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 ]

[Vicemage]

Stupid spammer has been reported.

Unibasu, I'll start with "you should have thought about that before you registered your tables." wink Now that I'm done with that, my best advice for you is to find someone whom you would trust with your LIFE to watch the table for you on Saturday. Saturday's typically a good money-making day, and besides that, many cons have "squatters" who will descend on any unused table and claim it as their own, whether someone else has paid for it or not. You might end up losing your table that way.

If you absolutely can't find someone to take the table, I might suggest just forfeiting it for this year and trying again at a different con or next year's Fanime. You'll be missing the largest day; Friday's people trickling in and Sunday's people heading home. That's of course totally up to you, though, and someone else will undoubtedly have a different opinion from mine.

[Pirate Cashoo]

Vicemage

Stupid spammer has been reported.

Unibasu, I'll start with "you should have thought about that before you registered your tables." wink Now that I'm done with that, my best advice for you is to find someone whom you would trust with your LIFE to watch the table for you on Saturday. Saturday's typically a good money-making day, and besides that, many cons have "squatters" who will descend on any unused table and claim it as their own, whether someone else has paid for it or not. You might end up losing your table that way.

If you absolutely can't find someone to take the table, I might suggest just forfeiting it for this year and trying again at a different con or next year's Fanime. You'll be missing the largest day; Friday's people trickling in and Sunday's people heading home. That's of course totally up to you, though, and someone else will undoubtedly have a different opinion from mine.

I was very aware that I would be graduating on the Saturday of the con. ^^ I had absolutely no choice, the only choice I had was to buy them for the WHOLE weekend. ^^ (from Friday to Monday...since it's Memorial Day weekend)

Well obviously they can't just claim it as their own. XD I'll have no problem arguing at all with them if they decide to choose to sit in my tables for the rest of the con. Btw, I have a good friend of mine who works in the administrators of Fanime (namely the artist alley! She helped me buy my table too. She could back me up if it comes to that. She's perfectly fine with that.).

and thanks for the input! * u*

[Vicemage]

Well, yes, I do know that 99% of tables are sold for the entire weekend; my point was that you ought to have picked a different convention or waited a year, which many people do.

Start talking to someone right away to see if they can handle the table for you. The sooner the better. Good luck. smile

[Pirate Cashoo]

Vicemage

Well, yes, I do know that 99% of tables are sold for the entire weekend; my point was that you ought to have picked a different convention or waited a year, which many people do.

Start talking to someone right away to see if they can handle the table for you. The sooner the better. Good luck. smile

I know your point! ^^ Too bad I'm not able to go to any other cons <3 and there's no way in the world I'd ever be able to forfeit next year! XD

I'm totally fine if someone uses my tables on Saturday....however if they try to take my tables on the other days they'll have to be booted somewhere else. ^^

haha yeah, definitely. thanks!! <333

[Purishi]

I've always wanted to know if people actually buy those chibi keychains? They're usually printed on cardstock and laminated and hole punched with a ball chain through it. They've always looked...very undurable for a keychain, but maybe that's just me.

XD Does anyone have ideas for using chibi art?

[Vicemage]

I've seen them sell. I personally don't do it that way, though; I use Graphix Shrink Film (basically inkjet printable shrinky dinks, $12 for a pack of 6 sheets), print my chibis on that, and shrink them. Then I sell them as phone charms. They're quite cute.

Other suggestions I can make for you: Bookmarks, badges, stickers, finger puppets (I've never seen anyone do that and it'd be pretty cute)...

[Purishi]

Oooh, I've always wanted to try out those shrink paper things, but the prices have always scared me away. Do u have any pictures of a completely made and baked charm?

[Vicemage]

I don't, currently... I keep one on my own phone, though, and they hold up decently well. (obviously, since they're stiff plastic they can still be broken, just like any other type of stiff plastic, but they work pretty well, especially at a small size.)

Edit: If you want to try out the paper, expect to blow a sheet or two on experiments. And one other tip: The directions will tell you to reduce your image opacity by 50%. On cel-shaded artwork, I found this was NOT desirable, and you're better off doing it at 100% so you get really intense colors.

[Purishi]

Oh wow! Thanks a bunch for the advice. Ah, 2 more questions...

1) Do the colors scratch off easily/ are they waterproof?

2) Generally, how many chibis do you fit onto a page?

[Vicemage]

They won't scratch off, but they're not any more waterproof than the ink from your printer. I coat mine in a waterbased polyurethane varnish (CAREFULLY or it can bleed during that process) to protect them.

As for the second... I'm not sure. It all comes down to your scaling, in the end. And the size of the chibi compared to others. I have some that are about three times as wide as others, so I can't fit as many of those in place. Usually it seems to be about six across and five down or so. It's a lot.

[Purishi]

Alright! Thanks a lot for the help <3

[muffin babie]

Luc_iole

XD i cosplay as a maid behind my table, i mean, everyones doing it so why not? i don't know if it makes people more approachable, but its nice to join in the fun, and if all else fails, you can talk cosplay with the costumers.

i would recommend a comfortable costume though.. the first time i cosplayed as a maid, i wore a extra tight and sexy corset. 3 hours later i was limping towards the nearest restroom..

Ooh, owie. That sucks. sad I went through that kind of thing at Detour, when I realized just how short my skirt actually was...and I didn't bring any other clothes...

I'll probably just dress up as my gaia avi this year. 3nodding

[Shadow Ivy]

Here's yet another question--when I was doing AA at ACen, I had noticed an abundance of tables with some nice and pretty banners displaying their work/website. I'm curious to know where I can go look into getting a banner made, but I'd also like to know what I can use to hold it up. Any and all suggestions and recommendations would be very much appreciated!

[pearberrie]

I just got back from my first big artist alley at anext
Something interesting to ask, does anyone ever get people coming up to your table to talk your ear off about nonsense or things not related to you at all etc, i had one person ask to borrow a manga I didn't even have and of course wasn't selling.. a couple others went on and on about their family at me even though I started kinda looking around the room..
how do you polity tell them or how to act in a way to get them to keep moving? ^^; I don't want to be rude but wow there is a limit to small talk.

I had some people on Friday coming back to ask (in almost accusing tone) how i got my table and would i share it...it was packed full so I don't know why they asked. And I'm not sure why they're asking me xD

any advice for this?

[pearberrie]

@Unibasu
I actually didn't show up at all by accident from saterday 10am-5pm but that was easily fixed by taping a paper on the table saying I would be back, and leaving business cards and a price list as well. I also left the pipe frame up with some of my art prints hanging. Over the weekend I got more and more brave and leaving things behind during the night. For this con at least nothing happened luckily and I only did it cause others left everything behind and the stuff left I wouldn't die if it was stolen. The only thing taken from my table during saterday was a chair but we easily got another one from con staff without having to go around accusing which was good. So if you really can't go sunday thats a good way to do it