EDIT: The whole episode is now streaming at VH1.com.
Monday, December 16, 2013
A Christmas Special I worked on is airing tonight!
One of the reasons I had to take a short break from Cooking Up Comics is airing tonight at 8pm on VH1. Augenblick Studios animated the T.I. and Tiny Christmas Special. Not to give too much away, but I did the character layouts for the montage scenes of fixing the van and a large spoof-y action sequence. There's a little sneak peek here. Looking forward to seeing how it all came together tonight!
EDIT: The whole episode is now streaming at VH1.com.
EDIT: The whole episode is now streaming at VH1.com.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Green Bean Casserole and donations to the Philippines
I decided to split the difference from missing last week due to a crazy workload and post the next recipe today instead of this Wednesday. I've also compiled a handy list of links to my Thanksgiving friendly recipes in this weeks' post. So head over to Cooking Up Comics to check it out!
Don't forget that I'm also donating the proceeds from my online comic sales to the Red Cross to aid the Philippines until December 16th! Over $50 has been raised so far and I would love to make it an even $100 by the 16th! If comics aren't your thing, please consider donating directly to the Red Cross or another reputable charity to aid the Philippines.
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah!
Don't forget that I'm also donating the proceeds from my online comic sales to the Red Cross to aid the Philippines until December 16th! Over $50 has been raised so far and I would love to make it an even $100 by the 16th! If comics aren't your thing, please consider donating directly to the Red Cross or another reputable charity to aid the Philippines.
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah!
Saturday, November 16, 2013
My online sales this month to aid Philippines
Everyone does holiday sales. But this year instead of offering free shipping, I've decided to donate the proceeds from my online sales from Nov 16th- Dec 16th to the Red Cross to help aid the Philippines recover from Typhoon Haiyan.
My husband's parents are from the Philippines and luckily their family and friends are all safe after the typhoon hit. But I want to help out the thousands of people who were affected even if it is a relatively small gesture.
Thanks for reading this and for considering giving the gift of self-published comics to your loved ones and benefiting those in need at the same time.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Vegetarian Stuffing
Getting in the mood for Thanksgiving dinner at Cooking Up Comics with a recipe for Vegetarian Stuffing!
Wednesday, November 06, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Spicy Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin season is in full swing, so this week's recipe comic is for Spicy Vegan Pumpkin Pie! Happy Halloween from Cooking Up Comics!
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Vegan Mango Lassi Recipe
This weeks' Cooking Up Comics recipe is for Vegan Mango Lassi! Bonus: I share my mother-in-law's mango slicing technique! As always, click the text for the link to the full recipe.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Thursday, October 03, 2013
MICE was so nice!
My first New England comic convention was pretty great this past weekend! MICE was held on the second floor of a building at Lesley University and had an Asian mall underneath so I felt right at home. If only there was a portal directly from Flushing to all the other China/Korea towns!
The mall was convenient to grab sushi for lunch, bubble tea for a snack and late night mochi ice cream. There was also a Japanese store with a lineup of Totoros. A perfect location for a comic convention.
The convention floor was spread through several hallways and in two classrooms. It took me a while to figure out the maze to the bathroom from the Bechdel room where my table was, but I found a shortcut by the end of the weekend. It also gave me an excuse to check out some of the other exhibitor areas while I was getting lost!
The signage and badges for MICE were super cute. Here is my Debut Cheese for Urban Nomad #4!
MICE had less exhibitors than SPX a few weeks ago, but I imagine it was much like SPX was in its' early days. I liked the intimate feeling and although I didn't have time to leisurely walk around, I felt like I got to say hi to everyone I wanted to see and pick up a few books on my way to and from my table in the Bechdel room. It was also pretty packed most of the weekend! The convention was supposed to end at 4pm on Sunday, but there were still people walking around and I made my last sale around 4:30 pm.
There was a lot of Adventure Time love at the convention including this grown man dressed as Finn. I had nice conversations with Adventure Time artists Braden Lamb and Shelli Paroline who was one of the conventions' organizers.
My table block was pretty awesome. I was near Kenan Rubenstein, Cara Bean, Jason Viola, Michael Rapa, and Beth Hetland with Carey Pietsch, Kelly Phillips and the other ladies from Dirty Diamonds behind me.
Jason Viola and Cara Bean's tables had some cool props.
I also met a dog named Raisin who camped out behind our block of tables for a while. How cute is this dog?!
A bunch of us had some food and hung out for the after party on Saturday night. I never understand why cartoonist events are at sports bars, but at least the back was cordoned off so all us weirdos had some space. I had a salad to make up for all the fried food I'd been eating and a delicious pumpkin ale with a sugar rim. Here are Carol and Colleen who were awesome road trip buddies and roommates for the weekend.
As always, it was so nice to meet some of my Twitter friends and Cooking Up Comics readers in real life! I even met one of my old LJ friends! Thanks for stopping by everyone! It was pretty cool to see people buy issue 1 of Urban Nomad and then come back on Sunday to buy the rest. This was also the first convention that I've made more sales on Sunday than I did on Saturday!
Ellen Crenshaw with a hedgehog friend
Zack Giallongo
Alison Wilgus
The staff and volunteers of MICE were all so nice and helpful. I've never been to a convention where they actively try to feed you! There were bottles of water, coffee, bagels, carrots and pita chips with individual packets of hummus and of course individually wrapped cheeses available for the exhibitors. Can't have MICE without cheese, right? The staff were also assigned to each area, introduced themselves and asked if we needed anything throughout the day. If we needed to step away from the table, they were happy to sit there until you came back.
I also got to spend some more time with Boston area cartoonists that I've met online or briefly at conventions. We had some delicious vegetarian diner food at Veggie Galaxy before heading back to New York that night. This place had AMAZING coconut based frappes (which I learned was the New England version of a milkshake) so I was able to have one without the instant regret.
Carol, Holly and Steph
Cara and Colleen
The drive from New York wasn't bad and our stay at the Holiday Inn was only disappointing because the pool was closed. The houses in the Cambridge area were all so cute. I got to see some of them on our failed attempt at getting brunch on Sunday morning. Who knew people started lining up at 10 am at the area diners? Luckily we were saved by a cute cafe with delicious breakfast sandwiches and French ambiance near the convention.
There were also some great murals throughout the Cambridge area.
I got some really sweet trades and spent a few bucks on some books I missed at SPX.
MICE was awesome and I'm looking forward to applying for a table again next year!
The mall was convenient to grab sushi for lunch, bubble tea for a snack and late night mochi ice cream. There was also a Japanese store with a lineup of Totoros. A perfect location for a comic convention.
The convention floor was spread through several hallways and in two classrooms. It took me a while to figure out the maze to the bathroom from the Bechdel room where my table was, but I found a shortcut by the end of the weekend. It also gave me an excuse to check out some of the other exhibitor areas while I was getting lost!
The signage and badges for MICE were super cute. Here is my Debut Cheese for Urban Nomad #4!
MICE had less exhibitors than SPX a few weeks ago, but I imagine it was much like SPX was in its' early days. I liked the intimate feeling and although I didn't have time to leisurely walk around, I felt like I got to say hi to everyone I wanted to see and pick up a few books on my way to and from my table in the Bechdel room. It was also pretty packed most of the weekend! The convention was supposed to end at 4pm on Sunday, but there were still people walking around and I made my last sale around 4:30 pm.
There was a lot of Adventure Time love at the convention including this grown man dressed as Finn. I had nice conversations with Adventure Time artists Braden Lamb and Shelli Paroline who was one of the conventions' organizers.
My table block was pretty awesome. I was near Kenan Rubenstein, Cara Bean, Jason Viola, Michael Rapa, and Beth Hetland with Carey Pietsch, Kelly Phillips and the other ladies from Dirty Diamonds behind me.
Jason Viola and Cara Bean's tables had some cool props.
I also met a dog named Raisin who camped out behind our block of tables for a while. How cute is this dog?!
A bunch of us had some food and hung out for the after party on Saturday night. I never understand why cartoonist events are at sports bars, but at least the back was cordoned off so all us weirdos had some space. I had a salad to make up for all the fried food I'd been eating and a delicious pumpkin ale with a sugar rim. Here are Carol and Colleen who were awesome road trip buddies and roommates for the weekend.
As always, it was so nice to meet some of my Twitter friends and Cooking Up Comics readers in real life! I even met one of my old LJ friends! Thanks for stopping by everyone! It was pretty cool to see people buy issue 1 of Urban Nomad and then come back on Sunday to buy the rest. This was also the first convention that I've made more sales on Sunday than I did on Saturday!
Ellen Crenshaw with a hedgehog friend
Zack Giallongo
Alison Wilgus
The staff and volunteers of MICE were all so nice and helpful. I've never been to a convention where they actively try to feed you! There were bottles of water, coffee, bagels, carrots and pita chips with individual packets of hummus and of course individually wrapped cheeses available for the exhibitors. Can't have MICE without cheese, right? The staff were also assigned to each area, introduced themselves and asked if we needed anything throughout the day. If we needed to step away from the table, they were happy to sit there until you came back.
I also got to spend some more time with Boston area cartoonists that I've met online or briefly at conventions. We had some delicious vegetarian diner food at Veggie Galaxy before heading back to New York that night. This place had AMAZING coconut based frappes (which I learned was the New England version of a milkshake) so I was able to have one without the instant regret.
Carol, Holly and Steph
Cara and Colleen
The drive from New York wasn't bad and our stay at the Holiday Inn was only disappointing because the pool was closed. The houses in the Cambridge area were all so cute. I got to see some of them on our failed attempt at getting brunch on Sunday morning. Who knew people started lining up at 10 am at the area diners? Luckily we were saved by a cute cafe with delicious breakfast sandwiches and French ambiance near the convention.
There were also some great murals throughout the Cambridge area.
I got some really sweet trades and spent a few bucks on some books I missed at SPX.
MICE was awesome and I'm looking forward to applying for a table again next year!
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
Pete's Mini Zine Fest Storyteller event this Saturday!
I have one more event planned for this Fall: I'll be reading a story from Urban Nomad this Saturday night as part of the Pete's Mini Zine Fest Storytelling night!
The Pete's Mini Zine Fest crew is proud to kick off its first PMZF Storytelling night, hosted by Pete's Candy Store, Andria Alefhi, and Marguerite Dabaie (who also drew the cool logo above)!
Come hear sundry tales as the creators read their stories live! Featuring:
Ellen Lindner
Jess Ruliffson
Dawn Wing
Cristina Greavu
Alisa Harris
When: Saturday October 5, 2013
Where: Pete's Candy Store (709 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, New York 11211)
The readings will start at 6:45 pm. I don't know what order we'll be reading in, but it should be over by 7:45.
Also check out the Facebook event page if that's your kind of thing. Hope to see you there!
The Pete's Mini Zine Fest crew is proud to kick off its first PMZF Storytelling night, hosted by Pete's Candy Store, Andria Alefhi, and Marguerite Dabaie (who also drew the cool logo above)!
Come hear sundry tales as the creators read their stories live! Featuring:
Ellen Lindner
Jess Ruliffson
Dawn Wing
Cristina Greavu
Alisa Harris
When: Saturday October 5, 2013
Where: Pete's Candy Store (709 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, New York 11211)
The readings will start at 6:45 pm. I don't know what order we'll be reading in, but it should be over by 7:45.
Also check out the Facebook event page if that's your kind of thing. Hope to see you there!
Thursday, September 26, 2013
I'll be at MICE this weekend!
I have a table at MICE (Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo) in Cambridge this coming weekend! I'm super excited to be a part of this newish convention in it's first year as a two day event. It's my last scheduled convention for 2013, so if you're in the New England area you should drop by this weekend! It's FREE to get in! Here's a preview of some of the excellent looking books debuting at MICE.
And how cute is this poster by Bob Flynn?!
MICE expo
Saturday Sept. 28th (10 am-6 pm)
Sunday Sept. 29th (11 am-4 pm)
Lesley’s University Hall
1815 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, Massachusetts
(The exhibition area and panels are on the second floor and the workshops area is on the lower level.)
Admission is FREE!
And how cute is this poster by Bob Flynn?!
MICE expo
Saturday Sept. 28th (10 am-6 pm)
Sunday Sept. 29th (11 am-4 pm)
Lesley’s University Hall
1815 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, Massachusetts
(The exhibition area and panels are on the second floor and the workshops area is on the lower level.)
Admission is FREE!
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
SPX recap (better late than never!)
I haven't written up a proper SPX recap but I'm feeling chatty tonight, so here it goes:
Bye, NYC! Driving over the Verrazano Bridge, SPX-bound on Friday.
Here is the table that I shared with my lovely friend Alison Wilgus and her beautiful book A Stray In the Woods. We were moved from where we originally were on the map, but most people were able to find us and the SPX staff was super helpful. Note the ATM next to our table which RAN OUT OF MONEY on Sunday because everyone loves comics so much. Alison, her husband Scott and friend Paul (who had his first zine at the con) made room for me in their car, let me crash in their hotel room, and brought lunch so a million thanks goes to them! Another thank you shout out to Raina and Dave who drove a box of my books to Maryland and brought me lunch on Sunday!
I was super stoked about the new stand I got for my Urban Nomad issues and think it helped a lot with visibility and organization on my table. I was kind of glad I decided against getting a banner for SPX since it was a tight squeeze in our corner space. But Alison's banner turned out great, so I'll probably invest in one for next year.
It was delightful to see so many Cooking Up Comics readers! It warms my heart whenever someone tells me they actually make the recipes. One of the volunteers stopped me in the bathroom to ask if this was my comic and comic maven Spike told me she makes some of the recipes! Swoon! I got a great recipe for chick pea "tuna fish" from one reader. I talked with lots of awesome creators and people who have followed my Urban Nomad or Counter Attack series through the years.
Other awesome moments:
-Met John Allison of Bad Machinery through Gina from First Second on Friday night and managed to not make an ass of myself so that was pretty awesome.
-Delicious diner food with John Green, Gina Gagliano, Carol Burrell, Zack Giallongo, Colleen Venable and Scott on Friday night.
-Got lots of hugs from Nonesuch Doll creator Megan Baehr who was a last minute addition and was probably as excited to be at SPX as I was!
-The convention floor on Saturday:
-Got to catch up with my old SVA friend Joe Flood who drew The Cute Girl Network (written by Greg Means and MK Reed) out from First Second this Fall.
-Ran into Sarah McHenry (Hey Pais) in the hotel elevator and we both had the same style of Modcloth dress on but in different colors! I wish I'd been thinking quicker, because that would have been a great photo.
-Of course one of the highlights of the convention was the Ignatz party where I was able to partake of the mythical, dueling chocolate fountains.
-Raina introduced me to the legendary Jeff Smith Saturday night and I heard the story of how he and Kate Beaton discovered they are related.
-One of the guys who worked at the copy shop I used to get my books printed at even stopped by!
-I drew a BMO in Zack Smith's Adventure Time themed sketchbook.
-Another too brief conversation with Kenan Rubenstein who is now a Bostonian and Neil Brideau from Chicago!
-Unexpectedly ran into a high school classmate who is now married to a cartoonist so it was fun to catch up with her!
-Met Monica from Strip Search who was tabling near Perry A, another awesome reader/cartoonist of The Tale of Tamarind!
-Got to meet some of my Canadian and out of town cartoonist friends like Adriana Blake (Fall on Me) and Burt Durand (Horse eComics) in real life and only wish I had been able to hang out with everyone for longer!
(Adriana Blake)
-Ran into fellow cartoonists like Pat Lewis, Hamlet Machine, Glynnis Fawkes and zinester AJ Michel who weren't tabling but are just the best.
-Met Sarah Sobole of Doctor Cat, MD who was just the nicest. I'm trying to figure out where to use my Doctor Cat stickers!
-Ran into Tara Abbamondi on the show floor. Seemed like every time I left my table to visit people, those same people were running to my table! Glad we all met up eventually!
-It was also nice to see Jennifer Hayden whom I met at Drink and Draw Like a Lady this past year. I'm only bummed I never got around to pick up her journal comics "Rushes."
-Our table was across from Drawn and Quarterly so I tried not to ogle all of the top notch talent like Kate Beaton, Lisa Hanawalt, Seth, and Adriane Tomine while they were signing books all weekend. While we were breaking down on Sunday, one of the women running the booth gave us beautiful D&Q tote bags that I imagine they didn't want to ship back. Canadians are so nice!!
-On Sunday I was asked to donate a set of Urban Nomads to the Library of Congress which was such an honor!
-Had a much too short conversation with my tablemate Britt from CAKE last year and met Canadian cartoonist Jordyn and her fiance at the Ignatz party.
(Brittney Sabo and Jordyn Bochon)
-One of my last sales on Sunday was to PBS executive Linda Simensky who I've seen at various animation events but was always to shy to say anything to. Her daughter was at her first comic convention!
It seemed like every time I turned around, there was another amazing cartoonist to say hello to, yet I managed to miss at least 5 people I wanted to meet. (Ugh, I'm sorry if it sounds like I've been name dropping too much, but I just love the comics community!!) And just like that, it was Sunday evening and SPX was over.
Now for the Cold Hard Tabling Facts (this isn't as fun to hear, but people may find it useful): This was my first time tabling at SPX. Everyone always says how well they do at this convention so I probably overestimated how many books to bring. I would have kicked myself if I sold out of stuff on the first day, so bringing a bunch of books back home wasn't a problem.
Overall, my sales were just a little less than they usually are at MoCCA. Even though MoCCA is in my hometown which means my travel costs are basically my metrocard, the table prices are at least double what SPX tables run. So even though I had to pay for a portion of the hotel, rental car and meals, SPX and the last MoCCA I did were probably about even expense-wise.
I'm also taking into consideration that there were a LOT more exhibitors this year than in the past which means more people to spread money between. Also the fact that our table wasn't where it was supposed to be on the map probably didn't help a lot. But ultimately I think our table had better traffic than it would have against the opposite wall where we were supposed to be. There were also people who WANTED to spend more money, but both ATMS ran out of cash. This was a good argument for using a Square reader. I definitely was glad I picked one up after CAKE last summer. At least 1/3 of my sales were with credit cards.
Surprisingly I sold VERY few $1 zines. I never know what people will be drawn to at a particular convention, so I like to keep stats on this sort of thing for the future. The good news is that my biggest seller was issues of Urban Nomad, specifically issue #4 which is what I was spotlighting. The one thing I DID run out of was free Cooking Up Comics bookmarks. I brought 150 and ran out before the end of Sunday. People always love free stuff! (And if you stopped by the blog because of my bookmarks at SPX and have read through all of this, bless you! I'm not usually this long-winded on the commentary.)
Ultimately, I don't do conventions to make money and I don't know many people that do! I do it because I love meeting people who love comics, to have a conversation with them and to introduce new readers to my work. Meeting people like Pat McCuen and his wife are the reason I love conventions.
So I had a fantastic time at SPX! It was really wonderful talking comics with everyone and I'm so excited to work on some new stuff in the coming months.
Finally, here are some of the excellent books and miscellany that I collected at SPX. I also bought a beautiful print from Kali Ciesemier that I'll have to find wall space for soon.
Bye, NYC! Driving over the Verrazano Bridge, SPX-bound on Friday.
Here is the table that I shared with my lovely friend Alison Wilgus and her beautiful book A Stray In the Woods. We were moved from where we originally were on the map, but most people were able to find us and the SPX staff was super helpful. Note the ATM next to our table which RAN OUT OF MONEY on Sunday because everyone loves comics so much. Alison, her husband Scott and friend Paul (who had his first zine at the con) made room for me in their car, let me crash in their hotel room, and brought lunch so a million thanks goes to them! Another thank you shout out to Raina and Dave who drove a box of my books to Maryland and brought me lunch on Sunday!
I was super stoked about the new stand I got for my Urban Nomad issues and think it helped a lot with visibility and organization on my table. I was kind of glad I decided against getting a banner for SPX since it was a tight squeeze in our corner space. But Alison's banner turned out great, so I'll probably invest in one for next year.
It was delightful to see so many Cooking Up Comics readers! It warms my heart whenever someone tells me they actually make the recipes. One of the volunteers stopped me in the bathroom to ask if this was my comic and comic maven Spike told me she makes some of the recipes! Swoon! I got a great recipe for chick pea "tuna fish" from one reader. I talked with lots of awesome creators and people who have followed my Urban Nomad or Counter Attack series through the years.
Other awesome moments:
-Met John Allison of Bad Machinery through Gina from First Second on Friday night and managed to not make an ass of myself so that was pretty awesome.
-Delicious diner food with John Green, Gina Gagliano, Carol Burrell, Zack Giallongo, Colleen Venable and Scott on Friday night.
-Got lots of hugs from Nonesuch Doll creator Megan Baehr who was a last minute addition and was probably as excited to be at SPX as I was!
-The convention floor on Saturday:
-Got to catch up with my old SVA friend Joe Flood who drew The Cute Girl Network (written by Greg Means and MK Reed) out from First Second this Fall.
-Ran into Sarah McHenry (Hey Pais) in the hotel elevator and we both had the same style of Modcloth dress on but in different colors! I wish I'd been thinking quicker, because that would have been a great photo.
-Of course one of the highlights of the convention was the Ignatz party where I was able to partake of the mythical, dueling chocolate fountains.
-Raina introduced me to the legendary Jeff Smith Saturday night and I heard the story of how he and Kate Beaton discovered they are related.
-One of the guys who worked at the copy shop I used to get my books printed at even stopped by!
-I drew a BMO in Zack Smith's Adventure Time themed sketchbook.
-Another too brief conversation with Kenan Rubenstein who is now a Bostonian and Neil Brideau from Chicago!
-Unexpectedly ran into a high school classmate who is now married to a cartoonist so it was fun to catch up with her!
-Met Monica from Strip Search who was tabling near Perry A, another awesome reader/cartoonist of The Tale of Tamarind!
-Got to meet some of my Canadian and out of town cartoonist friends like Adriana Blake (Fall on Me) and Burt Durand (Horse eComics) in real life and only wish I had been able to hang out with everyone for longer!
-Ran into fellow cartoonists like Pat Lewis, Hamlet Machine, Glynnis Fawkes and zinester AJ Michel who weren't tabling but are just the best.
-Met Sarah Sobole of Doctor Cat, MD who was just the nicest. I'm trying to figure out where to use my Doctor Cat stickers!
-Ran into Tara Abbamondi on the show floor. Seemed like every time I left my table to visit people, those same people were running to my table! Glad we all met up eventually!
-It was also nice to see Jennifer Hayden whom I met at Drink and Draw Like a Lady this past year. I'm only bummed I never got around to pick up her journal comics "Rushes."
-Our table was across from Drawn and Quarterly so I tried not to ogle all of the top notch talent like Kate Beaton, Lisa Hanawalt, Seth, and Adriane Tomine while they were signing books all weekend. While we were breaking down on Sunday, one of the women running the booth gave us beautiful D&Q tote bags that I imagine they didn't want to ship back. Canadians are so nice!!
-On Sunday I was asked to donate a set of Urban Nomads to the Library of Congress which was such an honor!
-Had a much too short conversation with my tablemate Britt from CAKE last year and met Canadian cartoonist Jordyn and her fiance at the Ignatz party.
-One of my last sales on Sunday was to PBS executive Linda Simensky who I've seen at various animation events but was always to shy to say anything to. Her daughter was at her first comic convention!
It seemed like every time I turned around, there was another amazing cartoonist to say hello to, yet I managed to miss at least 5 people I wanted to meet. (Ugh, I'm sorry if it sounds like I've been name dropping too much, but I just love the comics community!!) And just like that, it was Sunday evening and SPX was over.
Now for the Cold Hard Tabling Facts (this isn't as fun to hear, but people may find it useful): This was my first time tabling at SPX. Everyone always says how well they do at this convention so I probably overestimated how many books to bring. I would have kicked myself if I sold out of stuff on the first day, so bringing a bunch of books back home wasn't a problem.
Overall, my sales were just a little less than they usually are at MoCCA. Even though MoCCA is in my hometown which means my travel costs are basically my metrocard, the table prices are at least double what SPX tables run. So even though I had to pay for a portion of the hotel, rental car and meals, SPX and the last MoCCA I did were probably about even expense-wise.
I'm also taking into consideration that there were a LOT more exhibitors this year than in the past which means more people to spread money between. Also the fact that our table wasn't where it was supposed to be on the map probably didn't help a lot. But ultimately I think our table had better traffic than it would have against the opposite wall where we were supposed to be. There were also people who WANTED to spend more money, but both ATMS ran out of cash. This was a good argument for using a Square reader. I definitely was glad I picked one up after CAKE last summer. At least 1/3 of my sales were with credit cards.
Surprisingly I sold VERY few $1 zines. I never know what people will be drawn to at a particular convention, so I like to keep stats on this sort of thing for the future. The good news is that my biggest seller was issues of Urban Nomad, specifically issue #4 which is what I was spotlighting. The one thing I DID run out of was free Cooking Up Comics bookmarks. I brought 150 and ran out before the end of Sunday. People always love free stuff! (And if you stopped by the blog because of my bookmarks at SPX and have read through all of this, bless you! I'm not usually this long-winded on the commentary.)
Ultimately, I don't do conventions to make money and I don't know many people that do! I do it because I love meeting people who love comics, to have a conversation with them and to introduce new readers to my work. Meeting people like Pat McCuen and his wife are the reason I love conventions.
So I had a fantastic time at SPX! It was really wonderful talking comics with everyone and I'm so excited to work on some new stuff in the coming months.
Finally, here are some of the excellent books and miscellany that I collected at SPX. I also bought a beautiful print from Kali Ciesemier that I'll have to find wall space for soon.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
SPX is this weekend!
I'll be at SPX this Saturday and Sunday (Sept 14th and 15th) in Bethesda, Maryland! I'm pretty excited since I've been hearing good things about SPX for years but this is the first time I'm getting down there to exhibit. I'll be at table W17A along the wall right next to my awesome friend Alison Wilgus who also has a cool cat-themed comic! Here is a handy map of the convention center and where my table is:
I'll have a reprint of Urban Nomad #3 and the first printing of Urban Nomad #4 which is returning after a 3 year hiatus. I'm really happy with the selection of stories in UN 4 and I hope you'll enjoy them too! Here's a sneak peek of the new book, fresh from the printer:
I'll also have a bunch of one page minis including Rock On! about my favorite shuttered music venues in NYC and an illustrated guide of Money-Saving Freelance Tips.
If you want Cooking Up Comics magnets, Conan the Librarian prints or the last of the Counter Attack mini comics, be sure to get there early on Saturday as I have limited numbers of all of these things.
I'm also linking to Sara of Hey Pais awesome advice for exhibiting at SPX, or any convention for that matter.
Hope to see you in Maryland this weekend!
Bethesda North Marriott Hotel
& Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Road.
North Bethesda, MD 20852
Saturday September 14 (11 am to 7 pm)
Sunday September 15 (12 pm to 6 pm)
One day membership $10
Weekend membership $15
I'll have a reprint of Urban Nomad #3 and the first printing of Urban Nomad #4 which is returning after a 3 year hiatus. I'm really happy with the selection of stories in UN 4 and I hope you'll enjoy them too! Here's a sneak peek of the new book, fresh from the printer:
I'll also have a bunch of one page minis including Rock On! about my favorite shuttered music venues in NYC and an illustrated guide of Money-Saving Freelance Tips.
If you want Cooking Up Comics magnets, Conan the Librarian prints or the last of the Counter Attack mini comics, be sure to get there early on Saturday as I have limited numbers of all of these things.
I'm also linking to Sara of Hey Pais awesome advice for exhibiting at SPX, or any convention for that matter.
Hope to see you in Maryland this weekend!
Bethesda North Marriott Hotel
& Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Road.
North Bethesda, MD 20852
Saturday September 14 (11 am to 7 pm)
Sunday September 15 (12 pm to 6 pm)
One day membership $10
Weekend membership $15
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Pete's Mini Zine Fest in Brooklyn this Saturday!
Hello! Just a heads up that I will be at Pete's Mini Zine Fest in Brooklyn this Saturday August 24th from 2 pm to 7 pm. Pete's Candy Store (709 Lorimer St. between Frost and Richardson) is an awesome indoor/outdoor bar space in Williamsburg and the crowd and tablers are always laid back and nice. Lots of great people will have fun stuff there and you can drink beer while you walk around to check out everyone's work!
Here's a little preview of some of the comics I'll have this weekend. I'm currently sold out of Urban Nomad #3 and all but this issue of Counter Attack, but I'll have a mailing list sheet for anyone interested in getting an update when they're back in stock.
I reprinted my one page mini comic Money-Saving Freelance Tips on some pretty gold paper:
And here's a preview panel straight from my desk of Urban Nomad #4 which will debut at SPX in a few weeks! This story is about the first NYC hardcore show I went to in 2001.
Rob of Panel Patter wrote a nice spotlight of the work I'll have at SPX in a few weeks and will be posting a bunch of other great artists' work leading up to SPX. Hope to meet some of you in the coming weeks at one of these conventions!
Here's a little preview of some of the comics I'll have this weekend. I'm currently sold out of Urban Nomad #3 and all but this issue of Counter Attack, but I'll have a mailing list sheet for anyone interested in getting an update when they're back in stock.
I reprinted my one page mini comic Money-Saving Freelance Tips on some pretty gold paper:
And here's a preview panel straight from my desk of Urban Nomad #4 which will debut at SPX in a few weeks! This story is about the first NYC hardcore show I went to in 2001.
Rob of Panel Patter wrote a nice spotlight of the work I'll have at SPX in a few weeks and will be posting a bunch of other great artists' work leading up to SPX. Hope to meet some of you in the coming weeks at one of these conventions!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Weeknight Rice and Beans
This week's recipe is for Weeknight Rice and Beans!
I don't know how many people visit this blog anymore or click through the links, but I'll add the text from the post anyway:
It looks like I'll be taking another short hiatus from updating Cooking Up Comics. I've run out of buffer and it takes 20 plus hours a week to draw and paint each comic which I don't have to spare at the moment. If you don't follow my Twitter, I'm also finishing up my comic Urban Nomad #4 for SPX in September. Here is a photo I took last week of an inked panel:
My finances are a bit dire right now and I'm scraping together funds to print Urban Nomad #4 and reprint Urban Nomad #3 in the next few weeks. I'm also hoping I won't have to cancel my appearance at MICE in Massachusetts later in September. So if you want to help out please consider ordering a comic or a Conan the Librarian print from my online store or hitting the donation button to PayPal any amount. I'll also be at Pete's Mini Zine Fest in Brooklyn on August 24th if you like to get your comics and zines in person!
Thanks for understanding about the hopefully short hiatus. Please check out the recipe index for plenty of recipes to make until I'm able to get back on top of updates.
I don't know how many people visit this blog anymore or click through the links, but I'll add the text from the post anyway:
It looks like I'll be taking another short hiatus from updating Cooking Up Comics. I've run out of buffer and it takes 20 plus hours a week to draw and paint each comic which I don't have to spare at the moment. If you don't follow my Twitter, I'm also finishing up my comic Urban Nomad #4 for SPX in September. Here is a photo I took last week of an inked panel:
My finances are a bit dire right now and I'm scraping together funds to print Urban Nomad #4 and reprint Urban Nomad #3 in the next few weeks. I'm also hoping I won't have to cancel my appearance at MICE in Massachusetts later in September. So if you want to help out please consider ordering a comic or a Conan the Librarian print from my online store or hitting the donation button to PayPal any amount. I'll also be at Pete's Mini Zine Fest in Brooklyn on August 24th if you like to get your comics and zines in person!
Thanks for understanding about the hopefully short hiatus. Please check out the recipe index for plenty of recipes to make until I'm able to get back on top of updates.
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