On Merch and My First Comic Book (Patreon)

A few weeks ago, when I visited Otakuthon (an anime convention) here in Montreal, I made myself a promise: next year, I would exhibit at a convention as an artist. I figured one year, give or take, would be enough time for me to improve my skills and have a body of work I can be proud of - and sell some of it. And this weekend, at the League of Heels PAX Rumble panel, I sold my first-ever comic book.

It wasn't the first time I'd ever sold my art (that was at the previous League of Heels show at PAX East), but it was the first time I'd done so with sequential art. Some of you may know that I worked on a webcomic for many years before abandoning it; in fact, at my secondary school, final year students could either write a paper or create a work of art - I chose the latter and made a comic book (it was terrible). I've been drawing since I was little, but at some point over the last decade or so, I stopped entirely. Only last year did I start to draw consistently again, and finally began approaching the skill level I'd been dreaming about for so long. Consequentially, making and selling Panels Before the Panel has been very special to me.

It may not be much, all-told, but it's taught me a lot already! It was still a lot more expensive than the poster, but I managed to bring costs down by making it bigger, of all things - it was intended to be 6"x7", but at the printer's suggestion I raised it to 7"x8.5" so that it could be printed on Legal-size pages and simply folded in half. This removed the need to cut the pages, and while it did keep me from using a design with bleed, it also made the investment much less risky for me. A fun bonus is that this left me more vertical space, which I filled with little artist's notes on each comic.

I was surprised how popular it was, in fact; I sold more comics than posters, despite the fact that the comics were slightly more expensive. Though it should be noted that smaller merch can more easily fit into luggage, so that probably played a part, too. The entire selling operation was also extremely nerve-wracking; I had at most two hours to make all my sales. Folks started lining up one hour before the start, and folks filed out and hung around afterwards for a bit of time, too - those were the only moments when I could sell posters and comics. It was a bit of a frenzy, and I didn't sell as much as I would have liked, but I recouped my printing costs and most of my travel expenses, so that made a big difference.

So what did I take away from all this? Creating each comic took me a little more than a day, so I'd estimate between 10 and 12 hours each - definitely something I need to improve upon if I want this sort of work to pay my bills. This speed does, however, make it realistic for me to try to draw single-page comics more often. I already have a concept for my next social anxiety comic, and there's an original character I've been inspired to bring to life soon. Making and selling my creations is exhilarating; I want to do more of it, in more places. I don't want this to be an isolated thing, but rather the start of something wonderful.

PAX West, and the League of Heels adventure, have been very encouraging. I can't wait to see what's next. Thanks for being there with me throughout it all; your support has made my journey easier, and is making the next step all the more exciting. ❤