MCM Report

MCM London Report

MCM is a three day event in which I along with three other members of my group (Covenant of arcana) sold our comics and related merchandise. The report will detail the cost of MCM and what happened on each day of the convention.

Cost of MCM

Once the comics and merchandise were created, all that need to be done was to print them. The comics and prints were printed at the university at a cost of £1.40 per comic and 35p per print. 20 comics were printed to a total of £28. 60 prints were printed 2 per page totaling a cost of £10.50. This totaled a cost of £39.10. As-well as comics and prints I also produced 30 bookmarks (3 per sheet) at a cost of 10p per sheet and a 10 coloring/art books at a cost of 18p per book. The total cost for all merchandise relating to transplant totaled £41.90.

Merchandise to sell wasn’t the only thing that needed to be bought for MCM, these included comic stands, money box, bags and a stand to hold key-rings.

Friday at MCM

Friday at MCM was a slow day, many of the people at the convention were just browsing this day, gathering their surroundings ready for Saturday and Sunday. When people did come to the table, I greeted them and asked them how they were likening the convention. If they looked through one of the comics I would ask them if they wanted to know more about what the comic was about. If they stayed at the table after this I would then tell them the price of the comic and any deals that were on.

When I as not selling at MCM, I decided to take a walk around the artist alley introducing myself and our group. When I was talking to other creators I asked them how they were doing and talked about their creations and what to expect during the rest of the weekend. When I left their table I made sure to take a business card and ask if they wanted my business card.

The table layout was decided by me and Alessandra, as we were group leaders it was more convenient as we could set up the table before opening. For the float it was decided that we all have our separate money boxes and floats. Although this was a bad idea as money from sales and the floats couldn’t be accounted for in some people’s money boxes. The timetabling was set before the convention but due to unforeseen circumstances, the shift rotation changed on the day without full discussion. 

Saturday at MCM

Saturday was the busiest day out of the whole day in terms of sales for Transplant as two issues were sold as-well as a bookmark. The sales pitch remained the same as it did on Friday, the only thing that changed was the table layout as I moved the key-ring stand of the table and just had examples on the table, which gave us a bit more room so our table didn’t look as crowed.

Sunday at MCM

Sunday, I and Dan in the afternoon had a lot of interest from people and artists, however these didn’t equal many sales as I sold one copy of Transplant. They did however equate to some future business opportunities as many creators discussed with us opportunities to sell our work online and in stores in Liverpool. We were also interviewed on the Friday by the BBC, however they did not leave a link to the report and am unable to find it. There were also a lot of interest in my commission’s sign however no commissions were placed. This may be because I was not at the table long enough (due to shift timing) and that I didn’t do them in color, however some people did say they would email me for commissions.

When not on shift I went around comic village a purchased comics from most of the creators I had interacted and handed business cards too, so I could remember there art style and also know what else is out there in the independent market. This was helpful as the editor of the comic Paradox girl, told me about a service they are setting up the help artists and writers find work and help creators with Kickstarter campaigns.  

If I was to do another convention, the things I will do differently would be to get grids to create a stand that surrounds the table as I noticed that the neighboring tables had a lot of attention due to the large displays. I also noticed that it was hard for people to find us and know who we are as we did not have any kind of banner with our name on it, in future I will make sure there is a sign with our company logo/name. I will also make sure all prices and deals are visible to the customers.

In terms of pitching our comics to customers, I will do what I did on Sunday after seeing Mythical Inc. pitch their comics and continue to great them and tell them they are free to take a look through the comics as some people that came to the table were wherry as to whether they could look through them or not. I will also continue to ask them how their day is going and talk them through the comic’s synopsis.

If I was to share a table again I would make sure that everyone had equal shifts and when there shift was over they didn’t just leave and go home, especially if they were doing commissions.

In the end MCM was a fun experience as I made a lot of contact and business opportunities, I also learnt that many people may to comic con for comics but they may prefer to read or buy the comics online. So I have decided to put my comics for sale online as well as setting up a pateron.