REFLECTION: rose city comic con, i love you

Howdy! Reporting live from a small bed in a small room in a small house in eastern Columbus, OH, where I will be staying for a week to attend Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC), the second show in my back-to-back fall comics fest extravaganza that I’ve planned for myself because I’m crazy.

Right now is kind of the first opportunity I’ve gotten since Sunday, the last day of Rose City Comic Con, to relax and do nothing. Of course, I am running on very little sleep because I had the bright idea of drinking an espresso lavender latte before boarding my red-eye… But I am here, I have the opportunity to do absolutely nothing, but instead I am writing this post because I 🖤 my subscribers.

First off, if you’re one of the many people who signed up for my newsletter at RCCC, welcome!! It’s great to have you here, and it was a delight to meet you at the con and talk to you about my work 🙂

In case you need a reminder of who I am, because shit there were a lot of talented artists exhibiting, I’m that sickeningly polite blonde girl with the zines filled with comics about topics like depression, asexuality, and religious deconstruction.

To be honest, I had a lot of doubts coming in to RCCC. It was by far the biggest event I’d ever done and the event with the broadest scope of interests among attendees. Normally, I table at events that are specifically geared towards comics or zines or indie publishing, but this event had all of that and sooo much more.

So, on Friday morning, as I set up my table that I paid much more money for than I normally do for shows (eep!), I was nervous. Obviously this con would have comic fans, but how many were cartoon fans? Non-fiction comic fans? Graphic medicine fans? What were the chances that I was just going to sit around all weekend and watch people barely glance at my table because they came here for superheroes and manga?

But y’all proved my anxieties to be just that… anxieties. RCCC’s awesome attendees really showed up for me and reignited a confidence in myself that I hadn’t felt in awhile. People coming up to the table who were already familiar with my work, people asking me to sign what they bought from me, people engaging in intellectually stimulating conversation with me about the themes in my work… And I sold so much more than I expected to.

Also, I feel like at least half of the people who came to my table were fellow aces. Nice! I sold so many freakin’ copies of “Asexual Things I Did Before Realizing I Was Asexual” that I had to print more on Monday so I’d be prepared for CXC!

Rose City Comic Con, I love you.

I was also lucky, as always, to have awesome table neighbors. Shout-out to local artists En and Ren on my right and Seattle-area fantasy author Amy Wolf on my left. Amy actually was the reason something super awesome happened — I got to speak at a panel!

It was on Sunday, and it was called “Everything You Need To Know About Indie Publishing.” In all honesty, I had my doubts about doing the panel. I’m an early-career zinester, what could people learn from me? But luckily Amy insisted, because as it turns out, the answer is a lot.

I went up there with Amy and authors Kayla Hansen and Daniel Potter. All three of them were older than me and much more experienced than me, and they all wrote self-published fantasy novels. I probably definitely stuck out like a sore thumb, and while it was a little awkward at first to be answering every question in a completely different way than everyone else, it turned out to be a great thing.

Because you see… I spread the good word of zines that day. I introduced a room full of people who had aspirations but didn’t know where to start to an underrated indie publishing option they all have at their disposal. A relatively easy way to get your feet wet in indie publishing and to introduce yourself and your art to the world. And the most freeing and least intimidating culture of artists I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with, which, to me, is an ideal environment for artistic growth.

Many people found my table after the panel and thanked me for sharing my perspective. If you’re one of those people, hi!! It was a pleasure to talk about the wonderful world of zines with you. If you’re one of the people who asked me questions about how to get started on zinemaking, I hope the information I shared was helpful and that you consider joining this foldy, staply, timey wimey world decades in the making.

And that’s about it on Rose City Comic Con! Overall kickass weekend.

Tomorrow I begin the workshops offered by CXC, Friday I get to see keynotes from legendary comic artists Raina Telgemeier and Daniel Clowes, and this weekend is the expo!

I would be more excited, but I think my sleep deprivation is catching up to me. Time for a nap.

xoxo,

cooklin