Ghost Comics Glasgow Little Report

On Saturday I had half a table at the Ghost Comics Festival in Glasgow. I'd never been to a comics show in Scotland before. It went well in the end. It was a good show and well organised. It was more like the zine fairs I've been to than I was expecting, with a lot of zines and prints, but with a very international crowd of exhibitors, Kus had a stall and Stripburger and there lots of other exhibitors from Europe. I should have took more of my zine like comics along, and a few less big books. I didn't sell anything till half two so I was getting worried but then it was busy for the rest of the day so I was happy by the end. This was the first show for many years where I didn't really know anyone there so that was a bit odd. I missed having someone to moan to when I was feeling worried early on. It was good to be selling comics to new people though instead of getting a bit lazy and just having a nice chat, though its always fun to catch up with people. I did some trades with the other exhibitors and got some good stuff that I will read once I recover.

I was feeling pretty rough all weekend as I had caught a nasty cold the week before, so I was very snuffly and a bit groggy all day, but I was alright once I got some sales in and starting talking. I sold all my contributor copies of Simon Moreton's 'Lettuce Bee' zine which was good. My best seller was the 'Ragnar the Cheesemonger' comic. It was three hours each way on the train so that was a long day, it would have been easy but there were loads of train cancellations and delays due to flooding, which made it a bit worrying. Thanks everyone who had a look at my stuff!

RobotCon Sheffield Report

It was RobotCon on Saturday so I had a half table next to Nick Soucek. It was a lovely sunny day which hurt the numbers at the show, I think, a lot of people had gone for a day out in the sun instead. It was a bit quiet and I had very poor sales early on and got quite depressed. Luckily it picked up after two o'clock  so I did ok in the end. It was very nice to meet up with all the cartoonists again and catch up. Thanks everyone who came along to my stall and looked at stuff or bought something! It was a nicely set up show again, in a good room, with some actual windows so we could see the sunshine.

Little Sheffield Zine Fest Report

I enjoyed Sheffield Zine Fest again this year, it is a very friendly show. I didn't quite break even on the day but I was only a few quid off so that doesn't matter. The first few hours went really well and the fair was busy but I became very sleepy in the afternoon. I think I am not used to sitting in a room without any daylight anymore. I drank a bunch of coffee to try and wake up again. It went good again in the last hour and I woke up. Thanks everyone who came to my stall and looked at things, or bought something, I hope you liked it!
Sheffield is always a very good show for lots of people looking at my stuff and flicking through, instead of just looking at the covers and then walking off, so that always makes me happy.
I did some trades as shown below-

I got 'Ballgame no. 1' by Paddy Johnson, 'Parallel Lines' by Richard Swan,  and 'Ground' by Lee Taylor. They all look cool so I'm looking forward to reading them this week.

Thought Bubble Report

I really should have taken some better photos...  here's a boring one of my stall.

The Saturday at Thoughtbubble started very quietly as usual for sales, I was getting worried but then I had ten good minutes of sales. They were the best ten minutes I've ever had. I sold lots of my 'Storytellers' book which was nice. Thanks everyone who came and bought something! After that it went quiet again but I was happy, thinking that maybe Sunday would be good too, like it was for me last year.

I had a good night out with everyone on Saturday night and woke up Sunday very hungover and sleepy. Sadly Sunday was really really quiet, so in the end I sold less comics than last year. I just sold some comics to other cartoonists near the end of the day, thanks cartoonists!

I think that as the convention had got so much bigger the money was more spread out between the stalls. There didn't seem to be any more customers than last year, just more stalls. In the end it was ok, I met lots of people and had a good laugh, but didn't sell enough comics.

The train home was easy luckily, I got a seat all the way for the first time ever. But now I have come down with a nasty convention cold, never mind. Luckily I've got a few days off now.

Bristol Comics and Zine Fair Report

 Bristol Comics and Zine Fair went really well. I went down on the train on Saturday morning. It had got really sunny by the time I got to Bristol. The venue at The Station in the middle of town was really nice, a good big room with plenty of room behind the tables and lots of windows, and even a big door with some outside seating which was a nice change from sitting in the dark.

It started pretty busy but then there was a lull from about two till half three where I was getting a bit worried about my sales. Luckily it got really good after that and I had a great day for selling my comics. It was one of the best days I've had anywhere.

The after party was also cool, with good bands and nice Bristol made beer.

Thanks to all the organisers and everyone who came along! I'm very happy with it and would definately go again. Tomorrow I'll put up my comics haul once I've read them all.

Comica Comiket Report April 2013

 Here's the obligatory photos of my stall at Comica London on Saturday. For this show I went down on the train very early in the morning and came back at night. It was a shame to miss the drinking and talking at night, but I couldn't afford a hotel, plus I had to do a farmers market on the Sunday. I'm very tired now, it was a long weekend.

I was worried about this show after all the news about them not doing any advertising until the last minute, but in the end it went very well. I sold lots of comics and met a lot of people I haven't seen for ages. As there are so many shows now, and its getting difficult to get tables at them, I don't see everyone as often. The show started a bit slow but got really good about one o'clock.

Even though I sold a lot of comics (for me, it's the most I've ever sold at a London show which is cool!) I didn't manage to make a profit on the day due to the price of getting to London and back. If the organisers can announce these shows earlier so I can get a cheaper train ticket I would go again, though I'll probably only do one London show a year. Slightly cheaper tables would help too.

Here's my haul of stuff I bought, traded and was given. I got 'The Dessinators' from Francesca Cassavetti which is the book they did for Angouleme this year. From Douglas Noble I got 'Certain Events in the Years Prior to the Death of Abernathy Saint' which was really interesting and a part of his 'Lives of the Saints' story.
I really enjoyed OD Pomery's 'Between the Billboards - Part One', I'll have to get some more parts of this story as it's really good. Colin from Accent UK kindly gave me a copy of Josh Kramer's 'One Place, One Cheese' about making cheese in Vermont as I am a cheesemonger.
I bought Hirst and Wells 'Department of the Peculiar - Part Two' which I liked a lot. I thought it was better than the first part as the story is getting going now. Sarah Graley gave me a copy of her Hourly Comics Day comic which was fun.
Also I traded my 'California' series with Dan Berry for his 'After we Shot the Grizzly' and 'Hey You' books which were great. I especially liked his sketchbook from Algiers and his 'Grey Man' stories.

Thanks everyone for looking at my stuff at the show! Its all on sale at my website.

Leeds Thoughtbubble Report 2012

 Here's the obligatory boring photo of my table at Leeds.

I got up very early as usual and got the train to Leeds on the Saturday morning. The Saturday was very slow for sales for some reason so I got a bit worried, but luckily the Sunday went great and I sold more than twice as many comics as on the Saturday. In the end I had the best sales of any Leeds Thoughtbubble I've been too. So that was great and I'll definately be back next year with more comics. Thanks to everyone who visited my table!

 It was great meeting everyone again as it's only the second convention I went to this year. Hopefully next year I'll get to do a few more.

I got some really great comics this year. Here's a photo of my haul. I'll write more about them later once I finish reading them all. They are 'The Complete Rainbow Orchid' by Garen Ewing which is a beautiful looking book. I'll read it very soon as I've only read the first two books in the past.  'The Un-Manned Manned Craft' by Nick Soucek. 'Same Day Return' by Sean Azzopardi, which I really enjoyed. 'Insurrection no. 1 and no.2' by Russell Stearman. 'A Corner of Paradise' by David O'Connell which is really good. 'Smoo Comics no.6 ' by Simon Moreton. 'Pyramid Scheme and Other Stories' by Lando.

London Comic & Small Press Expo Report

Here's my stuff on the table at the London Comic & Small Press Expo. I was sharing the table with Francesca Cassavetti, thanks Francesca! Also thanks again to Annie Koyama for kindly paying for my table!

It was a very nice venue with natural light and nice big tables and the show was very well run. It started very slowly though and I was getting worried but it really picked up about 3 pm and in the end I did well. I would definately go back to the show next year. Thanks to everyone who bought a comic!

I didn't buy much stuff due to poverty. I got Francesca's new comic 'Teenage Horror' which is great and has individual lino print covers. Also Nick Soucek's new comic 'A Working City' which was good and the new Bristol based zine 'Bear Pit'.

I had to run off at the end to get to Kendal for my mates wedding do on the train. I made it as far as Preston but then the train I was on was badly delayed and I missed the last connection with a bunch of other people. Luckily the train people were very nice and helpful and sent us to Lancaster on another train and then paid for a taxi for me to Kendal, so I was only half an hour later than I should have been. Then I got drunk at the wedding do and had a dance. Next morning I got up and had a good full English breakfast and then travelled to Nether Kellett to sell cheese for an hour. My mum and dad were kindly running the stall the rest of the time. That went really really well and making money filled me with energy again. Then that faded away on the way home and now I am very knackered.

TCAF Toronto 2010 Report

Here's my brother kindly watching my stall while I went to some talks.

The fancy lifts in the library.

I did fairly well at TCAF last weekend. I sold a few more comics than I did at the London Web & Minicomix Thing so that's not bad. Not great, but nothing to be depressed about. I think I had unrealistic sales expectations as there are so many visitors to the show, but the competition there is amazing with really big names like Dan Clowes and Jim Woodring. I bought some great stuff so I'll do some more posts about my haul later.

The best thing was the talks, on Friday night I went to see Dan Clowes talk about his career and new book 'Wilson' which was a great talk, and on Saturday I went to see Jim Woodring talk about his new book 'Weathercraft'. Jim Woodring's slide projecting computer broke down so his talk was a bit messed up but it was very funny and interesting. He was going to go through every page of 'Weathercraft' and explain what is going on but only about half the slides worked. I was pleased that my thoughts about what was going on were mainly right. Apparently there is a secret word on each page of the book but I have been unable to find any yet.

The Saturday started very quietly for sales as everyone was rushing to see the famous creators first. It was a bit weird and like the first few shows I went to in England as I didn't know anyone there (except Adam Cadwell) so there was no one I know coming round the stall to talk to me like there is at UK shows. The Sunday was a much better day as I went to a talk and sales were better too, I guess people were looking for new people they hadn't heard of instead of just going to the well known cartoonists stalls. Thanks to everyone who bought my comics, especially the lady from Koyama Press (sorry I've forgot your name) for buying three comics near the end!

It was worth going but I wouldn't go again for a good few years as I had a great holiday in Toronto afterwards which made all the travelling and horrible flying worthwhile. I think I managed to see nearly everything in the city so would want to go to a show somewhere else. I always like to combine the comics shows with a holiday so the travel costs don't seem so bad.

Convention Report - UK Web & Mini Comix Thing 2010 & Schmurgencon 4

I had a great time at these two events on Saturday. Here is the obligatory photo of all my stuff set up. I had stolen the idea of making little cardboard standy up things from Dave Hughes.

I had a really good day and managed to sell £40 of comics which paid for my table, so thats excellent! It is very encouraging for the future. There were lots of early sales which put me in a good mood straight away and by half past ten I had already sold as many comics as in 2009. Thanks everyone who bought something or came to talk to me!

After the thing finished I went to Schmurgencon 4 and watched the excellent Schmurgen awards while eating a cheeseburger. These are sure to become the new benchmark of UK Comics awards. I tried to take some photos but my phone wasn't working in the dark, here's a proud Paul Rainey with his award from his blog.

Leeds Thought Bubble Report 2009

My stuff all spread out before the con starts...

There's Dave Hughes and you can see MD Penman's fancy 'Greasy Joe' stand in the middle.

Yay had a very good time at Leeds Thought Bubble 2009. I was sharing the table with Dave Hughes and also sub-let a little bit of it to MD Penman for his Greasy Joe comics. I got the train there in the morning so it was a very long day, up at 6. Sales started well until 1 but then there was a big gap when I started to get a bit worried. But then some heroic fellow came about 4pm or so and bought a pile of comics cheering me up greatly, thank you! I was pleased as I had covered table costs. Sales were a bit less than last year but still best sales of the year. There was a lot of great stuff on people's stalls, I bought a few comics which I will mention on here once I've read them.

The after show party was a good laugh and I even had a dance at the comics disco which had some very good tunes. I was suffering a bit at first afterwards with crazy staring con eyes but the magic powers of beer relaxed my eyes and they gradually returned to normal. I was very rough on Sunday as I slowly got the train home via an odd and unexpected route.

Thanks to everyone who bought my comics!

NEWS- Ant Mercer is doing a work themed anthology, here's a link to it if you fancy submitting some stuff.... sounds cool. The Brave Brave Idiots

Blackburn Art Market Report

Look at the weird place my stall was, it's in the entrance hall of the market which is just like a shopping arcade. I had a fish and chip shop behind me and a fruit and veg stall in front. It was a lot different from being at a comics convention! It was sunny, well lit and well ventilated though. Most people seemed confused and baffled by the idea of comics, I could have done with a big sign saying 'COMICS!!!' but after going to mainly comic conventions before I hadn't thought of this. Didn't sell many comics, I sold three copies of 'Train to Shanghai' and a set of the 'Random Journeys' trilogy. This covered my costs (£5) for the stall and getting there and a cup of coffee so I broke even for the day. I didn't sell any copies of 'The Pasty Anthology' even though they looked very nice in their fancy bags. It wasn't very busy on the market, maybe everyone was outside because it's meant to be the only sunny day this week.
Oh well. I broke even and have learned that markets in the North West (even art markets like this) aren't very good places to sell comics. Many thanks to everyone who bought a comic, I hope you liked them!