/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Last few discussions of previous thread:

>Are zines worth the time and labor put in?
>Shopify vs Tictail vs Etsy vs bigcartel?
>Fanime app when?
>Social media/marketing usage/insights?

>>9682924
BC anon here, I just use the $10/25 item listing. I'm primarily a print artist, so I've never really ran into the need to use more than 25 listings, especially if I combine sets (like all stickers of one series, or a pair of prints) into one listing with multiple options.

>>9686199
I'd like to add that all traffic is generated by your other social media, though. Etsy and Storenvy can route sales your way through their search engine, which is a big advantage that doesn't exist on BC. I just never really got sales from that method, and only through promotion on other sites or from my followers, so it was an easy decision for me.

>>9686199
>>9686206
Cool, thanks for the info. That's looking like a super attractive option for me just starting out. I hate that a lot of other platforms take money away from you on every transaction.

To bounce off the zine discussion at the end of last thread: I've seen some artists put their zines up for digital purchase on itch.io or gumroad or other venues, usually for lower prices than the physical zines.

For artists here that have done zines, have you sold yours digitally too? Do you see much in terms of sales for the digital copies? Do you feel like it impacts how many physical copies you sell? I've had a few zine/mini comic ideas floating around and I know it won't be nearly the profit of other paper goods, but I do love them. I guess part of me is worried that offering them digitally will kill the sales of the physical copies to the point that it's not worth doing both.

I was a fuck and took forever to make new prints. The con is in two days and I got it on 85lb. My older prints are on Catprint Heavy Matte.
It's not a big con, projected attendance is 600.
How fucked am I?

>>9686464
85lb cover or 85lb text? Cover is fine, if it's text then uh... maybe knock the pricing down a couple of bucks.

>>9686475
It's Staples 85lb Elite Gloss so I have no idea. They're like, magazine cover thickness.
I printed business cards in the batch thinking they would come out thick enough. Now I'm mounting them on thick stock. Maybe if I can mount the actual prints consistently (they're not full bleed either) they'll be fine?

I know there are a few toronto seagulls in here, and yall have done me nothing but solids so far. Anyone looking for a table at DTAC? Just found out my gf has to cancel due to work, so I'm likely going to have to find someone to take her table. Love it when the con doesn't offer refunds 2 days after payment.

>>9686534
you may have some luck selling the table in the Artist Alley Network Canada FB group.
I'd grab it myself but $100 for a day just seems so ridiculous.

>>9686447
>>9686494
Your customers are not going to care. They buy the print before they even touch the paper - it's not a selling point, and something artists do for each other and for themselves. I wouldn't worry about it.

>>9686822
Seconding this. It's usually up to the artist to "feel bad" about low quality paper. Customers buy for the art, not the paper, though of course people will appreciate nice stock (and they don't find out until they get the print in hand). I personally can't stand thin paper, but would never comment on it or stop the transaction after feeling it lmao.

>>9686447
My friend and I sell our physical copies of our zines for $25 a book and $10 for the digital copies. The digital sales haven't affected the physical sales. Not everyone can afford the larger book/can afford shipping/can get to buy them from you in person, but a lot of people are still willing to pay for having a physical product, especially if the book's physical quality looks nice. The books we have are about 138 pages with perfect bind/antiscratch covers. I'm not so sure how this compares to smaller zines or comics, but that's been my experience with this. Some people have even ended up buying our physical copies of the books because they bought the digital and enjoyed the content enough to spend more on it.

>>9686822
>>9686834
What about print quality? My first go at getting prints made ended with this horrible obvious diffusion of print dots on some dark greyish areas.
The images were made for web, but people seemed super interested to buy them, I'm only starting to make prints BECAUSE people asked me to print these.

>>9686447
When I buy zines I strongly prefer physical copies, especially if it's a "special" printing method like risograph or the artist mentions specific types of papers. I've only ever bought digital copies if they've sold out of the physical.

Keep in mind a lot of artists bind up little sketchbooks of images they've already put online and those consistently sell. Take a look at Stuart Ng's catalog of artist sketchbooks if you want to see for yourself. Fuck knows I coughed up $30 for artgerm's sketchbook and it's not nearly as good in print or content variety as ones I've paid $10 for.

>>9687011
If it's super noticeable then maybe. Otherwise sell them at a discount and just make your future art printable.

>>9687076
> I've only ever bought digital copies if they've sold out of the physical.

Seconding this. The point of an artbook for me is to have something tactile to flip through, and I'm willing to pay the extra $$$ for a pretty book to put on my shelf. A digital collection doesn't have nearly the same sentiment or attachment, and I've only ever opted for it when it was the only option available to me.

Of course that's my anecdotal standpoint as a consumer - from a sellers standpoint I'm not helpful, sorry.

>>9687368
>The point of an artbook for me is to have something tactile to flip through, and I'm willing to pay the extra $$$ for a pretty book to put on my shelf.
Same here. I think plenty of people feel like that. Just think about all the webcomics that have successful kickstarters for physical copies.

Sorry about a sudden Vograce question, but how durable have your epoxy acrylic charms been? The thing is I made around 20 charms out of my OCs back in July and sold some to my friends and recently one of their charms broke in half by falling on the floor between their phone.

And by what I have seen I have another friend who is always dropping their phone on the floor with the charm attached to it w/o breaking so I’m just wondering if what my 1st friend got might have been a defect one?

Has this happened to anyone else before? It’s been four months since I got them and I don’t know if it’s okay to bother Coco about.. (sorry for the lengthness of this..! It was my 1st time making charms)

>>9687600
>falling on the floor between their phone

I think it's pretty reasonable to expect the charm to break...

>>9686534
Do you have an email to contact? My table partner and I have been trying to apply but they won't reply.

Do people still use tumblr to show off their fanart?
My dashboard has been a bit of a ghost town lately, I really gotta find and follow more artists

>>9687686
AFAIK Tumblr made an incredibly smart decision recently to switch from timeline/chronological order of reblogs to "Best stuff first". Meaning only the most popular stuff is already circulating. You have to turn it off in settings.

>>9687706
>switch from timeline/chronological order of reblogs to "Best stuff first". Meaning only the most popular stuff is already circulating.

I had no idea, what the fuck why would they do this
Thanks for the heads up!

>>9687706
Why does tumblr try so hard to kill itself? Sooner or later it'll get its wish

>>9687749
S...should I move to insta? I don't feel like my fanshit art should be on insta.

>>9687762
most artists are active on twitter/ig nowadays or post stuff to their patreons

Hi there, is it possible for anywhere in the uk to get singular buttons printed easily? I've found a few on Ebay but I'm wary of the quality. I had a scan through the merch making list and couldn't come up with much(although I remember a rumour of sparkle/heart badges being made in the uk a while ago on here. Is that true?)

>>9687762
Do it anon, in my experience some of the shitest artists can get popular if they produce good enough aesthetic photos, update regularly and tag it with everything under the sun.

>>9687766
>>9687769
NAYRT but doesn't IG's algorithm suck monkey ass, especially if you are just starting at this point?

>>9687809
Its not their algorithm that is bad, its their lack of search and filter abilities. You can't search for anything without having to filter through a bunch of junk.

>>9687676
Most people wont hear back until tuesday according to facebook. Fanexpo Vancouver is this weekend, so I'm not surprised theyre putting off answering emails right now.
Email is throwingathrowaway@gmail dot com

Katsu replies when

>>9687706
Why do these social media sites insist on doing shit like this? It can really screw people trying to garner a following, but I guess they don't care

>>9688540
I know, been waiting forever and it’s 2 months until the con -_-

>>9688754
Have they even commented on it at all?

>>9688754
>>9688833
Acceptances are going out late this week/early next week. They confirmed to someone on AANI.

javascript:quote('9689033');

Isn't that like the third time they said they will be going out in a 'week'? I feel like they keep pushing the date back.

>>9689062
No, they said end of October/early November before. (Something along the lines of "we are hoping to get them out by late October.)This is the first time they've specified "within a week".

> first time selling a canvass at a con
> need advise of what to package it on
> ad where to get affordable stands for those canvasses
> canvasses are literally huge (a2)

>>9687600
very durable, im intentionally very hard on my charms (have them on my keys) and ive never had one snap....

Where are people having these clear pouches made? I see more and more artists coming up with these lately, but I have yet to find any suppliers for these.

>>9689362
I know that getmeds/medmerch in the OP resource link does them in group orders. I believe they're opening for another in late December so you might look out for it.

>>9687723

I don't see where to turn it off? So I guess I don't have it on?

>>9689398
Just checked them out and you're absolutely right, thanks!

How does anyone ship internationally from the US without charging the customer a bajillion extra dollars?

>>9690314
You charge the customer a bajillion extra dollars, to be honest. Most foreign customers are aware that their shipping fees are going to be redic and expect it.

>>9690322
How about shipping within the US too? Does everyone just use a flat rate priority mail if it fits?

That's still $6.65. Seems too much. I guess I was under the impression that it was lower.

>>9690327
What are you trying to mail? Almost everything under like two pounds or whatever the weight restriction is ships for under $3 domestically.

You can find shipping supplies for very cheap in bulk online too to save money. I got 100 4x6" bubble mailers for like $10 off of eBay for example.

>>9690368
They're like 9x7 bubble mailers and under 2 pounds. I guess I just got super confused with how the USPS website is.

>>9690322
The secret is to factor some into the item price

>>9690370
Yea, the website was really confusing for me too. I was surprised with how much I could ship while still keeping it at that price point! I know you can still find the 9x7" bubble mailers on eBay for cheap as hell in bulk, good luck!

Has anyone heard what's up with Acornpress? I was hoping to get some charms made from them since most other companies charge more than I'd like. Also, anyone that has ordered from Vograce before, I know it's going to vary from person to person, but anyone got a ball park figure on shipping from China to continental USA?

>>9690370
it costs like ~$2.71 to ship something with first class shipping for under 8 ounces in the US.

>>9690534
Vograce won't bite if you ask them yourself. I was quoted about 35 bucks for the cheapest method of shipping. And I don't see Acorn Press coming back anytime soon, as much as I want them to.

>>9690926
>>9690534
Is there a post with what went down with acorn? I thought they just got really swamped with orders, had some issues, and needed time.

>>9690927
Their machine broke from what I recall.

>>9690927
>>9690534

IIRC, they stopped productions altogether. They couldn't keep up with the orders, messed up a lot, and had to give back a ton of refunds.

How do you guys keep your posts from getting lost during AANI SPS? I know the group's a mess, but still seems like some people are getting great traffic on their commission and store promos.

>>9690946
That really sucks. They seemed pretty cool. I still have my burger spider charm from an old one of these threads; it gets so many compliments it's unreal.

>>9691393
Comment pods. Get your friends to comment on your SPS post in intervals. It’ll bump your thread up to the top and have more chances to engage people who haven’t seen it. Respond to the comments you get because your comments also bump your post (but space them out so you don’t waste bumping opportunities.)

>>9690946
would sure be nice if we could get a "closed forever, bye" notice on their site but ig typing 3 words to let us all move on with our lives is too much to ask

>>9691395
i'm the artist who drew the original spiderburg; this gives me warm fuzzies

>>9691441
Agreed!

>>9691503

It'd be funnier if the skull one said "Smiling on the inside" because like skeletons look like they're smiling lol.

>>9691503
i don't hate the 'feeling hollow' one or the 'falling apart' but the right one on the top is sooo bad

So my new favorite thing right now is Juuni Taisen and for someone who's never made charms before, I felt super inspired! It's a very dark and viloent anime that's short and it's fun cause the episodes are still new and my friends and I make bets whos going to die each time. Spoilers, the whole point of the show is that there's only one Zodiac Warrior left. Thought it would be cool to have the characters alive on one side and then dead (in the manner they died) on the other. You get both cute (all the people have uniforms that have traits of their animal) and then the gore. Spoilers I guess for this characters, but she dies in like the first two seconds, so it's not bad. She's the first one to die too. Thoughts? Crit? Thanks.

>>9691759
holy shit, my friends and i have been waiting for more fanart/merch to surface for this series and this makes me really excited!
Would totally collect these <3

>>9691759
I'm really happy to see Juuni Taisen fanart! Thank you anon! I'm liking your concept of the charms but I would like to suggest a few things.

Have you thought of putting her guns into the image? I feel that showing her special ability/weapon is important to her character. Have you also thought about having a Dagger(?)/Shortsword stabbing through her chest? I know its a bit gory but it would make a more interesting piece!

>>9691759

OH SNAP. I didn't see your title, so I just clicked the thumbnail and I was like no fucking way, is that Boar from JT?! YEAH! You have no idea how excited I am to see a non-FOTM piece of merch. I'm also a fan of the idea of the cute/gore. I'm getting bored of seeing the cute chibis charms of characters sitting in desserts or PJ onesies. I'm all for the touch of gore without it being too explicit too.

My piece of advice would to make all her hair fit into the circle of the charm. Yes her hair goes down to the floor, but having it go off screen looks a little off. But since your doing a chibi body, I think it's allowed to have the hair be the same length as her height.

>>9691795

Doh! Dropped my pic for ref.

>>9691759
>(in the manner they died)

Oof, Rooster...

>>9691780
>>9691786
>>9691795
>>9691811

Oh nice, fellow Juuni Taisen fans. Thanks for the suggestions and motivational boost to make merch for a little known fandom that I enjoy a lot. I won't treat this as a blog with post updates, but I guess this will be the direction I take it this and once I finish coloring it, I might post again. Would be cool to make all 12 of them, but lord help me and my laziness. Wish me luck and clap your hands everybody.

>>9691503

>Making the best out of a bad situation
>Give me your money you fucking sad weebs
>Enamel pins make everything better

>>9691846
do you have a twitter/social media I could follow you on?
Or are you on the AA discord?

>>9692165

You flatter me by even asking. But I don't! I'm not a "real" artist, but if I get enough of these pins done, I could start up a twitter (since Tumblr is losing it's mind currently and dying steadily) just for my art/doddles/merch. I'm just so utterly embarrassed by my lack of talent that I'm too critical and too self judgmental to post my stuff with a non-anon name behind it. I'm long out of my teens and I still have that stupid voice in the bag of my head that says everyone hates you, don't bother them. I know, cringy. I disgust myself.

>>9692299

Ah, yes. The age old fear of posting something for sale and nobody buying it. Or posting to Instagram and only getting 6 likes. It takes some time to get over, but if you make good stuff. I think your rough ass sketch is already pretty good. You'll get a steady following. There's a billion people doing this, but you'll find yourself a nitch. I've never seen Juuni Taisen, but I might now, since people seem to like it just from their comments. See? The system is slow as fuck and crawls at a snail's pace, BUT it sometimes works. Just have faith. Oh, and get over yourself. I say that with love, promise.

How many charms of each style do you order before a con? I've been thinking about 10 for popular characters and 5 for less popular characters but the grand total are like 300 charms and I don't know if it's too much.

>>9686066
Looking for advice:
>parents own a high-end print shop. They do banners/vehicle wraps and promotional merch for large companies.
>buisness has been slowly declining since recession (large companies print in-house now)

I am trying to convince them to open services to small artists that make charms or other small items that need to be produced by another company.

What do artists look for when choosing a printing shop? Is marketing print / laser cutter services on instagram a bad idea?

Thanks !

>>9692495
Do your parents know about weebs and itashas?

>>9691759
>>9691846
I love JT! I'm waiting for it to end before I make anything, but I'd definitely snatch these up in a heartbeat if I saw them. If you have the time, definitely try for all 12!

>>9692495
The first thing I always look for is a low MOQ/reasonable prices at lower quantities. (Most) AA'ers operate on a much smaller scale than the large companies that manufacturers often seem to be targeting, so not being severely punished for buying small qualities is always a huge plus.

>>9692533
I just called my mom and explained what it was to her. She asked me what cute girl I wanted on my car.

>>9692647
thanks! yeah I talked about that. Is minimum orders of 50 to USA and 100 to external countries fair? I think anything less than 50 might be a loss for them.

>>9692662
I think 50 would be good as long as you can combine several designs to make your order reach that MOQ. So printing 10 copies of 5 different pieces, for example.

>>9692495
I'd highly recommend advertising on Twitter as well. A lot of convention artists are on Twitter as their main or only form of social media. If you want to link your IG or Twitter posts on here or in the /cgl/ discord, I'm sure a lot of gulls would be happy to signal boost to help your parents. One of my friends' parents also runs a print shop that's fallen on harder times so I feel you, anon!

>>9692662
I think it really depends on the item for the MOQ?

Sorry if this question doesn't make sense, but I'm getting my first clear acrylic charms made and I put a colored border around the design (like the teal in the picture) because I thought it would make the design pop a bit more. But I just looked at all the acrylic charms I own and none have any sort of border like that. Is that because it's a bad idea? Should I not do it? (The outline in the example is probably a little thicker than mine actually would be.)

>>9692785
I think it all comes down to the "Does this look cool?" rule of art. Just do up the art then ask a buncha peeps showing with/without the outline which one looks cooler.

>>9692495
>Laser cutting services

Hello yes sign me up

>>9692785
Seconding >>9692862. Personally, I add an outline like that to some of my clear charms and they turn out looking pretty nice. They certainly stand out against the other charms I have.

Anyone else both love and hate this time of year?

I have breathing room to build up new merch for next year but hate all the stressful con signups to deal with.

>>9692890
I still have 2 more cons to go this year and I'm just crying tears thinking about the online sales rush coming up for the holiday season. I love that I'm probably gonna make a ton of money but I'm not looking forward to the 1231830123 messages from people who decided to order too close to Christmas getting mad at me for how slow the postal service is.

>>9692448
This is exactly how I order charms. This is a normal amount for me!

As an new business with almost no following online, I've been mass following accounts with the same fandom as my merch to gather attention to my shop and promotional giveaway.

Truthfully, I do some FOTM merch that I am not that interested in. I found out someone has been judging me from my actions, knowing that I not that interested in the FOTM fandom.

Is what I'm doing sketchy or are they just being salty? Isn't this how business works..?

>>9692924
It's not sketchy, and you have your right to make whatever merch you want. BUT keep in mind that if you do cons in person and someone tries to talk to you about said FOTM series, and you can't keep up with their convo/can barely understand what they are saying, they can definitely tell and will not have a good impression of you. I personally am put off by it as well (imagine a salesperson who isn't really into what they're selling. Not the best analogy, I know, but its similar...)

I guess people don't really like it because it looks like you're clearly just out there to leech money from people/selling yourself out rather than drawing out of love. Honestly though, it doesn't really matter because what you do is your business; money is money, especially on the internet. Also, people will always judge you no matter what you do.

>>9692944
I feel like I sounded little passive aggressive but I wasn't trying to, oops. Basically, people tend to get that "sell-out" image from you whether or not it it's true, but you do you.

>>9692448
I did the same this summer (I did 375 charms total) and it's a safe bet.

>>9692890
my con season is the opposite of everyone else's I guess. My con season is September through March.
Also yes, I hate how drastically different each con sign up is. I wish they would all email you when sign ups start so you don't have to view the page every day and hate how they say acceptance letters will go out on a certain day, but its always much later.

Hey, sorry for the question but does anyone remember a twitter that used to RT fanzines asking for submissions?? I searched and googled but could only find an old tumblr with deadlines already past.

Do any artists you know of take charm commissions? I know it would be hella expensive due to all the steps involved, but does anyone do them?

>>9693238
Let me clarify this actually
I'd be totally fine being the one to run it through vograce and all, but I'm not sure how artists would feel about me selling the extras even if it wasn't for profit and I credited them.
Would an artist want me to pay extra upfront for the rights to the art commission, would they want a percentage of each sale or both?

>>9693238
You could try your luck with anyone that orders from vograce, since they don't charge you for additional designs and they could slip it with their current order. However yeah, it's not gonna come cheap. Maybe in an extreme case that no one is willing, if you're willing to spend money you could commission the drawing and ask the artist for permission to order it yourself, as long as it's only for your use you might find someone who agrees. Dunno how much it could cost to ship a single one but yeah, just an idea.

>>9693262
Ah, okay, got it. Thanks, I'll try that!

>>9693238
I know hawberries does them once in a blue moon. It'll probably be easier to get the art commissioned separately and join someone else's vograce order like >>9693262 suggested. You could just order one or two for yourself, so you don't have to sell off any spares. If you ask the artist I'm sure most of them would be fine with that.

>>9693238
Someone on MyFigureCollection is doing a vograce group order and is offering charm commissions that they will include in the group order.

>>9693308
Do you know the username/group?

>>9693353
It's in the group order/box split group, if you search "custom acrylic charm" you can probably find it.

I'm sorry if it's not the right place, but I thought you gals would know:

I've been making small crafts and some clothing items to sell, but none of them are targeted at the regular anime con public. I want to start selling in local fairs, but I'd also like to sell online. Can you point me to some resources to sell my stuff online? I made an etsy account, but I did not really like it.

Thanks!

>>9693424
Please delete your image, this is a blue board which means it needs to be SFW and your image is certainly NSFW.

>>9693477
Oh please, it came from a draw thread just a couple of months ago

>>9693477
I'm sorry, it's too late now

Here's a cute one for compensation.

I have a friend who is making Juuni Taisen merch right now. I would tell her to post here when she’s done but are people allowed to self-promo here?

>>9693105
>>9692916
Thank the two of you!!
May I ask which franchises you make the most charms of? I've already done for my two less-popular-nowadays series since people requested it, but I have no idea which characters sell more from other franchises.

>>9693224
There's one called zine_rt that's still pretty small, it retweets mostly book sales and less artist apps but there are a few in there.

>>9692924

I have a personal rule that I don't do merch for anything I don't enjoy at least a little bit for these exact reasons. Consider at least playing or watching the thing you're drawing from so you understand it a bit better when you make the art, and can hold a conversation. You're trying to sell those products to people who love the thing, of course they're going to be salty when they realize you don't give a shit about it and just want their money.

>>9692448
I order 50-100 of each design and it lasts me about 3 cons with online sales in between. Your amount is good, if it's just for one con.

>>9693499
I think it’s frowned down upon. We’re not AA and we’re not a market board. No promises we won’t say her art is awful and we hate her just cause a friend posted her stuff on a 4chan board...

>>9693499
This isn't really the place to promo. If she joins the discord there's a place to post finished merch there, though

>>9693499
please dont
If i heard my friend posted me on 4chan I'd put my boot up their ass

>>9693840
>what is reading comprehension

>>9692924
I think it's fine to do that, who really cares. Do whatever you have to if it's not hurting anybody.

What I usually do is contact accounts that repost lots of stuff that targets the same demographic as me and ask them to repost my work or helo get the word out about my giveaway or sale or new product. I usually send them something as a thank you, but many seem to happy to do it regardless.

Soooo what is etsy gift message? Somebody placed an order with himself as the receiver (i know this because his id is his real name) and included a gift message. Do i pass it on to the receiver along with the order?

Do you guys have any artists that you really admire but their online personality bugs you (a little, or a lot)?

I follow this one artist who is the same age as me, has super nice art, and actually seems like a really sweet person, but they type like a pre-teen (e.g. screams everywhere with caps, tumblr-style) and I'm just like augh why. I can't tell if this is just my inner jealousy subconsciously releasing itself, though. It probably is.

>>9694030
>mfw I type like that on twitter
There are artists that have online personalities that I sorta side-eye, but at the end of the day, I can acknowledge that their online persona are distinct from their self. How you act on social media helps establish your 'brand', after all, so the person might just be trying to make themselves more accessible to a younger demographic?

Plus I think that what they do holds more importance than how they do it. If their only dubious trait is typing like a pre-teen, then I can easily turn a blind eye to it.

>>9694030
Opposite actually. Pretty solid artist with some good products, but they're really awkward and kind of callous in Artist Alley. I understand her booth is busy and I don't expect AA people to have forced smile customer service but she doesn't even seem like she likes doing what she does?

>>9694042
maybe they are just having a bad day?

So I need some display tips guys! I'm kinda new to AA's and so have been doing half tables (next con is a half table). BUT I just realized that my charm stock has exceeded 60 designs, and that's gonna be a problem when I only have 3 ft of table space. I'm currently using boards on top of my grids to display them, but I barely got them all to fit on the 2 lowest grids panels during my last AA. I'm thinking of moving them up higher, but would that be hard to see? I'm wary of doing this because I feel like having them eye level and lower instead would be easier for people to inspect. On the table is also a no go since I also have a handful of stickers, pins, and a pillow.

What arrangements have worked for you guys? Would you recommend putting stickers, small items etc on the panels above the "artist hole" (of a standard grid display), or hanging things from them? I've put some sticker sheets there before but people have tended to miss them lol, so just wondering if that's just me.
(and yeah, I'll probably have to graduate to solo soon...)

>>9694030
Glitchedpuppet.

>>9694042
i worry i come off like this sometimes. i'm just awkward and bad at thinking at things to say on the fly.

>>9694042
My tablemate is super awkward and seems like she's rushing through transactions a lot, so it comes off as rude but I think she might just generally struggles with casual retail-esque conversation. ): sometimes people just aren't very good with face-to-face talking, but can manage to get by enough to sell.
I try and pick up her slack for her, since she helps me out in other ways (like last minute printing and bringing lunch!)

pic related, lol wtf is this shit and why are so many people praising her for cheating at art school

>>9693522
My last con was in July so I'm unsure if I'll be of any help in trends. I drew all the paladins and Allura from Voltron, those did well, as well as my Breath of the Wild charms.

>>9694173
This bothers me. Why would she brag/talk about this?
I'm pretty sure I'very bought a sweater from this person before, won't be doing so again I guess

>>9694030
I can usually ignore childish behavior because they're just having fun and its none of my business.
More often though I find myself blocking/muting artists who consistently portray themselves on social media as abrasive and sardonic. You know the types; The ones with great fucking art but they cant go a single day without posting some hair-splitting opinion on your feed that just has a lot of nasty energy behind it.
That, and artists who are really quick to lash out at fans over the smallest misunderstandings.
I understand that a lot of freelancers on social media are barely in their 20s these days but the lack of tact or professionalism in some of them is so ugly, I can't follow their art anymore because of the nasty energy they put behind their name.

>>9694017
Generally you write up a little card to include or put the message on the invoice, if you include one.

>>9694173
>90% of the other art school tweets are about people sacrificing their physical and mental health for art school
>lmao isn't it cute I lied my way through admissions and further assignments and cooked during class

>>9694196
Is the rise of more and more acidic artist brands a response to those "uwu I believe in you no matter what" personalities? As cloying as those people are, at least they're not tearing into people, especially when they have really young fans (which I think a lot of fandom artists tend to have).

>>9694207
Young fans honestly dont matter to me because they’re the ones who steal and repost art without attribution and never have money to purchase from me anyway

>>9694207
the "uwu drink water today my lovelies" are just as repulsive imo
I much more enjoy following artists who squeal and emote about shit they like instead of fake tumblr!personalities and edgelords

>>9694030
There are so many online artists who seem like otherwise nice people, but then they fill their twitter with obnoxious, often fear-mongering and often just plain stupid political tweets, either from themselves or other people.

I hate to use the term because it's become widely used by annoying people now, but virtue signalling on social media being an action that is now expected of you was a fucking mistake.

Like hell, I understand being a concerned citizen, but the amount of political trash that's heaped on twitter and thrown around is just ridiculous and unprofessional. Don't participate in that bullshit if you want me to keep following you.

>>9694157
I guess it's that sort of reason I'm glad I worked retail when I was younger. Forced me to talk to people even when I was shy. Learned a lot about how to deal with angry customers back then, too. Good basic skills when you move onto a more sales-oriented job like AA/selling online.

>>9694207
>As cloying as those people are, at least they're not tearing into people
I agree with >>9694218
Some of the nastiest artists I know front with the whole uwu shtick. Especially those 'fandom mom' kinds.

>>9694231
If it's not too much trouble to ask, do you have any tips to look approachable? Or stuff you shouldn't do in general (for dealing with customers in AA)? I'm tabling for the first time soon and don't want to unintentionally come off as rude or stand-offish because of my crappy social skills (also sorry my english isn't great, I hope this makes sense).

>>9694030
I really hate it when I want to watch an artists' stream but they play music and hum or sing along. It never sounds good and it drives me up the wall.

>>9694030
on their art accounts or personal? I know i've personally had several friends see my personal accounts and were extremely surprised at the type of messages I type compared to how nice and quiet I am irl.
Some people just have a different personal irl and online.
>>9694042
ergh, I've talked to artists like this before. I wanted to make some artist friends but they will act like they don't even understand english.

>>9694243
If you want to look approachable at an AA table, first off, don't just be staring at your phone 100% of the time, especially if it's busy around your area/table. Checking and browsing your phone in the off time is totally fine, but when things are busy you wanna greet people right?

Also, try to look your best! I'm not saying wear wear business casual, it's a con. I'm just saying be well-groomed and clean, no wrinkled shirt, and so on. The basics.

When greeting people who are sticking by your table to look at your art stuff it's nice to strike up a simple "how's the weather" type conversation. Easiest way for this is 1. asking if they're enjoying the con or 2. complementing them on their cosplay, something they're wearing (pins, bag, etc).

Now cons are often filled with a lot of socially awkward people, right? So if someone doesn't respond very well, don't panic. Just back off a bit and let them browse. Some people might overtalk to you which might be an issue if they're taking time at your table. In that case just try to politely steer the conversation towards an end, or ask them to hold on while you take care of other customers.

But if someone does try to talk a bit about some series you have a print of or something, don't be afraid to geek out with them. Also, if they say something you completely disagree with ("this character is my favorite!" when you think that character is the worst part of the series), just reply with something you enjoy about the series. Always try to steer conversation in a positive direction if you can.

Other things are always make sure to say thank you to a customer once they buy something, or if someone says they're coming back say something like "thanks for stopping by".

Lastly, don't let customers bully you. You have to be fair but firm. If someone wants something you can't offer, the best thing to do is say something like "I can't offer that because X reason, but I have this other good deal here". Offer alternatives!

>>9694228
Consider that what you consider political virtue signalig might be somethig very personal to them. You don’t know the details of an artist’s life and you’re not entitled to them. If you don’t want to see political stuff just unfollow or mute them? It’s kind of stupid to expect artists to be apolitical drawing machines. No one will care that they lost you as a follower honestly.

It’d be another thing if all they did was RT political tweets all the time instead of posting art but even then it’s an issue of them RTing content instead of creating their own - not just because they’re political in nature.

>>9694270
Do you follow western artists on twitter? A good chunk of them constantly, and I mean constantly, RT stupid ass political tweets on a wide range of subjects.

Back in the day, you didn't talk about politics at work because it was unprofessional. That still stands honestly.

I'm not saying they have to be an unthinking unfeeling drawing machine, but it's so fucking obvious when someone virtue signals. It's become rampant.

>>9694030
Oh yes. There’s this popular person who acts all sweet but is actually pretty nasty and rude. I’ve overheard her judging and talking behind her customers and being rude to her table partner a few times.

>>9694273
Not the anon you quoted, but I feel like twitter is a much more personal social media site, so I can see why artists would be more political. It's always been very opinion-oriented. The smart thing for these artists to do is make a private rant twitter.

I was pretty surprised at how many artists made it their most used site after everyone started leaving tumblr. I feel like it's pretty garbage for posting finished art and having a clean gallery of work.

>>9694273
I do. And it’s unrealistic to expect people not to talk about this shit with the current U.S. political climate. Also, you could argue that art had always been political but I guess it’s a stretch to use that for people who do fanart.

Again, if you want to take it as virtue signalling you can go ahead and just mute them instead of complaining on an anonymous board. Most of the people I see are tweeting about thingd that actually affect them personally.

>>9694173
Wtf....I knew someone who did something similar during college apps and everyone shittalked her for years (they still do). NOT something to praise or be proud about.

>>9694243
>Some of the nastiest artists I know front with the whole uwu shtick.
Literally this. It's pretty fucking miserable when almost your entire community straight up idolizes someone for their positive and supporting attitude while that person's talking shit about you behind your back.

>>9694270
NAYRT but there's a difference between two types of people, at least to me. There are people who share political opinions because they genuinely care or are directly impacted by them, and then there are people who just jump wildly from one fearmongering campaign to the next because everyone else is. In my experience the former do so much more sparingly and tend to keep up a professional or at least personable appearance otherwise, while the latter just flood my timeline with retweets of news articles and petitions and 10-part tweet rants that say nothing and it's just fucking obnoxious.

It's good to remember that artists are real people with opinions and emotions, sure, but I also don't think it's unreasonable to get annoyed with people who can't ever turn off the politics (or discourse, for that matter). Let's be real, the online art world is very small and very heavily left-leaning. There's not much variety to the hot takes everyone has, and they're all sharing the same articles, and it DOES feel like there's a pressure to sometimes because when everyone else is squawking you stand out for not. End of the world? No, but it's definitely annoying.

>>9694273
i have a private twatter where i vent really dumb shit, but i have been known to make (rational and thought-out) political posts, and i feel like that's the best way for an artist to go about it.

you get the more personal feeling of knowing the opinions of someone behind the scenes, but also the person isnt posting constant knee-jerk reactions.

>>9694361
>it DOES feel like there's a pressure to sometimes because when everyone else is squawking you stand out for not
That sounds like a personal problem? You’re a grown up - just stick to your guns. If people are following you for art they won’t care that you didn’t speak about xyz issue.

>>9694415
I've been harassed before for not speaking out on some political issue of the week. I just ignored them of course, but it was pretty dumb.

>>9694393
I don't think an artist has to be totally apolitical. Once in a while comments are fine. The complaint is that so many take it to an extreme, just like pretty much everything else nowadays, too.

But personally, I don't ever want to know an artist's political stances because I come to an artist for art, not political opinions. Artists who keep it personable without going into that are my favorite. That's just my personal preference though, not saying it's the total ideal for everyone.

>>9694173
isn't this the girl who runs the fangrrlz brand?
geez, never suspected she would pull that kind of shit
this isn't something to be proud of

>>9694173
The part that gets me about this is... you PAID for art school? Why on earth would you make such a hefty investment and not get every penny's worth of your education? You get out of college what you put into it.

And then I reread it and realized not everyone paid for their own schooling, her parents probably footed the bill. Uhg. What a waste of her time, even if it wasn't a waste of her money.

>>9694270
>No one will care that they lost you as a follower honestly.


This so much. No one is interested in keeping you as a follower, no one is going to change how they tweet for you because no one cares about you. The way you talk and the way you say " if you want me to keep following you." shows you are a nobody.

>>9694323
I agree, I always thought of twitter as a place to shoot the shit with other people in my industry and interests, so I've never actually treated my account as a place for my art. Just started a brand new IG and separate twitter account for that without connecting it to my main account. Would rather have people who actually like my art instead of friendship obligation so if it's a slow growth process through connecting with other people at AAs and cons/random discovery, that's fine.

>>9694243
If you've ever worked a shitty food service or retail job, that fake customer service attitude works very well in my experience haha. When people walk by I smile at them, or if someone is checking out my table I ask them how they're doing and try to strike up conversation about fandoms. Even if my real personality isn't actually that nice and bubbly, I think making a good first impression is important, and will make people want to come back.

>>9694030
I had this happen. There was this really nice girl I know and we got along well, so we added each other on a couple of social media, but to my surprise, she was a legit sjw. All of a sudden, my feeds were filled with stuff from everydayfeminism and jezebell with the most extreme sjw stuff as well as her being angry and judgy about everything. I had to unfollow because it was too much. Yet, when I talk to her irl, it's fine.

>>9694196
Remember the days when all the most bitchy popular artists did was be catty about shipping wars? I miss those days. Now everyone trying to make everything political and it's a little much. I know knowing about these issues is important and a lot of people made the internet include almost every part of their life, but damn. People are having the simple thing of liking a character as "problematic" for xyz-tumblr reason or shoehorning Trump or gender or something in every conversation or topic.

Honestly, this would be remedied if you had an even semi art site as top dog again (ex: DA), and not a site where everyone shoehorns absolutely everything on one site. The site is theoretically for art, not your life. Plus, people had to go through the effort of typing it out back then instead of clicking the share/retweet/repost button.

>>9694273
Twitters are very personal so if you don't want to hear someone's opinions or thoughts, just unfollow them. Follow their art blog or something instead, nothing about Twitter is professional and I don't know why you would hold artists to some random expectation on that platform.

I sit here waiting for the rise of a new art site everyone will migrate to, but it feels like I've been waiting for years.

>>9694504
same. my eyes are so tired of the typical cal-artsy tumblr style.

>>9694504
Same man
we're truly in a weird spot where tumblr is kind of dying but twitter isn't that great of a place to post art to or get exposure without having to suck up to people

>>9694514
>>9694514
i cant do a read so goodly

but yeah, theres kind of a void at the moment.

>>9694504
>>9694514
i cant do a read so goodly

but yeah, theres kind of a void at the moment.

>>9694504
I've heard from a couple of people that Deviantart has had a little bit of a comeback, but I don't know, I don't really see it, and they have made some pretty stupid decisions in the last few years, a trend with websites seemingly.

What's the worst thing that ever happened to you at an AA?

>Webcomic I follow gets pretty big right before my first con
>Artist requests that no fan art is sold of it
>I made prints and charms anyway
>Artist is on the opposite side of the country as me
>Figure I can get away with selling merch during the con
>Some girl comes up to me Friday afternoon, makes small talk, and politely tells me that I'm not supposed to be selling merch of that series
>Act like I didn't know, she's really understanding about it and even helps me watch my table while I remove the merch
>Take it all down but put it back up Saturday morning
>Same girl comes around again
>She doesn't say anything, just stares
>Comes back with con staff
>Turns out she's the fucking artist and is doing AA here too
>Wanted to die

Con staff wanted to remove me from the AA, artist insisted that I stay but just remove the merchandise for real (that's the worst part about all of this- she was so fucking nice). It's been nearly ten years and I still cringe when I think about this story. I was such a shithead when I started doing AAs.

>>9694588
I'm trying to think of a webcomic from a few years back that got big enough to be worth making merchandise for with a female artist who did AA. All I'm coming up with is HINABN but I feel like there has to be a lot more. Maybe it's my strong nostalgia talking.

But god no-fanart-rule evaders like you make me so mad as a staffer. Even as an AA artist myself I don't understand the mindset. The short term profits can't be worth getting a silent permaban from the con forever, which is absolutely what we do to people who put things back up even when the IP holder isn't right there to prove it. We have a strictly internal list of everyone we hate working with, and even before we switched to jury we'd cull them from the FCFS list. I know you said you grew out of it, but it still rustles my jimmies to think about it.

>>9694588
>>9694604

Aye, it rustles my jimmies too. Most of all, I don't get why you would put it back up, even as a shithead person. Even if you thought it was just a random fan, she cared enough to tell you, so chances are she'd see your table again and then just go to staff since there's no plausible denial of you not knowing at that point.

>>9694042

I love doing AA because I love seeing people buy my art in person, but I hate being social with people and am extremely bad at it so I think I always come off as really bitchy and shitty in person. I always need a day or so after a con being completely alone to recharge myself. Not everyone is able to force themselves to be social and friendly as easily as others.

>>9694173

They also mentioned the teacher who took their hotplate was white, as if that matters. Most buildings aren't zoned for fucking cooking, idiot.

>>9694588
>>9694612

I did this with Homestuck. They literally announced the fanmerch ban on the first day of the con I was at, so I already had a couple prints and keychains made. I sold them anyway. Luckily I never had a big confrontation, just a few hardcore fans asking if I'd heard about the ban (I just claimed I hadn't heard, I was traveling so it's reasonable that I wouldn't have). The couple copies I had left after that con went in the bin though. I'd feel guilty if it was some nicer people but it was Homestuck lol.

>>9694657
Eh, Hussie never even cared about fanmerch in the first place, it was all his girlfriend going hard core IP protection

>>9694588
lol. like a week after undertale did that thing saying you could sell at cons (just not online) I had undertale stuff at a convention, some snotty and furious 13 y.o literally got convention SECURITY to come to my table because 'Undertale doesn't allow fanart!'.
I just showed them the post on my phone and they left, she was so fucking mad and kept glaring daggers at me all weekend. No idea what got her so steamed, maybe she was another artist who was pissed about not getting a piece of that particularly profit pie

>>9694681

Yeah haha that's the impression I got. It got real creepy around the time I split that fandom, she was showing up in 4chan threads for MSPA with a tripcode and expecting people to treat her like a celeb, it was such a gross demand for attention over something she didn't even make.

It's a lesson to watch who you start dating after you get internet famous I guess. Some people just completely lose their shit over money.

>>9694809
Wow, I haven't see that but that must have backfired for her spectacularly.

Is selling expensive items in AA a bad idea? I'm a craft artist and my items are in the $20-50 range. Should I be making inexpensive pieces ($8-10) to pad out my selection or should I avoid AA altogether?

>>9694270
I think that if you have a public account and are trying to be a "professional" (as in on contract or w/e, not constant freelance), you need to see all accounts as a networking opportunity. There's nothing wrong with having opinions or political positions-and if your reach on social media platforms you should use them to your advantage. But definitely just being away that your public accounts are your brand and employers will see it, are important.

>>9694478
Honestly I feel like those are the fakest people. I honestly admire sjw folks who actually walk the talk. It's too intense for me, but if you're RTing this shit 24/7 I expect that you're also doing more than thinking hitting RT is activism.

>>9694872
I sell $10 to $40 items regularly and have sold a few $60+ items before.

Do you like it when charms have the back of a character as the reverse side? I think it's cute but I could also see why someone would dislike it. Picture's not my work.

>>9694932
I prefer seeing the back of the character to nothing at all or just a mirror of the character

>>9694812
Sure did. As far as I know they split and she's got nothing now. The statement on fanart has not been updated in 5+ years when it included "we'll come back to this later" or some shit- and he sold out to welovefine (don't blame him, makes it easier on him with merch, though quality is crap and they've got a whole lot of fine print for their artists that is utter bullshit. Like for 'contests', even if you do get selected, you make minimal profit and aren't allowed to sell it elsewhere unless you purchase it from them at almost a full rate, and min 100 items. Oh, and they're horrible at actually paying their winners. you have to have sold a certain amount of shirts before they pay you. Now, this may have changed since my roommate won, but honestly wouldn't be surprised if it's the same still).
Safest way to get around it is 'free homestuck item with other purchase', because there are still die-hard fans out there looking for stuff they can't get officially due to welovefine having minimal variety or any idea what the fandom actually wants.
I've had multiple people just buy low cost items to get access to the mini prints, then drop a 10 or even 20 in my tip jar. Though it might just be the people in my area? They're really thirsty still.

>>9694872
Totally depends on quality and what type of craft. My table partner sells cat toys and keychains at 7$ because tiny easy plush, but her more detailed plushies go at 30-70 depending on size and how much work went into them. Most commonly she sells 30$ items, so she always stocks herself with lots of those, and only a few big dollar items.

>>9694932
I actually really like when they have the back of the character! Unfortunately, though, my charm backs are always patterns because I always run out of time aah ): I always hear the disappointment in people's voices when they find out it's just a pattern.

Has anyone ordered anything from Alibaba recently and got their package stuck at fucking SF International (after ship)? My package arrived in the US on the 10th and has just been sitting at this damn location. Not my first time ordering from Alibaba, but it's a first for this situation.

Curious if anyone has experienced this and how long did it take for your package to get to you.

When sending the payment to vograce are you supposed to use friends/family or goods/services?

>>9694964
Never mind, I thought there was a transaction fee for goods/services.

>>9694944
I'd rather have a mirror of the art than a pattern, to be honest, even if the character has side specific details. Although I mind the pattern less if the back also has a quote on it, funny how people get sentimental like that.

>>9694949
I’ve had stuff sit in customs for up to 10 days before ~_~

>>9692687
>>9692699
>>9692882

Thanks for all the feedback.

Would something like a "Con-Pack" be helpful? where there is an extra small MOQ provided that you buy like 15 charms, 15 prints, 15 stickers, 20 postcards

Also would you be interested in packages where you can get a combination of prints, stickers, charms, and or laser cut things?

Thanks again everyone for the help, If I can figure out the logistics of all this I will definitely post back here.

>>9695015
id be down for that, but many major artists usually do larger batches anyway

>>9694588
This is some Watamote level of cringe/amusement. Would make a good short comic.

>>9695015
>Would something like a "Con-Pack" be helpful? where there is an extra small MOQ provided that you buy like 15 charms, 15 prints, 15 stickers, 20 postcards

I feel like this would be really fucking great for beginners. First time AA kids are always up in these threads and the AA groups asking where to get this or that and this would be a rad thing to link them so they can try out a range of product easily. I don't think any other manufacturer really offers that? Hell, I'm pretty experienced but I'd go for it too, it would be useful for trying out new designs/concepts or passion projects from weird small fandoms that might not sell 100s of copies.

Hope you are able to do this, I'd definitely try it out.

>>9695015
That sounds fucking awesome, especially if theyre all reasonably priced when combo'd. I hate having to go check 8 different places just to get a good price on the first run of a few designs that i'm not sure will sell quickly.

I see a lot of artists moving over to mastodon, is it the next big thing and is it worth moving over?

>>9694588
I know this is referring to something that happened a while ago, but I really don't think it's cool to make fan merch of a webcomic no matter how big it is. Merch and book sales could be the author's only income if they are indie, and even taking a couple hundred dollars from them could be the make or break for them making their rent.

>>9694360
So, Ryan at Tasty Peach?

>>9694968
I'm pretty sure there is a transaction fee, but it comes out of what the seller gets instead of showing it to the sender IIRC.

>>9695169
Noone's moving, theres just a handful of big-namers making side accounts there.
I already checked it out and its pretty confusing, not to mention the feed is just an info dump atp in time of artists making new accounts en masse to promote themselves.

>>9695015
As a beginner, I would love this.

>>9695169
It took me not even five minutes to set my account up (hadn't even heard of it until your post), so at least secure your handle in case it does end up being huge. It seems very active right now. There are also a lot of Japanese posts, wasn't expecting that but that's neat. I guess it's already got that global reach to it. I'm liking it so far. It feels like what Twitter should and could have been. Also a big fan of the no advertisements thing, which killed Facebook and Instagram for me. My posts on there wouldn't be seen that way they used to be around ~2012 unless I promoted them, and fuck that noise.

>>9694173
>seeing punimelt praise these actions
Feelsbadman.jpg

This kind of solidifies anyone in that omocat friend group are rotten apples.

I've had an issue lately where people befriend me irl at cons; act like my best friends and suggest we be friends on social media but then they completely ignore me online. I'm not the one starting these conversations or interactions so what the fuck >>9693522

>>9695342
Anon, if you are Lynne Sch., you are batshit crazy and noone wants to be around you.

If not, then ignore this :)

>>9695339
I've personally noticed that if someone (1) associates with omocat PLUS (2) makes clothes too, it's a sign they're most likely a shitty person. It's odd but everyone I've known that's linked to her turn out to be shady af. Not sure what's up with that clique

>>9695339
punimelt's tweet to me came across more like "ah shit this person called out my story specifically and is expecting a reply, I better not burn bridges" because she didn't really condone or condemn them either way. It's still uncomfortable though. I know it's a small world and bad blood lasts a long time but god damn I would have expected someone to call out how shitty this is by now.

>>9695363
Is there some drama with omocat and co, or is it just a pattern of personalities? I don't keep up with omo much besides seeing their designs a lot.

>>9695370
Then why don't you call them out? The truth is, no one is really willing to burn bridges. Anonymous shittalk prevails.

Does anyone have experience with selling in an exhibitor space as an artist? I’m interested in Sacanime in January (attendance is expected to be about 20k for 2018) but they only have exhibitor spaces open. Is it worth the price? Do you get more foot traffic/better sales? Or will I lose buyers from not being in the AA? I just don’t wanna go to the trouble of going out of state if it’s not going to go well for me. I tend to do about $4k weekends for the 10-12k attendance local cons, if that helps in giving some advice.

>>9695339
Not surprising t b h
Look at omocat, that bitch still hasn't released the stupid game. I can't believe people still support her ass

>>9695172

I feel like ten years ago fans in general were still having way more difficulty with the concept that there was a really big difference between a popular webcomic and a popular tv show. Nowadays, after Homestuck and Undertale and other small IPs actually cracked down on it, it's more common sense, but you still get younger fans who can't distinguish between their big favorite things and their small favorite things. I definitely went through that phase, probably many here who have been fans of small IPs have. I'm not sure why it's so common, just maybe we don't tend to think about the creators behind a thing we like as much when we're younger or newish to the fandom.

>>9695442
I for sure understand when its just starting out and gaining traction. But can you really still classify Homestuck as something small now with where it's gone?
Things like Cuphead deserve every dollar they can get, and I'm glad awareness about that is fairly widespread.

>>9695442
I think people confuse e-fame with real fame. Everyone on tumblr knows about small indie game #32. Great! That does not mean it's Pokemon big. That definitely does not mean it's making Pokemon money.

i befriended a person irl at a con in september and suggested an art trade, she agreed and seemed enthusiastic. except i never got round to messaging her, then we both did inktober so i didn't want to put more work on both our plates, now i don't know how to ask. we follow each other on instagram and like each others work so it's not no interaction. how should i open the conversation?

>>9695501
>"Hey, remember when we talked about doing an art trade? Do you have time now/ still want to?"
It's literally that easy

>>9695448
So far my rule for indie projects getting "too big" is if I can start seeing it on store shelves (i.e. Walmart, not like a small comic book store) or marketed globally, then it's fair game. So Homestuck to me is still technically indie, while say, RWBY is not.

If you're just starting out and not quite confident, is it better to start with a very small con (like a college con) or go with something a little bigger?

>>9695520
Get into a convention that will take you and is within your price range. Avoid first-come first-serve because if you're not quite confident, you're going to hem and haw over it and miss the app, duh.
This might be different for you because I live in a state that doesn't really have college cons or an expensive anime convention, but I would suggest a juried con under $140 with a few years under their belt. This might restrict you to a college con where you live, but if you haven't spent too much, you won't feel as bad if you don't make as much as you wished.

>>9695520
Honestly, it's how you take things, which no one can really answer except yourself. "College cons" are cons are ones that no one breaks the bank at, but they are low cost to offset that. If you are not confident, you can take the low sales as "I suck" when it could be just that your odds weren't spectacular in the first place. On the other hand, if it's that your not confident in other things, such as the concept running a booth, or booth set up, they can be handy of "wow this set up is shit, I'm going to fix that." you can fix newbie mistakes before a con that actually matters a large investment. Lord knows I made some pretty stupid set up/booth mistakes when I started out. A smaller con allows you to step in shallow waters if you are the timid type to see whether you even like AA before there are thousands of people to talk to etc.

A mid size cons I guess is the most "balanced" if you are just timid about every aspect. Each size of cons are their plus and negatives, so choose a type that suits your needs, and take the downsizes in stride. I personally don't have juried cons in my area, but I don't think the TYPE of sign up matters. Just buck up, make a decision and go with it when sign up starts. Smaller cons don't typically run out in 0.02 seconds.

>>9695448

See, I could see how it'd be totally reasonable for someone to not know that Cuphead would be off limits, because I see it reviewed alongside regular games, it's backed by Microsoft, etc.

>>9695342
Same dude, feels bad. They might've just gotten caught up in real life stuff though. That happened to me for a few months, and I had no time to devote online at all.

>>9695339
I hope punimelt isn't actually like the rest of that group, I met her years ago and she seemed super sweet. Her art is really cute, ghostspace's stuff just looks really beginner. I wouldn't have guessed she went to art school.

>>9695342
Maybe what you post on your social media makes them want to avoid you. I have no idea who you are so that's my best guess. For example if you made posts like those anons up there about how you hate artists that are political, and i saw that after i looked you up after a con I wouldn't want to speak to you.

>>9695339
It's so fucked up that it's suddenly okay for someone to improperly use someone else's art and cheat when it's her friend.

>>9695342
>>9695602
What level of interaction are you expecting? Nearly everyone I exchange info with I don't keep up with that often, but whenever a con comes around or something we'll suddenly be in contact again. And a lot of the times I'm the one initiating contact too.

The only time I really drop/mute someone is if they get too obnoxious, or their communication sucks shit after I've initiated a number of times. I'll do this with friends too, if their replies to me are constantly one-worded and insubstantial then I'm not gonna waste my time trying to make conversation with people.

>>9695342
I promise I'm not trying to insult you, but maybe you're the type of person who seems normal at first but is actually a freak. It happens a lot with artists, and we ARE on 4Chan, so something to think about.

I keep forgetting anyc is tomorrow

>>9695342
Acting friendly to other artists at conventions and initiating social media exchanges is a totally normal thing.
What are you expecting? To go home and immediately be able to get chummy with everyone you met over the weekend on discord or something?
You sound clingy.

>>9695520
do a one day convention.

Is it possible to do well in an AA selling replicas/masks/etc instead of the usual pins/buttons/stickers? I feel like the higher price of product coupled with cost of production alone would prevent making any money.

>>9695876
>Is it possible to do well in an AA selling replicas/masks/etc
yes. It will also give you a higher chance of getting into the artist alley since most cons don't want 100 artists who all just make steven universe charms.

>>9695772
Same
>tfw got all my stock together in the last 7 days
oops

What are your guys' most popular items/prints at conventions?
I'm going to be getting back into AA in 2018 and a friend of mine who has consistently been tabling for the past year and a half keeps telling me its not worth it because con sales are on the decline and noone buys their prints.
Meanwhile a lot of you on here boast success so I want to know what attributes to that?

>>9695448
>>9695455
>>9695510
If it's in the local mall's hottopic, it's pretty fair game to me. Fuck knows most kids on tumblr don't leave their house enough to know whats actually Real World Big though.

>>9695960
>no one buys their prints
don't make prints

>>9695960
Isn't the general consensus that if you're a print-only artist, your sales are going to dip in comparison to artists who offer a wider variety of merchandise because people are more interested in new trinkets and not just prints because they're running out of room on their walls?

Heyo. Anyone here going to HolMat?
Even though I got "accepted" into the AA the tables went online while I was at work and were promptly snatched up within 20 seconds like every other fucking con that doesn't actually jury and hold spots. Yes I'm bitter AF. Anyway, I've been trying to get into this con for years and always miss it. I try to contact them about a waitlist and never get answers. They just really suck at communicating with me. Do they even have a waitlist? I can never tell if I'm on it or if it even matters. Do they sell open tables at-con if artists are no-shows?

>mfw I keep seeing that Dragonfruit Bat plush Tasty Peach has on Kickstarter in my feeds
>mfw all I can think about is Peach Seas' Drellie and how this looks like a bad copy but they tweaked the animal
>mfw artists just keep copying each other's trends and ideas over and over and I want to scream each time someone does it
>Sea Bunnies, Ham Hams, Cats x Coffee, Foodimals

When will it end.

>>9696041
It's just Chili's vs Applebee's at this point

>>9696060
Shit. This is a perfect way to describe it.

>>9695342
Did you quote me by mistake or did I accidentally piss you off.

>girl I know from college asks the infamous "where do I get enamel pins made" question on AANI
>gets immediately chewed out in the comments
>posted a whiny blog about AANIs rude comments on their page

Should I feel bad for laughing my ass off?

>>9696312
Nah

>>9696041

Are you me? Everytime I see a new enamel pin on AANI of a cat as a new food with a new pun name I die inside, holy shit. How do people who claim to be creative still think it's cool to do this? Most of the artists I know have a desire to always make something new and different and hate it when something they make resembles something that exists, it's just part of their creative drive. People who just copy each other are fake creatives.

>>9696342
I want more dog plushes from that Naomi Romero lady. The rest are all boring af.

>>9695960
I'm not a print artist, but everyone loves pins and tote bags

>>9696037
It was jury with fcfs. The AA head is very picky about who she will respond to. But they also sell tables last minute (literally midnight before the con) to those wanting to get in. You should probably show up the morning of and speak to her about tables. But chances of getting one Friday are slim, they will likely only release them on Saturday, if at all.

And there's always buying a vendor table like we did.

>>9695985
>>9695975
I guess I'm just confused because of psuedo-popular artists continuing to attend conventions with JUST prints.
I assume they continue to do this because theyre doing something right with their art that still makes them sales.

Do postcards sell pretty well compared to prints?

>>9696200
My bad I'm on mobile I misclicked

>>9695621
I don't shit post, talk politics, and I work for a large production company? It just rustles my jimmies I guess that people are super sweet and then ignore you completely online

>>9695823
Uh no I don't interact with people on my own, these people come up to ME and press on "you should follow me on twitter ADD ME ON TWITTER DM ME" and buy me snacks and shit but completely ignore me online

I just find it all weird

>>9696680
I know I'm one of those people pushing to network and exchange info and build my community online, but then after the con I lose like everyone's business cards and never get around to tweeting. Social media is hard and I'm bad at, but see someone in person and I'm happy to be their friend - even if the connection is con-exclusive.

In my instance I'm a spaz but it's not malicious or intentionally rude, I'm just easily distracted and not heavily engaged online.

>>9696041
I like them :/

>>9695386
A lot of cons won't let you sell fanart in exhibitor booths so make sure you check for that.

>>9696041
tasty peach is hardly a pioneer of originality though lmfao, look at their alpacas, their fox vs doki fox, etc.

>>9696647
You and your friend need to not compare yourself to artists who could sell their own feces for loads of cash.

Does anyone know when we're going to hear back from ACEN? Notices were supposed to go out on the 15th.

I was cruising around Taobao and found someone selling my art. I'm at a loss for words and have no idea what to do. Is there even anything I can do if I don't know Chinese?

>>9696787
Yes. I was saying they ripped off another artist (AGAIN) and it kills me inside.

>>9696360
A thousand times this. She has such a cool style. I am so tired of all the generic kawaii plushes with the same little faces.

>>9696437
>It was jury with fcfs
Yes. As opposed to the cons that jury, contact only as many people as they have tables for, and give those people 24-48 hours to respond and purchase their spot before moving down a list. Otherwise the "jury" process feels really pointless even though I know it is necessary to weed out certain sellers.

>The AA head is very picky about who she will respond to
Well that is incredibly shitty. If someone comes to you with a legitimate inquiry about your event and you ignore it just because I don't think that's a good business practice at all.

>And there's always buying a vendor table like we did.
I think I recall trying to do this and they were all gone as well, or out of my budget. I'm not a vendor.

>>9696437
>And there's always buying a vendor table like we did.
Didn't they do a thing this year with the applications where they separated you into artist, crafter, and vendor? If they classified you as one could you still purchase a spot for the other?

>>9696437
>>9697036
Apologies, I forgot to thank you for the advice about speaking to them early about tables. Even though I'm bummed as fuck I appreciate that answer.

>>9696342
AA isnt about being creative, its about turning a profit

>>9695573
>>9695520

I agree. My first AA was at a one day college con and I had low in put and therefore low out put but it was very easy to break even and have a little left over to cover my dinner and a coffee. I learned a lot about my set up, what to change/keep,from other tables there, and even made friends with people who do the bigger in state cons who had a table there for kicks.

Only thing I would remember is go a little on stock as possible. It's better to have your prints or charms or buttons sell out because you only made a handful of each instead of having a ton left over because you realized mistakes and learned more on what sells and what doesn't. I was overzealous on my merchandise and ended up putting them in a bargin bin my next con circuit.

>>9695960
Make flashy shit to get people to see your table, but no one buys prints. I made the most bulk of my sales through charms, pins, washi tapes, and small merch. I rarely see people buy prints outside of tumblr famous tables.

I'm getting ready to do my first con (Lexington Comic Con) and I'm sharing a table with a friend. I've got some ideas for charms and pins I want to do, but I'm worried about copyright stuff. I was mostly going to be making simple pins of character's weapons from games I like (if it matters: Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, etc) 'cause I think weapons are cool and I wanted a few for myself and friends, and I figured I could try to make a couple bucks while I'm at it.

I'm having a hard time finding a real definitive answer on what is and isn't allowed at cons, and it kinda seems like its a crapshoot on whether someone decides they care or not. Can anyone offer any insight on this?

>>9696647
I find that print artists who sell loads of prints usually have 2 of the following:
-a large following on social media
-they draw/color/paint in a style that people generally like (sometimes to a generic quality, like art nouveau or lol splashes/sakimichan or chibi but not always necessarily)
-they do every popular fandom with a wide variety of stuff and keep up to date.

people tend to buy less large prints in comparison to like tangible merch like keychains or stationary nowadays. postcards sell ok but you never get the same profits compared to a large print.

>>9697152
i mean if you're worried, dont do it.

but generally people turn a blind eye to the legality of stuff as long as you dont make like hundreds of dollars or use their logos (logos are trademarks) or the copyright holders say they dont want fan merch made. Like it's a whole thing around here about copyright and bootlegging and etc that comes up every thread, it's a dead horse. But if you havent been to this con beforehand and seen like stuff at the AA then u should do more research cuz it's not like everyone has licenses to do stuff

>>9697152

Basically the unspoken rule over fanart is "do it until you get caught." If a con doesn't have a rule explicitly forbidding it then it's fine; most cons know that people will bring fanart to AA and actually welcome it. As for the companies, the worst you are going to face if they find you is a takedown or C&D (cease and desist) and in those cases all you have to do is stop selling them. It's really unlikely you would be caught selling them at a con unless a representative of the IP holder is there, and even then they might not give a shit (there are lots of stories of IP holders walking AA and buying fanart of their own thing, some of them love it). There are few (if any?) cases of an IP holder actually trying to extract money from a fanartist; it's because they would only be entitled to either the amount you've actually made off their IP, a couple hundred bucks in most cases which wouldn't even cover the cost of the lawyer, or they would have to prove you damaged their IP and lost them a certain amount of sales, which literally no fanartist has ever done (except maybe the MLP porn artists). But if you're just a small time artist they know there's no chance you're ever going to pay them a million dollars in damages so they just ask you to stop and they don't waste the money on lawyers. This is why it's only a concern if you try to go big time on fanart because if they see you making a lot of cash, it becomes lucrative for them to actually spend the money on lawyers to come after you.

So you're probably fine, just be aware that it's a gray area and be flexible. Don't drop thousands of dollars on a single IP that could be taken out by one C&D. If someone asks you to stop selling something, give it away for free with another purchase. You are a tiny little shrimp and they are big big submarines, they can't even see you.

>>9697152
I feel like this is a bit more murkier than usual if you’re straight up only copying existing weapon designs. The companies that choose to give leeway to fanartists do so because fanart tends to be transformative on some level. (AKA existing characters interpreted into a different style than the source material, etc)

If your charms and pins are only going to be “simple weapons” it kind of seems lazy and too close to the original source material for comfort.

Is there any way to tell if a con is worth it by the amount of likes on Facebook for their page? I feel like the amount of people who actually come to the con is - 65% of the amount of likes they have. Is there a certain number of likes that is good to look for?

>>9697615
I just come to this board and ask about the con. Con size isn't always an indicator of how good a con is.

>>9697615
>>9697634
Artist Alley Confidential is also a good resource
> http://www.artistsalleyconfidential.com/

>>9697047
>>9697036
No worries. To add-- unless you are strictly a print & keychain artist, chances are you may be selling things they do not allow in the AA. This is why we were forced to get a dealer's booth.

>>9694943
>Safest way to get around it is 'free homestuck item with other purchase'

I know this post is old but this is actually a really good idea. If you don't mind me asking, do you advertise this deal at the table? Like a section of Homestuck goods with a sign about getting one for free with another purchase?

>>9697177
>>9697492
I sincerely appreciate the feedback.

>>9697504
I hadn't considered the transformative nature of fanart. I'll put a little more time to trying to see if I can't find a way to make them more unique than "drawing of sword" and if I can't I will focus on something different.

You gulls are the best, thank you very much for responding.

>>9691443
Different anon, I still have mine too! Love him.

Katsucon finally released acceptance emails. Who else got in?

So long story short, someone is offering to sell my stuff at Comiket at their circle table. They want to make a decently large order of my products from me. Question is what's the best possible way to ship it? It's gotta get there in time for Winter Comiket, so I guess the only option is to pay more?

Super important too, what's the best way to pack prints in a box with other merchandise? I don't want the prints jostling around. I do have bubble wrap but I'm wondering if that'll cut it.

Basically just looking for large order (one box?) with multiple types of merchandise (prints, buttons) shipping advice.

>>9698011
Yup, pay more. Don't risk a close deadline. Pay more and consider it a convenience fee for not having a mental breakdown over your shipment's arrival date. Been there, done that.

Put your prints in a separate, smaller box that is made for their size. Bubble wrap that box, rubber band the bubble wrap so it's extra secure, and then put it with your other merchandise. They make mailer boxes in many sizes, even 11x17, for this exact thing. Pic related.

>>9697961
I did!
Gulls, come by and get free shit.

>>9697767
I have a Homestuck Binder i let people flip through, but yeah usually we tack up a couple prints with a note on them, and its my main fandom (i draw mostly original art for AA) so I'm usually wearing a homestuck tshirt.

>>9697765
I mostly make plush so my acceptance email had me listed as Crafter. I would loved to have gotten a vendor space if possible but definitely couldn't have been able to afford it (I looked it up recently. Bless. I hope you make mad cash!) so I'll see if I can work something out if they have anyone drop!

>>9697961
I wonder how they'll do the table choices. The way I understood it, first wave basically gets first dibs on 1 table, 2 tables, or premium tables. I wonder if they'll cap the number of requests for 2 tables.

>>9697134
Is this from Mario Odyssey

>>9698253
Can confirm I had the choice of those 3 options. I chose just one table and now I'm worried I'll regret it.

i was thinking about having a series of prints with a quote from other things that would be relevant to the character. like a print version of putting song lyrics on a tumblr text post, pic related. do you think that would work, or could it alienate people who don't get the 'inside joke'?

>>9693224
I follow one that's ZineAppCalls

>>9694588
>sitting at my table of my first con
>girl asks for video game character commission in the snottiest way possible, pays up front
>well_ok_princess.mov
>i draw it to the legitimate best of my ability and leave it on my table
>go to the bathroom, leave table partner to man stall
>it's gone
>i legitimately thought someone had stolen it and freak out a lil
>my table partner and i deduce she must have taken it off the table without saying a word
>we laugh about it the rest of the con

>>9698427
I had a friend man my table at a con once during a bathroom break, and I had a damaged print on the table for $5.
He told me after I came back that someone shuffled up to it, wordlessly threw $5 on the table, and took it away.

What is the weirdest comission somebody asked you in a con?

Mine were two gurls that looked 12 who asked a drawing of their Mary Sue powerpuff girls ocs making out with Eren and Levi from attack on titan.

>>9698448
I got commissioned to draw a platypus with a top hat and a monocle, based on the commissioner's tattoo. He was visiting from the state Democratic convention upstairs.

I haven't heard back yet- should I assume that means I'm out, or should I keep holding out hope?

>>9698573
Second wave comes next week. Pretty sure only half of all the acceptances were sent out since they didn't know whether people would buy 1 or 2 tables so you still have a shot.

>>9698448
my friend was taking $5 sketch commissions and got this request.
She spent like 15 minutes typing it up and then showed us some pictures too. We were like... this is a $5 sketch, that will cost a lot more.

>>9698588
reminds me of this

>>9698599
that response is still funny

>>9698599
Thats my new copypasta

has anyone heard back from AB yet?

>>9699373
Nope. Waiting to hear back both on AB and ACEN.

>>9686066
Anyone have insight on Anime Impulse? I know it got a lot of flack for 2016 and 2017, so I'm wondering if 2018 will be a complete flop too.

Do enamel pins actually sell? Like, really? I've wanted to make some since before they exploded but now I'm afraid they would just get lost in the crowd.

>>9700148
> Do acrylic charms actually sell? Like, really? I've wanted to make some since before they exploded but now I'm afraid they would just get lost in the crowd.

But really, like any merchandise it depends on your art and how you use the medium. Enamel pins are just a heftier investment because of the start up costs and the higher MOQ. I don't personally stock them but a tablemate does, and she has some designs she's had to reorder and some that look like they'll never sell out of the first print.

>>9694932
>I think it's cute but I could also see why someone would dislike it

Really? I don’t. It’s the best and greatest type of reverse image for a charm. The only other option that comes close is an alt outfit.

>>9700148
I just see them as over priced buttons.
Since they normally cost a lot for a small pin, i'd think you'd need very good art to be able to sell them. They are basically a premium button.

>>9700225
Damn! Okay, you got me there. It's probably time to just take the leap.

does anyone have any past experience with anime matsuri vs sakura con? I applied for the sakura con lottery but was just offered a spot at anime matsuri off the waitlist, and they're on the same weekend. The refund policy for AM is only a 50% refund now & no refunds after January, so I'm not sure if I should go to anime matsuri or take a chance and hope i get into the sakuracon instead. I checked twitter to see if anyone had any damning info against either one & seems that sakura con split up the AA while Anime matsuri was just plain old disorganized. Just curious if anyone knows anything more specific.

How was Anime NYC for everyone?

>>9700477
AM is not worth the flight/travel desu. I'm local and I have a table and am hoping to get into either AB or Sakura because AM is always a disappointment. I've done it for 2 years and everytime artists who fly in / travel are disappointed by it and I don't blame them.

>>9694657
Back when Homestuck was popular I was selling horns and had a line of Candy corn, licorice and peppermint horns.

>regret

I was harrassed so badly by Homestuck fans trying to get me kicked out of the artist alley. They weren't even the right colors! But everyone claimed they were going to report me to Andrew himself. One week later I just deleted my listing to be done with it.

>>9700520
Not great, Bob. Not terrible either, as long as you're local. I'm definitely going to apply again, since I think my low sales were partly due to the alley layout and the con head asked for suggestions to improve it next year, but I would hesitate to recommend that anyone spend travel costs on it for now.

>>9700545
In its hayday, there were witch hunts. The girlfriend was crazy over it so people who idolized her were pretty crazy too. I remember someone (maybe it was even the gf?) tried to report a seller for custom coloured zodiac hats. As in, you got to choose your colour. A C&D sure did get sent to a 12 year old kid who made a tutorial (for free, on deviantart) on how to make a scalemate plush. At that point WP/WLF wasnt even selling the scalemate plush.

2011 homestuck fandom was wild. It's thankfully calmed down a bunch, and the older fans who are left are fairly reasonable people.

>>9700520
I know this isn't what you're asking anon, but: great! Local artist, couldn't table last weekend because other commitments but had time to stop by for about an hour on Saturday. My main regret was that (due to my own time restrictions) I wasn't able to get through all of it; tried to hit as many tables as I could, though. Still managed to drop a few hundred during that hour, then went out to dinner with artist friends. A good Saturday.

AA layout was definitely poor though; the way it had that gap in the middle was weird. I understand that partially it was the building itself but despite being able to see the other half of the AA something in my animal brain initially didn't want ot cross that divide.

>>9700148
I personally like enamel pins better than buttons and charms because they’re more durable. But i’ve heard of really good fanart designs being taken down due to copyright issues. Fortunately, i think original art looks good in pin form most of the time compared to other merch.

>>9700520
Not local, so it wasn't worth it for me. My sales were just okay but the Manhattan prices jacked up all my expenses. Has potential though.

Anybody have experience with Cricut machines? Was thinking of using them to make sticker sheets. I heard the learning curve on them is steep but usually worth it if you put the time in(?).

They're having a decent deal on the Explore Air 2 at Michaels right now so I wanted to know if any gulls would recommend it vs. maybe a cheaper option like a Silhouette.

>>9700997
Go with the silhouette

>>9701025
Which model would you recommend?

Anyone else salty about some of the artists who got in katsucon... Or are we waiting until the next wave to bitch about it

>>9701025
NAYT but piggybacking off this, my local library has a silhouette machine. Has anyone here tried using machinery at a library and if so, did it work out?

What do you all think about having gachapons at tables? I think it's cute but wouldn't it technically be considered gambling which is against some con rules?

>>9701100
They have gachapons at most cons. It's not legally considered gambling by any means unless you live in a state or country with really weird laws I guess.

new thread: >>9701125

>>9701100
its not gambling if you are guaranteed with something of equal or greater value each time you play.

>>9701037
>>9701094
NAYRT but if you're just doing stickers, I think the Portrait would be good, you might have to trim the sides because it's 8x10 though? I'm actually not sure. I have the Cameo 3 which is a bit of an overkill, but I love it and it paid itself off quite easily.

As for the library, if you have a lot of free time to play with it it should be fine, but I hope they have a closed room for it because it sounds like the devil screeching LOL.

>>9701074
Waiting until next wave to complain

>>9701074
same, I know a few artists who got in with the exact same types of merchandise/art style and a few artists on twitter that I admire not getting in :/