Back now from AnimeExpo and I suppose I should talk about the Artist’s Alley at the country’s biggest anime convention.
First off, business-wise, it could have been better. A lot better. My sales were okay, but not any better than at SakuraCon, which is a third the size if not smaller. Yes, the AA was bigger with more competition, so that probably accounts for some of the difference. More people were selling buttons and Disgaea stuff (we didn’t sell a single Disgaea pin, where we usually sell a few), but the traffic in there never really felt like it was a con with 40K people.
For those of you artists out there who are hoping that bigger will be better, I’d recommend you stay at your local cons. So far, out of all the Artist's Alleys I’ve done, my best sales were at relatively small conventions, Nan Desu Kan (really sad I won’t be back there this year) and KumoriCon. This is both in terms of sales of the buttons we make and of my Otaku Survival Guides.
One thing that disappoints me about some of the bigger AAs is the cookie cutter nature of some of the booths. There are quite a few that have the exact same pvc piping displays and the same style of shiny print fan art. Some of the tables at AnimeExpo looked exactly the same because they were by the same guy, but even without that, a number of independent tables also tended to look just like their neighbor. Yes, people buy those pieces, but I can’t help crying for the lack of creativity that comes from numerous prints of Characters X, Y, and Z from the waist up, trying to look sexy. I know people buy them, and the profit margin is good, but… still makes me a little sad. There's a fine balance as a creative business person between making something just because it sells and making something because you want to make it. That’s a line I constantly debate, and I can’t exactly fault those who want to draw something just because it sells. Still, I’m more likely these days to pick up something because it makes me laugh or something original that is beautiful, instead of just another picture of Sephiroth or Orihime.
This isn’t to say there wasn’t plenty of talent in that room! I bought some great prints and plenty of cute little stickers and buttons, plus a nice Death Note doujin in English and an original graphic novel that I have yet to read (but I started, and I love the art, plus the creator was willing to put up with my stupid questions about how he was doing selling the book). Plus, I think between my roommate and I, we bought at least one of every Disgaea piece in the room. I also had a great time talking with some artists I’ve met before, as well as making some new contacts and friends. Plus I had the great joy of talking with Nene Thomas’s husband about some of her upcoming projects and finding out about their own publishing woes. If I see someone with a self-published book, chances are I’m going to start talking to them!
Outside of the Artist’s Alley, I really didn’t do too much at the convention. I went to a meet-up for theOtaku.com, where pretty much no one showed up, and got to talk to the Anime Pulse guys a bit. Most of my day was spent in the alley, from 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening, and after that I was generally pretty pooped. I did shop around the Dealers Hall quite a bit, and like always, I walked away with quite a bit less money, though my spending is getting better. Got myself a Kurtis Prinny!
I was warned when I started down the path of attending conventions as more of a business than just for fun, that it would really become work. And in some ways, it is. I worry about money, I worry about what products we’ll have, and I certainly don’t get to see much of the con. But at the same time, I stopped really attending conventions for the paneling some time ago. And I honestly love sitting at my table and talking to everyone who comes past. So when I’m exhausted at the end of the day, it’s the good kind of tired. And I’ll keep doing this, even if the money isn’t that good and the hours are long. Because it lets me do the one thing I really like to do at conventions, and that’s meet new people and socialize.
