Annual Report 09: Sticker Shock
January 26th, 2010. Categories: Musings.2009 was the first year I aggressively kept track of the expenses and income I get from doing my comics. Until May, I used the Shoe Box Method of accounting, but then at Marcon, I got to sit down with the very talented Patricia McCracken, who did a workshop/panel on Bookkeeping 101 for Artists. After the convention was over, I went to Staples and bought a pad of ledger sheets, and was much more organized for the rest of the year. I have a pretty impressive binder with page protectors containing all my receipts, divided up by months.
The other night, I actually reorganized and finished up all my accounting for 2009, including cost breakdowns of all the conventions I attended and expense vs. profit for each month.
While I’m not that surprised at the numbers, seeing them all laid out matter-of-factly like that was pretty sobering. I’m pretty sure that I put more money and time into my business this year than I ever have before, but I also know there were some particular expenses that weren’t and will not be typical in years to come. This is definitely an educational experience.
So, I’m going to share some insights I’ve gleaned. Hopefully these will help other burgeoning webcomic artists as they embark on their conventions, as well as their accounting.
- My best month was June, with almost $300 in net profit. Thank you, ColossalCon.
- My worst month was September, thanks to the utter financial black hole known as Toonfest. I made a whopping $19 there.
- Out of 11 money-making conventions that I went to, only 5 of them ended up in the red, cost-wise, and surprisingly, Steel City Con wasn’t the worst offender in this regard.
- I’m bleeding money the most when it comes to ordering Garanos books for conventions. What hurt me the most was the Volume II misprints debacle. I’m still paying for that in the form of inconvenience, and considering just liquidating the rest of the misprints.
Now for a review of my 2009 conventions. (If you’re bored and wondering when the pretty pictures will begin, then quit now and wait for the next blog post. ^_~)
Profitable Cons (sales minus travel/food/etc. costs.)
- Youmacon (black)
- Matsuricon (black)
- ColossalCon (black)
- Animarathon (black)
- Glass City Con (black)
- Tekkoshocon (black; there are food expenses that went unaccounted for, though. Lost the receipts, apparently.)
- Steel City Con (red)
- SPACE (red)
- ConnectiCon (red)
- PenguiCon (red)
- Toonfest (red red red my eyes are bleeding red)
Lucrative Cons (total sales)
- Youmacon
- ConnectiCon
- ColossalCon
- Matsuricon
- Steel City Con
- Tekkoshocon
- Penguicon
- Animarathon
- Glass City Con
- SPACE
- Toonfest (kill me now)
Youmacon – I’m planning to go back again this year, and hoping that this wasn’t some sort of beginner’s luck with this con, like it seemed my first Ohayocon AA was. I had a ton of fun, really enjoyed the vibe, and I think a big part of what made this con so successful was that I kept my costs WAYYYY down by staying with my local friends for the weekend instead of getting a hotel.
ConnectiCon – I was lucky enough to get a free upgrade to a whole Artist Alley table, and I’m not entirely sure if it was a mistake or not, but I am nonetheless grateful, since that’s a $75 value right there. (I originally paid for a single AC spot, which is a half-table.) Sales were decent, but not fabulous considering the time and money it took to get me there. Going by myself also made it harder, and it made me more appreciative of the times I can have Chris accompany me to a con. I was on the fence about going back in 2010, but now that I’ve registered a (very expensive!) Connecticut tax permit, it’s more or less settled that I WILL be going back. I’m planning on making many changes to how I go about it this year, so that hopefully my costs will be lower, and I’ll be able to break even or even make a small profit.
ColossalCon – I think this was my most relaxing convention of the year. However, even though I had pretty low costs going into the convention, I would’ve made more profit if I hadn’t splurged on food the way I did, so that’s something to think about going into the next year. However, I am VERY glad that I ditched my reservation at the Kalahari and stayed in the No-Tell Motel down the street with some friends. If I hadn’t done that, this convention would have been red red red. As it is, I only had to eat a $25 cancellation fee, and I got to enjoy the Kalahari resort later in the year anyway, during the ISCA Annual Convention, so no loss there.
Matsuricon – The great thing about this con is that it cost me almost nothing. It was local, so I didn’t even need to account for gas, and I could drive home every night and sleep in my own bed. I got my table for free since I was the head of AP’s AA, and I basically did a table swap with Mike, the head of Matsuricon’s AA. I did really well at this con, all considered; much better than the previous two years I sold there. We basically had to deal with meals, and Chris had to run across the street to the grocery store to buy more index cards at one point, but that’s pretty much it. Depending on how much the AA table costs this year, I may go again. (I’m not on AP staff anymore, so I don’t get the perks of swapping tables with other cons that occasionally came with the post.)
Penguicon – I wish the convention had been more lucrative, but I’ll be remedying that this year by actually splitting the hotel cost with three other people, which will help keep costs down immensely. I’m also interested in this convention for webcomic networking opportunities, so that’s a big reason why I’m going again this year. With all the anime cons I go to, I also appreciate that the Penguicon audience is generally older and, by default, is more likely to be interested in my work, even if it doesn’t involve long-haired, bespectacled bishounen seductively eating pocky.
Animarathon – I had one really great year at Animarathon in 2007, but then the following two years have been rather ho-hum as far as money actually made. I go to this convention for many social reasons, though, since it gives me a chance to hang out with my Northwest Ohio posse. And since the expenses are so minuscule (a tank of gas and some fast food; the table is free) I will probably continue to keep going back.
Glass City Con – The first con that I was a guest for. My only expense was gas money, so this con is practically free money. I think this is a good convention to foster a relationship with, which is why I’m now the convention artist.
SPACE - My first alternative press show as an exhibitor. I didn’t make much money at all, since my inventory at the time was all rather big-ticket compared to the usual indie press fare. I also registered for a table rather late, which meant it was more expensive, and thus even harder to break even, so I chalked this whole con up to a learning experience. I’ve since gotten smaller, cheaper comics more appropriate to such a venue, and I got the early-bird registration rate for the 2010 show, which is $20 cheaper than what I paid in 2009, so I think I’m heading towards at least breaking even this year.
Tekkoshocon – Not worth it. I’m glad I wriggled my way out of having to go the whole weekend, since I barely broke even the one day I was there. I was tired and miserable the entire day. The crowd there had a completely different vibe compared to all the other conventions I’ve been to, and I found it hard to connect with passersby. I was hesitant to attempt to go to this convention, since it was only a week before AnimePunch, and when it came down to it, I ended up subletting my table out to another guy on Friday and Sunday so I wouldn’t have to deal with hotel costs, which almost certainly would’ve put me in the red. The only good thing about this convention is I got to meet two Garanos readers. I don’t recommend this convention unless you’re local to Pittsburgh.
Steel City Con – Not worth it. This convention was mis-marketed, as I said in my con report, and the money I did make was a bit of a fluke involving the guy who commissioned the Mighty Muggz action figure. Apart from that, there wasn’t much love for the independents, although I should add that if I hadn’t spent so much money on White Russians to nurse my wounded little artist spirit, this would’ve been a slightly profitable con. ^_^;;
Toonfest – Can I forget I ever went to this con to try to make money? This was not a festival meant for me. I don’t mean that in the same way as Steel City, since Toonfest was NOT marketed as a comics show or anything, but my expectations and hopes for the event were very very different from what actually happened.
Some things I’ve thought about/decided to work toward going forward this year, to make my business more profitable:
- I should invest time in entering convention art shows. The great thing about these is I don’t have to be present, but I can still make money.
- I’m going to try to get myself more guest spots at cons. Free tables plus travel reimbursement sounds like a smashing idea to me.
- I’m going to start the process of clearancing and eventually liquidating old inventory that hasn’t sold as well as I wanted it to. Sure, keychains and coasters were a great idea, but I’m still hanging on to at least 35% of my original stock, two years later. Seriously, I started keeping track of how many people said coasters were a good idea on my convention tally sheets, and they’re always more than number of coasters actually sold, if I even sell any. *sigh*
- I will exercise moderation in making new keychains and coasters in the future, as I have with buttons.
- Commission art made up a pitifully small amount of my income last year. I want to try to market my commission services better, and I’m going to shoot for earning 10% of this year’s income this way.
