Your work is done, evaluated, formatted, and sent for print. Now what? Before we conclude this year’s series of “Stages of Creation”, here’s a stage which I do feel needs to be worked at, even after your work is out and in the world - Personal Branding and Marketing. To be honest, this post itself can stretch to its own series, especially with the changing times and needs among various consumers nowadays. Regardless, something I’ve learnt over the last decade or so, was that despite the changing exteriors, there are key components that still remain evergreen: Proactiveness Be proactive - even with an agent or a publisher. Agents are rare in Singapore, mostly because we’re geographically small (together with our reading population). Therefore, should you get a publisher or an agent while being based in Singapore, it’s a foot in the door, but there’s still work to be done. Your products will sell better if their creators believe in and will push them. It’s the same even if you have an agent or publisher. Meeting or strategizing how to sell your stories with your publisher / agent on the regular not only shows your commitment to your work, but boosts confidence in the people tasked to selling your work. Engagement Be involved in the community or industry. No amount of marketing and strategizing will be better than being on the ground and talking to your audiences - both internal and external. I’m not telling you to spend your days at Forums or every launch you can get yourself to, but know yourself and your audience. You want to be in comics? Start going for comic workshops, panels, or sessions. You want to go into writing for games? Know what’s going on in the gaming industry - perhaps at your nearest game shop or community? And the most important point in engagement - Listen. In an age of disruption, it’s very easy to listen to argue, listen to reply. This also means that many creators miss out on a great opportunity to get feedback. “But what about trolls?! What about people who just attack me because they’re jealous?!!!” This is what we’ll be covering in the next section... Focus Be focussed in your personal brand. The next question would be how? Since half the people you know are artists in their own right, think subject matter, not format or genre. I wouldn’t say I can give you any answers for this, but here are a few suggestions:
Positioning yourself as an interested member in the subject matter of your choosing is just one of the ways you can keep your focus but also engage various audiences who are likely to be interested in your art. And now, I leave you with perhaps the most important piece of advice that I’ve ever gotten - You are not your work. (Even today, I still struggle with separating who I am with what I produce. It’s an arduous process, but a necessary one if you want to sustain yourself in the creative industry.) Thus, I wish all of you the best. (Or as what my Game Master once said - All the bestest!) # And that’s it for Stages of Creation for the year. Thank you all for your support and I hope this series has managed to help you in some way or another.
Until next time!
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STGCC, IAF, SWF, CF, CAFKL, PopCon, AFA… initialisms that mean yearly celebrations for the geek community. Now that you finally landed a booth, you’re excited to peddle your wares. However, while these events - independent or commercial - can be great platforms to put your works out, there might be a few pointers one should take note of to make your event experience that much easier: Pre-Con Preparation Stock Take Simple - know what you want to sell during the event, and know how much stock you have left. Before you do any publicity for your booth (so do this way in advance), please ensure that what you advertise will be available or at least on the table on the day of the festival. Keep your stock amount in check, and let your audience know what’s low in stock. Booth Administration Get your documents ready - if you only get your passes on the day of collection, then you’re going to make your life a whole lot easier by having your necessary documentation (confirmation emails, forms etc…) ready in case the event organizers need them. Regardless of the event size, your event organizers will be busy - best be on their good side. Personal Booth Maintenance Chances are, your booth is going to boast a bare bones set up - a table, maybe a backing board (if it’s stated in your application), a seat (or two, again depending). That being said, you don’t have to have your booth “interior-designed” before the event. However, it’ll be wise to keep key components of your booth setup - table cloth, display platforms, easels etc… - both to catch the passing eye and spread your brand’s message to the world. Change & Float Money Many veteran con-goers know better than to go to an artist alley without small change. That being said, there are just as many, if not more, non-con-goers who only walk around with $50 bills in their wallet, or regular con-goers who got unlucky at the ATMs. Make sure you have enough change and float money for your sales. Note: A quick tip about how much float money or the kind of change to prepare - take a look at how you’re pricing your product and arrange accordingly to common cash denominations (E.g. If your comic is going to be selling at $8, prepare a whole bunch of $2s because you will be getting multiple $10 notes.) Inter- and Intra-Group Communications HIGHLY IMPORTANT - especially if your booth consists of works by different artists. Get your stocklists, retail prices, and float information ready in advance as much as possible. Nothing is more annoying that surprise group members showing up on the day itself and dumping a good amount of stock on you when your booth and administration are already set up. Booth Exhibition / Aesthetics Product Features One of the more effective ways to help potential customers with buyers’ paralysis (too many choices) is to position your latest (or most popular) product either at the front of the table, or propped up instead of just lying flat on the table. Having one or two points of focus per artist or table will help customers help you. Browsing Another popular move is to include browsing copies in your administration - people like samples, play with that point. Just remember to indicate that the browsing copy is just for browsing, we’ve had too many cases of people “running off” with browsing copy because of the ‘no price tag on table, so it must be free’ assumption. Prices Going to make this section simple:
Safety & Booth Owner Responsibility Health & Mindset Take care of yourself during the time leading to and during the event - Conventions and Festivals are incredibly draining, even if you are behind your booth most of the time. Stock plenty of water, get someone to get food for you, pack, take note of the nearby places that sell economically-priced food so that you don’t have to survive on chips. At the same time, do keep in mind that many conventions, markets, and festivals are also spaces for you to communicate and meet other people in the community. So beyond doing your best to push your products, do take this time to learn from other creators from the industry as well. Belongings & Safety All festivals will remind booth owners to take care of their own belongings. That being said, do ensure that your documents, valuables, and your booth money are within sight, reach, and safe boundaries at all times. # For Con-Goers, you can take a look at how to make your con-going life a whole lot easier here.
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November 2018
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