New Haven Comic & Collectible Spectacular

The New Haven Comic & Collectible show was indeed Spectacular!  Held at the YMCA hall, it was a cozy convention that reminded me of the ones I went to in Michigan growing up.  It was great to meet everyone who stopped by my table!  Many thanks to people who bought something - you helped me make back my table money!  Pretty good for my second convention.  Some things I learned:

1.  Be flexible with how you lay out your table.  My table wasn't facing the main route of foot traffic.  It looks like it's on a corner, but that was kind of tucked away near the exit door.  So I couldn't set up with everything at the center of the table.  Instead, I moved the attention grabbing items to the corner where the traffic was.  To maximize getting people's attention, I put a mindy indy sign on each side of the table and set up The Misfortune Cookie comics at both angles.

2.  Don't give away too much for free.  At the Bronx Heroes Con, I gave away my Aer Head stickers for free.  This time I got the table last minute, so I didn't have time to reorder stickers.  So I came up with the idea to only give a free sticker with purchase of an Aer Head mini comic.  It's a good marketing device to sell the mini comics, and I also save money on stickers because it costs about $20 for me to print 5 sheets.

3.  I may apply the same procedure in #2 to the free fortune cookies as well.  I love fortune cookies and I thought it was a good "hook" to get people's attention, but at this convention a lot of people refused the cookies and passed by.  Maybe people in New Haven are more health conscious?  I may get more buyers for The Misfortune Cookie if I lead with the comic and follow up with the free cookie.  And maybe you'll only get a free one if you buy a comic.

4.  $40 in small bills isn't enough for change.  When the first 3 people give you $20s, this is a problem.  Even asking exhibiting neighbors to exchange big bills will only go so far, because they'll be in the same boat.  It all worked out, though.

5.  Don't pack up early!  Foot traffic slowed down about half way though the con, and other exhibitors started packing up around 1:30pm, when it was supposed to end at 3pm.  I stayed until the end because I came all that way (3.5 hours) and paid for the table.  Near the very end, one guy bought almost one of each item on my table!  He even bought a tally hall comic because he was a fan of the band.  I was almost going to retire those comics because none sold at the last convention, but I sold 3 this time.

6.  Different things sell at different conventions.  See above.  I also sold 2 Aer Head prints, where I didn't sell any last time.  Also, some BRAND NEW items, The Misfortune Cookie Cards, didn't sell at all, but I have hope that they'll sell eventually.  The card is like the cover of the mini comic, but with a blank fortune, so you can create your OWN misfortune to give to someone.  I also have some examples of misfortunes if people get stuck.  It's blank on the inside, so it's versatile for any occasion:  birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, or just for fun.  I give a choice of black and white or hand colored as well, plus a free colorful envelope.  Maybe I need a bigger sign for these or something?

All in all, I'm having a ton of fun getting my work out there and learning on the way!  Talking with people, I found myself referring to my Misfortune Cookie Bites web comic as having a "daily misfortune."  So now, my friends, I bring you:  THE DAILY MISFORTUNE!

Bronx Heroes Comic Con 2012! Mindy indy's Debut!!

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone that stopped by my table at the Bronx Heroes Comic Con!  I had SO MUCH FUN meeting everyone and was thrilled that people liked my comics!  Seriously, it's one thing when my friends and family say they like my artwork, but it's a whole other level of awesomeness when people I've just met like my work!

It was so fun that people wanted to take their picture with me!  I'm very photogenic, so I totally loved it :)  I felt like a celebrity!

Some young people also asked me to look at their portfolios.  It was great to see everyone's different artistic styles!  It was only 2 years ago that I was the one showing my portfolio around to exhibitors at comic conventions, so please keep at it, guys!

Some of my friends came to see me too!  Rachel came all the way from Park Slope (seriously, it's a long way from Brooklyn to the Bronx!)  You go, girl!

I loved when people wanted me to sign the mini comics they bought :)  I made sure to sign them as "mindy indy" instead of "Mindy Steffen" (my real name).

You may notice some people with blue bandages on their arms - there was also a blood drive at the con.  People were encouraged to donate blood and "be a hero" because it really does save lives.  The con reached their goal of a lot of donors - I forget how many.... but it was totally reached!

I also have to say how awesome it was to be sitting next to Jim Salicrup - he ended up promoting ME more than his own company, Papercutz!  When I first arrived at the con, I was put at a table outside, but all my mini comics and merchandise were flying away, it was SO hot and I was getting sunburnt, and the location wasn't getting much foot traffic.  Not an ideal situation.  I went inside and saw Jim (who I knew from before) and he offered the other half of his table, which was so much better!  Jim even helped bring people to my side of the table and was really hyping up mindy indy!  The way he talks can really draw attention!  I probably wouldn't have met half the people or sold half as much stuff if he wasn't there.  It was truly an honor to have his support.

To give back in a small way, let me say a bit about Papercutz!  Papercutz publishes comics and graphic novels for kids and tweens, featuring classic characters like Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and even the Smurfs (it was a Belgian comic before the animation) and Tinker Bell (ok, I still love Tinker Bell and I just turned 28 :)  Papercutz has a team of writers and artists that create new stories but also publishes foreign comics.  Jim Salicrup is the Editor-in-Chief and always works super hard to bring these comics into the hands of young comic lovers.  He was giving out tons of FREE Papercutz comics at the table!  About half way through the con all the comics had gone, and Jim was just chatting with people about how great mindy indy is :)

Here's a close-up of my table.  I just finished my new mini comic, The Misfortune Cookie!  As you may guess from the title, it's about a fortune cookie that predicts bad things but in a comical way.  I gave away free fortune cookies (the normal kind, not misfortunate ones) which was a great way to tell people about the comic.  Last week I bought a HUGE bag of fortune cookies from a local Chinese restaurant, and it was very difficult for me to resist eating them before the big day!  I was afraid I'd run out of cookies at the con, but I even had a few left over.

I absolutely loved people's reactions to The Misfortune Cookie!  I sold 32 copies at $1 apiece, which was pretty good for the first time selling comics in my opinion.  I'll be posting The Misfortune Cookie in the next blog post!  I'm also excited to think of more misadventures of The Misfortune Cookie - I want it to become a regular web comic.

Also on the table was my Aer Head section.  I sold 6 of those (a harder sell at $2 each, but the printing was more expensive for color).  Some people were really interested for when the graphic novel comes out, and that makes me SUPER EXCITED!  I'll work even harder to finish this 45 page craziness knowing I have the support of others :)  Nobody bought the Aer Head prints (bottom left corner of the pic).  Usually prints are good sellers at cons, but for some reason they just didn't fly.  The Aer Head stickers were a big hit with the kids, though!  I was planning to sell them for 50 cents each, but it was more fun to give them away.  In the middle of the table I had my tally hall comics.  Not one sold.  Strange - fans of the band love it, but maybe "a band with musical super powers" doesn't have much universal appeal?  I also wasn't promoting that as much as the others.  The big draw was definitely The Misfortune Cookie!

Jim drew these cute signs :)  Again, I can't emphasize enough how awesome this guy is!!

All in all, the Bronx Heroes Convention was a success for mindy indy :)  I want to exhibit in more cons!  People say it's addictive, and now I know why.  I'm just glad I finally made another important step towards making my dreams come true :)  Again, many thanks to everyone that visited me at the convention, and I hope to see you again!  Feel free to leave a comment on this blog too.  I added everyone to the mailing list that signed up, but a few addresses were hard to read.  If you signed up on the list at my table and haven't gotten an email from mindy indy, you can always enter your email in the green box to the right and you'll be put on the list.  Thanks!!!

The Tally Hall Comic

This week I'm preparing lots of material to exhibit at the Bronx Heroes Comic Con, which is THIS SATURDAY.  I just printed out some "tally hall" comics I did a few years ago.  The comic is about a band called tally hall (an actual band) that has musical super powers.  Set in the city of Ann Arbor, MI (where tally hall and I went to college), a crazy guy called Mr. Misnomer tries to take away all sound.  Will tally hall be able to stop him?  The comic is still pretty funny even if you aren't familiar with the band.  Each member has different colored ties and in the pic above I'm hand coloring each one, because it was cheaper to print in black and white.  But I forgot how LONG it took!  I colored about 7, and I think I'll do the rest on the subway to the Bronx next week.  Gotta make the best use of my time.  Here's the first part of the comic:

I'm also working hard on my new comic short - it's a surprise, though, but I can't wait to post it!