On Thursday October 5 I attended New York City Comic Con. Mostly for panels about the industry. The event itself is very crowded and personally i didn’t enjoy the “con experience” i don’t exactly get what I’m supposed to do in the exhibit floor, without any money to spend it doesn’t interest me. Not that i had the time to see it as all the panels I chose to attend were basically back to back.
made some time to visit my favorite artists at the Artist Alley, felt like I was bothering them because I couldn’t buy anything. very awkward.
Panel no1: Breaking into Comics the Marvel Way:
a panel of true professionals
For this panel, there were six pros working in Marvel comics that spoke about their experiences in the industry and how they ended up working at Marvel. I was particularly interested in Irene Strychalski who is the penciler (artist responsible for the layout of the page) for the current run of the Gwenpool series. She talked about how she went from animation work to doing her own comic projects and eventually being noticed by the editors to be given a spot on a series. The main message I got was to be prolific, have completed projects and above all else contact editors nonstop!
Panel no2: Here Lie Dragons & Eternal Beasties
panel of YA writers that i’ve never heard of for books i’ve never read. went into this knowing nothing, left with a new reading list.
Admittedly i went to this panel to kill time, but the subject matter was interesting enough, with an ongoing comic project that I both write and illustrate I thought i’d get something out of the panel. They talked about story themes, world building and how to connect with your audience. very insightful.
Panel no3: Finding YOUR Audience: Marketing 101: A Step-by-Step Workshop
This one was very informative, coming from a panel of self started artists. They talked about the projects that got them noticed and how they went about doing it. From kickstarter projects to online publishing. The biggest take away was that it was very important to have a concise hook for your project: if it doesn’t sound interesting right away to your potential audience then you’ve lost them. I need to work on my projects blurb based on the examples they gave. In the age of the internet having a small dedicated following can support you if you can reach them!
They also left us with this handout handy tips:
