about other cons.

3. How quickly are the tables reserved?

Pretty quickly; however, it probably depends on how many people reserve tables at once. Depending on the vacancies and filled up slots.

4. What complications should one be prepared for?

Be prepared for loss of vacancies or lack of space. I've seen people put together make-shift tables at Animazement before because of lack of space, or some bring their own when con supported tables sell out.

5. Anything else?

Nope

Part B- Preparing to sell:
1. What sort of merchandise would you advise selling?

A) Regular Size prints 8 x 10, and poster sized prints.
B) Chibi art definetly seems to sell especially if they are done as stickers
or post card sized
C) Popular series fan art is nice, but it's nostalgic to see fan art of
older series or hard to find -likes to put together a mix when she does her folders-
D) Buttons those seem to go quickly too.
E) Be creative, if you can make something out of a piece, sell it. You're bound to find something different that people will love and buy up quickly.


2. What sort of merchandise would you advise against selling?



3. What sort of stuff sells best?

It's 50/50, depending on what the buyer is searching for. It's a tie
between Fan Art/Original Art. However, style that stick out tend to sell a lot. Especially if it's an unique mix. Like for me, I love to see gothic/Tim Burtonesque styles with lots of detail, but that depends on the buyer-

4. Where would you suggest going to get things printed?

Kinko's or Staples or if you're like me, you can buy the printing sheets pretty cheap and do a handful at home on best quality print on your printer.

5. If printing at home, what preparations should one make?

Make sure you have enough ink, since color and black go through on prints fast depending on the quality and max number of prints you make, so make sure you have back up ink jets just in case. Also be prepared to have extra print pages, especially if your printer likes to mess up like mine does.

6. How far in advance should one have one's merchandise finished?

I'd say a month or so in advanced. That way you know where everything is and can get things organized instead of tugging your hair out before con.


7. Anything else?

Preparation is the key to everything as well as organization. Organization and early prep time is your friend.

Part C- At the Con:
1. How early should one arrive to be sure of reserving a good table?

I'd say an hour or so early, or even on pre-con days. Just to make sure you can secure your space as well as table.

2. When setting up one's table, what sort of layout would you suggest?

I prefer to set my work up in folders. There's a lot of nice notebooks out there that already have the protector sleeves in them for you. Although, a word of advice, if you have yaoi or yuri in your folder, it's best to mark them, because cons will make you mark folders with hardcore art in them, due to underage viewing of artist alley ^^; Some artist don't do it, and it can be kind of scarring for those who don't like Yaoi or Yuri in particular, especially if the work is really erotic, this goes for Hetero pairings too XD


3. There are some pretty bratty congoers out there. How would you suggest dealing with assholes?


I'd play stern, but nice as well. I'm pretty generous and easy going with my customers, but don't let them to get to you. Best thing to do is be yourself, but stay on the defensive. People browsing your table usually love the artist to talk to, and greet them. Manners is another thing to consider, since it's like a small business ^^

4. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. What issues should one be prepared for when running a table at the Artists alley?

Depending on what you're selling be prepared for not making more than you've planned or even running out of prints. I tend to do art right there and sell originals rather then prints; however, prints of older work come in handy or ones you can't let go of original prints wise.

Some people make too many prints and don't get their money's worth back from sold merchandise ^^;

5. Anything else?

Nope

[[Kako]]

Thank you very much!

[Yrindale]

Part A- Getting the table:
1. How many months in advance do conventions usually release tables, in your experience?

Usually it's about half a year, or at least the ones I hit are like that. Sometimes a bit less or a bit more.

2. How much does a table usually cost?

Depends on the show, I've spent $40 on a table and I've spent $110 on a table - it kinda depends on the traffic of said show and if I think I can make up that cost. If I don't think I can make up cost, I won't go.

3. How quickly are the tables reserved?

Depends on the flux of people. A show I'm going to in April is about 3/4 full right now.

4. What complications should one be prepared for?

Be sure to figure out what sort of permits you may need, and then you'll need to know how much space you'll need.

5. Anything else?

Don't be difficult to work with if you can, remember they got rules - do what you can to follow them and make sense of everything.

Part B- Preparing to sell:
1. What sort of merchandise would you advise selling?

Prints and originals. Various sizes and prices. I hear small things sell nicely. But don't put aside big stuff, sometimes somebody comes along that would like a large print.

2. What sort of merchandise would you advise against selling?

Anything too expensive really. Most con goers have a budget, with this in mind remember to take more of the cheap stuff and less of the expensive.

3. What sort of stuff sells best?

It differs for everyone really - I sell 8x10's really easily, some people sell bookmarks really easily. And usually fanart does well from what I hear - though I wouldn't know since I avoid that.

4. Where would you suggest going to get things printed?

I do home printing, so I can't help too much there. For my first show I went through DeviantART actually and it did fine. The prints were great quality and what not. Prices weren't too bad compared to most other printers.

5. If printing at home, what preparations should one make?

You will run out of ink! Be prepared for that. Get good paper if you can, and remember to have a nice spot to store stuff where dust and things won't get to the art. Nothing worse than selling dusty marked up art. Be prepared to waste some paper too - there's almost always color corrections to be made. Plus, if your con is near home and you don't spend the night at a hotel or something? Be willing to print off some more mid - convention. I've had to do it.

6. How far in advance should one have one's merchandise finished?

I've finished stuff a week in advance, which was difficult. Aim for at least 2 weeks at worse really.

7. Anything else?

Nothing that others have said.

Part C- At the Con:
1. How early should one arrive to be sure of reserving a good table?

Get there as early as you can. If you can set up and have time to get a coffee or something you're in great shape.

2. When setting up one's table, what sort of layout would you suggest?

I frame in my table with a small easel on one end with a painting to catch the eye, and a crate of prints on the otherside, angled in to the rest of the table which as a book of originals on it, some cards, maybe even a few more prints sprinkled about. It's all about catching the eye. I put my most widely accepted print in front.

3. There are some pretty bratty congoers out there. How would you suggest dealing with assholes?

Try not to light them on fire.

4. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. What issues should one be prepared for when running a table at the Artists alley?

Make sure you have correct change if you can. Some 1's some 5's and what not. If there's a print area near by, (some places have a kinko's or something close by) maybe look into taking some source files with you. And always make sure you have a table buddy or that you trust the guy or gal next to you - you will need to go to the bathroom at an inopportune time, it's just how it works.

5. Anything else?

Nothing special. Try and be in a good mood and be willing to talk with people. Nothing is more of a turn off to potential future art owners than an artist who hides from their crowd. Also, if you're trying to get your name spread, take some business cards or something. You can go to an office store and print your own for like $10 or something - it's a pretty easy way to look professional.

[Look]

Just remembered one more thing to add, to help reduce cost:
Write down how many copies you made for each art before the con, then see how many are left, so you know which ones sell the best, and how many you've sold. Then you can make copies base on that for next con, this way it'll save you print cost from printing un-popular items.

Do this for each con you attend, it'll help with the planning.

Also if you are printing on your own printer, try with different print option and papers. If "normal" quality option have no visible difference from "best", then don't waste your ink by printing on "best". If printing on matte paper is as good as on glossy, then print on matte cause it tends to save a lot more ink.

[[Kako]]

Thank you!

[yumegari]

Thank you forthis, it's incredibly useful and informative!! smile

May i ask also, what is the ideal resolution of the digital file for a 8x11 print??

[[Kako]]

"yumegari"

Thank you forthis, it's incredibly useful and informative!! smile

May i ask also, what is the ideal resolution of the digital file for a 8x11 print??

I can answer this one myself, I think. :3 For basic printing, most people can use around 300 DPI and get nice results. I've heard of up to 600 DPI being used though, which I find insane. Drawing something at even 200 DPI gave me a headache.

[snow_killer]

O.o

[[Kako]]

"snow_killer"

O.o

...


Can I help you?

[yumegari]

[quote="[Kako]"]

"yumegari"

Thank you forthis, it's incredibly useful and informative!! smile

May i ask also, what is the ideal resolution of the digital file for a 8x11 print??

I can answer this one myself, I think. :3 For basic printing, most people can use around 300 DPI and get nice results. I've heard of up to 600 DPI being used though, which I find insane. Drawing something at even 200 DPI gave me a headache.

That's what i've been hearing. Thank you soo much! smile

And I agreed, really big things are such a pain D:
Good luck with your table at whichever con you plan to attend!! ^____^

[Look]

"yumegari"

Thank you forthis, it's incredibly useful and informative!! smile

May i ask also, what is the ideal resolution of the digital file for a 8x11 print??

300 dpi is pretty high quality, because most printers won't be able to print much more than that. The printers that will print at 600dpi will be too expensive unless you are aiming for a full time professional position.

I usually print mine between 200 to 300. 200dpi has almost no visible difference compare to 300dpi, espeically when its printed on matte instead of glossy. Sometimes you can even pull off at 150dpi. But anything below that will be clearly noticable.

[[Kako]]

I've added another question, though this one is optional: What skill level would you suggest entering the Alley at? Can you give some examples?