TIL that most indie comic artists make less than $100 per convention weekend after table fees

Was chatting with a guy at a show in Portland last month who had some gorgeous prints and a self-published graphic novel. I complimented his work and asked how the weekend was going. He said he'd made $180 total but paid $150 for the table and $40 for parking. So basically he was negative before buying food. I see so many aspiring artists dreaming of doing cons full time and I never realized how tight the margins really are. Has anyone here actually made a living off smaller shows or is it just like a side hustle that breaks even?

3 comments

3 Comments

skyler_smith8514d ago

$180 on art and books sounds low to me, I know guys who sell a few hundred in prints at local shows and still call it a side gig. @ben206, how do you figure the cost on prints for those weekend sales? Maybe the bigger issue is that a lot of newer artists overpay for tables at smaller cons and don't have enough merchandise to make it back.

knight.mason2h ago

lol yeah my buddy over ordered prints once and used them as wrapping paper for christmas.

ben20614d ago

Is that including any prints they managed to sell at cost or just pure profit from the book?