Artists Alley Information Thread

Selling at Cons is best during the...

Spring	11.6%	[ 83 ]
Summer	30.3%	[ 217 ]
Fall	7.0%	[ 50 ]
Winter	5.3%	[ 38 ]
Any time!	45.7%	[ 327 ]
Total Votes:			[ 715 ]

[Fiammetta Rey]

Am I like, a bad person, or not serious enough, or whatever, because I'm still happy about my weekend even though I only sold $12 worth of stuff? Well, even if I'm not, it's weird for me, I'm the one who's usually like, "I'm not doing this unless I'm getting paid" and I usually don't care about the social stuff... but talking to awesome people made my weekend awesome.

I was really pissed at first because I knew I wouldn't make money (since I didn't have enough stuff and what I had wasn't very good) and I felt like I was wasting my time and money getting the table and setting it up and having to sit there and not do anything else at the con while my partner made money, and my other roommates went around having fun... but then it turned out to be really fun.

Oh, and speaking of money... I saw some DVDs I had been wanting for a long time (Moribito box set) and I was going to get them, but then I remembered how I was going to buy markers. By that time I didn't have enough money left to get even a 12 set of markers, but I felt like I needed some anyway. So I ended up getting a case to put markers in. It fits the same amount of markers as my old cases put together (72) but it's one case. But now I have 2 completely empty 36-marker wallets and I feel the need to fill them. Uhhh...

[Vicemage]

Nah, that's not a bad thing at all, it's better I think to have a positive attitude. I didn't make much at my last con, but I had one hell of a good time.

And I know what you mean about temptation. And the empty marker cases. But I'm reserving my empty (for now) for the purpose of making smaller "portable" sets from my two larger ones, since it's a handy little 24-one.

[AEAcomics]

My markers just go in a plastic bin, heh. I'd rather have a good time at a con than make a lot of money and have a terrible time. I get so anxious as it is.

I'm starting to sort through my con supplies. I want to get everything but the wire cubes into one crate. I've got a month until SogenCon.

[une petite victoire]

This was really helpful. I do have one question though.

I know it would really depend on what kind of quality your art is and if you are well known or not, but how many prints should I plan on making before the con? I want enough to sell and not run out, but I don't want loads of extras. Suggestions?

[Fiammetta Rey]

I made 10-15 of each one (except for one where the ink ran out after 7). Only 1 or 2 of each sold (if any), but at least I don't have to worry about it for the next few cons.

I think that's a good amount. Unless you have extremely limited resources and would feel more comfortable making less...

[[Kako]]

I only made 2-3 of each print, and didn't have any issues with running out. ^^; If it's your first con, 3-5 of each is generally a good estimate. If you're worried about running out then find a copy-shop near the con and take the files with you so you can print extra in a pinch.

[ninniku]

I have different sized prints, and will print varying amounts based on that. For instance, 8x10 or 8.5x11, usually 3, anything smaller (5x7 or 4x6) at least 5.

Smaller prints, I have found are actually a good idea as I usually sell more of those.....


Is anyone else here going to CT-con this year? =D

[Cetriya]

I'd say 2-5 copies of each, 2 for those you're not sure of, 5 of the ones you've gotten good response for.

If I make about 100$ at a con then I know I did ok, just under breaking even so I can afford to go again and hopefully start to make a profit. I'm having a few reoccurring customers, hopefully I have more and even some people contacting me after con.

[Fiammetta Rey]

So yeah, I have an oversized ego for making so much stuff that I should have known wouldn't sell.

Obviously I'm not taking this seriously enough. I suck.

[Cetriya]

Fiammetta Rey

So yeah, I have an oversized ego for making so much stuff that I should have known wouldn't sell.

Obviously I'm not taking this seriously enough. I suck.

dont feel too bad, a lot of older AA info is based on when the economy was good, cons were cheaper and artists who sell bucket loads of fan art. Every time I hear some one whine about con limits I'm speechless. Who sells 200+ prints in one setting? jeez
or hearing artists making about 1k or more in one weekend. If I could make that kind of money I'd do a con every weekend, that 52 weeks, thats... pretty damn good even after the 15% tax

[Aki Ameko]

Vicemage

Aki Ameko: Please do not post unrelated things here or quote posts without adding to them. It's spam, and it gets reported in the interest of keeping this thread clean. Participation and contribution is nice, but we don't approve of posting for gold or advertising.

I've already discussed this with the mod, but while I accept her decision to delete my posts, I'd appreciate it if you did not accuse me of posting for gold or advertising. Often times I post as an "I've read to this point" marker and to let the poster know that I've read it and that their typed effort did not go to waste. (Which was the case with the quoting post.) As for the the link post, that was not advertising so much as it was me hoping to enlist help on a serious program issue, something that I figured the rest of the nice people here at the thread would be able to help me with since it's an art program and we're all artists here. I thought that posting the question in the thread itself would be spam. Can you please clarify for me why that is not ok?

Anyway, I hope that it is not completely off-topic in an artist alley thread to post links to my videos of Artist Alley coverage from last weekend's con:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

@ Fiametta Rey: Naw, not at all. I was told right from the start that I wasn't going to make money doing this, at least not right away, and that I should be in it more for the experience than anything else. And I sure as heck am very glad about that! 8D

@ une petite victoire: If you can, take a printer with you to the con. Even if you can't print at your table, you should be able to print in your room. I did that this last weekend and the convenience was just...AWESOME. <3

Also... An idea I had... I'd love it if I could get a bunch of artists to collaborate some kind of an artist trading card series. I LOVED the artist cards that were given out at ACen's Gaia panel, and I'd love to do some too!! It could be done in such a way that each artist prints their own cards and sells their own cards at their own tables, and anyone wanting to collect has to go to each table and buy from each artist! Does this idea have potential or is it just plain stupid? XD;;

[Vicemage]

Aki> Sorry that I worded it badly, but the "posting for gold" is more of a generalization of what most of the spam we have around here is. Posting as a placemarker, however, is also not a good idea, when you can just make a note or leave the tab open for the same purpose. Similarly with your link post, while we are all artists here, that doesn't mean it's a good idea to link that thread. Either post it as its own thread in the main forum and let people find their way to it naturally, or link it in your signature, but (in spite of the slight chatter we get going on here) this isn't a "free talk" thread and it needs to stay generally on topic. smile So a question about something unrelated to Artists' Alley doesn't fit here and is offtopic, and therefore is spam. (You're doing a good job overall of contributing, though, just remember that we have a specific topic here and try to stick to it.)

Regarding the idea of the artist trading cards, I do think that would be fun. I've encountered people who did it themselves and, while I'm sure some people would have been offended by what they did (they went to my website, picked some art, and printed it on a trading card-sized paper for their own purposes, and did it for the rest of the artists at the show, so they could get them all signed and have a full set of pieces representing the range of the artists), I was actually a bit flattered. ^^ It wasn't a show where people sell prints, anyway, so I'm sure most people didn't find it that big of a deal. But I think it would be nice to actually have some control over what the art was and be able to sell something like that, even for a small amount of cash.

I also always though it would be interesting to create something of an Artist Alley TCG, though it would probably be more "art card" than "game" ultimately, but something where artists use themselves, their OCs from their projects, and the like to create cards that work in some universal system. I lack any and all ambition to design something like that beyond the conception, though, so I've never moved beyond, "Yeah, that'd be neat, but logistically far too much for me."

[Kyousouka]

Did I complain about how poorly I did yet?

[Aki Ameko]

@ Vicemage: Ok. Thanks for explaining. smile I'll be aware of it from now on.

So...if, say, *I* were to start some kind of artist trading card project, who'd be on board for it? I could easily create a new account on deviantART for the project, (like what the pixel ID-ers did) and start bringing artists in to the idea. I'd like to provide a template too, so that all the cards can have mostly the same design... Thoughts?

Also, anyone know a place that can print nice card-looking stuff?