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Whoring 101

Conventions. Much fun to be had, and the choice battleground for the whore. You are there to sell yourself. An artist has a much easier time at this than the writer. An artist has a nice visual package to show off. The writer has to deal with concepts.

Here's some dos and don'ts:

When asking for a portfolio review DO ask the reviewer to be as brutal as possible. The person reviewing is biased, because he or she wants you to like them and later on buy their product. As such, they will sugarcoat there opinions. This is worthless to you. When you tell them to be brutal, you will most likely get the "are you sure?" look. Give them a nod and get ready for some cold, hard truth.

DON'T argue. You asked for their opinion and they're giving it to you.

DO remember the this is their opinion and opinions vary. One artist told me that my anatomy needs work, and the very next one said my anatomy is great.

DO keep your ears open about after con parties. Great for shmoozin'. Feel free to have a good time and mingle, mingle, mingle.

DON'T bother the talent when they are trying to work. You will be branded as annoying. Not good.

DO remember that the talent are people too. They're normal folks. They like having their work complimented. I friendly "hello" and a good handshake will get you pretty far.

DON'T dis other pros! You never know who's good buddies with who. Imagine talking to Geoff Johns, and you tell him how much you hate Brad Meltzer. Johns and Meltzer and best friends. You're now an a*****e.

Whoring 201

Time to buy a little respect. Get a table at a con.

At this point you're think "Aw s**t, this is gonna cost money". Yeah, expect to cough up anywhere from $50 to $150 for a table in the artists alley. Booths are much more, at least $200. As such, you're gonna have to have your game on. I'll be spending more time on this, because let's face it, you're probably broke from buying all your comics.


WAIT A DAMN MINUTE! WHY SHOULD I SHELL OUT THE EXTRA CASH!!

1: Gets your face out there.

2: You don't have to wait in line before the show. Make sure to shake some hands before the actual show starts. This is key.

3: Just getting a table sets you apart from everyone else with a portfolio. This shows everyone that you're serious.

Welcome to the other side of the table!

Be prepared to be confronted by some really colorful examples of humanity, and the obigatory moron who want's to know who you think would win in a fight between Superman and Batman. These are your perspective customers so don't make fun of them, until you're sure that they can't hear you.

Price yourself properly. Don't expect to make a lot of sales if you're charging $20 for sketches. I usually go with about $5. Beats a kick in the stones.

Don't act the fool.

You don't have to have the "used car salesman" approach to every customer. Smile, shake the hands, engage in polite conversation.

Be ready to answer any questions, and try to not to say "Um."

If you look like you're having a good time then people will come to you. You don't have to drag them over to you.

Dress nicely. A suit and tie is a bit much. A nice, clean t-shirt and jeans will be fine.

Tips on increasing traffic to your table.

Bowl of candy. A little bowl of peppermints will do wonders. Mini candy bars may get a bit pricey. Gives you an excuse to start talking to people. The Drawback: candy zombies form Boot to the Head Studios raiding the candy bowl. If you evey meet Dan Nokes from 21st Century Sandshark Studios, he'll tell you some horror stories.

Dan (while throwing mini Snickers at Biscuits the color monkey): "BACK! BACK DAMNED CANDY ZOMBIE!!!"


The frontman. Put your writer to work. His job is to meet and greet while the artist do their thing. More on this later.

The model. Horribly expensive, unless you know someone really into cosplay that owes you a favor. Draws attention.

The contest. Best one we've pulled off is Iron Sketch. Our artists against all challengers, with the subject matter draw from a hat. The crowd was the judges and the money made went to ACTOR. Charity work makes you look great, and will build your fanbase.

I plan to attend a gaming conference next month.
I am taking packets of my work (7 short stories and a few opinion pieces) and distributing them to as many people as I can get close to.

Be careful about making a spectacle of yourself at these shows. These things must be felt out.

At our first show as a group, it became obvious that we could do whatever we wanted with minimum repercussions. Some shows are like this, especially the smaller and newer ones. This show was a debacle so yelling at con goers, playing music and challenging the Lord of the Ring fan club to a duel was acceptable. The same shenanagans wouldn't go over so well at a more established con with more industry pros.

An example of a con stunt going well is the "Hail Caesar". This was pulled off a few years back at the Baltimore Comicon. The loudspeakers are rather powerful there, so every announcement of "Attention ladies and gentlemen...." would forcefully snap us out of our hungover stupors.

As such whenever an announcement was made, after the "Attention ladies and gentlemen" I lept from my seat and yelled "HAIL CAESAR!". I was joined soon after in this by our neighbor Dan "Candy bowl" Nokes. We did it while we were talking to a customer:

Me: "Pardon me a moment. (with Dan) HAIL CAESAR!"

Sure enough the next announcement the guy joined our small chorus. We left a little early (standard practice for those with a drive head of them), there was an announcement, and sure enough a chorus of at least thirty voices from all over the room yelled out "HAIL CAESAR!" Caught Rags Morales doing it. xd

Stunts should be good natured and open for participation or at least amusing to the crowd.