I’m officially done with festivals for 2014, but more importantly, I’ve survived “Crazy Comicfestathon”. Crazy Comicfestathon is what I decided to call the three festivals I’ve gone to in one month, and let met tell you something: I’ll never do that again. But actually, my fall 2014 festival lineup should also include the New York Art Book Fair, which started this whole spiral of disappointment and frustration.
The book fair is where I sold just 4 books in four days even though the event was packed. The following event was APE, in which I sold many things, but given the costs involved in attending was not really worth the trouble. Next up was the fest in Philadelphia where I again BARELY broke even. I had high expectations for this last festival, having attended it before with phenomenal success. Didn’t happen this year. I’ve never failed quite as badly as I did today. The only reason I broke even is because of my two past teachers who were kind enough to buy books over $20.
Worry not, I know what went wrong: I’m trying to sell handmade books about scientific subjects to a crowd that wants cheap “pop cultur-y” stuff. That’s always been my problem, that I’m trying to find a niche (sciency-nature stuff) within a niche (comic book crowd). At TCAF this year, I was able to make that work but today was a disaster
So I’m pretty much done with festivals. I’ll still apply to a couple I haven’t done yet next year, but it makes no sense for me to continue on this path. The only reason I do festivals is for exposure and money. As I’ve previously established, I haven’t made any money lately. As for the exposure, it’s not long-lasting. I get a small bump in website visits for a day, then it’s gone. So I’m rethinking my strategy on how to gain exposure and sell my stuff because the festival route hasn’t panned out.