ECCC Con report! (Patreon)

Just a quick note to say that I survived Emerald City! I haven't done this show for many years for a number of reasons... the biggest ones being that I've had mixed success at "pop culture" focused shows, and the fact that a four day show takes a whole lot out of me! 

Overall I had a lot of fun and I would say that I met all of my goals for the show. I was able to sell quite a few Wasted Talent books, and Wander also got a good reception there. I was really excited that the attendees there seemed to remember my work from the previous times I'd exhibited there, and I was also able to meet with a few regular readers, which was lovely :)

Four days was super draining! I've always suspected that a four day show would be a bit too much for me. (I used to do ECCC when it was a 3 day show, and I haven't gone back to it since it became 4 days.) Show hours this year were Thursday - Saturday 9:30am - 7pm, and Sunday 9:30 to 5pm. I was really proud of myself for coming in with a good plan and keeping my energy up that entire time. I don't really have anything else to report, because I spent all that time at the table with only a few short breaks and I went to bed at 10pm every night :0. I definitely had to lie on my couch every single evening this week though for all the show took out of me. 

Conventions are something that I used to do a lot of in the past. It was a great way to travel, meet other creators, build an audience for my work and sell books to people! Over the past few years, though, I've been re-evaluating my creative goals and how conventions fit into that picture. They take a massive amount of energy, planning and time. At the end all I can really say is "I went to this show!" I also have to spend a lot of creative time thinking about "what will be good to sell at the show", rather than what creatively interests me.

There's also the plain fact that my audience is all over the world! It doesn't seem fair that I get to meet some people and not others... I want to spend my time interacting with everyone who is reading my work, rather than focusing on those who happen to match my show schedule, geographically. I still want to meet people and other creators, but I'm going to start exploring other avenues for how to make that happen.

I guess all of this is to say... I don't think I'll be doing many shows in the future. I'll be spending more time on here making new stuff 💪

The last piece of good news is that Sfé and I still do have some copies of Wander left over :D It's limited run, so we will be setting up to do a sale soon. We have to figure out some logistics, so thanks for your patience 🙏