I had Press Start and a preview of Gardenia along with various prints. Canzine was way bigger than I thought and I was pretty intimidated standing in line with so many talented artists.
I was anxious the whole day even sitting with Cody at my side. I am working very hard to make sure this review is as postie and informative as possible. My anxiety weighed heavy on me for most of the day.
Pros:
There was so much room upstairs and down. Even with a 3 foot table I fit everything just fine. So many people had great displays,books and goodies at each table. There was one girl who bought Press Start outright because she liked games. It was the first sale I ever made for my own original art and it felt overwhelmingly satisfying.
We were able to get an extra chair for my hubs at no charge. I was the only one registered but I needed Cody as my table mate. He is the one who runs out for food or watches my table when I want to go meet friends.
This event was close to home! We live 1 hr transit away with pretty fast buses and trains. For that matter there are so many more indie conventions here than in LA. Thats not a surprise as LA is more of a mainstream kind of place.
Staff was very good about making announcements for workshops and other important info. The program was detailed,the goodie bags were rad and it was a nicely lit location.
Cons:
Even with first come first serve seating a table chart would have helped so much! The few conventions I've gone to before had them. I used them to promote the event and where I would be so that people could find me. I was told it was impossible to have a table chart with over 200 vendors. I wonder how SDCC,Anime Expo and so many others do it though? (More volunteers,yes I know....)
As a first time attendee I didn't know what time to be there to set up my table. No conformation email was sent to me so I asked on the facebook event, got no answer. Most of the time it's an hour before the event. I heard it was gong to be busy so I showed up at 10 AM, 3 hours before. To mild surprise there was already a line of maybe 20 people already.
Patrons are very standoffish and quiet. I may be shy in a friend setting but when I talk about my work I get excited. I love being friendly when someone shows interest in my work. I want to show my gratitude by interacting with people.
Some Observations:
Cody pointed out that no one seemed to care about comics. It pains me to agree but yes,most patrons just looked at prints or passed people by. I asked many of the people who stopped by my table if they liked games as Press Start is about gaming. Many said no and also that they're not really into comics either.
It looked like 80% of the vendors were white and I'm playing that down. It feels very weird to be one of very few brown people there. No one was mean to me because of this but it did make me feel like my voice in comics was burred in the sea. I'm friends with or admire from afar many cartoonists of color. So why aren't there more of us selling our comics at zinefests and cons?
These are the books I got and 1 sticker that was the last one. (I feel special). Cat Therapist by:Sarah Chan is the funniest take on cats taking care of you. Miss and the Monster by Lina Wu made me sad & intrigued to read more about Missy's adventures. Map Not To Scale and T(Ri)O by Rasiqra Revulva connected with me on my Toronto newbie life and on sexuality.
Overall zinefests are not like fancons and vice versa. From what I learned at Canzine it's more about making friends who make comics. I'll have to think about it before I apply for this event next year.
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