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ogawaburukku
Mar '15
1

Hey guys! I am going to be doing 4 or 5 conventions this July (yes, all in one month, omg kill me) in the USA. I normally do comic events in Japan, where I live, so I am not really used to the Artist Alley scene stateside. I can tell it's a totally different sort of thing, though, with more emphasis on buttons, bookmarks, prints, etc than on books (in Japan it's all about the doujinshi!). So I have a few questions I'd like to ask people who regularly check out Artist Alleys.

For Buyers

  • How would you feel about prints being double-sided? High quality paper, with a different image on each side, full-color.
  • Does it bother you when artists sell prints with their web URL printed somewhere on the artwork? Even if it's small and in the corner or on the side somewhere?
  • How much do you usually pay for a print? What is too much?
  • Do you prefer buttons over prints?
  • What is the number one type of item/artwork you want at an Artist Alley?

For Sellers

  • Do you sell more original or more fan art prints?
  • How do you mark your prints with your name or URL? Or do you not put it on there at all?
  • How many different prints do you have for sale at a time?
  • What items do you have trouble selling the most?
  • Do you sell adult artwork, and does it cause you problems with con staff?
  • White border around your prints, yay or nay?

I really just want to talk about Artist Alley because in about a month I am going to be going all-out getting everything ready to go, and I'm super nervous! I have no idea what to expect and it's freaking me out, haha.

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    Mar '15

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keii4ii
Mar '15

No double sided prints, please! They would be terrible for hanging up on the wall.

I'd really prefer no URL; URL-bearing posters seem like promotional material, something that's given away freely. Like business cards.

I haven't done AAs in 10 years. Back when I was doing them, I'd offer to sign on the back with a little 30-second doodle. Every letter size print came with a free sheet protector, and I'd put a business card in the sheet protector. ^^

Also, all of my prints were borderless, YET the artwork size ratio did not match the ratio of the paper. So I had empty space above and below the art most of the time. I might have put my URL in that space? Can't remember. I know I put the title of the art in that space and made it look really nice. Two or three pictures were accompanied by a short poem, which I also put in that space.

ogawaburukku
Mar '15
1

Man, everyone hates my double-sided prints idea. It would save me SO MUCH MONEY in printing, though, haha.

(dang, I hit reply by mistake!)

b3poster1.jpg645x912 683 KB

That's one of my posters going on sale. I have the comic logo and the URL and my info at the bottom left and very small. Do you consider this to be too much like a promo thing? Because I am definitely a little afraid of people buying my work and then not remembering where they got it from, haha. I've done that many times... buy something and then OOPS, where did I get this? My postcards have the info on the back, like this:

se-ch7-b.jpg1182x1749 499 KB

I would do that with my prints except that it costs a bit more to do color on one side and b/w on the other side.

Thanks for mentioning the border! That's something I meant to put in my questions, actually. The business card in the sheet protector idea is actually a pretty good one, I might try that! Thanks for responding ^^

AnnaLandin
Mar '15

Buying
* Don't do double-sided prints, please! Most people buy prints to frame and hang on their walls - it'd be a shame to have to choose, especially if they like both pictures! If you want to save on printing-costs, just choose fewer images to print. A smaller, higher-quality selection always appeals more to me than having too many choices.

  • I have no problem with artists signing their prints, either with URLs or with just their names! Artists have signed their paintings for centuries. It's normal!

  • What I'd pay depends on the price, paper/printing quality and whether it's black and white or colour. I think 30$ for a nice 11x16 inch print sounds reasonable, maybe a little more if it's a really good quality paper - but keep in mind, I'm Swedish, and my opinion on a reasonable price might differ from that of a US-citizen.

  • I can't really make a choice here! They're two very different products. I like both! Selling both prints and buttons might be a good strategy, if you can afford to have them made.

  • Personally, I like buying 'zines; that is, artists who print their comics and sell them as small comics-issues. I've been doing it myself for years, and I love buying other people's comics! I'll be selling copies of the first 16 pages of Grassblades3 at an upcoming Swedish con. smile

Selling

  • Depends on the con. If it's a dedicated small-press con (like Small Press Expo or something), selling original art is probably easier. Selling prints at a big fan-con, I'd probably guess fan art sells better.

  • I put my name on them, usually, in some way. If I can't, I always make sure to hand the buying customer a businesscard or something so that they can find me online if they want.

  • I've only sold prints a couple of times, but I tend to bring about five different ones. Remember, you need to find a way to effectively display the prints at your table! Having too many means not having enough space! Less is more.

  • This is a hard one to answer; I've mostly been selling 'zines at small-press cons, and making sales depends on a variety of things, like your ability to pull people in to your table, proper pricing, the weather (sunny weather = people are happier and more likely to spend money; rainy weather = people tend to stay at your table longer, increasing your chances of selling something, because they don't want to go out into the rain again), what time of the month it is (proximity to pay day), etc. The one time I did have a really hard time selling a thing was when I was selling an original print at a fan-con. They were perfectly willing to buy my 'zines, but didn't touch my print.

  • I don't, but the small-press cons I've been to have had rules regarding the marketing and marking of adult artwork. Any 'zine containing adult comics needs to be clearly marked as such, and sellers have a responsibility to make sure children don't buy it. Also, people selling prints with a bunch of gory violence/sex and nudity aren't allowed to just plaster those images over/around their tables in any way they want. The small-press cons I've been to have been public, with no admittance paid; people can just wander in. Since this means the staff have no way of restricting access, the sellers are tasked with keeping things under control.

I hope that helped! My experience is specific to Swedish small-press cons, but some things should be universal.

Kura
Mar '15
1

Buying
- I would not buy a double sided print.
- Yes it bothers me when there is a URL printed ON the artwork. I paid for a picture not an over sized business card.
- Lager prints seem to average around 10-20$ here, but I am not in the USA so I'm not sure what the prices there are like. There are also usually discounts and drops in prices as you buy more. Smaller 8 x 11prints are usually around 5$ but I don't come across them often (people don't buy them either, when I did cons 8 x 11's were the hardest thing at my table to sell)
- I personally hate buttons, but people love them so they are really easy to sell.
- Prints, when I go to a convention I go so with the intent to spend money in artist alley. I like art and supporting artists and most stuff in the dealers room I can get online for much cheaper so there is really no point in throwing my money away there. If there is original art at a table I will most likely buy that as opposed to fan art, but a lot of artists just do fan art.

Selling
- Fan art sells more here by far.
- I do not put my url on my prints, I stick to business cards or really simple cards that I can package with each item. A lot.
- 8 x 11 prints are the hardest to try and sell around here.
- I don't do adult work, but there are plenty of artists that do and don't run into any problems (this is dependent on the con of course)
- I don't like having the white borders in mine, and even when I buy prints I spend WAY too much time after the conventions cutting the white borders off the prints I bought... I duno... I just... hate them. A lot.

This is all regarding conventions around here so I don't know how much this will help since you're talking about USA cons.

rainbowolfe
Mar '15

Buying:
1. I bought double sided prints once, and regretted it that day because I couldn't decide which side I wanted XD Greatest dilemma ever
2. I don't really mind stuck_out_tongue its like a water mark
3. The last print I paid for was like 8 dollars and they had a sale going at the time.
4. I prefer prints mostly because I always lose my buttons ^^;
5. Posters!!! Oh, and maybe like keychains/trinkets I can put on my keys

ogawaburukku
Mar '15

I'm kind of late in getting back to everyone, but thanks to all the great input! It really gave me a lot to think about.

I have to admit to being totally shocked that so many people (I've also asked on other forums) are opposed to double-sided prints. There's got to be a psychological thing to it. For me it would save me a TON of money on printing to do a large order of double sided prints instead of two smaller, separate orders for two different illustrations. I figured this would be okay since if people liked both sides of the print, they would either A) be satisfied that they got two for one or B) buy a second copy of that print so they could have one copy for each side. That seemed fairly logical to me since if I were to sell these prints separately people would have to buy two prints anyway to get both illustrations.

I think people feel like they are getting cheated if they have to buy the same thing twice, when really it's the same thing as if they were already separated... and I thought people would be able to see that, but my research has shown that that is absolutely not the case. It looks like I am really going to have to reconsider my double-sided prints idea, because most people aren't wired that way, haha. Rats.

As for everything else, I appreciate all the thoughts and comments. All of it has been really useful.

If anyone else wants to add to this thread, go for it! I'm still trying to figure out what to do, anyway.