I get a lot of questions about my events, especially since I did almost 30 of them this year! How do you find these events and, more importantly, how do you know which will be good for sales?
Well first of all, what kind of events are you looking for? In 2023 I sold at anime conventions, comic and toy shows, small craft markets, online markets streamed to Twitch, and I even hosted a painting workshop! What kind of show you do will differ depending on your product type and target audience, so here’s how I broke it down for myself:
My product types have a pretty wide range, from enamel pins, notepads, tote bags, stickers, art prints, lens cloths, and so on. This can be narrowed down into “stationery and accessories”. Then my subject matter, which ranges from nerdy tabletop gaming, guinea pigs and other cute animals, monsters and fantasy, furries, and LGBTQ+ subjects. I mostly do original subjects that are inspired by fandoms, but rarely do I do direct fan-works (which I’ll touch on again later). I can sum this up with “queer and nerdy” for the most part.
So there’s my tagline - stationery and accessories with queer and nerdy flair! Now what?
Well that alone narrows down a lot of events for me. I want LGBTQ+ friendly events that allow stickers (many do not due to vandalism) and whose theming aligns with my semi-pop-culture theming. Large conventions focused on comic book authors and small markets focused on handmade crafts may be alright to sell at, but don’t usually have much overlap with my target audience. Instead, I look for events with a focus on queer creators, tabletop gaming, original artwork, general fantasy, and animals. For the Nerdery this means some of my best events have been college conventions, furry conventions, anime/animation conventions, and fantasy/horror/animal themed markets.
“But Atlas,” you scream from the mountain top, “How do you find these places?”
Don’t fret, we have the internet!
There are tons of websites dedicated to connecting show-runners to potential attendees. For conventions, I use websites like (https://fancons.com/events/) and (https://animecons.com/events/state.shtml/) to search by area. My comfortable driving range is up to 6hrs by myself or 8hrs with an assistant, so I use that as a guide for where to search.
Facebook is another great resource, although it is harder to find events in an appropriate timeframe. I find Facebook typically will show me large conventions far after applications have closed, but it is great for smaller markets and craft shows who may ONLY use Facebook for advertising. I’ve joined multiple groups dedicated to sharing events in different themes or areas to other artists, many of whom also have a Discord server for better organization. These are super helpful for finding this based on theme or location as well.
Otherwise, word of mouth is my main way I learn about other events. Use social media to see what other artists in your genre or product range are attending, especially if they talk about it a lot or have gone multiple years. Talk to people online about what events are popular for sellers and attendees, and what kind of items sell well compared to others! If you view the other artists as a community instead of a competition, and put just as much back into the community as you take, I find many people are more than willing to make new friends in the same field. The friends I’ve made doing conventions are truly my greatest resource for finding events, and it makes it so much more enjoyable when you know other people there!
Anyways, power of friendship aside, that pretty much covers what I use to find events to sell at. If you have any other questions or suggestions for future blogs, leave them below or email me at AtlasNerdery@gmail.com .
Thanks for reading!
