Comments for Comic Witchery

Comment on What You Need for Streaming Art Sessions by Samantha

Samantha — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:03:18 +0000

For further info, check out TR!guy's article here.

Comment on Conventions and Anxiety–Part 2 by swikan

swikan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:35:11 +0000

Hooray! I inspired squeeing fangirl action!I Thank you, MsDarkstar! And you both make a point that I am going to make in part 3: that you have to introduce yourself and your work to people that are unfamiliar with it and being welcoming at your table is a big part of that.

Mr. Posslq: Don’t we all wish we had the bucks to support EVERY independent artist we enjoyed? *sigh* Reading, commenting and spreading the word is good coin of the realm, though, and is most, most welcome. (Thank you!)

Comment on Conventions and Anxiety–Part 2 by Mr. POSSLQ

Mr. POSSLQ — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:16:31 +0000

I, too get a nasty case of the shyness when I get near famous or talented people, mainly because I’m neither. So, my main reactions are to either: a) hide, or b) admire from afar. The people I did get the nerve to interact with were very nice, however.

The nice thing about events such as DWEX is not only meeting the people responsible for your favorite comics, but finding new favorites to read. Ms. Darkstar and I have a list of new favorites thanks to this event, and while we didn’t have the resources to buy from each and every exhibitor we saw (much as we would have liked to), we did add a few things to our “when we are able” buy list.

Thanks for letting me ramble.

Comment on Conventions and Anxiety–Part 2 by MsDarkstar

MsDarkstar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:54:25 +0000

I have a bad case of “squeeing fangirl with not one iota of artistic talent”. I worry alot about becoming “that weird chick from the con” to the artists I admire. And I have to admit that I had knowledge of the work of the sum total of ONE of the artists at DWEX beforehand (I’m not counting the Cyanide & Happiness folks who didn’t look up or engage people who stopped by their table…so, technically I suppose I was familiar with 2 of the webcomics represented at DWEX before I went).

But… now I am really excited for NEXT YEAR because I will actually have a year’s worth of looking at the work y’all produce and actually probably have somewhat intelligent questions to ask.

Anyhow, I’m pleased to have met you and enjoy your work immensely and, well, SQUEEEE! (figure you warrant some squeeing fangirl action!)

Comment on Conventions and Anxiety–Part 2 by swikan

swikan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:33:07 +0000

It wasn’t easy for me as you know, but I knew YOU online first and was so glad you were there. And many of the folks I met (including Rebecca Hicks of Little Vampires and Carlos Castellanos of Baldo) came over to say hi to ME! I’m so lucky that some of the folks I most wanted to meet are naturally outgoing. *grin* Again, I had interacted with them in some way online in a genuine way.

No one should do anything that is unnatural to them of course.

Comment on Conventions and Anxiety–Part 2 by Barry Buchanan

Barry Buchanan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:13:13 +0000

Great insights Sam! Some of these things I do and some I don’t, may have to imploy some of these things. I think you hit some great points, the biggest is getting involved in the community. Comments on my site are highly appreciated and make me happy. I imagine the feeling you get when someone takes the time to make a post does not go away even for these succesful folks. I got a real kick out of hearing from people at the show that they have been to my site, I’d bet even the truly famous guys also get a certain thrill from that, they just hear it more. Next time I will aproach more artists, if someone sought me out I’d very pleased. I’d go so far as to say if you admire someone and don’t go up to them you may be robbing them of potential joy.

Comment on Conventions and Anxiety–Part 1 by swikan

swikan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:02:43 +0000

Just thought of another tip:

Find a friend who’s also going to have a table at the convention! I can’t tell you how much it helped knowing Barry Buchanan of Don’t Feed the Geek was going to be there also. I hadn’t met Barry in person before, but I knew him online. Before the convention, we emailed back and forth about what we should bring, and wondered if we were going to fall flat on our faces. Both of our spouses were very supportive, but it really does help to express our feelings to someone who is going through the same thing. If your friend has convention experience already, all the better! I would think having a mentor for your first con would be a terrific source of both comfort and inspiration.

Comment on Conventions and Anxiety–Part 1 by swikan

swikan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:59:11 +0000

Thanks fellows! If you can think of anything else, post it! I’ll add it to the list!

Comment on Conventions and Anxiety–Part 1 by Lonnie Easterling

Lonnie Easterling — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:41:46 +0000

This is wonderful, Sam. Great advice and I look forward to part 2. This will definitely help when I start setting up tables and booths for next year. Thanks!

Comment on Conventions and Anxiety–Part 1 by Barry Buchanan

Barry Buchanan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:01:22 +0000

Samantha,

Great article Sam. I wish you had written before the show, and I would have been better prepared. You are so right on all you spoke to except that the show was in Plano not Dallas. The one thing I did right was having the mini-comics, although I nearly ran out. Having the give away did force me to speak up a bit and I had some great interaction. The spookiest thing is when someone stops and reads the mini-comic in front of you. Doing everything on the web you never get that kind of instant feedback. Luckily I did get some laughs from it. Again great insights, looking forward to part 2.