I’m pretty excited to let you all in on what’s been happening over the last week.
First and foremost, I’m scheduled for an in-store appearance to sell and sign playmats of my own creation, as well as do sketch cards and playmat sketches! How fun is that!?
I am also stoked to announce that so far, I have nailed down 2 stores that are going to carry my playmats for sale or consignment, and am in talks with 3 more stores to do the same! Top Tier Board Games in Hattiesburg, MS, and Wyatt’s Comics and Cards in Hammond, LA, will both be retail shops at which you can purchase my playmats!
So, some of you may want to know how this happened, and I’m super happy to tell you so YOU can do the same!
How it all started is sort of interesting. As you may know by now, I was juried into the Art Show for GenCon 2015, and will have a 4 panel booth. When I applied, I guess I didn’t honestly believe I’d get in. I mean, the talent that I’ll be listed amongst is out of this world. At some point shortly after confirming and paying for my booth, I realized I needed more… something… to really fit in with the GenCon crowd.
I decided I really wanted to sell playmats. So, I designed and painted Nadezhda:
I then contacted Drew Baker, whom I met at IlluxCon and corresponded with in the One Fantastic Week Facebook group, to have Nadezhda and the Succubus printed on playmats. His price is reasonable and though he may be a bit pricier than some of the ‘big name’ playmat printers, his personal service and concern for my work more than makes up for it. He’s amazing. As an artist, he has an eye for what may need attention to make your playmats the best they could be.
The playmats were beautiful! My counterpart then took them along when he went to Friday Night Magic and sold three of them. I didn’t even have three mats printed yet! So, I ordered more mats. Having seen how quickly people took interest in the mats, my counterpart then made a list of all the gaming stores in the area, up to about an hour and a half away, and we made the rounds. We spoke with about 6 stores the first day, and 2 were very interested. One of those was Top Tier, and as you can see, that has panned out well!
It was surprisingly easy, even for this introverted recluse, to talk to the stores about carrying my mats. I would walk in, introduce myself and my work, and ask if the store would be interested in carrying my mats for sale or consignment. In the future, I’ll first ask if a manager or the owner is in, as most retail employees won’t have any sort of say or power in whether the store can carry your merchandise, so that’s something to keep in mind.
It’s motivating to see the excitement and interest from people who sell stuff like this daily. They know what the customers like, and they like my stuff!
Moral of the story is… maybe don’t wait for things to happen to you, make things happen for yourself! Getting hired on by art directors and working freelance is AWESOME and I love it, but I’d like to have a hand in my own fate as well. Having things that I own and have control over is a whole other level.
Do the thing, y’all!
Sketchy Situations 