Convention Research.

Over the Easter break I actually attended a comic convention named Kapow Comic Con based in London, whilst there I stopped by several artists tables to check out their work, and a few of which, i managed to steal a few business cards.

I decided to hunt them out and see if I can contact them about the pro's and con's of hiring an art table at a convention. I also managed to get my hands on some of the Pricing information for art tables at conventions. The above image is actually a Art table registration form I managed to get hold of, as you can see it has price information on it, and after a bit of investigation, most conventions charge similar amounts.

I only managed to get a reply from one convention seller, an artist named Jack Lawrence, whom was at Kapow Con selling the first issue of his creator owned comic Tinpot Hobo. He basically told me, that the best thing to do, is to produce prints of your sketchbooks, publish little 10 page art books or small comics to sell at cons. As they seem to be what sells best there. In relation to selling commissions at cons, Lawrence said that it's literally pen, paper and markers. You complete the commissions then and there, and your competing for sales with the best in the industry.

With the above comments in mind, I think it's best to leave the convention idea behind. I havn't the time to create several art books to sell, nor the start up money to be able to print such things, alongside the table cost. £120 - £140, seems a little steep for an initial investment and without any confirmed sales and no reassurance to making sales, it seems like a very bad business decision.

I think that I am going to go with online commissions.