[Writer Post] Expanding Your Audience – The North Texas Comic Book Show
2012 is not only the year of Finish Stuff, Darn It! (Part 2 – a continuation from 2011 and without a foreseeable ending), I’m also looking to expand my reader base. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the SF convention community and their continuing support – which is why my TO INFINITY AND BEYOND goal is to FINISH STUFF, so they have new things to read. However, there are huge, untapped (for me) bastions of potential new readers out there to woo. WOO!
This is why I set up shop at a shiny new (well, it was their second event) comic book show – The North Texas Comic Book Show. Yes, there’s a new show in town, currently in Arlington, TX. Their first event was in October 2011, where Jimmy and I popped in to meet the new kids and check it out.
The North Texas Comic Book Show started out like most shows of this nature – a dealer’s room. The January show featured vendors, a local (but prominent) comic book artist, and me – we were an experiment for each other for growth factors. For them, it was to see if authors would help bring in more people. For me, it was to see if comic book fans would be open to my kind of writing – i.e., new readers.
Since it was close and new, there wasn’t a huge financial outlay. The table wasn’t expensive, and travel was negligible. There were trade-offs. The deal made was for me to be at a table outside the actual comic book show room. The downside to this? I was on my own in the hallway. No other vendors. No way to get a feel of the energy of the room or talk with other vendors. The upside to this? I was on my own in the hallway. No other vendors. No distractions by the next “SHINY”. I had access to every single attendee as they came in or out. Of course I fielded a lot of questions like: “Where’s the bathroom/ATM/etc?” But that’s the tradeoff.
Was it successful? Yes. The show had reasonable expectations on attendance. One report promised potential vendors about 50 people. They had more. I like that. I like a show to downplay its attendance than promise HUNDREDS of people and getting a handful. I know shows need time to build, so I saw this as a good thing. All I expected was to break even on the investment.
Okay, so…my investment ended being more than table costs. I did donate $20 in chapbooks to their 2 daily drawings. One of each of my independent chapbooks to both drawings, signed – and could be personalized if the winner so chose. SIDENOTE: Participation in drawings and/or charity auctions need to be up to individuals. They should be determined on IF AND ONLY IF you can financially afford the loss. However, the good will investment is worth it for both potential new readers and event organizers alike. It makes you come across like someone who is in the event for more than making a buck. You’re actually supporting the show/even/convention.
I ended up lucky. This gamble paid off for me. The talking up I did on social media and website got the show website some traction. More people came than anticipated. And some of them bought stuff. It wasn’t “Wildest Dreams, Holy Cow I Have to Restock Everything Before ConJour” successful, but I did better than my base hope/expectations. The winners of my books in the drawings seemed genuinely excited about the books. I’m quite pleased with the outcome.
That means, now I have a basis for trying either another genre venue or some of the bigger comic book shows as time and budget permit (WITHOUT NEGLECTING MY CORE AUDIENCE VENUES of course).
What shows? Well, I’m open to comics and anime (multi-media is cool). I’m looking into table spilts for some of the more expensive shows since financial outlay is still a consideration. I don’t take up much space and willingly cross-promote. 😎 Maybe I’ll see you at a show near you soon!