What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders? Convention tables/booths can cost anywhere from $75 all the way up to $5000, depending on the show. If someone is behind a table at a con, they probably paid a lot of money to be there. - ThreadSky

monkeyminion.com • 2 days ago

What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders?

Convention tables/booths can cost anywhere from $75 all the way up to $5000, depending on the show. If someone is behind a table at a con, they probably paid a lot of money to be there.

Reposted from Alex Wild

What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders?

A majority of the world’s insect species have no living expert who can identify them.

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tulitulikettu.bsky.social•2 days ago

So many "yeah I thought about tabling, what's involved" people I've talked to at cons get surprised at how much I've paid to be tabling there, and I'm only doing smaller cons

monkeyminion.com•2 days ago

A not inconsiderable number of artists at a con never make their table costs back. An even larger number may make table, but not travel/hotel costs back. The folks who make enough to cover costs and have profit left over are rarer than they should be. This is a tough job to make a living with.

surlyqueen.bsky.social•2 days ago

This was why I only did local shows and it was the only reason I ever made a profit. But this was ALSO only possible bc I live in a large metro area with several very well-attended cons a year.

monkeyminion.com•2 days ago

Yeah, even when I lived in Portland, there weren’t enough events suited to what I do to make a living. Here in KS? Even fewer. Lol

surlyqueen.bsky.social•2 days ago

Oh yeah, even with the shows I did, it wasn't enough to, like, live on. I considered traveling to smaller shows within driving distance with friends I could crash with, but ultimately I ended up leaving con's.

Miss it sometimes, but not the killing myself for it.

twoshortswords.bsky.social•2 days ago

And often this price includes only the area itself, you still have to pay extra for the table and chairs

monkeyminion.com•2 days ago

That’s true.

jessicavanoort.bsky.social•2 days ago

And the person behind the table is not likely to know where in the dealers' hall you can find that very specific item you are looking for, because they are stuck behind their table and not wandering the floor except at close when everyone's covering their tables

monkeyminion.com•2 days ago

Do you get treated like an information booth too?! At one show, my wife and I tallied how many times we were asked “do you know where __ is?” and got over 50.

jessicavanoort.bsky.social•2 days ago

All the time! We have been asked where elf ears, contact lenses, hair ribbons, corsets, fuzzy tails, gloves, and any number of other items can be found. We sell wigs, so a couple of these are peripherally related, I guess.

monkeyminion.com•2 days ago

We get “do you know where X celeb” or “what room so-and-so panel” is a lot. Lol

cratemade.bsky.social•2 days ago

Damn. Not encouraging.

acwerfelmann.bsky.social•2 days ago

I've seen your tables. I'm guessing it's at the higher end of the spectrum.

monkeyminion.com•2 days ago

Not always. Depends on the show. Most of the time, we do AA spaces, so they’re among the least expensive spaces at a given show. We’re just really good at maximizing space. Lol

alaskanime.bsky.social•2 days ago

When people say “why aren’t you selling at more festivals” this is why

monkeyminion.com•2 days ago

It’s hard! And harder for you, given where you live.

vixenbrushstudios.com•2 days ago

And that doesn't include hotel costs, gas costs and/or rental car fees, airfare, and food!

And sometimes even badge costs; sometimes you gotta buy your attendance separate from your table!

shanny8.bsky.social•2 days ago

And that doesn't include print costs, and time put into projects so that you'll have something to present at a con

jackthelantern.bsky.social•2 days ago

the local one I started at was like $150 a non artist table and a decent space, now its well over $300 and with less space

alexwild.bsky.social•2 days ago

I did this once. Cost thousands. My booth was slammed the whole time, I was exhausted, and by the end I had just about broken even. A big learning experience.

jeffmcclelland.bsky.social•1 day ago

Another reason I dislike the booths with a cascade of unlicensed Deadpool prints

monkeyminion.com•1 day ago

Because they often make their table costs back?

jeffmcclelland.bsky.social•1 day ago

I just know how disheartening it can be to table with original - or at least not unlicensed - stuff and struggle, when the booth across the aisle is selling, like, prints of Venom killing Batman and absolutely raking it in.

monkeyminion.com•1 day ago

Ah, yeah. I’ve been on both sides of that (not raking in money, by any means) but fanart is definitely way easier to sell than original stuff.

jeffmcclelland.bsky.social•1 day ago

I’m not opposed to fan art. It’s difficult for me to articulate. When I see a booth with a tower of dumb unlicensed Marvel prints, and nothing else, I let out the deepest sigh.

monkeyminion.com•1 day ago

Absolutely. My feeling about fanart is that it should be more than just a pinup of a character. Use the character to say something. Even mashing said character up with something else, gives it more meaning. If I wanna buy a straight up Wolverine poster, I can get it at Walmart.

jeffmcclelland.bsky.social•1 day ago

Maybe this comes across as snobbish. My intent isn’t to try and gatekeep, and people will buy what they like. But it’s tough to put a lot of work into something and lose out to the guy selling prints of Jim Lee’s X-Men, but nude

monkeyminion.com•1 day ago

I get it.

toryfranklin.bsky.social•2 days ago

A friend runs a comix/zine fest. For the entire 12 year run she has busted ass to get grants so she could a. Keep the table fee as low as possible b. Keep it free to the public so more people come in and buy stuff from the artists.

Sadly with the NEA basically gone this may no longer be an option

toryfranklin.bsky.social•2 days ago

before you say get local grants - she does. She’s a fantastic fundraiser. But who DA FUQ do you think keeps the local grantors afloat? So much of their money comes from the NEA. Some from the state but arts are the first thing to get slashed from budgets to cover the other things the gvt used to do

monkeyminion.com•2 days ago

I wasn’t gonna say that. I have no idea how getting grants works, except that it’s exceptionally hard to do.

toryfranklin.bsky.social•2 days ago

And for a lot of people, especially starting out the goal isn’t to make profit. The goal is to break even on the table. Because getting eyes on their stuff and people to pick up their cards is so important. It’s just like working the “for exposure” that visual artists are asked to do things for.

toryfranklin.bsky.social•2 days ago

But unlike working for free as other fields in the arts do “for exposure” this time you’re actually paying to get it. It’s crappy enough to do it for free (and I highly advise against it artists starting out.) but this field is draining its talent because people can commit to pouring a bunch of $ in

rystefn.bsky.social•2 days ago

Unfortunately, there is definitely a lot of making artists pay for it instead of the other way around in music, too.

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