Saturday September 6th 2025 marked a very important first for me as an aspiring cartoonist/indie comics creator. I had applied for many shows, like TCAF and MCX and other smaller shows, but this very first iteration of Grafficker Alley was the first to offer me a table to sell my wares. Thanks must go to my good friend Craig Fergusson whom I was tabling with for being the plug I needed to get my feet wet. I have a sneaking suspicion that if I had applied solo I’d have not had a spot, based on my track record. With Grafficker Allery in the rear view and the event having taught me a number of lessons, I am exceedingly grateful for his help and consistent encouragement. 

As this was both my first time behind the table, and the first ever iteration of this event, I did not know what to expect. I had ideas, maybe even suspicions, but no way to be certain. As such, I set low and very achievable goals for myself for the day. 

The table cost, being split between myself and Craig, was low enough that I didn’t have any pressure hanging over me to “need” to sell. I decided that if I left with any less books than I brought with me, it was a victory. I knew that this event was going to be, for me, more about getting comfortable and familiar with pitching my books to strangers, and learning which of my ideas for how I wanted to set up my part of the table and attract an audience would work and which would not.

Quite promptly I made my first sale of two books, owing quite strongly to the attractiveness of flipping through pages of original art in progress for the subsequent issue of Cannibal Crime. I leaned into that throughout the show. As a hook to get people’s attention, “Hey, do you wanna check out a comic in progress?” worked very well. 

It opened up the chance for me to pitch the details of the series while they looked at the art I am making now. I had a number of people stop at my table due expressly to this attention grabber, and while I only made one additional sale by the end of the day I had also refined my pitch a fair amount and, from my perspective, at least gotten some other people to scan my QR code for my website where the books are available for free to read. 

With my limited amount of sales still managing to cover my table costs, I am confident that my prices are right for inexpensive events like Grafficker Alley since I can’t expect to make large volumes of sales with my very niche subject matter and my current lack of cheap items like stickers. Heading into this show, I had already come to the conclusion that items like stickers, and maybe even enamel pins, would be items that would benefit me by capturing a wider array of kinds of people, and budgets, interested in my art. A comic book, which I have to sell for approximately $10 is a significantly greater investment, of finances and of prospective time/interest, to someone on the fence than is a $3~5 dollar sticker.  

Having been on the aisle side of countless conventions’ artist alleys I knew that being presentable and non-intimidating was something I think is important. I’m not a small man, and I know that can work against me at times. I wore bright, inviting colours, I was clean and fragrance free, shaved, and importantly I remained seated for most of the show. Since I am quite tall, even while I was seated I was able to be at eye level for many people, and it also removes any of the intimidation that some people feel when I do stand at my full height. Importantly, it felt like it was working. 

While I often struggle to make content promoting my works online, feeling awkward with the act, that is not the same as being face-to-face and in living colour. In person my personality and love of talking about comics and art is definitely a secret weapon I have because I definitely see (from both sides of the table as an attendee of many events and a seller this time) others struggling with this, and I KNOW for certain that my gift of gab helped convert someone who had originally only been interested in scanning my QR code into someone who ended up buying a book. So going deeper into the philosophy of how I make art and not just story details can be super important for capturing sales from the kinds of people who I want to sell to. The kind of person who is interested in the journey and growth of the art, and not just story beats, is the kind of person I am, and the art I try to make is for that kind of person too. 

I have always known that sales would be hard, and this event didn’t surprise me there, but it did cement a fact for me. It is, in the end, far more important for me to get people to read my books than make sales right now.  To meet this end I ensured the QR code for my website, where you are now and my comics can be read for free upon, was well positioned and scannable. I cannot confirm that any one person who scanned it did read my comics fully, as my site analytics are not that detailed and I have not yet spent money to improve them, but if they scan it and its open at least there’s a chance they actually will. A physical sale, I feel, is a far weightier impetus for someone to follow through on their intent to read the books than a scanned code and a tab open on your phone is, but reducing the barriers between people and my work is always an important component of finding my audience. 

These were important tests of my ideas, confirmations and challenges to my suppositions, and invaluable experiences gained at Grafficker Alley. It felt right sitting behind that table. I’m looking forward to finding my next event to exhibit at, and I’m hoping that I get to table at Grafficker Alley again in 2026 when the event returns. By then, maybe I’ll have a new comic to sell and a new issue in the works.