/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Got my rejection letter from anime NYC, nice.
I’ve given up on applying to cons and I’m just going to make a goal of becoming popular enough to just be invited to a convention without applying. Sounds impossible, but this’ll be good moativation for me and I can’t handle facing rejection like this haha.
Depressed but enthusiastic!

>>9956693
This has been my feeling all year honestly. After my last rejection some friends tried to console me with "maybe you'll get off the waitlist" and I tried to explain in polite terms that no, really, fuck cons.
My work is good and people buy it and I'm tired of lying it at the feet of the randos who run juries at anime conventions and listening to them tell me my art is not suitable to sell.

>>9956705
Exactly. I was checking out some of the other artist that got accepted, and I was disgustingly surprised to see it was mainly tumblr style art, not even very remotely anime styled. I understand maybe this is what Anime NYC wants to promote their selves as, but I’ll have no part of it. I’m brand new to all this and I have a rediculous amount of sales so far, so I know it’s not like I’m bad.
Researching a lot about conventions this past few months just shows me how easily biased things have become, so I’ll just go my own way and let my fans/ popularity/ art do the talking.

Competition for tables have increased tenfold of course it's gonna be harder to get into cons. There's a lot of factors going into this, you guys just have to realize tabling isn't as sustainable as it was a few years ago. There's more competition and there's tougher competition. I wouldn't be surprised if people start quitting tabling soon because it's impossible to get into cons nowadays.

Just look at how active this thread is compared to a couple years ago. This isn't to say that everyone should just give up, but more like everyone has their work cut out for them.

>>9956705
> and listening to them tell me my art is not suitable to sell

That's not at all what a rejection means. It just means there were people who were more skilled or more suited for the con's needs ahead of you.

I'm sorry that you didn't get in, anon. And I'm sure your friends weren't trying to be derisive when they tried to be hopeful about the waitlist. I know last year for ANYC there were several waves and I didn't get accepted until months after the first wave went out.

>>9956719
I'm just curious - what have you guys been submitting as your portfolio? I used to get rejected from juries often when I just linked to tumblr/deviantart. I still had a decent amount of followers and made a lot of online sales, but that didn't translate into getting accepted automatically. After I set up a portfolio-only site, I've been getting into 99% of the juried cons I apply to. Are you marketing yourselves professionally? Is your portfolio site well organized and comprised of a variety of fandoms and merch types?

just saw this in the CRX info kit, do other cons have rules like this? It's the first time I've seen a specific note about making sure your table is "meeting standards of good taste"

>>9956719
>>9956693
Most people I know who went last year are local to AnimeNYC and barely made even. I'm hoping the craze will die down a bit once people realize they are going to lose out once they factor in NYC hotels and travel this year.

I wish whenever artists tried to vent here about being discouraged by rejections there wasn't always someone ready to tell them that their feelings are wrong. Yes, we all know the competition is higher than ever. No, it's not ALWAYS because the people who got in are more skilled or more suited to the con. Can we just acknowledge that it kind of sucks lately and leave it at that.

How do you handle being placed next to a super talented and popular artist whose print wall display dwarfs yours by miles

>>9956788
I'd like to think the rule is going to cut down on the gross waifu lewd arts that some booths always put up. Maybe wishful thinking.

>>9956917
That's... actually literally what that means. The jury decides who they want at their con. "More suited" doesn't necessarily mean "better skilled" - a jury can take on newbie artists or local artists if that's the sort of environment they want to foster. Sorry this isn't a hugbox.

>>9956920
How high is their display? Is it within the con rules? If so, you should consider building up too. If not, report them to con staff so they have to lower their display.

>>9956788
That's an awfully fancy way to say NO AHEGAOS.

>>9956741
This tip is real. it's obscenely easy to make a professional looking portfolio - there are dozens of websites with templates, free ones as well. My acceptance rate shot up as well, linking to a 'my art' tag on a tumblr shitpost blog doesn't cut it anymore.
Spend an afternoon curating your works and use some minimalist design if you're feeling lazy, boom, instantly look way more attractive and professional.

>>9956920
depends on if they're like actually super popular in the western con scene or they're just one of those 'high quality super rendered anime drawing' dime a dozen proxy tables. Either way though just grit your teeth and bear it, maybe take the time to play up your other merchandise (if you stock stuff other than prints, if you only sell prints as well.....well. gl)

>>9956986
>report them
Come the fuck on, I dislike my table being crowded out as much as the next artist but this sort of shit is on the staff to take care of. Heaven knows we all get harassed for the most pointless shit already depending on the con, adding to it because you're spiteful about your neighbor is just so fucking disgusting.

>>9957010
Anon, I'm not saying you should make up shit to get other people in trouble. But if you are being negatively being affected by a neighbor who is breaking the rules, it's 100% fine to report them. (Which is why I asked if the neighbor is within the height limit set in the AA rules.)

Definitely talk to the artist first about following the height guidelines but if they refuse to comply, absolutely report them for breaking the rules. I've done this at cons that had rules about no back-facing displays. I've reported people for art theft. If shit's against the rules, it's against the rules.

Why are you so upset about following the rules that are stated in the AA guidelines?

>>9956999
Any suggestions on good portfolio sites?

>>9956917

>Can we just acknowledge that it kind of sucks lately and leave it at that.

naryt but thank you anon

>>9957047
I dislike the concept of being spiteful just because you're at a disadvantage - if the other anon had not specifically mentioned that the artist in question was both talented and popular on top of having a large display I wouldn't have responded to your statement because I agree that rules should be followed.

When the initial impetus to report is mired in envy/inadequacy that's when I have a problem with it. Props to you if you notice rule breaking regardless of an artist's status, but if people only bother reporting because they have an envy problem with their neighbor it really is incredibly disgusting.

>>9957232
I think you're misinterpreting the conversation right now and just looking to be argumentative. I understand where your stance comes from and agree however the first anon asked how to cope with a print wall owned by a popular artist and the second anon gave them ways to cope with a competing print wall not necessarily related to the fact that it was owned by a popular artist. You're also assuming that we wouldn't report someone who's 'subpar' with a rule breaking wall.

>>9957232
If someone is breaking the rules (i.e. - having a display over the height limit) which affects you negatively (i.e. - you are their neighbor and it hurts your visibility), reporting them is not out of "spite" but out of self-preservation. If you are being actively harmed by rulebreaking 100% absolutely report it regardless of whether your neighbor is "popular" or not.

I also suggested that they build up their own display if said neighbor is within the con's height limit - which puts the responsibility of visibility on them and not on others. Stop projecting.

>>9957157
NAYRT but I use Wix and just use one of their default gallery themes. I've gotten into way more juried cons since I've switched over.

>>9957157
i use portfoliobox which is decent free (although I use the premium version). Heard good things about wix and squarespace

>>9957157
I use dAportfolio. It's on dA and you can customize the URL to not say dAportfolio if you're paranoid about it. It looks decent and works great for me.

Hello all. I'm very interested in tabling at a con and trying to sell some of my works (I'd say I'm mildly popular on social media sites), but I'm afraid to do so because I'm extremely uggo in person (bad features, bad skin, the works). Does anyone have thoughts about how your appearance affects business/traffic to your table? Thanks.

>>9957471
Hire somebody, pretend not to be the artist, wear a mask, wear a cosplay / make up

>>9957471
Tbh unless you have bad hygiene, I don't think it makes a difference. People are usually here for the product, not the person. I barely notice any difference in sales if I'm done up in make up or just lazy in sweats. Lmao I think I've gotten more sales while looking like a slob but that might just be in my head.

>>9957471
I feel you on this. As a consumer I literally dont care. But as an artist I also have the weird anxiety about people not wanting to buy my stuff because I'm not cute. I never show myself online and I low-key worry if I ever get "big" enough that maybe people will leak photos of me they took at a con or something

>>9957482
the idea of hiring someone better looking to pretend to be you is honestly hilarious. like something out of a romantic comedy manga.

So has anyone here used Etsy Plus yet? Any reviews?

So for portfolios, what percentage do you gulls have for fan art and original art? Do you have separate pages for each or just put all the art on one page?

>>9956722
I wonder if a smaller "con" that's mostly focused on an artist alley/artists being the main draw would do well?

This is an idea I've been mulling in my head for a long time now, but I don't think I really have the resources to pull it off. All I know is there's a shitton of artists in So Cal who would like to table at small events that are more casual vs. the nightmare of AX.

>>9957471
Fellow uggo here. I also have a huge complex about this, because in IRL dudes will do absolutely anything to avoid talking to me (I've had dudes approach while I'm in mid conversation with my attractive female friends and start a whole separate convo with them while literally putting their back and shoulder to me, so.) I DO think your looks affect interaction and engagement when you're tabling. But I don't think that necessarily hurts sales. I still have normie dudes (usually with a bit of a pained look on their face, though I can't be sure if it's being forced to talk to me, or being forced to buy pinups of anime boys for their absent friends) come up to me and make purchases. I have a lot of female and gay male customers and they do not seem to care at all. I have serious imposter syndrome because I've met a few other fanartists I really admired online and they are actually cool IRL and it's fucking me up how uncool and shitty I am, but instead of moping about it I just try to focus on just making my art good to make up for it.

>>9957482
I think it's kind of a shitty opinion that if you're ugly you need to change how you look to make sales. Yeah, dress nice, be clean, brush your teeth and hair, that can go a long way. But telling someone who is insecure about their appearance to wear a mask? That sucks.

>>9957754
NAYRT but it sounded like the original anon was looking for actual advice, not this uwu you're beautiful just the way you are shit. I'm sure they do the basic hygiene stuff. Don't assume they're that inept. That's obviously not the issue.

>>9957471
Just be friendly, look 'polished' (ie look clean and sharp) and don't worry about it. Ugly or not ugly matters less than friendliness and good customer interaction

>>9957482
>>9957515
>>9957751
>>9957600
Thanks for the advice all. I do take care of myself well, but that doesn't change the uggo part sadly. I see other artists that I look up to who are selling at cons and they all look normal or even beautiful, and it makes me very self conscious about how'd I'd look if I tabled.

>>9957810
to be honest i don’t care what the artist looks like, if i like the art i buy, simple as that. you could just be over thinking it, comparing yourself to others can be really detrimental to ones confidence.

>>9957810
honestly, the only time i'd be put off by an artist's appearance is if they looked unwashed, or they had some sort of hand disease and didn't wear gloves.

>>9957787
>Does anyone have thoughts about how your appearance affects business/traffic to your table?
I'm not the original anon so I can't speak for what they really meant by this but this came off to me more like "can y'all share experiences of how your appearance affects your tabling" and not "how can I hide my ugliness to do sales" which is what anon meant when they said to hire someone to pretend to be them or wear a fucking mask???

Also didn't mean to imply OP was not washing up, it's just a given piece of advice for first time tabling that maybe some people don't think of first. Just meant that if you smell okay and wear a nice shirt then most people don't care if you're not attractive and you don't have to wear a fucking mask all day. I think that's realistic advice and not "uwu you're beautiful" advice. Not everyone has to be ashamed because their genetics don't match the standards of beauty.

>>9957471
When I'm browsing around AA buying stuff, to put it as frankly as possible, I am there for your product... Not for you. I could give less of a shit how you look if I want your item, in my eyes you're just the person I need to give money to to get said item.
However if your appearance affects your own work attitude because you're self conscious, you can maybe look into getting a surgical mask or something and wear it as "kawaii" fashion... Or whatever suits your brand.
Trust me though when I say no one really gives a shit what you look like, they're there to buy art. If people are there to talk to the artist because they're cute, that is generally annoying as fuck and a bad thing because they're wasting that artist's time and usually they don't pick up anything or something small, so it's really not an advantage.

>>9957754
Another anon, but I feel like that is good advice if you're honestly ugly and not just plain/below average. Sure, it's nice to claim that appearance don't affect sales, but I personally think they do. While people might not even be conscious about it, a pleasant looking person creates the impression that the product they're selling is also pleasant. Pretty privilege is a thing.

That being said, I think confidence and how well you interact with congoers goes a lot farther in terms of sales as opposed to how pretty of a wallflower you are.

>>9958066
Different anon, but a lot of people at conventions wear little face masks. It fits in easily with japanese/korean street fashion. It wasn't too far out of left field and I don't think it's nearly as offensive as you're making it to be.

>>9958202
Yea. I feel like so much of the attendees try to pretend i don't exist anyway. When they want something and are sure they want it thats when they look to me. By then they have already decided. I'm one of those terrible artists that just looks at my phone and doesn't even say hi and still makes 5 digits so i really don't think it matters if you're ugly (if you really are ugly)

>>9957810
There is a girl at my local cons who sells over 100 different kinds of charms and makes bank. She's fat and balding and for what hair she has left she doesn't wash. So I think you'll be fine

>>9957810
I understand the fear of having internet trolls use your looks against you especially if you have a large following but they'll do it even if you're not ugly. They'll find anything to use to shit on you. If you're not comfortable with that or you can't learn to at least compromise with it, then don't table.

Today I found out my friend's very small local con, which doesn't have more than a couple hundred attendees each year, sold out of their artist alley tables within minutes this year. Last year they were open for days with tables available. All I can think is they either reduced their amount of tables drastically, or people who are buying con tables all over the country right now saw that it was the only con in that area with a facebook page and decided to swoop in expecting it to be a big time con. Can't believe the competition for tables is affecting even these tiny conventions now. I'm both extremely disappointed for my friend and also excited to see these idiots fly in from out of state with all their gear for this small con and make no sales.

>>9958824
kind of related, but i was really surprised with how many people flew out to florida recently for metrocon, even artists from the west coast. who willingly goes to florida lol? and i thought metrocon wasn't even that great, guess i was wrong

>>9958824
I'm honestly surprised that there hasn't been some big crackdown on AAs (knock on the wood). We're in a very dark grey legal area, and the fact that even small cons have people fighting for tables says so much about the income potential. I think things like prints or even zines and artbooks wouldn't ring too many alarms, but now we have keychains and pencil pouches and charms and ENAMEL stuff. All of these things that were reserved for official merch only for so many years. I'm always worried that my next con will be my last because Funimation decides to do a huge crackdown or something.

>>9958846
Metrocon isn't great but it's a good way to either pay or subsidize for a trip to disney world and universal studios

>>9958737
It's probably worth noting the chances of someone noticing you to troll you is very, very low. And even if it were to happen, it would likely be only a very select few sad people. like 99.9% of the community would think they were sad and pathetic type people. I believe in anon to realize those people aren't worth holding your life back for.

>>9958846
>>9958890
I'm a west coast artist and I went to Metrocon strictly to go to Disney World. I was expecting the worst because a lot of friends warned me of the slow traffic but ended up super surprised. Had a lot of my social media followers come to my table and say they were happy I came because as stated, who willing goes to Florida. Had a good time and my profits made it a worth while trip. I'll try to come back next year.

>>9958846
>who willingly goes to florida lol?
i mean it's the #5 most popular US state for tourism with approx 48 million people travelling there a year? florida is a very popular travel destination.

WHY DOES AX DO THIS TO US EVERY YEAR AHHHH good luck to artists who are gonna try to book tables later on, today was already horrible for returning artists

>>9958967
Anon, I think they meant "who willingly goes to Florida for cons?" Florida cons are notorious for being not great profit-wise.

>>9959062
I had a good Hunger Games but yeah the system is shit

>>9959062
Do you know when tables will open up for the rest of us?

Do Lolita’s like having their coords drawn? I’ve seen a few AAs that have one or two artists that make pretty cute art of random Lolitas and I like to buy them if they are in my favorite colors.

>>9957810
Just wear a mask like three persona 5 chars. Full mask can get sweaty and weird but a half mask time that will make people think you're just cosplaying for fun. Wear a hat too if your hair is unweildy

>>9959104
according to the draw thread they adore it

>>9959065
I've even had customers from florida tell me not to go to cons their homestate

>>9959103
Sorry I don't, AA staff said TBA

>>9959103
it's usually during November, black friday sale

>>9958868
Some days I wish they would. I'm on a weird line where I could honestly go fully original but it's just financially stupid to let go completely of the easy profit from fanart when literally everyone around me is doing it. I know cons banning fanart wouldn't lead instantly to everyone spending the same amount of money on original work, but it could lead to it eventually, and could make AA a more creative and interesting space overall, with hopefully less competition since it's not such a huge profit scam. And then we'd all be safely out of that legal gray zone.

does being a mom lessen my appeal as an artistic persona or do people like the idea of their patronage helping support someone struggling to raise a kid or whatever (instead of blowing it on anime figures and gacha rolls).

feel like i should keep that shit under wraps because everyone's gay and hates kids now.

>>9959195
if you mention you're doing AA to support your kid, my immediate response would be "oh really???" and wonder if you don't have a better means to support yourself

>>9959195
just as long as you dont bring your kid to cons or make it parade around and pan handle

>>9959195
I've never cared about the personal life of any artists I supported

>>9958868
>I'm honestly surprised that there hasn't been some big crackdown on AA
I hope there is. Would be fantastic for people actually make original art or crafts like myself.

>>9959195
Just don't make a big deal about it.

>>9958868
>I'm honestly surprised that there hasn't been some big crackdown on AA
I hope there is. Would be fantastic for people who actually make original art or crafts like myself.

>>9959195
Just don't make a big deal about it.

>>9959195
Not so much the idea of supporting someone raising a kid since like >>9959205 said, I would think doing something as unstable and gruelling as AAing while raising a kid isn't the best idea.

If it's just a "oh hey I also have a kid" thing, then I wouldn't think much about it. Being an artist doesn't bar you from creating a family. I don't see why it would lessen your artistic persona. And while I don't really want kids and am also gay, I don't hate them. Most people who don't want to be around kids don't even mistreat the kid because children don't know any better.

>>9959195
I think there'd be some judgement. I think watching people spend their AA money on bullshit doesn't bother people because AA itself is a bullshit job. It's not stable and it can fall apart if you have a bad run of luck just not getting into cons, so it's natural that people who would choose to base their career around that are a bit bullshit. That's why it gets really fucked up if you have a kid depending on you. Your attitude of "everyone's gay and hates kids now" certainly wouldn't help you either. I wouldn't ever want to give money to someone who feels more entitled to it than other people just because they popped out a baby.

I think you can talk about it if you're just fucking cool about it, but don't use it for pity points, which is what it sounds like you'd like to do.

i'm not saying to parade it around outright and use it as a money begging point, i just mean as an implicit thing. like, if some fan makes that assumption and wants to throw extra cash my way because of it, hey. (obviously i know that what mostly sells art is the art, but fans that support you because they like you as a person is also a thing.)

i'm just wondering if it'd hurt / help / whatever the public perception would be. kind of like how titty twitch streamers aren't going to mention that they have a boyfriend because it would turn them off to that subset of fans.

never said i'd base my career around aa, it is definitely bullshit. but it's fun to draw and travel and fandom and whatnot and i get to spend most of my days at home taking care of them. i have a decent nest egg and if anything happens to the scene i can easily just go back to what i was doing before, it'd just be nice to do this for a few years to be around more while they're super young.

spoiler alert: am also gay and hate kids, just the whole "it's different when it's yours" thing turned out to be incredibly true, as annoying as it was to hear growing up. i guess that's kind of why i'm so anxious about it, because i remember being younger and really annoyed by "normie" mom personalities. i think people also find it kind of generally offputting to hear moms ramble about anime crushes and other typical fandom shit, even if i'm younger than my peers that also do so. but people also really love kids in cosplay and dumb stuff like that, so i have no idea haha.

sorry for rambling, thanks for the input

>>9959189
>less competition for a huge profit scam
Shitty butthurt artist detected.
Sorry you can’t keep up and would literally need a powerful handicap (cons banning fanart) in order to even sell your original works. Pathetic.

>>9959321
You sound like a cunt who would keep a screaming baby at your table expecting people to drop extra $$$ because of your ''situation''

>>9959321
I mean, personally if I heard you mention a kid in any sort of angle that was “support my family” I would cringe so hard and buy nothing from you, but that’s just me. I hate when people beg for money, or play the “please buy my art so I can eat tonight” part because it literally makes me want to give you nothing to suffer more. The fact that your art can’t sell itself alone without you beging for pity points is so tacky and unprofessional.
Personally, I would never mention I had a kid, just like I never mention I’m married. It’s kust awkward and makes people fee uncomfortable.

>>9959189
You're never going to beat a pre-established connection to a full blown series with original illustrations unless they're from a webcomic you have or something.

Besides, if you're not making a certain level of profit now with your originals that's not going to change when everyone else goes original. Your skill would still be not enough to compensate for other's.

>>9959367
>>9959377
i never said anything about bringing a kid to a con or using them to beg for money, what are you going on about. i'm talking about social media art persona.

>>9959321
nobody gives a shit if you have a kid when they're buying stuff from you unless your product is centered around your kids. It will not deter people from buying shit from you unless you pull some garbage like "please buy from me so my kids can go to college", that's just in poor taste. I don't see how you being a mother would come up in any business conversation as it literally Does Not Matter. In social casual situations, its whatever, if you want to post about them on your social media and share your life, that's fine. Nobody will really care because they're either here for you or your work. Don't mix the two unless your life IS your work.

>>9959384
You’re begging for money with your kid if you mention them at all. Like why? Why do you need to mention you get knocked up and didn’t abort? I’m making an assumption here, but you sound 100% like a single mother.
Are you?

>>9959321
I honestly do not give two shits about the personal lives of the artists I support unless they end up being problematic af and last I checked, having kids aren't on that list.

>>9959321
So many artists I follow and buy from constantly post their husbandos or waifus on their social media from series I don't give any fucks about but I'm like you do you buddy. I understand that their social media is their space and if I don't like it, I'll just unfollow them. It's not going to stop me from buying from them either, sometimes I just don't want to see 500202380293820981 nasty pics of Ryoma or Gilgamesh on my TL

>>9959389

You should start thinking for yourself what is problematic instead of checking a "problematic" list, you sound annoying.

>>9959387
..because artists on social media tend to blog about their life? if they post pictures of sushi or cute clothes or whatever, you know that part of the money you spend on their stuff goes towards that. yeah, a lot of people don't care, but some people do.

single but i don't see how that relates to anything.

>>9959399
It's called a manner of expression, buttmunch. I don't actually have a fucking list. Just because someone is a parent isn't enough for me to throw out their merch. Being a pedophile or something as egregious might just do it though.

>>9957702
Up here in the NW we have Mahouto Market which is (was...I heard rumors this was the last year) exactly that and it always has done super well.
Even before I was interested in selling, the Artist Alley was always the biggest draw when going to a convention.

>>9957482
NAYRT I really like those surgical masks. But don't they hamper your ability to talk if you are selling? Do you just talk through it or would you pull it down if you need to talk?

>>9959397
>00202380293820981 nasty pics of Ryoma or Gilgamesh
I feel called out

>>9959428
They completely hamper how much your voice projects if you don't pull it down, which kind of defeats the purpose. Tried it for one relatively quiet con, damn near lost my voice. I don't recommend it unless you hook yourself up to a portable mic/speaker thing.

>>9959366
Fanart is literally a profit scam though lol, it's technically illegal to do and if the companies pressed the cons then it could get shut down in a second. I still do it and still make money on it but I also constantly get questions from normies who are confused about why it's okay to do it and have to explain that it's not really without sounding like a criminal. It'd be nice to, you know, not have to worry about getting shut down by a big company because I'm using their IP to earn my livelihood?

Sorry you feel so threatened at the idea of a fanart ban? Maybe because you know you wouldn't survive without the crutch of fanart sales? Geez.

>>9959195
Yeah personally I find kids and people from my generation having kids off putting. If it was a casual mention I wouldn't be that thrown off. But if you start posting your kid all over social media I find it annoying.

Its not that I /hate/ kids. I actually dont mind spending time with them and handle them well. Unpopular opinion time I just find having kids nowadays kind of irresponsible. Climate change is getting worse and worse. Millenials (us not gen z) are going to live and see some fucked up consequences of it. Can you imagine how gen z is going to be? What is the earth going to be like it 50 or 100 years. Their life is going to be hellish.

>>9959452
Just wanna say, Gen Z isn't as young as you think it is. Im 21 and technically considered gen z

>>9959195
>feel like i should keep that shit under wraps because everyone's gay and hates kids now.
LOL? I can guarantee most people do not give a fuck about your personal life, unless you know, you're a total shithead of a person

>>9959321
>spoiler alert: am also gay and hate kids, just the whole "it's different when it's yours" thing turned out to be incredibly true

In this case i think you're just wildly projecting and you have actual prejudices that you assume everyone else has. Most people don't give a shit and you should probably learn from them.

I honestly don't really like kids but I have friends in the AA with kids and it's fine? They post their art.. they post about funny things their kids say or do sometimes too. They've brought their child to cons before too, but they NEVER let the child be an nuisance and alas had a second person to be there for the kid at the drop of a dime. They have NEVER begged for money or ever implied their profits goes towards raising their kid, that's just like.. the same as saying profit goes to rent or caring for a cat. It's just duh, a fact of their life it doesn't need to be explicitly said and never is. Ya dig?

I guess what i'm saying is. Chill out. If you hate kids that aren't your own maybe deal with that feeling first instead of worrying about if everyone else has the same complex as you.

>>9959442
>>9958868

Soooo, just gonna offer a little help with explaining why fanart exists:

The companies who own the IP benefit from free publicity. They don't pay the fanartists, the fanartists simply make the art, it attracts the fans to group together and then circulate both the fanart and original material, sometimes new fans get in this way and old fans continue sticking to a fandom in between seasons, or sometimes long after the company decides to stop spending money on doing official art, the fanart and fan groups still continue growing until there's a large enough size that the company can simply step back in and announce a sequel knowing there's at least this group of people who will want to watch it.

So most of them don't try to stop it because they do benefit from fanart being circulated and made popular, and if it doesn't become popular then it's no loss to them as well since they aren't paying the fanartists anyway.

Not only that, but a lot of fanartists are actual fans, so the companies could end up looking like a big bully using expensive lawyers to step on long-time indie artists who are also hardcore fans if they pick the wrong artist to sue over fanart. They have nothing to gain and fanbases to lose by shutting down fanartists.

It's very much a symbiotic relationship, only that the laws of IP makes it difficult for them to openly acknowledge it. So they just kind of dance around it and try not to acknowledge it, because they have to do the bare minimum to not actually lose their IP, but they also want to reap the benefits of all these free artists going around publicising their IP on their behalf.

>>9959465
>Just wanna say, Gen Z isn't as young as you think it is. Im 21 and technically considered gen z

I know exactly how old they are? Ive read a lot about generations. Specifically gen x, millennial (gen y), and gen z.
People who complain about teenagers today as dumb ~millennials~ annoy me because they aren't millenials anymore. Just like how there was a thread on here recently stating something dumb like a 40yo being a baby boomer. Lmao 40yos are gen x

to anyone with an original comic: any pointers? i have the first 2 a5 issues finished, and i'd like to sell them. is there anything i should keep in mind?

>>9959593
since a comic is meant to tell a story, have one, two, three, maybe even four people proofread your stuff please. The biggest and most distracting mistake for me is sloppy writing. It can make your dialogue not engaging, it could make your plot hard to follow, your characters dull, and it's just super unprofessional. I can overlook okay-ish/decent art if it has good writing, but I can't overlook amazing art with bad writing.

>>9959508
I think that the issues come into play a lot more when you have artists creating merchandise that directly competes with the company's official merchandise. That's why companies have cracked down so much harder in the Exhibitor's Hall than they have in the Artist's Alley; it's not like they don't know we exist, we're literally one row over.

This is also why indie creators, like Homestuck and Undertale, would really not want fanwork sold. Because of how small they are, EVERYTHING on the market exists as direct competition to them and their income.

>>9959465
The oldest kids in my generation are 18 fag gtfo

>>9958846
hella late popping in, but I'm from Toronto and did fantastic at Metrocon this year. My partner and I usually go for fun and expected to make back our trip costs, but walked away with more money than we made at Anime North this year. We didn't even have great table placement.

>>9959700
Viz owns the rights to Homestuck now (plus hot topic sales and welovefine/byfansforfans), and Toby fox gave the ok for AA sales so long as it's not competing with official merch. But your overall point still stands.

hey guys, my first tablet just arrived. i went with the huion 1060 plus at some recomendations here. im looking for free software to start with since im broke. is kirita worth using?

>>9959716
>You must be 18 years old to browse 4chan

Researchers dispute between gen z starting between 1995-2006
Ultimately its just a social science that has no concrete answer. People born on the cusps of generations can decide for themselves which they most relate to

sage for bullshit

i have some cute artwork made and want to make my first "product". What do you find sells more? Stickers or charms?

>>9960112
Charms, charms for fucking sure if the goal is money.

>>9959886
krita is good

>>9959857
Whattttt
I did metrocon last year and my sales were just 15% of what I did at an.
Maybe I should have done it this year...

>>9960114
hmm, maybe i shouldnt even bother with stickers then. ive been intimidated by the idea of spending so much money on charms. what if they dont sell and all of that. can i used sticker sales to guage interest in a possible charm?

>>9960128
oh one more question... what is a normal size for a charm? i see one inch charms are cheaper to make but would anyone even buy something that small? wouldnt most art be unreadable shrunk down to that size?

>>9960083
>Researchers
researchers? "generations" is literally just made up marketing slang. There is nothing scientific about it.

>>9959886
I've heard its good. Honestly, you should really just buy some good software. Check out steam, they have some art programs. Sell some steam trading cards and get a small discount on the software.

>>9959886
Clip studio is very affordable when it's on sale ($20 iirc) so I'd keep an eye out for that too. Sales happen maybe every 3 months or so, and the program will equip you with basically any bare bones thing you'd need from Photoshop. Kind of like a "Photoshop Lite" thing with built in useful assets/references for drawing.

So how does everyone deal with paypal's newer preorder policy?

>>9960118
while our prints sold out twice at AN, they barely moved at metrocon. instead, all of our charms, stickers and magnet sets were going. We sold maybe 5 prints all of Metro.

Our profits on stickers are stupid high since we make our own (thank you based pixma pro 100), but holy shit I hadn't expected to do 1k+ on stickers sales alone?

I had several people mention they were out of wallspace and already had coffee table books, so maybe thats a factor? Florida has so many cons, perhaps they truely have hit the wall with print sales down there?

>>9959195
Mom here who does AA, Honestly the customers don't really care. It doesn't really come up unless the customer happens to be a parent as well and has their child with them.

Also yes, keep the kid out of your AA space cause I've had my husband try to drop the kid off at my table so he could wander around the con by himself. He was not happy when I told him no, I'm there to sell my products, not have to wrangle my toddler at the same time and keep him from messing up another artist's display space or potentially damage products. I love my kid, that does not mean everybody else is going to love having him up in their space while they're trying to work.

>>9959195
With that attitude yeah you should.

Apart from that just don't have your kid at your booth unless they're old enough and responsible enough to be quiet and help out. I wouldn't want to approach a booth with a toddler at it, toddlers are messy and grabby as fuck.

>>9960215
Maybe mass email the buyers to let them know when the actual expected shipping date is and pray no one does a chargeback? I read that the 20 day pre-order policy has always been around, just not widely known or enforced unless it was a large amount of money..

Also because I'm a dumbass and posted in the dead thread: In your opinion, what's the best way to split 3d merch on the table when sharing while having the same fandoms but different art styles/themes?
Do you have your own separate charm displays, or do you mash them together in one single board and group them by fandom?

There's some overlap so I feel like we might cannibalize each other's sales, but I think a bundled deal would be easier to sell if potential customers can see it at a glance

>>9960134
shrink it in photoshop and find out. but in general people prefer bigger ones.

>>9960245
you're a good parent

>>9960112
>>9960128
I move a huge amount of stickers monthly and my charms are one of my slowest products. Although I do think that charms sell really well for a lot of people, I think that good weather-proof vinyl stickers are definitely something
that there is a large audience for and shouldn't be automatically discredited.

>>9960241
Oh wow congrats anon!
How much do you sell your stickers for?
I generally sell hand cut stickers printed on staples paper for $1 but I’ve been looking into getting kiss cut sticker sheets made as well.

>>9960473
would you say stickers are a better bet for more niche franchises or ones that arent current anymore? Something that bugs me about conventions is how fickle peoples interests can be. i feel like people are more likely to spend more on something thats current or theyre hyped up about.

>>9960477
nayrt but I priced my home-printed vinyl stickers for $2 each or 3/$5 and they sold pretty well.

>>9960484
Sorry anon, I'm a fotm artist (not really because of the money, but because I'm one of those losers that genuinely loves fotm stuff and can't really get the passion to draw something I watched too long ago) so I really couldn't say.

There are a few series that will always do well and will stand the test of time, but as for niche series? I feel like niche followings will buy anything they can find of their fandom, even if it's a higher ticket item. Stickers are kind of ideal for fotm; you move large quantities in lower prices because people don't mind dropping $5-$8 multiple times over for their seasonal waifu.

>>9960489
do you reccomend clear vinyl sheets or white? is clear even a thing? how does ink factor in to the final price? on the surface selling your own stickers sounds cheaper but im curious if it really is after ink and stuff is included.

>>9960490
thats really weird honestly, i didnt think people like that existed. i always discount fotm artists as sellouts who dont really care about anything but the money, which is perfectly fine. business is business. i just cant imagine being passionate about fotm stuff because a lot of it is just subpar. it just feels like a musical chairs kind of thing. i dont mean to attack you, i wish i was as exciteable as you in a way.

>>9960499
Same, I'm jealous of anon. I honestly wish I could enjoy fotm but I hardly ever do, when I do it's incredibly rare. This isn't a "I'm better than you because I only enjoy obscure stuff" humblebrag, this is a "I genuinely wish I could enjoy more popular stuff that other people like too instead of my stupid obscure bullshit that nobody ever watches or reads".

Plus the money from selling that stuff would be a nice bonus, sure.

>>9960499
I don't know; I guess I just have subpar or low standards, but I genuinely do love a lot of the stuff. It's not like I like everything that's fotm, but almost everything I end up liking ends up being fotm even if I wouldn't have any idea of its popularity beforehand. I'm the kind of person that raved over Franxx the first day the show premiered. I just have really basic tastes that fit in line with my audience, and when I really love something they all tend to really love it too. Like I'll have people buying 8-10 prints at once because we have the exact same taste in shows and waifus (and then others that vehemently disagree with every single character I choose).

I'd be surprised if there weren't other artists genuinely passionate about these kind of series though. I mean, clearly the fans of the shows are excited about them, and many of us artists are just fans.

>>9960533
i dont mean to make you feel like your tastes are subpar. stuff like attack on titan just comes to mind where i tried giving it a chance, and it was just really autistic. from the ugly way it was drawn, which shocked me, to the stupid unlikeable characters, to the genuinely autistic titans and their constant weird agehao faces. the fact that it ever got as popular as it did basicallycemented the idea in my head that just because an ip is good doesnt mean it will ever succeed. because if something as fucking stupid as that becomes the flavor of the month then there is truely no rhyme or reason to any of this.

>>9960533
i should add that despte ripping into aot randomly i am happy when i hear anons here find success. we all have a passion for creating and the fact that we come here i do root for you guys regardless.i just dont see the appeal of a lot of fotm shows, at best they are bland with a meh premise, or at worst they make me feel like aot where they are insulting to the viewer and in my mind make anime look even sillier than it is.

any steven universe man in tonight

>>9960547
>>9960562
I don't think AOT is what people are talking about when they talk about FOTM? I thought FOTM was stuff that was super popular in a season but that didn't have much lasting power past having a sequel or something else announced, thus being the flavor of that "month". Like Kobayashi or Blend S. It feels kind of disposable, like people love it until the next season comes along and they fall in love with something else of similar quality entirely.

Attack on Titan is in the realm of being mainstream even to some non-anime fans. Like Naruto or SAO. These tend to generally be pretty shitty for most of us anime fans but have a weird mass appeal to normies. They stay crazy popular years and years after even if no content is being announced. I'd say that's kind of the opposite of the FOTM mentality. Popular does not automatically equal FOTM.

>>9960533
>I'm the kind of person that raved over Franxx the first day the show premiered.
Okay, so you really do just have shit taste then

>>9960498
Never seen clear vinyl sticker sheets, but both matter and glossy turned out nice for me. I use my friend's printer and he's said that printing my stickers is a lot more affordable in terms of ink than the full prints he used to make. Probably because the entire paper isn't printed on. Fit enough stickers on one sheet and it's really easy to make your money back.

>>9960295
I would keep them seperate. People might not want to buy things in bundles, or may be put off by the difference in styles. Plus it's easier to keep money seperate, and not have to worry about splitting it up.

otakuthon artists beware, the con thieves have been spotted in the alley on Friday.

>>9960810
I like imagining you as a hooded figure coming into an inn in the middle of a storm, bells tolling, BEWAAARE, BEWARE

>>9960490
I feel you. My biggest fandoms are Overwatch, BNHA and YOI, so I always feel like i'm viewed as one of those money grubbing FOTM artists who couldn't give a shit about what I draw. I just have shit taste! and the more obscure stuff I like (generally horror based, or manga-only series) tends to sell really poorly at the conventions I attend, so I don't bother making merch for it anymore.

>>9960826
>I just have shit taste!
Hearing that in a sentence made me really laugh out loud

Speaking of stickers, I’m planning on making a sheet of stickers that have about 6-7 medium sized stickers and a few small ones. How much would you guys sell the sheets of stickers for?

>>9960477
>>9960489
1$ per inch, roughly. We do 1inch sticker packs of 6 for 5$ (animals, mostly. We do let people build their own packs if they want too), or if they're holo, add on an extra dollar per sticker. Joining in group orders for holo has made that cost minimal, and our vinyl sticker paper supplier has us at about 50cent/sheet too. We usually fit 3 sticker sets to a sheet, and then use offbrand ink for the printer to cut costs even further- about 3cents per 1 inch sticker. Our 3 inch holo stickers sold pretty well at 4, too.

I started using staples paper when I was handing out free shit at meetups, but only use it for sales if i'm layering holo or gloss vinyl Contact on it now- it feels to flimsy in comparison. Honestly I did a trade with someone last con and they gave me paper stickers? I was let down and likely wont trade or buy from them in the future. If you CAN up your sticker quality, please do- people notice that shit. Also, buyers appreciate a clean cut sticker. Some of us have steady hands, but if you don't, invest in a robot to do that work for you.

>>9960867
>>9960891
oh and i'll add on, our kisscut sticker sheets do the worst for some fucking reason? We've not had to reprint and its been 3 cons. We're selling them for 7$, for a 5x6ish sheet, with five 1.5 inch stickers, and about six more half inch stickers. No one seems to want them in comparison to the individuals and die cut sticker packs.

>>9960891
Hate to ask but would you be willing to share examples of your stickers just so I know what quality of sticker people are looking to buy.

>>9960891

Thanks for the advice! I’m getting a cricut at some point so I don’t have to worry about my shaky hands trying to cut everything for me. I’m also planning on making them vinyl stickers with the option of holo. For the vinyl stickers, is it important to put laminate over it? I’ve read some tutorials that suggest putting it on and others that don’t and I’m not even really sure what laminate is.

>>9960477
Different anon, but I get vinyl die cut printed stickers through a company and they're usually around 5-7" tall and 3-4" wide, and I sell them for $7-8.

Not having a border on my stickers and having each cut be incredibly precise (like, down to a stray strand of hair) is definitely worth the price of outsourcing it imho.

>>9959234
>I hope there is. Would be fantastic for people who actually make original art or crafts like myself.
If your crafts and original art can't sell and you're blaming it on people with fanart (when you're already guaranteed to have things nobody else will, especially re crafts, and appealing to a different market), it's failing to stand on its strength alone. If this is happening to the point where you're spitefully wishing your competitors get C&D'd, then you probably have poor work t b h.

Anyway, given that knowing there's fanart is often what draws people into AA to see original work and crafts etc, a mass crackdown would more than likely be bad for your sales too.

>>9960826
they usually scout out the alley on friday and rob the place blind on saturday and sunday. they've hit anime north, TFcon, MTLcomicon and a few others now. still haven't been caught.

>>9960941
Original artist here and I agree. Pretty much everyone I see complaining about fanart are either people who don't have anything unique or are low skill artists.

I still average a comfortable $2k+ per con with my original work

>>9960941
I never said I can't sell my art. Its getting into cons that would make things so much easier for me, specifically ones with a lottery or lottery like system.

>>9960941
Why is it whenever anyone even breathes about doing original work and benefiting from a fanart ban there is always someone waiting to swoop in and yell about how their original work must be bad and doesn't sell and git gud?

Everyone knows it's fucking hard to sell original IP. Even if you're talented and the thing is good. Customers connect instantly to fanart, because the studios and marketing from the company that owns it has already done all your legwork for you. Original works don't have that advantage, the artist has to do all that work themselves, and even then the number of original work that actually reach the level of a fanwork are few and far between. This is common knowledge. It has little to do with the quality of the work itself and whether it's "standing on its own strength alone". With fanwork you practically have a whole company and team of people making sure it sells for you. And that same company could easily turn back on you and tell you to stop selling for their IP. Whether you think they will or not is irrelevant, the symbiosis is irrelevant, the fact is, they CAN. A lot of people who do original work know this and would rather take the loss, and do the extra work, to make original works that they own completely so this risk is never there.

Some idiot company could walk into a courtroom tomorrow and start a new case which will fuck all fanartists, like the recent tax rulings that might fuck all small internet businesses. Law isn't immalleable. Someone could make a law tomorrow that overreaches and forces cons to go original only. The companies won't fucking fight for you.

Your own words could easily turn back on you. Do you have such poor work that it couldn't stand up if you had to create your own IP? Do you need fanwork that badly for your business to be successful?

>>9959195
I personally hate "I'm a mom, move over world." Seems like when everyone has a kid, they feel they're fucking special and some stranger should care. If you're in that need of help with "child struggles", there are places out there to help. Anime cons are not one of them.

Even if you weren't a mother, I loathe people that say they're struggling as a selling point. It infers I therefore should give you pity buys or something. Your art is probably not very good if you have to yank at people's heartstrings.

>>9961153
>salty bad original artfag detected
Seriously, you’re this upset?
Most people sell their original work just fine with their fanart, so speak for youself.
You’re screaming “my original work doesn’t sell so everyone that does fanart is just a lucky scam artist that cheats!!” Holy fuck

>>9961218
>my original work doesn’t sell so everyone that does fanart is just a lucky scam artist that cheats!!
>there is always someone waiting to swoop in and yell about how their original work must be bad and doesn't sell and git gud?

If your only argument is "you must be mad because your art must be bad and that's why you think maybe fanart isn't a sound investment for your time money and entire business structure" maybe go back to school.

A fanartist can spend weeks and thousands of dollars on something that can get trashed by one C&D. Just saying.

>>9961153
you seem bitter. It's not hard to sell original IP if you have some basic understanding of how to judge your audience and decent design skills. It's idiots who think that just because they are technically skilled at art that people should be falling over themselves to buy their weird fantasy ocs or obscure totally-not-fetish art and throw tantrums went people prefer to buy stuff that has mass appeal - like cute foods or cats or whatever.

>>9961153
The fanart of original ip is pandering. I make original work that I want, it sells less but it makes me happy. To cover that, I also make some pandery shit. I do just fine.
Cats, witchy stuff, food, some combination of all 3 etc. There's a lot of options.

>>9959593
your comic looks cool anon. Where can I buy it online?

>>9961352
I'm... not?? I'm not entitled to anything. But I won't get sued by Funimation, which is my point. I do fine in AA with my original work, because I work on marketing it, and I do fanart, and I see how easy it sells with no work. I just don't put all my eggs in that basket. That's my whole point.

Not everyone's a bitter jealous bitch who just wants fanartists to suffer. It's a valid point. It's not your IP, that makes it unreliable.

>>9961218
You have to be a good artist to sell original artwork. You can be a 12 year old learning to draw for the first time to sell fanart.

>>9961383
Don't think OP is the author pictured. The two comics are Barbarous http://www.johnnywander.com/barbarous and Not Drunk Enough http://notdrunkenough.net/

>>9961153
>Why is it whenever anyone even breathes about doing original work and benefiting from a fanart ban there is always someone waiting to swoop in and yell about how their original work must be bad and doesn't sell and git gud?
Because, even though almost every AA artist empathizes with wanting your original stuff noticed (nearly everyone has original projects and understands how you feel) it's a FUCKING SHITTY THING to wish ill on other people? Isn't that obvious? Jesus.

>>9961260
>A fanartist can spend weeks and thousands of dollars on something
>"spend... thousands of dollars" on your own art
wait wat lol

>>9956917
I sat next to a super popular huge anime print art wall artist once and they overshadowed me on the first two days and it was really depressing, but I checked my sales on the last day and I still managed to make more than I did than the year before, and I took that as a personal achievement and success despite the odds.

>>9961484
oops my bad I meant to reply to >>9956920

>>9957157
I use weebly and built it on my own, and I use the free domain version, and so far it's worked pretty well for me.

>>9957696
If it's my best work, I put both on the same page. Because of cons I end up drawing a lot more high quality fanart than original art nowadays, but if I manage to eek out a good original, into the main portfolio page it goes.

>>9960114
I used to sell some stand-alone stickers of charms I had, and I found they basically compete with each other, and one of them will cannibalize the other until the other is gone.

In my case, people totally ignored the sticker version until the charm version was sold out.

>>9961505
I use the same art for both charms and stickers. But I charge $5 for stickers so everyone ends up buying the charms especially since the charms are double sided with different art.

>>9961153
>Some idiot company could walk into a courtroom tomorrow and start a new case which will fuck all fanartists, like the recent tax rulings that might fuck all small internet businesses. Law isn't immalleable. Someone could make a law tomorrow that overreaches and forces cons to go original only.
we're living in the boom, better enjoy the timebomb while we're still eating it

>>9959593
actually, adding to this: does merch of OCs actually sell? i see someone selling keychains or whatever with their webcomic character every con, and i always wonder if anyone actually buys that.

>>9961383
the good >>9961436 is correct, i just thought the picture was interesting.

>>9961762
Assuming you don't have a decent webcomic fan following, I think if your OC is "aesthetic" it'll still sell. I know a handful of people whos original stuff sells well because their style is appealing and they draw trendy looking characters. (Monster girls, appealing furries, pastel fashion/street fashion, etc)

Someone just asked me to donate an item to their convention charity
on etsy
to a con I never heard of
in a different country

yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Dumb question: is there a specific name for the little 3D effect made when the foreground and background are printed on the same side but on different layers (like in pic related)? I thought it was just called foreground printing, but I don't seem to get many results when searching for that. I know Acorn Press does it for charms, but I was looking to do it for some acrylic stands instead. Haven't asked Vograce yet if they do it for charms and stands, but I was wondering if there was a more commonly-used term for it before I do so since I don't want to confuse them.

>>9961790
Maybe "Double Layer printing"? This looks like a Vograce charm though I've never known anyone personally who has tried it with them. I know Vograce definitely has the technology because they offer double board acrylic to protect to reverse side of charms..

>>9961441
Printing a nice zine can run up over a thousand in collective costs, as can certain types of apparel or rare goods like figures and plush. Some people go hard, man.

>>9961790
acornpress was the first one to do it, so i'm pretty sure "foreground printing" is just something they came up with to describe it. maybe just send photos of charms with the effect to help explain it? i've seen charms from overseas that have had it done but i don't know what company they used. acornpress might do stands too if you ask them, just expect the turnaround to be long since it's one person.

This. This is the shit that pisses me off. This is why there are conventions filled up to 2020. This is why Katsucon gets 900 applications. This is why Liberty City Anime got 1,500 applications.

These bitches hearing you can make 3k in 3 days, and now everyone does shit like this to aim for income because America has a shitty job market and were a generation full of autists.

>>9956693
Did anime nyc actually give out rejections? Or is everyone who didn't get in just on a wait list?

Also, about the ban of fanart argument. I am mostly an original artist. My original work sells just fine, and I even sell stuff of random ocs. At craft and art fairs or "art in the park" type events, as I have enough of it to leave the fanart at home.

At anime conventions though, I'm lucky if I can even sell 1 button of an animal on it. I never move any of my prints or stickers though that aren't fanart.

I do wish fanart would be banned, because it's not a case of "your content must not be good".

If conventions banned fanart, it would give people less to choose from and then they would ultimately put more money into original content. A lot of weebs are ADHD or autistic. There can be amazing original art they were about to drop money on, but if they're distracted by all the massive fanart around, that will impair them to even pay attention to the original art.

>>9961918
Come on man, art in the park type venues and anime cons are entirely different demographics, it’s not just “the autists are too easily distracted”
At least short term all that’s gonna happen with a fan art ban is most people are going to look at AA and go “man, AA’s shit this year” and leave, the people who were looking to drop $200+ on their faves are not going to automatically drop the same kinda cash on whatever’s “left”

Can y'all stop referring to socially awkward people as autistic? Autism is an actual condition that makes up a small percentage of people in America. It's a serious condition, not a term people can just use to refer to others in a derogatory manner.

I'm sure that there do exist weebs that are actually autistic, but just because some people are just socially awkward doesn't make them autistic.

>>9961918
If AAs banned fanart I just wouldn't buy anything, I'd commission people online.

Has anyone heard anything about Keystone Comic Con?

>>9961892
Can perler bead booths just be banned? Unless they're actually coming up with their own designs and not just ripping off of existing game sprites, they're just an eyesore in artist alleys to me. That and candle/soap/perfume makers who literally just slap on some dumb fandom-related label on their shit. I like the ones who put in more effort though, like making custom molds.

>>9961939
Anime communities probably have more autistic people than average, so when people refer to them as autists, 85% of the time they’re probably telling the truth.

Also sorry you have autism.

>>9962007
nayrt
You really think >50% of people who attend anime cons have autism when it affects ~1% of people overall?

I'm not even sure what autism has to do with being "distracted by fanart". Autism doesn't make you too stupid to know what you're interested in or what you want to buy. Don't use people's mental disorders as an excuse for why your original art is unappreciated.
And I'm not trying to defend earning money from fan art necessarily; legally speaking it's true that it's not permissible.

>>9961939
>>9962007
>>9962022

>>9961918 here. Actually, I wasn't trying to mock people. I was being serious, and I'm diagnosed with autism myself. I've noticed that anime tends to attract a lot of people with it. That, or there's just more people self dxing due to their social awkwardness. The detraction can happen easily with autism in the aa because usually theirs a show or two that is someone's special interest.

>>9962022
>You really think >50% of people who attend anime cons have autism
fairly certain you read what that anon said wrong. More than average of the regular population, so instead of 1%, at cons its, like, idk, 10%

Anime *definitely* draw a lot of autistic people though. Thats not some insulting thing or anything, just a very obvious observation.

>>9961892
Actually I disagree, it's actually high end artists flying in across the country raising the bar. Normally those great art booths would do super hot with local artists or mediocre artists doing just table or negative. But now it's going to be hot after hot after hot artist, you all are going to make a bit less and the money is going to spread out, is my prediction. So if the best artist of 3 made 3k, the booth next to you that's ok did 1k, and one pearler made 500.... Next year of submissions all the BEST artists apply and get in and suddenly you all only make 1,500. Because your neighbor did 1,500, and the other made 1,500 and you all are on par, but there is no attendance growth or bigger wallets.

>>9961918
easily 80-90% of artist alley customers are people who come to the alley to SPECIFICALLY buy fanart, because that's the market for them. Don't be so dense. The entire purpose of conventions is to attract FANS of something. There are other markets (art fairs, galleries, craft shows etc) for original art. I'm sick of people whinging because this ONE space doesn't cater to them.

>>9962068
I hate proxy artists as much as the next local but as a consumer and also not a shit artist i'd infinitely prefer if the general standard of artist alleys was much higher lol. It would also push people to diversify what they sell, in merch, style and content imo

>>9962043
Thanks for the explanation. I'm not really convinced yet that a lack of the show they are especially interested in would cause increased interest in other stuff but I guess that's getting off topic.

>>9962052
Fair enough, but in that case, I find it hard to imagine that the 10% are a significant reason for why original artists (generally speaking -- not specifically of the anon who brought this up) struggle to be successful at an anime con. You'd expect these 10% to only make up 10% of the spending power, and the remaining 90% from the vast majority of attendees i.e. people who aren't "distracted by fanart" due to autism. You don't need to appeal to 100% of the attendees to make money.

>>9962097
>what they sell, in merch, style and content imo
imo the issue is that you can only do so much until you're basically selling bootlegs. Rubber straps for example rub me the wrong way.

>>9962140
>mfw wished more fanartists did rubber straps
I just prefer them to acrylic since they feel more sturdy. And official acrylic goods exist too, but most don't have a pet peeve for fanmerch keychains for some reason.

>>9962151
NAYRT but acrylics were most widely a fan goods thing before official ones started coming out - at least in the western market. I used to work at an American licensing company and rubber straps were specifically included in their contracts but acrylics weren’t. I think it’s more that rubber steaps have been a staple of official licensed merch in the U.S. market for a long time but there aren’t any Western companies doing official acrylic merch.

>>9960900
Yeah ok, why not. Here are my regular vinyl 1 inch stickers, and 3inch holos. Both of these are some of my best sellers at cons. Honestly my fanart sometimes sells but cute animal shit goes all the time, especially because my partner and I aren't really the 'cute shibas and kittens' type of animal nerds...

>>9960909
Cricuts seem pretty good- we've got a Silhouette Portrait that my partner picked up second hand for like, 100$. It's a naughty robot some days, but its sooo nice when it behaves.
For holo, hop in on a group order on AANI for the 8.5x11 sheets. Yes you apply that stuff (its sticky on one side. you're applying a sturdy sticker coating to another sticker), but for regular vinyl stickers, the best thing you can do is print on vinyl sticker paper that you've ordered online. It'll be cost effectve, and you'll save yourself a lot of work. Using gloss contact overtop of the cheap staples paper works.... but its just not as nice as already glossed printable vinyl.
Having the barrier of laminate/vinyl over your stickers makes them a little more damage resistant, so it's pretty important. People love to slap stickers on phones and laptops, two things that get touched frequently. It wont always make them waterproof, but it does help them last longer.

>>9962154
Sorry to doublepost - but I also forgot to say that with acrylic merch it’s very clear that somethig is a fanwork unless you’re pulling shady shit and drawing things in the show’s style. It’s very easy and distinct to tell something apart from official acrylic merch. Rubber straps are a much more grey area since it’s harder to tell from a glance if it’s official or fanmade since even official rubber straps can be made in different styles (like those AoT ones etc). There’s also a history of Chinese companies bootlegging rubber straps as well so just given the industry context, they seem in poor taste.

>>9962155

Thanks again for the advice, as you can tell I’m just starting out making stickers and such. I’m planning on getting printable vinyl for my stickers. Any shops you recommend?

>>9961762
Like >>9961783 said if you have a very aesthetic appealing OC yes they can sell(some of my OCs built around aesthetic only sell better than some of my fanart charms). But some people apply to cons with original/fanart requirements a lot of my friends have OC charms because of that

>>9961829
>>9961845
Thanks for the advice. I've tried searching stuff like "double layer printing", "multi-layer printing", etc. to no avail, so I'm guessing there isn't really a specific term for it? But yeah, I also thought Vograce should have the technology to do it but I couldn't find anything on their website to suggest that they offer this particular form of printing. I'll try asking them about it, I have a few different example pictures so hopefully they'll get what I'm trying to say.

>>9962192
No worries! this is actually our first year tabling and we've just been taking notes like crazy as we figure shit out. We picked up loads of advice from this thread prior to starting, so it's only right that we turn around and drop our own back in.
I'll tell you right now, I HATE the Silhouette vinyl they sell at Michaels, so not that one. its extra sticky, not waterproof, and leaves little bits everywhere (and gunks up your scissors! ew!). Don't know if cricut has a similar option, but I'd say it'll likely be the same hell.

Lots of people like onlinelables for their variety of options, and i usually hear good things about their durability. Photopaperdirect too. AANI regularily has people reviewing purchases and recommeding places (the search option is nice for pulling up everyone elses questions and answers), so make use of that to shop around on where to get decent product for a decent price. AANI can be absolute garbage at times, but there are some uses for the group.

>>9959195
> everyone's gay and hates kids now
Yeah, maybe try not to ask if people will judge you while prejudging everyone else. Cunt

>>9962140
does anyone have any rubber stamp inspo?

>>9961918
Ohayocon banned fanart years ago and their AA is a flaming trash heap. I haven't seen anything exciting or innovative in years in that AA, and additionally I haven't bought anything in AA since 2009 there. I don't really want your OC or your cat ears. I actually don't think I bothered going to AA last year.

>>9962155
These are so cute! Thank you for sharing anon! 10/10 would buy

any CA anons happen to know if the new CDTFA system takes longer than BOE did? my permits used to get approved same day but it's been a few days and I haven't heard anything.

>>9962495
Just call them. Whatever is holding up your app can usually be taken care of over the phone in a few minutes once you get past the hold times.

>>9962499
yeah that's the plan, part of me was hoping I wouldn't have to call them again since I already went through hell just trying to get my account back

>>9961762
About 30-40% of my sales come from my OCs. They're very aesthetic though. I get a lot of sales from people who are not into particular fandoms but walk by and decide they have to have it.

>>9956920
I mean other than working harder and getting better yourself there's not much other alternatives.

Anyone bought those gachapon machines? Do you think it was worth the investment?

>>9962752
Yes and yes. AA taught me that people are natural gambling addicts. If you thought blind bags were the shit, wait until you load up a gachapon machine with B grade pins and charms.

>>9962807
I really want to get one because I'm a gambling addict myself and would probably self-indulgently play with it, but an artist I met said it wasn't really worth it. Would you mind which type of machine you got? The person said theirs got jammed a lot.

>>9962752
I had a friend draw ALL the Pokemon (pin back buttons) and her gachapon machine did super well! Constantly refilling. But customers would camp at her booth to trade with others whos trying the machine.

>>9962817
I bought mine off of Amazon on a whim. It was $100 with free shipping and it's from Bandai. There is nothing special about it, but I covered mine in stickers of my art so it would look cool.

>>9962835
Oh nice. I think the artist had a costzon one. Thanks for your help, anon!

I'm trying to find dick buldge mouse pads, but I'll I'm finding on Ali is boobies. Any help?

>>9962848
No.

>>9962848
No one will help you, no one who makes mousepads will share their sources. You're better off messaging a bunch of the boobies ones and asking if they can do the shape.

>>9962807
>>9962817
tfw you're desperately poor but also extremely morally opposed to gambling and gatcha

>>9962854
cut people off at a certain amount of tries and just give them whatever pin they're after. there's still a thrill aspect because you could get the pin you want for a lot cheaper but you won't have to watch dumb kids gatcha-ing their con money away

>>9962854
I wish I was a good person. I'm a scumbag and I have gacha exclusive pins.

Katsucon feelings?
Did they actually do rejections? Or did everyone who didn't get in automatically get put on a wait list? I don't see any people on AANI saying they got rejected and I'm raging at some of the people who got in.

>>9962898
Pure evil

anybody vendoring/aa at ctcon next year? kinda confused with the hotel situation. Is the hotel connected to the con center booked? I haven't received a link yet.

>>9962854
I have an "exchange button" taped to the machine. If the buyer doesn't like the one they got, I offer that they could exchange it for the taped one.

>>9962900
Its an entirely newly run alley and convention head this year so honestly who knows? It looks to me that they are only doing rejections by waitlist this year.

>>9962372
There's a lot of really good illustration artists in the Ohayocon Artist Alley, it's a shame that they keep putting in shitty tails and bad crafters in there.

I go to a ton of conventions, and all my favorite art trades were from Ohayocon since there were quite a few good gothic and gore artists there. Of course they were in the back while some of the worse 3D artists were front in center

(in before 'you just hate crafters' I'm a crafter/3D artist myself)

>>9962853
That's what I figured, but it was worth a shot.

>>9956623
I bought from vograce and got a message from the seller that my package is held by customs for undervaluing. I did not ask for undervalue and they did it without permission and i don't know what to do ....

>>9963319
You need to contact Vograce about this and let them know they can refund you and redo this order the right way or you can get your refund and go elsewhere. Either way, you need your money back because they fucked up.

>>9963326
What i planned to do is ask for them to refund me the customs fee, but i don't know if that will work

>>9963329
Just ask. What's the worst that could happen? They say no.

>>9961762
I have a friend who people REQUESTED merch be made of their personal self-insert OC (the kind that they draw instead of a selfie on announcement posts etc). The keychains sell quite well. It's a pastel goth object head, so definitely #aesthetic, though.

>>9962900
How is Katsucon's AA? I am a resin jewelry artiest and really surprised I got in desu

How long does a vograce order take in summer? I usually receive my packages in two weeks max. But this time I ordered on July 17th and still haven't received anything. I'm wondering if it's due to the summer orders or if my packages is just... lost lol.

>>9963196
do you have more details about this? I thought the AA head was already a new one last year or the year before?

>>9963423
You should really follow up with whoever was the person you contacted. I ordered July 20th and received my package on August 2nd. It's possible they could have sent your package off already without notifying you (this happened with me before I sent a message asking for updates) but you should definitely follow up to make sure.

>>9962898
I saw somebody at a con with some pins I wanted but they were only in their gacha machine so I just didn't buy from them lol, I would've even paid more just to get the pins and not have to go through the spectacle of cranking a machine for something I didn't want.

>>9963480
You should have asked! Most artists are more than willing to do things like that. They're working for themselves, not some company whose rules they have to follow.

>>9963423
They're past their busy period everything should be taking 2 weeks again, I've done 2 orders back to back in July(about a week apart) and received them in about 11-12 days each one. They never email me tracking anymore and idc cause DHL texts updates to my phone but you should email your contact asking for an update

How worth it is it to stay for all of Otakon's open AA hours? I've seen some people say towards the last hour or two it can get really busy so I don't want to miss out if I can get a bunch of sales...

How many people would you say usually pack up and leave vs staying for most of the night.

>>9963424
So in 2017 there a new head who ended up getting forced out. The head of the con ended up taking over the AA for 2018, which is why the application process was such a flaming trash head. Grig stepped down as the head of Katsu this year (he posted about it in AANI) and I know someone else stepped up to run the con and the AA. I am not sure who that someone is (there are rumors that it is the wife of the con head who just stepped down but I cannot confirm that.)

>>9963475
>>9963509

Aw shit. Will do, thank you!

>>9963319
>held by customs for undervaluing
Where do you live? Usually the buyer doesn’t get into much trouble for it, all you have to do is pay the right customs fees then get your package (which you would have had to pay anyway if they wrote the right value).

>>9963514
You're paying to be there, desu I'd stay all the hours. Even if you only make like $50 during the last hour, that's still $50 you wouldn't have if you left early.

I always stay for every open hour at Otakon. The late closing time isn't a problem for sleeping enough since it opens relatively late (11am), the only problem is if you want to eat I guess since a lot of places are closed.

>>9963631
I'll see how Friday goes I guess and ask a friend to pick up dinner or run out and get something quick.

Admittedly you saying staying could make an extra $50 doesn't give me a lot of confidence lol. I'll probably plan to leave early, I'd rather have time to chill then sit around bored, $50 isn't enough for me to stick around past 9-10

>>9963481
I'm a person who prefers the minimal human engagement when I'm shopping so the fear of asking for something and being told no is too intense for me. The pins were cute but not worth it. I understand that makes me an outlier though.

>>9963514
I have never stayed till closing it's bull shit that east coast cons have such long hours and can't even make as much as west coast cons for the most part.

I believe dealer's closes at 8 so i stay one hour after dealer's to catch their rush and bounce by 9 at the latest. If you are still getting a steady stream of customers then stay by all means but $50 isn't worth the lost sleep and the best restaurants starting to close for me.

Animefest @ NYCC just opened applications for AA and they are judging and choosing artists on the 10th.

The most last minute thing ever.

>>9963813
They've been open for a few weeks. Least since early July.

>>9963764
That's what I was thinking and yeah I said in >>9963672 $50 is not worth it...I'll check out Friday but if it's dead past 9 I'm out.

30 minutes - one hour after dealers closes is usually how long I stay in AA but I didn't know if Ota would be better for the late crowd because I've heard so many people praise it. I primarily do west coast, this is my second east coast con guess I'm glad to know to keep my expectations low

>>9963672
Well, me saying $50 is referring to a minimum sales amount that is worth sticking around for in the context of my post. I have no idea what you're used to, but I pulled in maybe 150-200$ during the last hour each day- Worse than every other hour in the day, but by 9-10 everything but bars are closed anyway so might as well stay the extra hour and go drinking afterwards.

Of course if you feel like leaving thats not problem, everyone values their time differently.

>>9963932
That's fair, I appreciate the input regardless here's hoping we all do well this year

>>9963679
>I'm a person who prefers the minimal human engagement when I'm shopping so the fear of asking for something and being told no is too intense for me
I think this might describe more AA customers than you think. Though in general I prefer when I can buy the product I want upfront, gachas can be fun but they need to be cheaper and have a selection of several things I'd like instead of just one item for me to bother with the random chance.

>>9963813
Is anyone even going to this shit show?

just curious, any anons going to Kimikon in Toronto? For a first year show they want a non refundable down payment of $150 for the table, plus who knows how much more. There's so little info on the website other than a table map and a handful of guests. Plus they're charging $60 to attendees for a full weekend? AN charges that and you get way more.

I'm just very wary of how this con will go

>>9964207
None of my cosplayer friends intend on going, so I don't think it's going to do well at all. No one's talking about it.

>>9964207
I applied but they sent me an invoice for $250 despite the site saying $150 and while I don't mind paying $250, I fucking hate hidden fees like that.

>>9964207
Not going. I heard the location they're holding the con is not ideal. Also, I think it's an excuse for Sakimi to have a free con to sell at, while everyone else fronts they money for the venue. $250 for a table at a first year con that's unproven? No thanks.

So ALA is not letting artists split the table this year. Thoughts?

>>9964474
Was considering doing it with a friend, but now I'm more on the ehhh side. $300 for a non-local con that I've heard mixed reviews about is too much of a risk for me to do alone.

Did anyone notice how in the FAQ the first question was where is the room it's being held in? Guess they know how many people want to make sure it's not in a tent again this year.

>>9959452
Populations in the western world are declining if you don't include immigration. This idea has been debunked

>>9964478
I absolutely would not recommend it if you're not local - especially with the price increase. I don't understand why so many nonlocal artists fly out for ALA anyway? It's... really not that big.

>>9964474
Wow really? With all the shit that happened at this year’s ALA why would they want to pull something like that...

>>9964402
What's the whole story with sakimi and this con? I got the impression that it's literally her convention that she's started, or at least partnered with the people starting it, but that seems so strange to me. Why would a con startup partner with a fanartist like that?

>>9964474
Was planning on applying, but not now. 300 for only one artist is too high after the shenanigans pulled last year.

>>9964504
Mainly it would’ve been a nice excuse to visit family in SoCal. For other NorCal artists it’s probably because NorCal doesn’t have as many cons as SoCal.

Okay I can see why they upped the costs because artist is open one more day.
But no table sharing? That’s beyond stupid and people are still gonna do it anyways.
Also don’t forget no food or drink inside the convention center so you have to buy all the overpriced food at the con or food trucks if they allow it.

>>9964569
Oh Norcal isn't terrible. Flights are fairly cheap and you can drive down so it might be worth it for you. I wouldn't recommend anyone flying in from like... the East Coast or something.

>>9964580
SacAnime is only a week or two away, so guaranteed more NorCal people will be opting out of ALA.

The con is still going to fill their alley, most likely, but it's going to be miserable and I wouldn't be surprised if the quality drops significantly.

>>9964537
I mean it's called KimiKon.

Sakimi? Sa-KimiKon?

>>9963422
It's interesting because I think a lot of plush artists got in this year, too. I'm wondering if it's because the AA head changed?

>>9964537
I heard she's blacklisted from Anime North.. and quite possibly from Otakuthon, which is in Montreal, same city where she lives. She hasn't gone to Otakuthon for several years now even though she's local. hmmm

I think she wants her own con where she can have a huge booth to sell all her artworks, nsfw, and self-promo to her hearts content. I would be wary selling as an artist there, because I feel like you'll be small fish fry, while Sakmi will be the main attraction for the con. Which sucks, cuz you're helping her pay for the venue with $250 per table.
I honestly don't think they'll have your best interests at heart? But I hope I am wrong.

Anyone else notice how at other cons, Kimicon staff are selling tickets to their con is by giving them in exchange for people buying Sakimi's art prints?

For example. Buy 1 badge for $50, get 3 free Sakimichan prints.
which is the same as Buy 3 Sakimi posters for $50, get a free badge to Kimicon lmao.

>>9964666
Anon, do you know why she's banned from AN?

>>9964608
I wouldn't be surprised either. In addition to the price increase, there have been some people on Twitter who mentioned that ALA's system got hacked and artists' personal information (including addresses) were leaked. I wouldn't feel safe going.

>>9964709
She was selling prints in the Dealers and they have banned artists from Dealers since 2018. She got warned multiple times, but kept selling (albeit it was framed as getting free prints with ticket purchase, like what other anon said).

>>9964666
I’m pretty sure the blacklisting only happened because of that decision you mentioned regarding the prints with con tickets (it was seen as a violation of artists needing to be signed up to vend at the con, which she wasn’t) so it’s unlikely she is banned elsewhere or that it had anything to do with the initial conception of KimiCon.

I have a lot of items I purchased that I no longer have space for. I don't want to just throw it away.
Are artists ok if I just give it away? If so, how should I find people who want it?

>>9964811
Once you've bought it, most artists don't care what you end up doing with it as long as you don't put it up for resale higher than it's original worth.

I'm a casual artist that has a decent following on tumblr for original gore content but I've never really considered selling stuff at cons because I don't think I could pump out that much unique work that would be appealing to people. However whenever I'm at a con walking through artist alleys I'm baffled by the garbage that gets allowed in; it makes me more confident in my own work but amazed that the con gave those people tables. I don't really know how artists are chosen for these sorts of things, can anyone enlighten me??

>>9964871
Just because they got in doesnt mean theyre making money. You are always free to try, but obtaining a table does not guarantee youre going to make a profit. Artists are chosen in different ways every convention. Can range from first come first serve, to lottery, to jury.

>>9964871
>Original gore content

Please come to cons I need more gore

>>9964871
if you're going to sell shit,at least branch out to occult/witchy/spooky feminist content. gore doesn't have much wide appeal compared to voltron buttons

>>9964871
Most cons give one or two spots for newbie artists to help them start out.

>>9964970
>gore doesn't have much wide appeal compared to voltron buttons
gore is very underrated. Idk why so many people like it but there is a large number of people into it.

>>9964871
There are a couple different ways

>FCFS
First come first serve. Whoever buys the tables first gets to come sell at the con. This can be extremely brutal for popular cons, selling out in mere seconds. It is the easiest for convention staff to manage.

>Jury
People apply with portfolios, and the convention decides which artists get in. Takes a larger time commitment from staff, and makes the AA subject to favoritism and bias, but raises the over all quality of art.

And some conventions use a combination of the two, etc.

>>9964823
Oh resale is OK?

>>9964811
you can probably sell it here https://anime.circlly.com/

>>9965009
Yeah resale is fine but as the other anon said, don't try to scalp people. It's a problem in the itabag community. If you remember the artist you bought it from, source it back to them and don't overprice.

>>9964871
Do you have any friends in the con scene/friends interesting in getting IN TO the con scene? could always try splitting a table first, less pressure to produce a bunch of shit for your first con.

Also gore definitely sells, you just need to cover shit like pastel gore or witchy/occult shit

>>9964474
ALA doesn't even seem to be that big of a con (11k attendance?), yet I hear about it lots. What's with that? I've done well at 11k cons, but I also don't want to cut into profits with the price of the flight if it's honestly not worth it.

Thoughts?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1926746763/japanese-lolita-tea-party-enamel-pins

>>9965954
I'd like the bow pin if it was designed better, it looks so strange though.

>>9965918
It's not worth it. I'd say it's only worth it if your local but even then with a $300 table I'm not sure if it is anymore. People just hear "California con" and come running because there's more money to be made on the west coast (mostly true) but ALA is not one of those money cons.

It was popularized on cgl as a party con back at the old location so a lot of people are like oh ALA = good, but the AA isn't great for profit and the con treats artists like shit.

>>9965918
>What's with that?

So, ALA used to be a super high quality convention who's attendance was tightly capped at 2000. It was infamous for being a great social and party con, and attendee tickets would sell out early making it seem way more exclusive. They decided to finally expand a few years back to allow everyone that wanted to attend actually attend, but that meant moving out of downtown LA, moving out of their iconic hotel, and spreading themselves out among a bunch of smaller hotels, effectively killing the close knit social/party vibe. It's basically just any other convention now, albeit with wide-spread ribbon trading.

Good news, table sharing is allowed again.

https://twitter.com/AnimeLosAngeles/status/1027971492691111936

>>9965967
Yeah, back before when they were in a small hotel with like 20-30 AA tables, I did really well for having a half table. Now with the change to Ontario, I think the con is trying to expand too big and too much, and not enough attendance to support it. I actually sold this year, and I had a lot more new stuff from that first time but I couldn't even make that amount of sales from before.

>>9965954
The cake and bow ones make me think this artist needs to work on line weight and economy (cake just looks sort of flat, bow is a crowded mess.) The other two are cute.

>>9965954
The や in おちゃ looks a little too big. I read it as "Ochiya" instead of "Ocha" at first.

>>9965954
Kind of wish they were using kanji instead of hiragana.
Perspective on the Cake slice is super off.
Are they using screen printing on the cake? Or did they forget that they need metal separating enamel color changes?
The bow pin is going to have a really high defect rate.

I'm concerned that they haven't gotten these green lighted by a manufacturer yet, because I know for certain I'm seeing areas my manu would be really concerned with. There are going to be a lot of delays in KS fulfillment if they haven't even started ironing out the manufacturing kinks yet. That seems irresponsible.

>>9966100
Kanji isn't kawaii and doesn't read as well on small pieces though, so I'm fine with hiragana honestly. But yeah, agree with your other points.

>>9966113
Yeah, it's hard to make Kanji work on small pieces and still be cute/legible. I use free-for-commercial-use fonts for my pins when I go kanji because I don't trust myself desu, so I get going for hiragana instead.

Anyone at otakon ? It’s so slow, was it like this last year?

>>9966023
I had a similar experience. ALA was my first AA in 2017, and for the amount of inventory I had I think I did pretty well. Came back for 2018 and I BARELY broke even. I did have some ridiculous unexpected costs, but in any case my inventory was at least tripled and my art skill had improved, but my sales just tanked. I was super disappointed since I had so much fun at ALA just the year before. I could chalk that up to me just needing to 'git gud' and having increased competition, but I saw amazing artists too who barely had people stopping by.

The attendees were all wonderful though, and I still managed to have fun, but...ALA is huffing itself up to be something it kind of isn't. What a ridiculous AA expansion with no proportional attendance increase--it's pretty clear that it's all for the money and not the artists. I have a bit of an attachment to this con so I kind of still want to attend 2019, especially with the new update of allowing table sharing (I wonder how many complaints they got for that lol, good), but ah...I should still think on it.

(I'm not even gonna mention their shitty security thing, which, I think was in place with ~good intentions~ but DAMN they need to rethink how to enforce that.)

>>9966100
I mean, her being irresponsible wouldn't surprise me. She was spamming our comm page with advertisements.

Both the cake and the teapot perspective does feel wonky though. It almost hurts my head.

>>9966189
What did you make in terms of more exact $ numbers for 2017 vs 2018 and what did you mainly sell if I might ask? It might be worth it for me since I'm local enough, but still debating.

>>9966171
Last year there were dead zones and hot zones, I'm noticing the same case for this year according to my friends. Everyone in the outskirts is really suffering.

>>9966298
Sorry, don't feel quite comfortable sharing my numbers, but it wasn't just my profit that went down, my gross went down (which I thought was actually really sad haha). But in terms of items, just the norm--prints, charms, stickers, pins, lanyards, etc.

If you're local you can give it a shot--maybe find a table partner if you're into that to save table costs. I don't think the new arrangement is so miserable that you'll struggle to earn back your table or anything like that, so it might be worth a try, especially if you don't have much transportation costs to hinder your profit. But as with any con it's hard to predict how sales will go. It just so happened that 2018 ALA was a little disappointing for me given my upward profit trends; I'm sure other people fared much better than I did/kept within their general sales trends.

It might help that they're moving it back into the actual building though; last year I had people tell me they had a hard time finding the AA.

>>9966338
oops, meant *this* year. Hopefully they improve their signage for 2019.

>>9966338
NYART but I'm a local artist and I experienced the exact same thing you said. I did almost 3-4 times my usual ALA number the first year they moved to Ontario in 2017. I think moving from the hotel and giving artists full tables instead of half really boosted my numbers then. In 2018, I made like... almost half of what I did in 2017. It's still better than the numbers I was pulling in when ALA was at the Marriott but it was incredibly disappointing given that my merchandise has grown and I've made more money at every single other convention than the year before. So it wasn't a matter of skill/merch selection. All my friends who are also local and do incredibly well at cons (My friends and I break 5 figures pretty easily at cons or come very close to it. ) said that this year wasn't as good as the year before. So it's not an isolated issue.

ALA's just adding WAY too many artists for the number of attendees. It's hurting sales all around.

>>9966397
Not looking for advice but out of curiosity, how many items do you tend to stock for each item you sell (I assume it depends on what type of products you make and the con size, but a range or average)?

Just wondering because I'm preparing for my first event and tried calculating the maximum possible revenue I could get with the usual recommended 5-10 of everything and it would be only ~$1600 (or "only", I'll be happy if I can get that much as a noob), and that's under the assumption I sell out on literally every single item which is obviously unrealistic.
Do you regularly sell 50+ of all your products to hit $10k, or is it only a handful of extremely popular, reliable sellers that form the bulk of your earnings? Or is it a matter of skill level where you are able to comfortably price above average due to the quality of your work?

>>9966422
The number of items I stock really depends on the con. (I.E. - Is it local? Will I have to pack for flight - in which case there's a weight limit? Is it a comic con? Is it an anime con? How much is attendance?)

Generally, I can sell about 30~40 of my more popular print designs. I have around like 30+ designs total. I've sold 50+ of super popular prints at certain cons as well. I bring around 15~20 of the less popular ones.

I sold around 500 prints at a con this year. That was just the print sales. I sold a lot of my other merch items as well. I price my prints at $15/ea buy two, get one free like everyone else. I've been considering moving to $20 but most of the items at my table are in the higher price ranger so I want to keep something a little more affordable as impulse purchases.

>>9966422
The reason why people recommend stocking 10 each of something is if you're new, you have no history on how many sales you can generate by yourself, some people can get a large amount of sales because they're a regular and people anticipate their work, but you might have problems moving even 2 or 3 of your products depending on your skill level.

The 10 each is not a hard cap, if you find out you can sell more of a certain product, then by all means, stock more. But 10 is so that if you have a hard time moving inventory, you're not stuck with like 50 prints that no one wants to buy for several years.

>>9966427
>500
Damn anon, gz though. Gives me a lot of perspective on how much room there is to grow.

>>9966436
Oh yeah, that's totally reasonable. At the moment I'm not planning on doing AA regularly unless this turns out unexpectedly well and I don't have an online shop, so I'm definitely going to be conservative about stocking...not to mention it's already making me anxious seeing my costs tick up slowly without knowing if I can even break even, so I'll gladly keep my orders small, lol.

>>9966444
Yes, definitely. It's easy to get swept away when you think about ~potential~/hear other people's numbers/worry about running out of stock. Trust me--if you're on the less experienced side, selling out a little early is better than having 20+ of something no one buys!! (That is, unless you run out something crazy like in the first hour, in which...uh....)
Anyway, I made the mistake of overstocking and still have a bunch of some things that never sold from my first couple AAs. All my friends did 5-10 and I was here all "if I only have 5, then i can only sell 1-2 of this each day, and if I sell out then I'll miss out on profit, so what about 10? 15?? this is a popular series so 25??" Didn't help that back then I idolized this one artist who mentioned that she had to bring 75+ copies of some of her prints to her cons soooo yeah no lmao playing it safe is probably the better route!

>>9966422
I understand that the idea is always there to 'maximize' your potential profit, but stick with low numbers that don't hurt so much to stock until you have a better idea. And keep inventory! Don't just count before and after conventions, print out a simple double column form of all your merch and just tally when you get a sale (And record what you spend from your earnings as well, to account for any discrepancies). Not only will this help you keep track of stock and finances easier, it'll give you a clearer idea of how much to stock of each item, especially if you compare sales logs of a few conventions together.

>>9966444
I've been doing this for nearly a decade anon! I was answering your question since you said you were curious but like the other anons said, being conservative is a much, much better bet until you find your footing. I also started off with about like 5-10 of everything when I first tabled.

I remember giving one of my ex-friends this advice when she tried to table at her first con and she didn't listen to me and printed 15-20 of all of her prints and barely ended up selling any. She helped me table at cons before so she was expecting BIG money from the get-go. She blamed me for her lack of profits (even though I told her to print conservatively) and we ended up having a huge falling out and aren't friends any more.

Just go in with low expectations - breaking even at your first con is considered a success! (I made like... $10 after table costs at my first con.) And you can aim higher from there.

>>9966461
I feel like people who blow up at people after they don't make as much $$$ as they originally expected/wanted at AA are just greedy or think AA is a great rich quick scheme

>>9966298
Different anon, but I made 2k both in 2017 and 2018 at ALA, while I usually make 4-5k at the bigger cons (like Fanime). I basically only sell prints.

Speaking of what merch of yours will sell at a table, do you guys think online sales are any indication? I know demographics might be different and you have to account for that at least.

Does Acornpress communicate with you after you order through the form on their website? Also, do they have sample pictures of all the different materials they offer? Last time I visited these threads they were still on break so I don't know what the latest news on them is.

>>9966600
I think that over-saturated mainstream stuff will always do good for me online, but in person it depends on how many other artists carry the same series, how skilled those other artists are, etc. A FOTM print could do really poorly for me at a con if my neighbor has a fantastic print of the same series that blows mine out of the water, but it'll consistently do good online because I have a pretty good idea of my fanbase's tastes.

Anybody else having a huge fuckin LOL at all this idiots being shocked that AUs or 'pokemon/disney ' ~*inspired*~ art doesn't count for otakon's original art rule? it's not like it's a shocking new rule, how hard is it to just shit out some generic anime girl portraits instead of throwing a hissy fit that staff are obviously targetting and being so mean when your display looks like 98.5% fanart?

>>9966857
I saw someone complaining about staff saying that anything inspired by a pre-existing IP is not considered original. Lmao even if it’s derivative work, in what world is that not still fanart.

>>9966903
exactly, if when you post those works online you tag them with fandoms or charactres then...they're fanart...it doesn't matter how obscure your au or alternate design or whatever is.

>>9966903
>>9966937
Is this the person who seems to be arguing that their Hamilton art which is of the actors from Hamilton is not actually fanart because they are based on historical figures? How does someone not grasp the difference between something you created based on your own ideas and interpretations and something you created based on pre-existing media?

>>9966954
actually, where is the line? If you draw Grape-kun, is that fanart? What if you draw a generic penguin?
I figure "fanart" in the context of artist alley refers to copyrighted characters.

>>9966958
If you drew a penguin based on Grape-kun then it's Grape-kun fanart. Whether or not it's legal to sell is a whole separate question, based on whether the zoo owns IP for the penguin and/or its name, whether your art is very close to the photo, whether the photos are owned by anyone, etc. It's a complex case-by-case basis. And whether or not it's legal to sell at Otakon is a whole other issue that Otakon gets to decide, so yeah, they're probably overstepping. But you know even if you don't label the penguin art as Grape-kun then it's still fanart of Grape-kun because you didn't just pick that penguin as reference by accident. There might be a lot of area up for interpretation by observers of the art but the artist could usually answer this question for themselves. They just aren't always honest about it because they want to get away with shit. They KNOW it's not "original." If you're going to put so much work into doing an original outfit design for a character and call it yours, then make your own character too. If you're still getting sales based on your reference, then it's fanart.

So sps just started on AANI and jesus...was the bar set that low to get into Otakon? Like, are they lottery or something? There's so much bad art there, I'm honestly a little shocked. I'm newer to the AA scene, so I haven't even started looking at cons >5hours from me, but I was under the impression that Otakon was a decently hard AA to get into?

>>9967010
It's lottery

>>9967010
A lot of cons are hard to get into because it’s luck based. Dunno about you, but my RNG is shit.

>>9967010
i'm curious to see how many of them end up crying about it being a bad show for them. I'd like to do Ota some day. Maybe next year.

>>9967010
It's "lottery," but they've been known to meddle with the results in the past in order to shadowban certain artists, especially from the West coast/Canada. The decent artists will sign up for the pro-row tables, but those literally cost a grand, so of course only really experienced artists will buy those. Even then it's a much smaller section of the AA so it wouldn't be enough to drown out the trash that generally gets into Otakon

>>9966760
They communicated with me multiple times because I ordered 200+ charms on a pretty tight deadline a few months ago, first giving an estimated timeframe, and then notifying me when they were delayed and when they were shipped since it had to be rerouted directly to my hotel for the con.

It's a step up from the radio silence and their quality/colors are still top notch, but they seem to still struggle with the summer con season, so I would suggest ordering a month or more in advance.

The sample photos of specialty materials on their tumblr are pretty accurate, but it looks like they retweet other people's photos on @acorncharms if you want a better idea of how they look in real life

when is a good time to begin ordering things, would you say? i am a little afraid that, [fanart source] being an ongoing series, it will reveal something new and make anything i print outdated.

>>9967091
Honestly, I've never had 'outdated' be a problem? People just largely accept that a specific piece of merch is from a certain period of time in [fanart source]

ex. I've been doing a lot of Voltron lately and no one ever comments about Shiros hair being all over the place.

>>9967091
I have Houseki no Kuni merch showing Phos in all sorts of forms and all of the merch does well. I get a lot of "I miss innocent Phos" type comments though.

>>9967082
Thanks anon!

>>9967010
>>9967052
Yet it seems to be the majority of the same people yet again who got in last year and every other "lottery" convention along the east coast. Maybe I just have shitty luck though. I'm just tired of seeing the same people.

>>9967352
Since the AA shake up a few years ago it definitely seems like one of those friends first then a few randos to make it look like a lottery.

>>9967353
Probably this.
I run the AA of a con and the friend first thing is utter trash, but truth.
It's not even me. Its people the conchair wants in. It is so glaringly obvious to anyone who looks in our alley who got the pass. (We're juried, it's a pretty huge quality gap) He's like this with our vendors too, and then he wonders why people trash talk the con...

>>9962716