The last Year in Review post covered what went right in 2010. This post will cover what needs improvement.
Rethinking Merchandise
A large percentage of my convention table and online store is dedicated to selling things that either aren’t selling or aren’t selling well enough to make back production costs. One solution would be to raise prises, but the sales volume for these items are so low that it wouldn’t make much difference. Besides, I’ve made more money overall from selling $2.00 mini-comics than I have from $3.00 mini-comics. The production costs on the $2.00 mini-comics are lower and I generally sell more of them. The problem is that no matter what I charge, no matter what I make, I can’t figure out a way to pay for my table with mini-comics. I can pay for my table with books, but it will be about another year before I can put together another book. I need to come up with something new to sell at my table.
In the next year I’m going to be experimenting with projects with higher margins. I’m thinking things like T-Shirts and prints. The challenge here won’t be just making things I’ve never made before. The challenge will be designing something so irresistibly awesome that people won’t mind paying $10-$20 for it.
New Tools
I’ve been getting by on a mishmash of open source tools for a long time now. I started out with GIMP and still use it quite a bit for image editing (I mostly use Photoshop Elements for coloring). I’ve been using Scribus for the longest time to create PDF’s for my Print On Demand books. It was a great way to learn about image processing with as little up-front investment as possible. I have no regrets using these tools and would recommend them to anybody, but lately I feel that I’ve reached the limit of what these things can do.
One of my goals for 2011 is to be able to convert my comics into any format as quickly and efficiently as possible. I want to be able to create comics and designs in any possible format, whether it is a epub file, a CMYK PDF, or a vector based Illustrator file. I also would like to be able to automate repetitive tasks quickly and efficiently. Formatting every page of a 204 page book step by step gets old REAL fast.
That’s why I ordered Adobe Creative Suite Design Standard. It was not an easy decision, but it looked like the best way to move towards my goal to be able to publish in any format as easily and efficiently as possible.
Too Many Conventions
I attended nine conventions in 2010. That’s not counting events like Twenty-Four Hour Comic Day and art shows like Lutefisk Sushi. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but I was really starting to burn toward the end of November. I had way too many dizzy spells at way too many shows this year. Considering that most of these conventions operate at a substantial loss, I think it’s time to cut back.
Where I’m really going to cut back is out-of-state conventions. With travel and hotel expenses, the cost of these shows can easily exceed $800 to $1,000. It’s too much of a loss for me to justify. I feel like I would be better off spending that time and money on making better stuff and then hit as many conventions as possible in 2012. That said, I am planning to table at as many local conventions as possible.
Edit More
I want to edit my comics and blog posts more before sending them out. I’m a big believer that perfectionism is the death of creativity, but I feel like I’ve gotten a little too sloppy, especially towards the end of the year. I’m going to spend an extra fifteen to thirty minutes looking over each comic for errors. Nothing I do will ever be perfect, but a little extra effort can’t hurt.
Stop Being Lazy!
This is going to be the hardest goal to keep. I’ve been getting really lazy, particularly toward the end of the year. I’m just not spending as much time at this as I used to. If I’m going to make my goals for 2011, I’m going to have to put in more effort. Part of that effort will involve taking better care of myself. A lot of my laziness this year comes from fatigue, from not eating well or sleeping enough. I’m going to try to take better care of myself so I can get more done.
So that’s my goals for improvement for 2011. Part Three of this series will focus on what comics and other projects I plan to take on in 2011.
