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 ]

[Kyousouka]

Aki: Don't make a new account, just make a group for it.

What would be the purpose of this project? What would set these cards aside from other ATCs, aside from the shared design?

[Aki Ameko]

Kyousouka

Aki: Don't make a new account, just make a group for it.

What would be the purpose of this project? What would set these cards aside from other ATCs, aside from the shared design?

A group it is, then.

Group collaboration is what I had in mind...and that's the only thing I can think of. Any other ideas?

[Fiammetta Rey]

I think I set a record for most money lost in the AA. I didn't keep track of how much I spent on supplies (mostly because I didn't know what I could count as a supply for AA) but I only got back $12.

It's probably because I was an idiot. Before the con, I just did the only thing I know how to do. I sat around whining about how much I suck instead of preparing. By the time I started packing I was already supposed to have left. I forgot half the things I needed. I ended up going to the hotel convenience store and getting safety pins to put up my prints.

I had a good time but I didn't deserve it.

It is entirely my fault that I didn't do well, and I am officially the worst thing that ever existed.

[Kyousouka]

I had a bunch of binder pins, uuugh D:< You could have asked me.

And at least you made a profit? I covered only the table/attendance and items I sold, and did not cover any of the other suplies/expenses. I'm still about -$300...

[Fiammetta Rey]

By "made $12", I mean "Sold $12 of merchandise". I did not make a profit or even come close to breaking even.

Edit: I guess I should have realized people would think I made a $12 profit. It's probably impossible for a sane person to even consider that someone could fail as much as I did. It just doesn't happen. I'm just a horrible person so it happened to me because I deserved it.

[Kyousouka]

Oh, oh wow D: And I thought I did poorly.

I wouldn't say you deserved it, but it was certainly preventable. I hope things go better for you next time. Get cracking on that new art!

[Fiammetta Rey]

I feel now like me being in the AA is like a roach trying to trick people into thinking it's a person (of course, no one's falling for it).

[Kyousouka]

It's not you, it's your lack of prep :< If you're doing MNext, start working NOW.

[Fiammetta Rey]

I'm not going to MangaNext, but I'm going to Otakon (and possibly Ohayocon).

I'm trying to do more stuff... but like, those cons limit fanart and while I do think it's bad to rely on fanart for sales, no one has ever bought an OC pic from me.

So I guess I'll just try to do one of those really really great OC pics that no one can resist, but I'm not at that level yet.

But what I can do is write those stories that my OCs are from, and post them online, and get people to see who my OCs are and what they do.

Problem is, I probably won't have time to do all that before Otakon.

I can try, but like... I dunno.

I have a plan for all of this. I don't know if it's a good plan, but it's based on a lot of blog-reading and stuff like that. I guess I'll have to kind of compress the time span down to... oh crap, a month. I was going to give myself a year to write these novellas, but I guess a month will have to do. *sigh*

Edit: If I have a question, about a person, but I don't want this person to ever find out about it, where should I ask? If someone thinks they can answer it, could you contact me on AIM (my AIM is my old username here)?

[Cetriya]

at awa I made only 3$ total, and to top it off, thats when my car broke down (about 1k worth of repairs, I was gimped, my first time dealing with mechanics.)

[Aki Ameko]

@ Fiametta Rey: Don't beat yourself up over it. It's counter-productive to the outcome that you want. Read this article, and you should see what I mean. Hope it helps. smile heart

Anyway, after all this discussion, I have to count myself lucky for what I earned last weekend at my own con. o3o

[Fiammetta Rey]

@Aki: Great articles, the one you linked to and another one that that one linked to. The second one had 4 points about procrastination at the bottom (sort of like a tl;dr, but more like the core of the study's findings without the complex science stuff *non-scientific person*)

Quote:

1. To avoid procrastinating on a task, focus on its details and use self-imposed deadlines.
2. To stick to a task, while actually carrying it out, now it is beneficial to keep the ultimate, abstract goal in mind.
3. When evaluating progress on a hard task, when the chance of failure is high, stay focused on the details of the task.
4. Once tasks are easier or the end is in sight, a more abstract, goal focus is once again the psychological approach to choose.

I will try this.

(I think there might have been several links on the page, it's this one, if anyone's wondering)

I just reorganized my markers and I'm currently coloring something while listening to a podcast about writing. I find that drawing is the best thing to do while listening to podcasts because I can really only intake one set of words at a time, so I can't read and listen to someone talk at the same time, but I need to have my hands busy. Also, I think it may be that I need the visual part of my mind simulated. Watching a film or reading text does that. Just sitting for an hour and listening to a voice doesn't. So I draw. It's a separate task, but it keeps me focused on the podcast.

[Kyousouka]

Rey: I don't know your AIM/old Gaia name, so AIM me? My AIM is the same as my Gaia name. Maybe I can try to help.


I find that my brain is engaged different depending on the exact type of drawing. When I am painting (digital), I often watch movies. Music isn't enough to keep my focus because it's not enough stimulus, but movies are perfect. However, when I am doing my comic (pencilling or inking), movies are too distracting and I have to listen to music.
I guess that just shows that I am a noob at the latter xD

[Frosted Muffin Cakes]

@Rey: Don't beat yourself up, honey. You've said you had fun, yes? And now you know what you should/should not do before your next con, and you know how much you need to prepare beforehand.
I don't know if this is your first alley or not, but at my first con I made about 15 dollars, and that was almost entirely with 3$ chibi commissions. I think I also sold a bookmark or something.

@Aki: That sounds neat! I'd participate. Would it be like those pixel ID's with stats and such? Would we sell them to each other, or trade them?

I'm gonna try and make some more original art for the next con I go to. Also book fanart. I just finished a series that I absoloutely loved, so I'm gonna draw a picture or two for that.
I wanna pick up some more markers, too, so I can offer colored commissions. The main reason I didn't before s because I lacked an orange, and I got a lot of Naruto requests my first two cons. I didn't get a single one at Detour this year, though. Not any of the characters from that series.

[Vicemage]

That's because it's a flavor of the month, Muffin, and the "Naruto" flavor isn't what's being served up this month, it's something else? (What? I don't know. I don't much care, really, which is probably a lousy view to take, but I've tended to stick to what I like rather than what's popular.)

Taking a look at the RP group I just joined, though, to see which series have the most characters, I'm seeing Air Gear, D.Gray-man, FF7 (which is a bit more of an enduring fandom), Katekyo Hitman REBORN!, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, and, oddly, Detective Conan. ^^ This is an older group, but looking at things like panfandom online roleplay groups might be one way to see what's more popular at a given time. (There are no Naruto or Bleach players currently in this game, either; both seem to be ebbing in overall popularity as well as other things build.)