This has become quite a topic of discussion (kudos, Denise!), so I thought Id weigh in. Full disclosure: Dave and Denise are wonderful friends, and I see and feel their plight as shared by lots of talented artists (and indie publishers) in this industry. Heres my take on it: The entire formula is changing across all retail channels everywhere, and cons are suffering for many of the same reasons brick and mortar is suffering -- online undercutting and convenience. Most people these days go to cons like its an (expensive) fun-time party or state fair, not to shop but to have fun. It has become the nerd version of hanging out at the mall. Rather than spend more money (after the big admission fees and hotel hikes and food court gouging), they take mental note of cellphone pics of what theyre really interested in, then bookmark it for purchase online (for less) later. That includes originals. Saves them from having to carry it around, risk damage, hell its just a hassle to deal with. God bless the internetz for making getting stuff so much easier! Too bad its also just as easy to forget you wanted that thing in the first place four days later. Shows used to be about meeting people you couldnt otherwise meet, finding things you couldnt normally find, and seeing things you couldnt see elsewhere. All that has changed thanks to the internet. Blogs and social media make contacting and following artists pretty easy. Ebay and Amazon make finding anything, regardless of rarity, practically a guarantee. And almost anything worth seeing is now on Vine or Youtube in a matter of minutes. Why should anyone leave the house for any of that anymore? One thing: The Party Vibe. The social interaction with each other. And thats about it. Not that some dont also buy stuff, but modern convenience has distilled that number to only the most die-hard attendees. Also thanks to the internet, supply is outstripping demand, and the noise is cancelling out true quality. Artists of every caliber are seeping out of the woodwork, from around the world, made visible by every online social soapbox forum on the net -- Facebook, tumblr, Deviantart, etc -- there is so much art and talent (of varying degree) to follow and choose from, its becoming harder to establish any sort of brand value. And if one artist charges too much, there are 20 more behind them, possibly in a very similar style, eager to cut that price in half just to pay rent. Art is being devalued in every industry, and the people who feel that most are the true artists. Why pay $300-500 for an original piece of art when you can spend $20 of a print of that piece (that you can probably also get for only $10 bootlegged on ebay)? Its a new age of piracy, only the waters are ones and zeroes. And while the modern pirate mentality may not be outright sinking ships, theyre making it a lot harder to stay afloat at glory day speeds. Sure, if cons werent so expensive to attend, people might have more money to spend on the spot, but the shows have to make their nut too. Attendance goes up, so show costs go up, and both attendees and exhibitors have to pay the price for the mall rat loiterers (ne cosplayers). Add to that burden the extra costs of hotels, travel, and for small publishers with inventory, significant fright charges, and exhibiting at any show becomes a very delicate consideration. Do you chalk it up as a (huge) marketing expense that youre guaranteed to lose and just bite the bullet, hoping the exposure comes back in the form of future sales? Thats a hard bullet to bite when the rest of the years finances are in question, and cashflow has to balance out TODAY. It is a vicious financial whirlpool as devious and broken as our entire national and global economy. Its hard to blame just one factor (eg. Cosplayers), but that one factor can be a glowing symptom of a much deeper ailment. This is why Magnetic Press is going to be very cautious about what shows we attend -- most will be within driving distance, and only if the cost of entry is deemed confident enough to recover from sales. But since weve only done one show so far, were still calibrating that measurement. Well get another batch of sample data at Comikaze this Halloween (which is just a short hop into downtown LA)...
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 17:39:23 +0000
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